2052, Thirty Years Of Sleep

Yan Muyun opened his eyes, sat up from the bed, took off the helmet on his head and put it aside.

He wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand to wipe away the tears.

On the desk not far away, a silver-white square box lay quietly there, with blue light flashing on the lines on its surface.

Yan Muyun stared deeply at the small box with an unattractive appearance, his eyes extremely complex.

For him now, it is no longer some inexplicable high-tech machine, but the only bridge between himself and his parents.

"Yantong, where are you?"

Yan Muyun put on his shoes and walked out of the room.

"Are you awake?" Half a head popped out of the kitchen.

"Well, I seem to have been in there for a long time. It's already afternoon now." Yan Muyun scratched his head and smiled honestly.

It was just before eight o'clock in the morning when the two came back, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. And if Li Hui hadn't been worried about her son's health and asked him to come out to eat quickly, he would probably have to stay in that virtual world for much longer.

Yan Long walked out of the kitchen, wearing a gray apron and holding a spatula in his hand: "After all, I haven't seen him for decades."

"What a coincidence, you happened to be cooking?" Yan Muyun asked curiously, rubbing his empty stomach.

Yan Long nodded expressionlessly: "I guess it's almost done. After all, your grandparents won't let you hang out chatting with them."

"You really understand them."

"When I was young, my dad was busy at work, so my grandparents took care of me."

Yan Muyun grinned, suddenly realizing that the little nephew in front of him might have spent more time with his parents than he did.

After all, he went to boarding schools in middle and high school, and he studied abroad as an adult, only returning home once a year.

"You..." Yan Taki seemed to want to say something, but he only heard one word.

Yan Muyun chuckled and said, "Don't you think it's awkward to call me uncle, and it's a bit impolite to call me 'you' directly? Don't worry about whether you have these or not, you can just call me brother."

Yan Long: "?"

"You call Yan Yiming dad, and your dad calls me brother. We can talk about it our own way."

Knowing that his parents still existed in this world, Yan Muyun was in a surprisingly good mood, no matter how pleased he was with the young man in front of him.

"Forget it." Yan Long shook his head, but then his expression became serious: "Remember, you must not tell my dad about this matter."

Yan Muyun blinked, and then he remembered that there was still this problem, and asked curiously: "Why on earth? It can't be that Yan Yiming doesn't want to..."

"No." Yan Long interrupted him softly, but then shook his head: "But it's almost the same."

"What's going on?" Yan Muyun became more and more confused.

Yan Taki turned the spatula in his hand, as if he was making some kind of determination, and after a while he said, "My dad is actually opposed to uploading the consciousness of grandparents to the virtual world."

"The implementation process of this technology is very cruel. I heard that the brains of people who have been dead for no more than 5 hours must be removed... Forget it, I won't go into details."

Yan Muyun couldn't help but shudder as he imagined that scene.

He has read many science fiction and horror works, including novels, animations and movies.

But it's one thing to be a pure spectator, and you can be mindless for excitement. However, when one's own beloved is present, it's a completely different feeling.

"My grandparents all died at the end of their lives. Their only regret in their lives may be that they didn't wait until you woke up. But after all, thirty years have passed, and they have long given up hope, or they have looked away."

Yan Muyun nodded, indicating that he understood.

"When grandpa passed away, this technology had just appeared, and there were not many precedents to prove its safety and stability. He was afraid that he would not be able to rest in peace after his death, so he refused the operation. And grandma... grandma said that she didn't want to be alone either. To go to that completely unfamiliar world, it is better to go down and accompany grandpa..."

Yan Long lowered his head slightly, not knowing whether he was looking at the ground or the spatula in his hand:

"So uploading their consciousness to the Internet was entirely my own initiative. Not only did my dad not know about it, but I also didn't ask my grandparents for their consent in advance."

Yan Muyun remained silent. He didn't know what kind of decision he would make if it were him.

Finally, he sighed, walked over, patted his nephew on the shoulder, and said comfortingly: "It's okay, your grandparents feel quite happy living there now. And if you hadn't done this, they wouldn't have had the chance to see each other again. Me."

"Yes." Yan Long nodded, his expression still looking a little solemn: "I'll go back and continue cooking. I'll be ready soon."

He turned and walked towards the kitchen, but his shoulder was suddenly grabbed.

"Wait a minute, can the hospital directly perform this kind of surgery without asking for the consent of the guardian or client?" Yan Muyun suddenly realized something was wrong, frowned, and realized that things were not simple.

Yan Long's figure visibly stiffened for a moment, and then he turned around, the expression on his face becoming more solemn than before.

"Explain everything exactly what happened." Yan Muyun's voice became deeper, revealing some of the majesty of an elder.

Yan Taki pursed his lips and seemed to accept his fate: "This matter... is actually another main reason why I want to hide it from my father."

Yan Muyun folded his hands and leaned against the door, waiting for what was to come.

"I have a good friend whose father is the director of that hospital. With my request, he stole his father's authority and approved these two operations." Yan Long said expressionlessly.

Yan Muyun was shocked: "Is this okay?"

"In the rapidly developing information age, many rules have loopholes." Yan Long looked at him deeply:

"My classmate is a skilled hacker himself, and since his father's computer and various verification information are almost at his fingertips, this matter is not difficult for him."

"Where's the money? How to pay for the surgery?" Yan Muyun asked.

Yan Taki did not answer immediately, but suddenly touched his left eye, then spread his hand, and there was a light blue translucent chip on his fingertips.

"This is?"

"The 'Smart Pupil' I mentioned before, plus the chip on my wrist, the official price is 138,888 yuan." Yan Long lowered his head, put the chip on his eyes again, and said calmly:

"This is just a birthday present from me."

Yan Muyun was silent. He suddenly remembered what the other party said before getting in the car when the two came out of the superpower registration office:

"Why do some parents always think that money can make up for the time spent together?"

It can be seen that Yan Yiming has never been wronged by Yan Long in terms of daily expenses.

Judging from the character of my eldest nephew, he should not have the habit of spending money randomly, so it is not impossible to save some money in the past ten years.

Yan Taki continued: "My savings were not enough, so I borrowed some from my classmate, and he made up for it for me."

"That classmate of yours is really nice." Yan Muyun sighed.

"Yeah." Yan Taki nodded and sighed: "He did something illegal because of me, and my dad is an officer in the law enforcement department. If I tell my dad about this, it will only make the two of them angry. It’s very difficult to handle.”

Yan Muyun frowned slightly: "But you can't keep hiding it from him?"

"I'll tell him when the university starts again before I leave."

Yan Taki turned around again and walked towards the kitchen: "My classmates and I will go to other cities by then, and there is no way he can pursue us across provinces."

The bright sunshine poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, making it warm.

Yan Muyun stood in the shadow that was not illuminated, silent.

Yan Yiming would not pursue his own son across provinces, but he could contact the local police station directly...

In fact, Yan Muyun knew very well that 90% of the situations he imagined would not happen.

After all, most people's bottom line is not strong. Sometimes they just need an excuse, a step, an opportunity, and a "forget it."

"That kid and his classmates have gone to other cities. The police there must be very busy with their work. I'd better not disturb them with family matters. Forget it."

All Yan Yiming needs is an opportunity to think like this, an excuse to convince himself like this.

This kid is not very old, but he is quite cunning.

Yan Muyun couldn't help but smile.

At this moment, there was a sudden smell of burning in the kitchen. Yan Long walked out and handed the pan forward.

"What's wrong?" Yan Muyun felt a little confused.

"Because you kept pulling me to talk, the chicken wings got burnt."

"......sorry."