What is maturity?
If maturity means being able to see reality clearly, forcing oneself to do things one doesn't want to do...
If it means being slick in the workplace...
Or being smooth and adaptable in business...
Then many people might never mature in their entire lives. Some say this is a lack of responsibility, while others say it's an inevitable stage of life.
Perhaps the price of maturity is the loss of one's youthful spirit.
This is a huge conflict.
In the pre-apocalyptic atmosphere, if you wanted to get things done...
Hey! You had to be sensible.
After the apocalypse, maturity isn't a multiple-choice question, nor a fill-in-the-blank.
It's an open-ended question…
In such an apocalypse, there are no moral constraints, because zombies are everywhere, and no one knows if they'll live to see tomorrow.
What follows is the ugliness and filth in people's hearts, revealing themselves one by one.
However, some people, precisely because of this, live less burdened in their souls.
People who used to swallow their anger for various reasons, people who were too cowardly to fight back...
When faced with oppression, if they wanted to say 'f*** you,' they'd say 'f*** you.'
It's like, 'Come at me if you dare,' and if they really did, a loud roar would attract zombies, and everyone would die.
Precisely because of this...
Propriety collapsed, morality utterly degenerated, and all restraints were gone.
Madness, insanity, violence, bloodshed, terror.
The abuser and the abused transformed incredibly quickly.
Like Avīci Hell.
True faith comes from within, not from what others tell you.
In societal dissemination, the elite control public opinion and communication channels; all information humans receive is filtered before being given to the general public.
What *you* care about is the hot topic, but what *they* want you to know is public opinion.
Unaware of being trapped in a cage of communication, yet mistakenly believing oneself to be an outsider.
In the dead of night.
3 AM.
Li Yu woke up from a deep dream. He dreamed of the college entrance examination before the apocalypse.
Rubbing his face, Li Yu gave a wry smile.
What the heck is this?
A dream within a dream within a dream.
The first dream was about the college entrance exam before the apocalypse, doing math problems, which he wasn't good at. Then he dreamed he was back before the exam and couldn't do a single problem.
It worried him to death.
The second dream was about staying up late to work overtime on a proposal, because the simplest formatting issue made him vomit blood.
Then, in a daze, he entered the third dream.
The wall was breached!
...
Li Yu looked around. He was in his own bedroom in the villa.
On the table was a cobblestone Yu Tong had given him when he was a child. Under the dim yellow light, it reflected a soft glow.
Li Yu took a breath, then picked up the walkie-talkie and said to his second uncle, who was currently on the wall: "Second Uncle, Second Uncle. Is everything okay?"
His second uncle's voice came from the other end: "Everything's fine. Don't worry."
Li Yu felt relieved after hearing that.
He got out of bed and walked to the table to pour a glass of water.
Gulp, gulp, Li Yu drank the entire glass of water.
The bedside lamp flickered.
Li Yu's heart, however, was surging at this moment.
A sharp light pierced from his eyes.
The wall cannot be breached!
People cannot die!
He suddenly felt he was too naive, but in that instant, Li Yu felt as if he had turned dark.
In the apocalypse, the most dangerous thing isn't zombies, but people.
He must become stronger.
Li Yu's heart swelled with emotion for a moment.
The heavy rain outside was still falling.
Li Yu stayed in his room, feeling a unique sense of security.
In such heavy rain, anyone who went out would be courting death.
Li Yu took out his phone and gently swiped up.
Accompanied by a water droplet sound, the screen unlocked.
The phone's light illuminated his face.
Suddenly, he saw a small red icon.
It was a novel app he had downloaded before, with some novels he had saved.
He couldn't sleep anyway, and the surge of passion he felt earlier had passed, like buying soda—once bought, everything becomes bland.
Things needed to be done continuously, but you couldn't get fat in one bite.
"Apocalypse novel?"
Li Yu mumbled to himself, then suddenly laughed.
"Let's see."
He took a blanket from the room and draped it over himself.
He sat on a chair with a soft cushion on the balcony. The air conditioning was on inside, making it warm but a bit dry.
So Li Yu opened the window a tiny crack.
The dampness of the rain outside seeped in, invigorating Li Yu.
Rumble~
A flash of lightning and thunder. He moved the small standing lamp next to the stool. In the corner of the balcony, there was also a large potted Monstera Deliciosa.
The Monstera Deliciosa was lush green, and the wooden basket, under the dim yellow light, appeared so serene and rustic.
Li Yu opened his phone and lay on the chair.
Neither too warm nor too cold.
The room still held a faint warmth, and through the small crack in the window, a little bit of wind, carrying rain and dampness, occasionally blew in.
The apocalyptic heavy rain outside contrasted sharply with the quiet peace inside the room.
But in this warm yellow light, his body didn't feel the cold or the raging wind outside, yet watching the thunderstorm outside...
There was a unique beauty and tranquility.
A sense of happiness welled up.
Li Yu closed his eyes, listening carefully to the sound of the rain outside. This rain was like his restless heart, which he couldn't settle.
Listening to the rain was merely hearing tranquility amidst the chaos.
Savoring soy milk and fried dough sticks in a bustling city.
Grilling skewers, drinking, and watching the red lights amidst the street-side hustle and bustle.
Walking home with the sunset on his face, stepping on fallen leaves, in the gentle evening breeze.
Drinking tea and reading a book to the patter of rain.
Li Yu just kept reading the novel, occasionally drinking some water.
In this kind of weather, it was impossible to distinguish between day and night.
Anyway, it was all equally dark.
Li Yu kept reading and reading until he fell asleep.
When he woke up, he felt a bit cold.
It turned out the blanket had fallen off. So Li Yu stood up and went to close the window.
He checked the time; it was already past nine in the morning.
He had gone to bed early yesterday, before 10 PM, and he didn't know how long he had just slept, but he felt full of vitality.
Li Yu planned to go to the underground gym to work out. It had been raining continuously lately, so he couldn't run outdoors.
After washing up, he went downstairs. As he descended, he saw Xiao Shi, who was the same age as his sister Li Yuan, in a room.
Xiao Shi was one of the people who came in with Bai Jie last time.
Although she wasn't of much use, her background was very unusual.
Later, Bai Jie and the others all played some roles, but Xiao Shi didn't have any pampered young lady tantrums; on the contrary, she was very well-behaved.
Whatever she was asked to do, she never complained.
Later, for a period, Li Yu, to test and temper her character, had her feed pigs for a while. She even did quite well in the end.
Later, Li Yu praised Xiao Shi, telling her she was very good at feeding pigs.
Xiao Shi thought she wouldn't have to feed them anymore.
But then Li Yu said:
"Since you're so good at feeding them, you'll be the one to do it from now on."
This truly bewildered the pretty young beauty.
At this moment, Xiao Shi and his sister were lying on the bed.
Xiao Shi was half-prone, a section of her calf, like a lotus root, white and tender, was exposed.
It reflected a hint of youthful vitality under the lamplight.
Li Yu coughed, helped them close the door, and then went down to the basement.
His sister and Xiao Shi had similar temperaments and got along quite well.
It was strange, his sister also got along very well with Yu Tong and the others.
