"Enough!!"

Da Lian Mao, pushed to the edge, shook off Lin Xian:

"Little brother, are you ever going to stop?! Asking, asking, asking! Are you a walking encyclopedia? Where do all these questions come from!"

"Shut up! No more questions! If you have any, go ask my old man! You two might actually get crazy together!"

He shook off Lin Xian's arm again, puffing away at his cigarette in anger.

Lin Xian stood there, thinking.

So, it seems... Da Lian Mao's father isn't dead; he's still alive, should still be living.

Otherwise, he wouldn't tell him to go ask his dad:

"Your old man... uh, is he doing well?"

"Doing great! He's just driven himself stupid with studying! Cooped up in his room all day!"

Da Lian Mao looked disdainful, took a huge drag, and handed the half-smoked cigarette to A Zhuang:

"That's just how scholars are, the more they learn, the crazier they get! A Zhuang, you tell me, what's the use of studying?"

"Absolutely none!"

A Zhuang took two drags, shaking his head, and passed the rest of the cigarette to Er Zhu Zi:

"Scholars are all loony; in this world... better to learn a trade than study."

"That's right, that's right."

Er Zhu Zi, with the cigarette butt clenched between his teeth, looked suspiciously at Lin Xian:

"Intellectuals are the least reliable, not honest."

He took a puff, then another, before handing the final butt to San Pang:

"Better to start working early and marry a good wife like Saozi. San Pang, what do you think?"

San Pang, sucking on the cigarette butt, nodded sagely:

"I think that's right."

Da Lian Mao nodded in agreement:

"Actually, I don't want my daughter to keep going to school either. It's better to work early and marry into a good family."

"No, no, Brother Lian, you should let your daughter keep studying," Lin Xian advised.

He realized...

The saying that the economic base determines the superstructure is really true. In this poor and backward place, there's a limit to people's intellectual height, and their perspective is different.

Looking at these four and their loud, boisterous state...

Probably illiterate or semi-literate.

Lin Xian gave up on trying to get any key information out of Da Lian Mao. Like he said, it really would be better to ask his father directly.

Clearly, even in the altered dream, Cat Dad was still studying something in the realm of mathematics.

He probably hadn't won the Fields Medal in this era, but in this poor and backward world, it was debatable whether the award even existed.

But Cat Dad could research something incomprehensible like "Introduction to the Cosmic Constant," so he must be pretty skilled, not needing some award to prove it.

In the pre-change "First Dream," Lin Xian never asked what Da Lian Mao's father was researching.

But instinctively, he thought... it was probably not too different from the Cosmic Constant research now.

Lin Xian couldn't quite say why.

He just felt that history had a certain inevitability to it. Like Da Lian Mao's fate seemed to have changed, his family was happy, and he was living a happy life.

But it seemed like many things hadn't changed, still as before.

It was an indescribable feeling.

"Can I visit your father?" Lin Xian asked:

"I'm actually quite interested in mathematics. I'd like to talk with your father, ask for his guidance."

"Why not! You're my little brother now, that's nothing." Da Lian Mao raised his hand and looked at his watch:

"But it's definitely too late today. He lives a bit far, and I promised my son I'd buy him roast chicken to take home."

"You have a son?" Lin Xian was surprised.

"Yeah, little son, six years old. Before, my daughter kept asking for a little sister, so we had one, but it turned out to be a boy."

Speaking of his children, Da Lian Mao's face was filled with happiness:

"The boy's a little rascal, but he's pretty cute sometimes."

"How about this!"

Da Lian Mao waved his hand and put his arm around Lin Xian:

"Anyway, you're a wanderer, got no place to go, just stay at my place! Plenty of rooms in the house, and you can have dinner with us."

"Tomorrow, I'll take you to find my dad on my motorcycle; you won't be able to find your way on your own. It's just too late today; otherwise, I would have taken you already."

Da Lian Mao was so enthusiastic, Lin Xian was a little tempted.

Because he had a lot of things he wanted to ask Da Lian Mao about this dream, wanted to quickly understand the worldview. He could have a good chat at the dinner table.

But at the same time...

"Introduction to the Cosmic Constant," Da Lian Mao's father going crazy from the research, constantly chanting one sentence...

He was also concerned about that.

He really wanted to understand, what exactly is the Cosmic Constant? What's the connection between that and the Genius Club?

But Da Lian Mao was right.

In this dilapidated and backward little village, the paths were winding and the buildings were chaotic. If someone didn't lead the way, Lin Xian wouldn't even be able to tell north from south... not to mention every house looked almost exactly alike; he definitely couldn't find it himself.

Lin Xian considered for a moment, then nodded.

Anyway, the dream would still cycle, no one could escape, everyone would have to endlessly repeat this day. It didn't matter when he went to find Cat Dad.

"Alright, tomorrow it is then."

Lin Xian planned that after entering the dream tomorrow, he'd quickly get on Da Lian Mao's good side, and then have Da Lian Mao take him to find Cat Dad on his motorcycle.

...

After chatting for a while, it was time for everyone to go home.

A Zhuang, Er Zhu Zi, and San Pang waved goodbye to Da Lian Mao, and Da Lian Mao led Lin Xian home.

"Big brother..."

A Zhuang quietly came over, glanced at Lin Xian, and said softly to Da Lian Mao:

"Tonight's thing..."

Da Lian Mao nodded:

"Everything as usual."

With that, the three left.

"You guys have an activity tonight?" Lin Xian naturally noticed their little movements. These four were all on the same level of intelligence.

"Hahaha, no, no, it's gang stuff." Da Lian Mao laughed it off evasively:

"Let's go, brother, let's go buy roast chicken."

...

Walking on the crowded, twisted paths, Lin Xian really felt a sense of oppression.

He could see almost nothing except the sky directly above him. All around, houses, houses, houses... it felt like being trapped in a maze.

Lin Xian looked at Da Lian Mao, who was humming a song:

"Brother Lian, you don't have a job; what do you rely on to support your family?"

"Collecting protection money!" Da Lian Mao said with a proud look.

"Really?" Lin Xian couldn't believe it:

"Is that legal?"

"Hey! Look at what you're saying! I, Da Lian Mao, protect this area! Shouldn't they pay me protection money?"

"Could it be that you're actually collecting property management fees?"

"Bull, bullshit! Who are you looking down on!"

...

When they arrived at Da Lian Mao's house, it was already dark.

Da Lian Mao's house, like the surrounding chaotic self-built houses, was a three-story building.

Saozi was very welcoming and very beautiful, which made Lin Xian wonder where Er Zhu Zi got the courage to seduce her.

But that was the Er Zhu Zi of the last dream... maybe he had reformed now.

At least from the current situation, Da Lian Mao's life was very happy, and he was on the right path.

As for saying he collected protection money, Lin Xian didn't believe it at all.

Just looking at his "obligatory catching of thieves," "upholding justice," and the way the neighbors treated him... Lin Xian felt that Da Lian Mao was probably collecting property management fees.

Or, thinking back to the secret words when he separated from A Zhuang and Er Zhu Zi earlier...

[Da Lian Mao must be hiding something from me.]

"Dinner's ready~"

Saozi was gentle and refined, smiling as she brought up the steaming dumplings and dishes. Da Lian Mao's daughter and son also came to the table, and the family began to eat and chat happily.

Da Lian Mao's daughter was also very beautiful, very lucky, not having inherited anything from Da Lian Mao at all.

She looked to be in her teens, and her words were a bit rebellious.

Da Lian Mao's son was unlucky, clearly a miniature version of Da Lian Mao.

Looking at this heartwarming scene, Lin Xian was also happy. But then... he thought of Xu Yun lying dead in the street, and Xu Yiyi, emaciated in her hospital bed.

Some families were happy, others were sorrowful.

His actions of changing history and rewriting the future had changed Da Lian Mao's life, but had also changed Xu Yun and Xu Yiyi's lives.

One family became happy, and another experienced life and death.

How much Lin Xian wished the hibernation pod could be successfully developed... how much he wished Xu Yiyi could realize her wish to be cured of her vegetative state someday in the future, and be as free and carefree as Da Lian Mao's daughter was in front of him, bickering with her father.

But alas.

Judging from the level of technological development in this dream, the hibernation pod probably still hadn't been successfully developed in these 600 years.

"I don't want to work! I want to go to school!"

Da Lian Mao's daughter was still bickering with Da Lian Mao:

"If I don't go to school, what will I do in the future! I don't want to live the kind of life you guys live!"

"You!"

Da Lian Mao's face turned red, but he was bad with words and couldn't win against his daughter.

"Alright, Brother Lian."

Lin Xian smiled, raised his glass, and clinked it against Da Lian Mao's:

"Although it's not right for an outsider like me to get involved in your discipline of your child... but going to school is still the right thing to do; knowledge changes destiny."

"The child wants to go to school, has a dream, you should still support her. Niuniu likes studying so much; does she want to become a mathematician or a teacher like her grandfather when she grows up?"

"Hmph!"

Da Lian Mao's daughter pouted:

"I don't want to be a teacher."

"Then what do you want to do when you grow up?"

"I only have one dream when I grow up!" Da Lian Mao's daughter said with a pout:

"I want to leave here! I want to live in [Xin Donghai City]!"

Lin Xian's raised glass stopped in mid-air...

Xin Donghai City? (New East Sea City)

He looked at Da Lian Mao:

"Third Xin Donghai City?"

"No Third! Just [Xin Donghai City]!" Da Lian Mao swallowed the chicken in his mouth and glared at Lin Xian:

"What's wrong with your brain? Did you get it second-hand? Where'd you get it?"

"Wait a minute."

Lin Xian put down his glass and looked at Da Lian Mao:

"What do you mean by Xin Donghai City? Isn't this Donghai?"

"This is Old Donghai."

"Then where is Xin Donghai?"

Da Lian Mao looked at Lin Xian as if he were an idiot:

"Hey, little brother, are you drunk or are you kidding me? You don't know Xin Donghai?"

"I really don't know!" Lin Xian frowned: "Where is it?"

Da Lian Mao clicked his tongue in disgust.

He stood up, grabbed Lin Xian, and headed for the stairs:

"You, you're lying with your eyes open!"

He was very strong, pulling Lin Xian upstairs, directly up to the third-floor rooftop.

This was the first time since Lin Xian entered this dream that he felt a broad view, his line of sight finally not blocked by the tangled and messy self-built buildings.

"Here! Turn around!"

Da Lian Mao forcibly turned Lin Xian around.

A scene of illuminated neon lights entered Lin Xian's pupils—

Just a few kilometers away from them, a giant, science-fiction city surrounded by steel walls stood towering!

The high-rises pierced the clouds, out of sight!

All sizes of transportation vehicles flew in the sky!

Intertwined, colorful neon lights painted a distinct picture in the night!

Huge screens broadcast advertisements on the walls of the skyscrapers. Countless robots scurried around every corner of the city, and hundred-meter-high steel walls tightly surrounded the entire city, like a giant extraterrestrial object!

Lin Xian looked at this scene, comparable to a science fiction movie, and stood there, stunned.

At his feet... was a dilapidated and backward small village, small and old.

Before his eyes... was a magnificent and highly developed science-fiction city, with a chasm-like steel wall stretching for dozens of kilometers!

The difference between an ant and a mountain range.

This was a dream, but it was also reality, the real world 600 years from now.

"See that!"

Da Lian Mao chuckled, pointing to the glorious and colorful future city a few kilometers away:

"That! Is—[Xin Donghai City]!"