Chapter 32: Return: The Real World

When Zheng Zha pushed open the office door.

He froze again upon seeing the white-collar workers still busy at their desks even after working hours.

It seemed as though he had been momentarily struck by this familiar yet strange world, but he recovered quickly.

"Zheng? Supervisor Zheng?"

Wang San, at a desk near the entrance, was the first to notice Zheng Zha.

Soon, everyone in the hall looked over at the sound.

As a middle manager in this company, Zheng Zha was naturally a familiar face.

After a few superficial pleasantries, Zheng Zha called Wang San over and headed toward the elevators.

Having worked together for many years, Wang San was the only one he could call a friend.

Seeing Wang San offer him a cigarette, Zheng Zha instinctively reached out to take it.

But remembering the little girl tugging at his hem behind him, he pushed it back.

"Forget it, you smoke it. I've quit!"

Then, pretending to be casual, he asked him

"By the way, Wang San, how long has it been since I left the company? What's the situation now?"

Wang San looked resentful

"Brother Zheng, why couldn't I reach you by phone after you left? Did something happen at home? Now, that bitch in the company keeps squeezing us dry. The brothers are all complaining; we can barely stand it anymore."

"Several people have already resigned and left this past week."

Zheng Zha patted Wang San on the shoulder and leaned in, whispering a few words in a voice too low for the little girl to hear.

After he finished, Wang San stood frozen on the spot, while Zheng Zha and the little girl slipped into the elevator that had just arrived.

Just as the doors were about to close, Zheng Zha remembered something and quickly blocked the entrance.

Addressing the still-dazed Wang San, he said

"Do you have any cash on you? Lend me some money!"

"Huh? Oh, oh!"

"This... Brother Zheng, is two hundred enough?"

Wang San searched all his pockets before finding two ten-yuan bills and instinctively handed them over.

At the very last moment before the elevator doors closed, a brick was thrown out by Zheng Zha.

Then, a voice was heard: "This is for you, consider it repayment!"

Wang San looked at the heavy gold brick in his hand, checking the front and then the back, before finally biting it a few times with his teeth.

After seeing the clear tooth marks, he stealthily tucked it into his shirt to hold against his chest.

"Hey, Wang San, what are you packing for? Sister Zhao said there's a meeting in a bit."

"Help me ask for leave. I'm going to buy a pinhole camera!"

***

As Zheng Zha led the little girl out of the building.

The young girl was filled with wonder.

Because in her memory, she had crossed ten years of time to arrive in a future world.

The original earthen bungalows had turned into stone and brick skyscrapers.

The bumpy gravel roads had turned into four-lane asphalt highways.

Everything was filled with novelty to her.

And so.

Hand in hand, the two walked into this era of peace and prosperity, soon to be swallowed by the sea of people.

(Wait, what were you just peeking at?)

(Nothing.)

(You're lying! I clearly saw a little note!)

(You big bully! Was it Sister Zhan Lan who gave it to you?!)

(No, it wasn't. (#Д))

——

Two flowers bloom, each telling its own story.

After Li Xiao snapped out of his trance.

Compared to Zheng Zha's office, the situation here was undoubtedly a bit worse.

However, it wasn't a major issue and was within Li Xiao's range of acceptance.

Looking at the instant noodle cups, takeout boxes, and the messy single bed in the corner.

And the faint smell of decay beneath his nose, he wore a look of disdain and couldn't help but complain inwardly.

"Truly the cursed dormitory of a single man." Li Xiao picked up the phone that was still charging on the computer desk.

"November 11, 2011?"

"Ugh, what a terrible day."

Feeling the world's full malice, Li Xiao gave a helpless laugh.

Then, he said to Gin behind him

"But it doesn't matter. Let's begin executing Plan One."

Deep within Gin's eyes, red light points began to flicker at a high frequency.

With him as the center, an invisible wave instantly radiated from this small dormitory building.

"Connecting to the network!"

"Handover complete, acquiring permissions."

"Permission transition complete!"

"Modifying resident information, correcting, correcting..."

After several dozen seconds, Gin regained his voice and spoke respectfully to Li Xiao

"Sir, I have finished modifying all of Li Shuaixi's information."

"From this moment on, except for the memories in his brain, his entire existence has been replaced by you!"

"As for physical IDs and paper documents, I have forged the information of those department heads; they will be destroyed tomorrow."

Li Xiao pushed open the door with a look of regret, saying as he walked

"What a pity I'm short on funds. Otherwise, I would have exchanged for a T-3000 robot—the strongest existence from the Terminator series."

"To possess nanotechnology and the ability to manipulate human thought to change body structure is simply insane. Directly altering their memories is a foolproof method."

"Forget it. I doubt Chu Xuan will have the time to target me in the future anyway."

"Gin, start searching. Zhang Jie—you should have his photo!"

Looking at the photo sent to his phone, Li Xiao revealed a "just as I thought" smile.

"Let's go. Next stop, the People's Hospital."

The photo showed a black-and-white marriage certificate.

On the certificate, a young and naive Zhang Jie wore a brilliant smile.

It wasn't hard to see that back then, he must have been extremely happy.

And the woman leaning into his arms beside him bore an eighty-percent resemblance to Na'er from the God's Space.

Whether it was heaven's will or a prank of fate.

Li Xiao discovered that he, Zheng Zha, and Zhang Jie all lived within the same provincial capital.

Though not in the same city, they weren't far apart.

After exchanging two gold bricks at a "legal and compliant" gold shop.

The bank account under the name of Li Xiao now held an additional 400,000 in legal funds.

Gin had even specifically asked Li Xiao why he didn't just operate the bank's internal network to transfer the money directly.

Li Xiao simply said indifferently

"I am a man of principle, it's just that some of my principles are a bit eccentric."

Two days later.

In a mid-range apartment complex in Beijing City.

In the living room, four middle-aged and elderly people were surrounding the little girl, laughing and talking incessantly.

Watching them, Zheng Zha also looked envious.

*Ring, ring, ring!*

Zheng Zha looked at the phone beside him.

The phone he had just set up yesterday began to ring.

However, only four people knew this phone number—the four people currently in the living room.

But Zheng Zha was not surprised.

"Captain, the feeling of family joy is quite nice, isn't it?"

Hearing the playful voice from the other end, Zheng Zha replied with a smile

"I thought you wouldn't come looking for me for another two days. Did you finish your private business that quickly?"

Li Xiao bypassed the question and said

"You don't seem surprised at all that it's me, do you?"

Looking at the lively crowd in the living room, Zheng Zha walked to the balcony

"I may not be as smart as Chu Xuan, but I'm not stupid. The SIM card I processed was specifically for you."

"Although I don't know how you modified Gin to be like this... you didn't agree on a contact method for after our return, so I made a guess."