The puppets' stage play

The young man walked on the road with brisk steps and full of expectations.

He is about 15 years old, 1 meters tall, with short hair, an ordinary face, and a thin body. He is wearing ordinary autumn sports clothes and has a dusty smell.

The roads are busy with traffic and pedestrians, and a row of floating airships are flying in the sky.

The young man looked up enviously, with longing in his eyes. He lowered his head and met the same gaze as the passers-by, smiling harmoniously at each other.

He thought of today's goal, nervously covered the watch in his hand, and was about to set off again.

Peng!

"Ouch!"

The young man couldn't help but cry out in pain. Someone hit him with great force. He looked at the other person in confusion.

The opponent was tightly wrapped in a gray robe, and his face was hidden in the hood. He looked dark and intimidating.

He shrank timidly and wondered why the other passers-by didn't notice this strangely dressed 'man'.

Only then did the young man realize that the passers-by around him were walking around without changing their expressions, even forming a strange open space, as if they were completely unaware of it.

Before he could panic.

"Hey, I found you!"

At this moment, a shrill, hoarse voice came from the man in gray robe in front of him. He couldn't help but feel terrified, his hair stood on end, and he wanted to shout loudly to attract others' attention.

In the blink of an eye, the man in gray robe disappeared like a bubble.

The young man was shocked, his brain suddenly went into a trance, and he was stagnant in place.

"Strange, what was I thinking just now?" The young man frowned, wondering why he was standing here blankly.

He subconsciously looked at the time and his expression changed.

"No! You're going to be late!"

The boy immediately ran and disappeared into the crowd.

"Yeah!" The young man walked out of a well-decorated room with the four characters "Bode Lecture Hall" hanging on it.

He previously submitted an application for admission and originally had to pay 5 yuan.

But after his repeated begging, perhaps because the other party saw that he was very determined to study, he waived part of it. He only needed 4, which was barely enough for his savings.

Daily life may be difficult after that, but he believes he can overcome this difficulty.

"It takes at least two years of study, and you have to pay 25,000 yuan every year, but I finally took the first step."

"I am 15 years old now. Qingjing Academy only has people aged 14-18. Two years is enough."

"Who says people from the lower class can't aspire to success? I must live a better life!"

The young man secretly swore and started on his way home.

He looked at the scene in front of him blankly, surrounded by white, and felt inexplicably panic in his heart.

There was a blur in the distance, the corners of his eyes felt a little dull, and three figures appeared in the blurred vision.

Their bodies were different, but their movements were surprisingly consistent. They waved their hands here mechanically. A chill filled his heart, and he couldn't help but retreat.

"Hey, I caught you!" His vision was blocked.

His pupils shrank, and in mid-air without ropes, the man in gray robe bent down out of thin air and stretched out his face.

It was a face without facial features, and his heart suddenly tightened.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!!"

"Ahhhhhh!!!" He shouted wildly and stood up from the bed, breaking into a cold sweat and water drops rolling down his forehead.

The house was dark, and he was breathing heavily, his heart twitching continuously.

He reached for the watch beside the pillow, and the light screen illuminated his blue face.

5:30

He frowned and looked at his surroundings uneasily, always feeling restless, as if there was some kind of sight watching him.

The surrounding neighbors became a little noisy, and there were constant shouts of anger.

The young man was thinking that since he was already up, he should go to the school first, and he would just avoid the trouble from his neighbors.

The young man calmed down, quickly got out of bed and put on his shoes.

He opened the door with light steps, looked around, and ran away in a hurry.

Later, the irritable neighbor knocked on the door, only to find that the person was no longer there, so he had to go home angrily.

"In the era of catastrophe, the dean of the college at that time led many doctors to overcome obstacles and quell the disaster, and only then did the current peace be restored."

"Since then, cities with the three major colleges as the core have been established one after another, surrounded by many small cities."

"And our new Haizhou City is slowly developing based on this..."

The middle-aged man smiled and talked endlessly about the process of establishing a new era. The scattered students below looked attentively and could not take their eyes away.

The young man looked around suspiciously. He came to the school early, which was fine in the city.

After arriving inside the school and starting to listen to the lecture, he still felt that there was some kind of gaze staring at him as if it was going to swallow him whole.

The middle-aged man above frowned and looked over.

"That student over there is telling me that you don't listen well and are blindly looking at things. Come on, stand up!"

The young man stood up awkwardly and looked timidly at the scholar on the stage.

"What did you hear me say? Come on, repeat it!"

He opened his mouth to speak, but his mind went blank and he could only remain silent.

"Haha, country bumpkin, your stupidity is exposed"

"Well, it's disgusting. It's a rare opportunity but you don't value knowledge."

The other students laughed at each other one after another, but only a few people ignored him.

"That's enough!" The middle-aged man looked serious and angry, and everyone fell silent.

"You! Oh, forget it, sit down and listen carefully." The middle-aged man thought that the other party had just arrived, and he was considerate, but if he did it again in the future, he would not care.

"Oh..." The young man sat down lowly, no longer looking where he was looking.

At the moment, you still need to pay attention to your studies. He secretly warned himself and listened carefully.

New Haizhou City, night of July 1046, 7 New Era

A city that looks like the symbol 6 from the sky, with a bright and magnificent "belly" and sparse and dim "hair".

A huge light screen was projected on the airship floating in the sky, and the handsome host on the screen was talking about advertisements.

"The latest "Yunguang" No. 8 floating train is running on the viaduct around the city. It runs fully automatically. The sufficient services in the train will never disappoint people. People are permeated with a happy atmosphere."

"Education, transportation, and life are all extremely beautiful. It is a perfect modern city!"

"'Tianjie' version 7 powerful intelligent processor, it is fair and rigorous, a hundred times better than the previous human governance, nipping danger in the bud, transparent ascending channel, meticulous maintenance by hundreds of people"

"Everyone can freely supervise its work and say no to dissatisfaction in life. It serves everyone thoughtfully."

"Today's era can be said to be the best era!!"

On Fuguang Street, Commercial Street No. 7, passers-by stopped and looked up at the advertisement on the huge light screen of the airship, with expressions of admiration on their faces.

"Eh yo"

A man who was watching an advertisement was hit, and he immediately looked at the suspect.

"sorry!!!"

The young man panicked and looked around uneasily. As soon as he apologized, he ran away as if running away.

The man touched his clothes, patted the dust, and muttered a word of bad luck silently, without any intention of pursuing him.

The young man ran on the road with a fearful expression.

He tried his best to avoid pedestrians along the way. After failing to dodge, he apologized and ran away.

His brows were furrowed, his lips were dry, and he felt extremely uneasy. At this moment, someone passed by in front of him.

His eyes were overjoyed and his steps stopped, wanting to ask the other party for help.

"Brother Kang, Brother Kang, with your family background, you should be one of the best in our Li Chengda Lecture Hall. Your qualification certification will be approved after this exam."

Several people dressed as students walked towards me, congratulating one of them as they walked.

"It's not that simple. It actually depends on -"

'Brother Kang' smiled, looked around, and was about to speak, when he glanced at the man, his expression paused, and his face turned cold for a moment.

"Kang——" The little man was about to say something when he was pulled by a round face next to him, his eyes pointing in this direction.

The little man was a little confused, but he still obeyed and shut up.

Brother Kang and others stood aside, with contempt in their eyes. The young man walked slowly with his head lowered and his expression gloomy.

Even if he wanted to speak, he could only lower his head in despair when he looked up and saw the contemptuous eyes of several people.

Several people slapped their bodies, as if to drive away the unknown.

'Brother Kang' sneered, a toad still wants to overthrow the world, he is just a piece of trash, and he still wants to work hard and make progress while being a cog at most, I spit!

I criticized him for a long time, then turned around and explained the reason with a kind face.

"Everyone knows that our city has various areas including Baide, Shineng, Fangguang, illegal industries, and finally undeveloped areas and shantytowns."

"The guys who live there are the descendants of those who committed various crimes during the construction of our city. They are inherently inferior to us. They do not seek advancement themselves and pursue violence. They are the birthplace of many turmoil and terror."

"And that person is just a poor boy from a shantytown, but he has gained some fame recently, haha."

The little man and others suddenly realized, showing obvious disgust, and hurriedly slapped themselves.

Brother Kang looked at the young man and laughed, and several people also laughed.

Looking at the young man's leaving figure, Brother Kang actually had some doubts in his heart.

Although the other party seemed to want to seek help from them, the look in their eyes...

Forget it, it's probably an illusion, Brother Kang comforted himself.

On the outskirts of the city, there is a straight road.

The young man walked slowly with his head lowered.

It’s not that I don’t understand their thoughts, I’m just a little disappointed.

Fortunately, he thought he was on the same starting line as them, but the result was still different...

There is class in this world.

Although he grew up in this city, his parents left when he was young and he could only struggle to survive in a shantytown.

On weekdays, we compete with those damn machines for jobs in black labor areas. After all, although machines are convenient, the people they serve trust humanity more, and thus save some money.

I recently signed up for the "Bode Lecture Hall" in the black labor area, and I have a bright future for a better life.

"Bode Lecture Hall" is the only three places to impart knowledge in the black labor area. After all, in this era, even acquiring knowledge requires money. Being able to open it in the black labor area, which is called the "labor area", itself illustrates the level of the three lecturers. low.

Normally, it would be opened in the Floating Light area. Considering the reputation of scholars, it would be more or less opened in the green area at the junction of Black Work and Floating Light.

Of course, compared to the lower shanty towns themselves, even the black industrial areas appear to be high-end.

And the Wade Lectures he went to was also the cheapest in terms of fees.

Even though he was lagging behind those who entered relatively early in his studies, he was not discouraged.

After all, learning this kind of thing itself is a leap in level, and in the future, he does not believe that he will stop moving forward.

But recently...he had nightmares.

He bit his lip tightly, knowing that a beautiful life was about to come, but something like this happened.

"3...what does it mean, the third day of nightmares?"

This nightmare was continuous, and only the number 3 that someone mentioned by someone remained in his memory.

He sighed, truly feeling his hope dim.

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Bode Lecture Hall

A middle-aged man with a round face, a slightly chubby figure and a strict attitude, wearing a decent clerical uniform, was holding a pointer and pointing on a light screen.

Below is a circular table and chairs, with bright light all around, and a few people sitting here and there.

4 on the left, 3 in the middle, and the rest on the right.

There was a person in the third row from the left lying on the table, beads of sweat on his forehead, and his body was trembling.

A man on the right turned his head and looked disgusted. This kind of person still wants to learn, and his attitude is not correct at all.

The other two people around him didn't care and didn't even look at it.

'Is it just a whim?' Song Sheng taught, seeing the sleeping man from the corner of his eye, he shook his head in his heart.

Fortunately, he thought he was serious at first, and if he was eager to learn, he would be exempted from part of the fee. But now it seems...

‘I will withdraw him the next time the test results come out’

He thought so in his heart, but he didn't care after all. This was a personal matter after all.

Time gradually passed, the sun fell, and the lights turned on.

Song Sheng raised his hand and looked at the time. His wrist wheel showed 17:30.

His time here is from 9 a.m. to 5: p.m., with no breaks in between. He eats energy bars when he is hungry and raises his hand to signal himself to the toilet. His profession emphasizes the continuity of knowledge.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at everyone staring at him who stopped.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw that someone was still sleeping. He sighed secretly, this was all nonsense, and he felt a little depressed. He might talk for a while more on weekdays, but now...

He waved his hand and left here directly. He was still having a headache recently.

The students below looked at each other and looked at the two people looking at each other in front of them.

One has a well-proportioned physique, a dark complexion, and bright eyes; the other is tall, well-dressed, and has a usual sneer.

The former had an indifferent expression, shook his head and left, followed by several people.

The latter looked away, put away his smile, snorted, glanced at the sleeping person, and left straight away.

Soon, people left one after another.

The night thickens, the light flickers, and it falls into darkness.

"Wake up, wake up, this student"

The shaking of the body woke the man from his dream.

His brain was still a little dazed, and he looked around blankly.

In the dark environment, you can see two white spots around you. If you look closely, you will see a cleaning machine next to you.

People here call it ‘Big Dai’, and it was the one who woke me up before.

Snap, the lights come on.

After squinting for a while to adjust, my face was still a little pale, and my brain was dripping with sweat.

He walked back around, it was quiet, and he couldn't help falling into silence. He came late in the first place, but still like this...

'My future, my...dream...'

His face was distorted, he gritted his teeth and wanted to howl loudly, and clenched his fists tightly.

"I..." The voice was choked.

Shao Qing, unclenched his fists, regained his composure, and silently thanked this 'person'.

He stood up and left, put the clean paper in his pocket, and left the room.

Walk out the door, pass through the corridor, and step out of the lecture hall.

The sun was setting upside down in the sky, and the lights on the streets began to light up.

He stopped where he was, looking up at the signboard, and the words "Lecture Hall" flashed in and out, just looking at it.

His eyes were full of confusion, and he ignored the confused glances of passers-by. His whole person exuded an atmosphere of depression.

"..."

Do I still have a future?