After exhausting myself to death

The morning sun is warm, and the sycamore leaves are rustling in the morning sun.

Jiang Yiwen arrived in Tong County one day in advance. He stood under the sycamore tree, waiting for his return after a year's journey.

There is a slight uneasiness in his heart. He sometimes blames his father unreasonably. He blames Jiang Li for not persuading Shen Minghuan to go to Mutian. He blames Jiang Li for not being a top scientific researcher but even seeing Lu Wu and another model. Not out.

But more often than not, he blames himself, blames him for not knowing anything and thinking he takes enough care of Shen Minghuan, blames him for being too incompetent to set foot in country M to bring that man back in an upright manner.

He knew that there was actually no reason for resentment or self-blame. Neither he nor Jiang Li nor Gu Wenjing had done anything wrong.

They were just so useless compared to Shen Minghuan that they became a drag and a shackle on that person's wings.

Jiang Yiwen's uneasiness was mixed with secret expectations.

China has not received news that Country M is willing to release people, nor has it detected any aircraft entering the country. He doesn't know how Shen Minghuan can come back.

But if it's that person, he always seems to be able to create miracles.

Jiang Yiwen looked up at the clear sky and waited quietly.

The sun climbed into the sky, then slowly slid to the west, and soon only a glow was left.

The clouds in the distance were like burning flames, and a corner of the sky was dyed red. Although it was not dazzling, it was impossible to stare straight at it for a long time.

Jiang Yiwen stubbornly raised his head, the afterglow of the setting sun reflected in his pupils. After a while, he couldn't help blinking, and physiological tears oozed from the corners of his eyes.

He lowered his head as if crying.

"Chirp——"

There was a bird song in the distance, but Jiang Yiwen was indifferent, but for some reason the bird hovered above his head and kept chirping.

Jiang Yiwen frowned and looked around. He suddenly stood up straight, his eyes full of surprise.

It was a rather large wooden eagle.

All Shen Minghuan's early inventions used wood as raw materials.

This kind of method that turns corruption into magic can only be done by Shen Minghuan.

Jiang Yiwen looked around, trying to find the young man with a gentle smile.

Maybe he is on a certain cloud, maybe he is coming from afar, maybe he has appeared nearby, maybe he...

The flying bird chirped and slowly landed.

Jiang Yiwen reflexively stepped forward and reached out to pick it up, but he saw that the bird looked at him as if it were alive and tilted its head, then moved half a step to the right leisurely.

The bird instantly fell apart when it was about to land, turning into wood, leaving only a small wooden box.

Jiang Yiwen felt that this wooden box was more dazzling than the sun, and he couldn't help but close his eyes, still unable to stop the tears.

There is a piece of paper taped to the wooden box with his familiar handwriting on it:

"I'm back, take me home."

No signature.

*

Yunfan and others stood guard outside the office.

When Jiang Li came out with a tired face and saw them, he was surprised, "Why are you here?"

Yunfan looked at him, "We heard you guys quarreling, where is the teacher?"

There are some inconsistencies in this statement, but both the speaker and the listener can understand it.

Jiang Li paused and forced a kind smile, "Tong County has built an airport. You haven't gone home during the Chinese New Year. Do you want to go back now to take a look?"

"No, we want to go back with the teacher."

The children who have lived in Kyoto for a year have lost their previous restraint. They all looked at Jiang Li and asked him: "Today is the last day, where is the teacher?"

"Didn't you say you want to dismantle the captured M country fighter jets? How about I get one for you?" Jiang Li promised pretending to be distressed.

The children's eyes were clear and bright, and they shook their heads: "We want teachers."

Jiang Li sighed and gave them a complicated look, "Yiwen won't be back for another two hours. If you're not tired, come in and wait together."

The children followed him into the room, neither crying nor fussing, nor happy.

Perhaps he also noticed that Jiang Li was missing one person as the subject when he said this sentence.

Ji Wangchen and Gu Wenjing sat at opposite ends of the long table, each holding a glass of water and drinking slowly. They only glanced at him when he came in.

Jiang Li had forgotten why they had quarreled. It seemed like it was just a trivial matter, used by them to vent their suppressed emotions.

It's been a year, and if they don't scream heartbreakingly, they might really go crazy.

Jiang Li looked at the two old men who were drinking water with their eyes downcast, and then at the group of children behind them who had their eyes wide open and were speechless, and suddenly a chill ran through his body.

He sadly realized that if Shen Minghuan could not come back, this might be their normal situation in the future.

None of them will let themselves go.

But what should these children do? They are still so young, how can they expect to be able to heal in the rest of their lives when they have suffered a pain that they cannot forget for a year?

The children found a corner to sit and quietly study the necklaces hanging around their necks, which were gifts from their teachers - graduation gifts.

This is the reason why they will never put down their studies no matter how uncomfortable they are this year. The teacher said that there is also a gift in it.

They don't expect gifts, but they want to know.

Jiang Yiwen specially dispatched a private plane for this trip, and within two hours, he appeared in the office on time with the box in hand.

Gu Wenjing asked in surprise: "What's wrong with you?"

Jiang Yiwen's nose was bruised and his face was swollen, especially the black circles around his eyes, as if he had been beaten.

"I accidentally fell." Jiang Yiwen said lightly.

Jiang Li glanced at him and said nothing.

Jiang Yiwen has Lu Wu, let alone wrestling, even if someone really wants to hit him, he will be fine.

It was obviously his own doing.

Jiang Li remembered that he had done this kind of thing when he was very young.

When Jiang Yiwen was a child, he took Xiao Minghuan out and almost lost him. Fortunately, Minghuan was smart enough to find him.

At that time, Jiang Yiwen had such a pig-headed face, saying that he accidentally fell, but in fact it was just to cover up the redness and swelling on his eyes caused by crying.

It's self-punishment and pretending to be strong.

Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Jiang Yiwen put down the wooden box and said, "I haven't opened it yet."

The paper wasn't even removed, it was still hanging on it, making Ji Wangchen and others jealous.

Jiang Li took it off with quick hands and eyes, but his movements were very meticulous and there was no damage at all.

He put it carefully into his pocket, and then called to the children in the corner: "Yunfan, Changfeng, come and take a look at the things your teacher left."

The children put away their necklaces and quickly jumped down from their chairs.

Ji Wangchen frowned, but didn't say anything after all.

After all, he is Shen Minghuan's student, so he must know the truth.

The box opens.

There was no magical light or extraordinary vision. It was just like any ordinary wooden box in the world, opened normally.

A white sphere the size of a palm, with pits and bumps on the surface, looks like the moon they observed.

There are many fine blue five-pointed stars at the bottom of the box, about the size of a fingernail, spread sparsely around the "moon", about twenty of them.

It only looked exquisite, but they thought that Shen Minghuan would not just leave something meaningless.

Just like the birthday gift sent to Jiang Li, there will be secrets hidden in the details.

Gu Wenjing and others frowned and looked carefully, not daring to act rashly.

Yunfan and the others didn't have so many thoughts. He looked at the wooden box and finally felt sadness in hindsight.

They are still very young and don't know what death means, but they know that from now on, every year will be like this year, and they will never see their teacher again.

Yunfan wanted to be a strong and mature child, but he couldn't help it. His mouth was not obedient and his eyes were not obedient.

He burst into tears, took a "star" with tears, and held it tightly, like a drowning man holding onto a floating straw on the river.

The next second, his vision went dark, and then a blue beam of light slowly lit up.

He seemed to see the universe and the galaxy in the book.

"Yunfan?"

"Uuuuuu class monitor?"

Yun Fan's crying suddenly stopped. His mouth was still open and tears were still hanging from the corners of his eyes. He suddenly froze and his eyes were blank.

Song Changfeng reacted immediately. He couldn't stop crying and grabbed the stars in the box while choking.

The next second, he also became a "sculpture".

The children were inspired and rushed to get it. They were taught well. Although they were anxious, they still lined up obediently.

Jiang Yiwen looked at it for a moment, then reached out to take it after the children finished taking it. He glanced at the three people who were still frowning and thinking, "Ming Huan will not harm us."

After he finished speaking, he imitated the children's movements and held it.

Ji Wangchen felt that what Jiang Yiwen said made sense. He made up his mind and was about to step forward, but Jiang Li and Gu Wenjing next to him pounced directly on the box.

"Get out of the way, I'll take it first."

"Do you understand, first come, first served? Old man Gu, you are no better than a group of children."

Ji Wangchen laughed, and was so childish that he joined in, "I'm older, so of course I go first."

A star streaked across the vast universe.

Everyone opened their eyes and found that they were stepping on vast nebulae, and before them was a magnificent scenery they had never seen before.

With all kinds of stars floating around, they felt insignificant from the bottom of their hearts and couldn't help but indulge in it.

That's it, just forget the sadness for the time being, escape from reality for the time being, and just waste your time watching the scenery here.

"You guys came so slowly, I've been waiting for a long time."

A lazy complaint sounded, and everyone present trembled as if they were electrocuted.

Ji Wangchen and others were filled with fear and anticipation. They didn't even dare to turn around and look back.

is it him? It's him.

But what if it's not?

The children were already shouting with joy, "Teacher!"

Shen Minghuan gave them a noble look, shook his head and sighed, "You haven't opened the necklace I gave you yet? I didn't expect that one year has passed and you have made no progress at all."

"Ming Huan." Jiang Yiwen called out in a low voice.

He endured it for a long time so as not to scream like those children.

Shen Minghuan looked at him in surprise: "Brother, who beat you?"

"No, I accidentally fell it." Jiang Yiwen looked at his vivid facial features and laughed softly. He embarrassedly tried to cover the wound on his face.

His fingers touched his cheek, but he felt no pain.

"Ming Huan?" He raised his eyes hastily, his eyes full of fear.

He wanted to ask where this place was, he wanted to ask them what was going on, and most of all he wanted to ask... are you still alive?

Shen Minghuan was in high spirits and proudly introduced: "This is the holographic world, and I am the core. I can do anything here. So do you have any wishes? I can make them come true."

"Hologram." Gu Wenjing and Jiang Li looked at each other, their expressions suddenly solemn.

They have heard about holographic technology, but currently people all over the world regard this as an unattainable myth.

But the two of them couldn't be happy when they saw the myth become reality. They only felt that Shen Minghuan said that she was the core of the world.

"Ming Huan, you..." Jiang Li tried carefully, but didn't know how to speak.

Shen Minghuan was very calm: "I am indeed an artificial intelligence."

He was floating in the universe and landed in front of them, "Don't be sad, I have all the memories and habits of the original body. You can think of me as him."

"...Ah, that's it."

Gu Wenjing was stunned for a moment, then blinked slowly and smiled, "That's right."

"Just wait."

Shen Minghuan was very lively. After he gave instructions to the adults present, he floated in front of the children, jabbered a bunch of questions, and then angrily "created" a classroom and drove them in to study.

The children walked into the classroom and sat down in disgrace.

They are not yet able to distinguish the symbols behind artificial intelligence and real people, so their thoughts are far less heavy.

Shen Minghuan floated back again, "Okay, we can reminisce about the past."

"You...your personality has changed a lot..." Ji Wangchen struggled to smile.

"Impossible, the real person is based on the character template he set for me." Shen Minghuan nodded confidently: "It must be that you haven't seen me for a long time and you remember it wrong."

Ji Wangchen wanted to cry again, "...Really? So this is your character."

It turns out that the real Shen Minghuan is so relaxed and at ease, a little arrogant and domineering.

It turned out that even after Shen Minghuan came back from Mutian Village, he thought they knew the truth and were sharing the burden together, but in fact this man was still struggling to support himself alone.

From beginning to end, Shen Minghuan was alone.

From beginning to end, they had never seen such an almost wanton smile.

"Aren't you surprised when you see the hologram?" Shen Minghuan raised his eyebrows, "I remember you said before that you didn't have the materials to do experiments, but you can have them here."

He pointed at himself: "You can do whatever you want. Here you can have the cost of countless trials and errors, and you can also ask me if you don't know how awesome it is?"

"Well, it's very powerful." Jiang Li suddenly reacted, "What about energy? How should we recharge your... holographic world?"

Even if it's just artificial intelligence, they can't lose Shen Minghuan.

"You have a lot to worry about."

Shen Minghuan sighed, "You can't charge it unless you can artificially create a black hole. That's still early. I don't think it's possible in two hundred years."

"But don't worry, the main body left me enough energy for twenty years."

Jiang Yiwen couldn't accept it, "What will happen in twenty years?"

"People will die all the time." Shen Minghuan looked at him in confusion, "Don't treat me like an artificial intelligence, but treat me like a normal person. Wouldn't it make you feel better?"

Jiang Yiwen opened his mouth, then closed it bitterly.

I just treat you as a normal person...

Twenty years later, you are only in your forties, and you are still so young...

Shen Minghuan felt that their expressions were really strange. He couldn't understand why a group of humans could not accept their own demise before he could. Moreover, there were still twenty years left, so why did they start to grieve so early?

He put aside this question for the time being and looked at them curiously, "I used to, oh I mean the body, what was the body like before?"

Ji Wangchen recovered from his sadness. He managed to calm down and said gently: "Don't you have all his memories?"

"That's right." Shen Minghuan looked troubled, "But I always feel that there is something missing. For example, the main body's performance was very poor when he was in school, but he suddenly became better after going to Mutian Village. This is very strange, do you know why? "

The four of them were stunned, and Gu Wenjing asked in a tearful voice, "Didn't he tell you?"

"Of course not, otherwise how could I not know? It's strange, why didn't he tell me? Is this a secret that cannot be told?" Shen Minghuan became even more curious.

"because……"

Jiang Li closed his eyes and held back tears as he talked about the past.

Shen Minghuan didn't want to publicize his suffering and perseverance during those long nights, but everyone should know.

Shen Minghuan nodded after listening, "It seems to be something I can do. No wonder the main body didn't tell me. He must be afraid that you will be sad if you find out, but he doesn't know that you already know."

Shen Minghuan laughed softly, "There are actually things that the main body doesn't know about."

"……Um."

The four of them felt their sadness dissipate in waves, and the heart-wrenching words written in the book may not be more than that.

Shen Ming raised his hand after laughing, "It's not suitable to be in the hologram for the first time for too long. Let's see you today. You have to come and accompany me tomorrow. It's boring to be alone."

When everyone came back to their senses, it seemed like a big dream.

They stared blankly at the blue stars in their hands, and suddenly they bent over and burst into tears.

The joyful children were shocked by the crying for a moment, and for some reason they suddenly began to cry too.

They just said goodbye to Shen Minghuan.

But Shen Minghuan has long been gone in the world.