Gene from the 13th Department of Bright City

On the streets, the lower class people were watching the mutants taking the exams, and their emotions were getting higher and higher. The exams had already started in all 10 exam rooms.

The commentators in every examination room were shouting hard. When some commentators saw the excitement, they stood directly on the table, raised their hands and cheered.

Yincai walked slowly towards an alley, and the bustling sound behind her gradually faded away. She hadn't seen District 67 so lively for a long time. This low-level district in the northwest, near the Western Industrial Zone, had been here all year round just to watch. Get old people and kids.

Most young people basically work in factories all year round and only come back occasionally. Yincai will return to the place where he was born every once in a while. The houses and streets are still the same as they were forty years ago. Nothing has changed, but they have become Older.

There used to be a lot of children here, but now there are fewer. Most of them are old people, and there are some familiar faces. Yincai did not take the initiative to say hello to these people, because she knew very well that if she did, it would be difficult for her. Got away.

When he came here, Yincai asked the local business officers not to follow him. This happened every time. So every time Yincai came here, these officers were very sensible and didn't make any noise, but they would still do it. Invite Yincai to dinner, and Yincai will go there from time to time.

However, many times Yincai likes to wander around this area alone, not because she misses anything, but because she wants to take a look. She may not know exactly what she is looking for.

When the Western Industrial Zone was built a long time ago, there was no birth control, and there were many children. Yincai still remembers that the streets at that time were full of children. As time went by, the grown-up children left here, and they were not very well. I am willing to come back. If I have family, I will come back occasionally. If I don’t have family, I will basically never come back.

Although every district opens up reproductive rights every few years, in many poor districts at the bottom, many parents have voluntarily given up their reproductive rights. There are many districts at the bottom like District 67, where only old people with broken candles in the wind are gone. The future will die little by little.

This time, the pungent metallic smell in the wind was a little lighter. Yincai walked on a winding stone path between the houses, walking upward little by little. In the distance, he could see a building standing on the top of a hill. Above, a large building is dilapidated and about to collapse.

The original white dome has been covered with black and gray. This facility built during the war has been used as a temporary residence for homeless people in the past years.

It was eventually converted into an orphanage. The land was worthless in a place like this. Yincai stopped and looked at the damaged wooden door on the left. There was a small piece of metal tied to it, with a line of small words engraved on it.

Zhang Lin, if you go home, remember to find us at your uncle's house in District 89. We will be waiting for you.

This is the 30th time I have seen the rusty metal sign in Yincai’s memory, and no one has ever touched it.

Yincai once checked and found that there are 15 people named Zhang Lin in the city, but none of them were born here, and their age is not right, so this person named Zhang Lin should be a gangster. In the past, there were many criminals and illegitimate persons. , as well as those who were expelled to the barrier area and returned to the city through the ravine area that was not yet fully formed at that time, and even many people who were unwilling to pay taxes chose to hide when the population information was registered. Became a gangster.

With the virtualization of currency, these black accounts gradually surfaced. When Niya took office 20 years ago, there was a crackdown, but now there are still some black accounts at the bottom. Many of them are in a dilemma and can only rely on some Local powerful gangs help manage wallets and live on their meager income.

Among them, after birth control was implemented that year, more children were born, and Yincai was once a black family.

In front of me is a broken bridge. In the nearly 5-meter-deep ravine, you can still see some rusty metal spikes and some scattered bones. This was originally a fortress on the top of a mountain, with ravines on the outside. and a city wall nearly 10 meters high.

A large section of the city wall on the right side of the front has collapsed. The main building inside is the tall dome house that could be seen before, with a total of 8 floors. It is surrounded by large and small houses, and the nearby area is no longer inhabited. .

The bridge was more than 20 meters long. Yincai jumped across it in a half-crouched position and landed on the fallen metal gate. Memories began to come to mind again.

When she was 14 years old and walking out of here, an old worker who often worked at the construction site felt sorry for her and took her to the construction site.

The days when she was a gangster are the most profound in Yincai's memory. She had to avoid people in the business department from time to time, and she had to pay a certain amount of money to local organizations on a regular basis.

In the past, in order to warn against the large number of remaining gangsters, the criminal department usually sentenced those arrested to five years in prison. When Yincai was 18 years old, she was arrested and had to either work in the eastern grain base to serve a five-year sentence, or leave the city directly. .

Yincai was released from prison at the age of 23 and received level 3 citizenship and a labor fee of 2,000 yuan. At that time, Yincai was shocked. She never thought that after she was released from prison, she would still have a sum of money to support herself temporarily. money and no taxes will be paid in the next 3 months.

In the past five years, Yincai worked on the farm every day during the day and learned to read at night from an old woman in her cell. When she was working on the construction site, she found that people who could read seemed to be paid more.

Looking at the 8-story cylindrical building in front of me, it is about to collapse. It has been neglected since more than 30 years ago.

On the ground that has been corroded by a large amount of harmful metal substances and turned black, there is a lot of garbage arranged randomly. Inside the wall, in a lower place, you can see some colorful graffiti, as well as a series of faded colors that can no longer be seen clearly. Notes, Yincai walked over and pressed one hand against the wall. These notes were drawn by her before, together with the oldest boy in the orphanage.

More and more things emerged from his memory. Yincai had been looking for the children in this orphanage over the years. More than a dozen of them were missing, and the rest had been registered on the death list.

This orphanage is quite big. When Yincai was younger, there were nearly 100 children in the orphanage. The director worked hard to maintain the operation of the entire orphanage. He relied on a factory he ran to travel back and forth every day. Several districts, collecting donations everywhere.

But it was difficult to feed so many children. Children often died due to illness, and the only way for the dead children was to burn them and throw them into the gully.

Yincai once asked the dean if he wanted to bury them, but the dean often said that although the sunlight was very weak, this was a mountain and the sun could reach it, and he wanted to let the children sleeping in the ravine bask in the sun.

What the dean often tells the children is that as long as they grow up and have strength, they can live, and as long as they are still bathed in the sun, they can live.

It's just that the factory run by the dean eventually closed down. Yincai still remembers that the dean was still thinking about countermeasures at that time. She saw the dean come back from outside several times, empty-handed and sad, but after returning, the dean was happy again. laughed.

There are fewer and fewer children. Some children are lucky and are accepted by other welfare institutions. Some more beautiful children are adopted. In the end, there are fewer and fewer children left, and those who are born thin and have... Children with diseases all died here without exception.

The dean is still running outside every day.

"Where are you going? Allen."

Yincai will always remember that day. The remaining children suffered from hunger and illness every day and were cared for by 16-year-old Allen and 14-year-old Yincai.

However, when there were still nine children in the orphanage, Allen chose to leave.

"Follow me Yincai, the two of us should be able to survive."

"Didn't you say that you are the father and I am the mother, to them!"

Allen left the orphanage without any hesitation, and Yincai did not pursue her. She knew very well that if she left, the remaining children would die.

In the end, the dean came back, this time with a desperate expression and no longer smiling. The dean persuaded Yincai to leave as well.

Over the years, what Yincai has thought about most is that she left in the end. If she had not left at that time, she might have died here. After leaving for a while, she made some money and wanted to come back. This can be called It’s a place called home, but the reality is cruel.

Click

Yincai stepped into the door of the building in front of her in one step. When she raised her head, she seemed to have returned to the time when she was 15 years old. There were still rotten knots hanging on the beams and the dean committed suicide.

There was a sound of footsteps

"Yincai!"

A voice came from behind. Yincai's eyes widened, but she did not turn her head. She was a little confused, turned around and smiled slightly. The man behind her was wearing an ordinary, white T-shirt, black jeans, and a smile on his face. He was smiling, but his face was slightly pale, his features were straight, and his hair was short.

But Yincai seemed to be confirming something. She seemed to have seen the man in front of her somewhere before. The man smiled at Yincai, approached slowly, and took out a key from his pocket. Yincai stared at him immediately. Big eyes.

"You are. Allen!"

The man nodded and placed the uniquely rusty key in Yincai's hand. There were many irregular serrations on both sides of the key, and there was a plum blossom pattern on the key handle.

Yincai was still staring at the man in front of her. She didn't believe it immediately, although the man's outline did look familiar. The man who called himself Allen walked past Yincai.

"follow me."

Yincai held the key in her hand and hesitated a little, but she still followed quickly. Everything in the hall of the building was very messy, with a lot of waste piled up.

Allen walked to the stairs with Yincai. After going up a certain distance, the stairs were divided into left and right sides. Allen stopped at the middle staircase, then reached out and pressed on the stairs to sweep away the accumulated dust. Soon A small metal piece was exposed, and he opened it to reveal a keyhole.

Yincai looked at Allen with some surprise. Only he and Allen knew the location of the keyhole. There was a relatively large bunker below, but it had long been abandoned and there was nothing in it.

"Want to go down and have a look! I haven't been back for many years."

Yincai walked over and inserted the key directly into the keyhole. After turning it, there was a crisp click sound, and the stairs on both sides of the keyhole collapsed downwards, revealing an entrance with a musty smell. Passed out.

Allen took out his cell phone without saying anything and turned on the lighting function. When he went down the stairs, the bottom was empty. Allen went straight down. Yin Cai looked at the back in confusion. In his memory, Allen often did this, in the presence of no one. When, go down below, the bunker here is like a secret base that only she and Allen know.

Yincai finally nodded and followed. Underground was a bunker that extended to the edge of the ravine.

However, Yincai was a little surprised at this time. Her eyes widened. In the originally empty bunker below, there were some things placed on the edges of both sides.

snap

The lights came on, and Yincai's eyes widened. There were a large number of weapons and small training facilities in the entire bunker. She had no idea what was going on in front of her. After checking some places, she found signs of someone living.

"What's going on?"

Yincai looked at Allen, Allen turned back, looked at Yincai and said.

"The dean is still alive."

For a moment, Yincai's eyes widened, and Allen continued to walk towards Yincai, as if he was about to leave, but Yincai suddenly stopped in front of Allen.

"What's going on?"

From the corner of Yincai's eyes, he could see a lot of weapons covered by cloth.

"I am just a blackmailer now. You may have too many things to ask, but the only thing I can tell you is that the situation will get worse and worse."

As he spoke, Allen continued walking, and Yincai held Allen's shoulders.

"Go back with me and tell me everything you know."

Allen smiled.

"You have a good voice now and have completely changed. In other words, you have not changed all the time, and I am the same."

Allen said, turning his head, their eyes met, and he showed a smile.

"If you believe me, we will meet again."

Yincai looked at Allen in surprise. At this time, she was convinced that the man in front of her was indeed Allen.

"How can you trust a man who abandoned this place many years ago?"

Allen handed the key to Yincai again.

"Take the sound and color, and take this key. I am here just to hand this key to you."

Yincai hesitated, but finally let go of her hand. At this time, her heavy mood became better because the man in front of her was still alive, which Yincai did not expect.

"What on earth have you been doing all these years!"

Allen reached the stairs and turned back.

"Looking for some meaning to live."

"did you find it!"

Allen nodded.

"Please believe in my voice. You are the only person in the business department that I can trust."