Chapter 120 - 112: Cultivating One’s Own Field of Heart
Li Yu faced the wind, scooped up a spoonful of water.
Holding a gourd ladle, drinking water on the ridge of the field,
he began to recall life before the apocalypse,
with memories and thoughts flooding in:
People always yearn for those idle, leisurely days when they're busy.
When those idle times do come,
a sense of guilt emerges, feeling one should exert some effort, at least do something.
Then, a burst of enthusiasm, perhaps a thorough cleaning of the room.
Very earnest, but lacking continuity.
Thus, humans are like a besieged city.
Never satisfied, always chasing desires, always rushing to fulfill inner cravings.
In this world, there always exists a group of elites at the top, wielding the power of capital, politics, and military, subtly controlling things both overtly and covertly.
Controlling the information spread, what ordinary people see and know is all they want them to know.
Those in the shadows manipulate human hearts, exploit human nature, then instigate and hype up certain hot topics.
Even the trending searches on Weibo before the apocalypse were merely the power of capital, whether it was good or bad information, it all boiled down to having money or not.
News, whether positive or negative, as long as it trends.
It carries some motive, or indirectly reflects the social atmosphere, touching the sensitive nerves of the masses.
To discredit someone is easy, to speak ill of someone is very easy, in the online world, destroying someone is extremely simple.
Like with teacher Ma back then, how many people praised him initially, and how many spoke such sinister words when they later cursed him?
In fact, those who praised and those who cursed were mostly the same group of people.
And those who can adhere to their own views, their own opinions, are very few.
It's not their fault. With the progression of the era and the increasing access to the internet, under the surveillance of big data, everyone is labeled.
With labels, all behaviors tracked and sorted into demographic packets, advertising becomes meaningful. For many manufacturers, it allows precise targeting of their consumer base.
But it's this big data that makes people spend more time and feel more void.
So, before the apocalypse, under the torrent of that era, before any major technological revolution, it was merely about deepening existing technologies.
On the supply side, continuously improving efficiency.
On the demand side, an increasing number of options, continually shrinking demands.
This led to internal competition.
After the internal competition, with the push from the content economy, people's demand for content increased.
Ultimately, it boils down to two categories: saving time and spending time.
Time-saving content: like quick tutorials in some apps, intensely and briefly outputting knowledge, saving the time one would spend learning bit by bit.
Time-spending content: human nature, satisfying human desires. Beauties, cute pets, novels that draw one into fantasies, good movies...
Saving time is for improving, to earn more money.
Spending time is because one has earned more money, or hasn't yet, but wants to, aiming to achieve some goals, to fill the gap temporarily if not immediately accessible.
It's also a solution.
...
Lost in thought, Li Yu felt momentarily speechless, surprisingly reminiscing about life before the apocalypse and recalling past incidents.
It must be said, the recent farming life indeed relaxed him a lot, even reminding him of life before the apocalypse.
He laughed wryly at himself.
Before being reborn, during the apocalypse.
Li Yu was somewhat falling apart, with no family, surrounded by evil realities, the unadorned cruel realities forced him to absorb too much negativity.
Actually, before rebirth, the reality wasn't great either, but it was glossed over, which Li Yu initially couldn't see through.
But after the apocalypse broke out, he saw through many things.
This raw reality, once understood, felt painfully unbearable, despairing.
He didn't know what to do.
Sometimes, not knowing something is more blissful than knowing.
Because some things, once known, cannot be changed, and that is a desperate pain.
In this apocalypse, Li Yu once couldn't trust anyone.
Because after trusting, reality dealt him a heavy blow.
No one could be trusted.
Just like a piece of land, if there's no sunlight, no water, no seeds, not even the hard work of a person, can it grow fruit, produce grain?
This piece of land is like Li Yu's heart.
No one can be trusted, only the bleak reality, no one to truly interact with, no one worth relying on;
Even he himself doesn't know what he's living for.
This piece of heartland, utterly barren, overgrown with weeds.
Even before rebirth.
Li Yu had become extremely cold-hearted, capable of surviving alone, his combat power had greatly increased, cruel enough to kill. He could even have a meal and sleep after killing.
Without any difficulty.
However, that was just being alive.
Now, with the company of his family, while farming, he feels a bit of life's sensation.
Second Uncle and his father were also worried about him, worrying about his mental state, killing is a negative state, and always needs to be balanced.
At this moment, he has found a way to balance.
Next time he kills, he might as well farm.
3 acres of land had been fully planted
Grandpa's smile was very simple, Li Yu took the item from Grandpa's hand, then followed Grandpa down the mountain.
Behind them, Li Hang and Ding Jiu's daughter, Ding Qingqing, were exchanging flirtatious glances.
Li Yu saw it, and felt like laughing, how nice to be young.
Although he was only two years older than Li Hang, he always felt he was much older.
Li Yu and Grandpa walked side by side, occasionally hearing Li Hang and Ding Qingqing chatting.
"Qingqing~" Li Hang suddenly called out, his tone a bit shy.
"What is it?" Ding Qingqing looked at him somewhat puzzled.
"I have something to tell you."
"What is it, just say it."
Li Hang felt increasingly fond of Ding Qingqing after interacting with her recently.
But he didn't know how to express it, so he asked his older brother, Li Yu.
Li Yu didn't have much experience either, but someone had told him that any doubts can be resolved by finding answers in books.
He also told Li Hang this.
Books, Li Yu had accumulated quite a lot, after all, those were a bookstore's stock.
And more books were purchased later, so there was a very large reading room in the base, hardly different from a library.
Li Hang then looked up some cheesy lines and learned some speech techniques.
Techniques to please a girl.
Hearing Ding Qingqing's words, Li Hang scratched his head.
He said to Ding Qingqing:
"My love for you is like a tractor climbing a hill, fierce and intense."
Fierce... intense… intense...
Li Yu and Zhao Dapao walking ahead nearly stumbled, almost falling down.
Grandpa also heard it and paused in his step, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: Xiao Hang's literary flair... wasn't so bad.
Li Yu was speechless, covering his forehead with his hand.
Ding Qingqing was also somewhat taken aback; she had never heard such direct,
Such... earthy love words.
After saying it, Li Hang felt it was somewhat off, not classy enough.
So he added: "I have another line for you."
His eyes deepened, became hazy, even slightly wistful.
Somewhat reminiscent of the flair of Liang Chaowei from before the rebirth, not quite similar, but the essence in his gaze was right.
He slowly began:
"A mole,
because of the body's whiteness,
becomes an island:
I miss the sea,
in your clothes, vast as waves."
The evening spring breeze, blowing people's hair, stirring the hearts of the youth, making one itch.
Some say, take advantage of spring,
like animals, find your mate... don't be shy!