Chapter 2: Harmonious Neighborhood Relations
“Perfect Life is a leisure and healing game that can nourish the soul and soothe the body and mind. There are plots that make people smile and warm daily life. We will use hope and happiness as the main theme to bring positive energy to all players…”
Time passed minute by minute, until 23:59, when the mechanical synthesized sound coming from the depths of my mind suddenly stopped.
"Now, you can choose your own perfect life."
The hard, cold ground stimulated the nerves on his face. Han Fei slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying in an unfamiliar room.
The house is about 70 square meters. The furniture is covered with dust, and the walls are mottled with some black and red stains.
"My head hurts so much, it feels like there's a hole in the back of my head."
A faint musty smell wafted into his nose, and Han Fei could clearly sense everything around him.
Hearing, vision, smell, touch, this game is not much different from the real world.
Sitting blankly on the floor of the living room, Han Fei looked at the empty, deserted room.
The architectural layout and furniture of the house still maintain the style of decades ago. It is covered with dust everywhere, as if no one has lived there for a long time.
“Is this my home in the game?”
Han Fei rubbed the back of his head and stood up from the ground: "Looking at the game introduction, this is a healing life simulation game. It has an open world and no fixed gameplay. I can work hard to upgrade the character and improve the attributes, or I can collect money to spend and enjoy myself, and I can also date a virtual girlfriend and have virtual family and love."
While thinking about what to do next, Han Fei suddenly heard a knock on the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Walking to the other side of the living room, Han Fei opened the security door. The dim light of the voice-controlled lamp shone into the room, dispelling the coldness and loneliness.
"Young man, you are the new resident, right?"
A kind and gentle voice came from outside the door, and in the corridor piled with all kinds of sundries stood an old lady with a kind face and silver hair.
"Today is New Year's Day. Grandma made dumplings at home. Let's come over and eat them. Festivals should be lively and festive."
In modern cities, everyone is very busy and neighbors may not speak to each other for weeks. Han Fei has never encountered a situation like inviting neighbors to his home for dinner during the holidays.
"Forget it. I don't want to trouble you." Han Fei has become taciturn since he was fired by the company. He is not willing to have too much communication with others.
"My son and daughter-in-law are working in other places, so there are only me and my grandson at home. I cooked a lot of dishes, but it would be wasted if we couldn't finish them."
The old lady looked at Han Fei as if she were her own child, and every word she said was like the morning sunshine, making people feel warm.
"Dumplings symbolize the change of years, reunion and good fortune. Eating dumplings can get rid of the bad luck of the year. It's not easy for you to work hard alone. Come and have some hot dumplings to warm your stomach."
The old man invited Han Fei again and again. If it were in reality, Han Fei would probably find all kinds of excuses to prevaricate, but this was in a game after all, and the old man might just be guiding him to complete the plot mission.
Nodding, Han Fei picked up a bunch of keys on the coffee table in the living room, walked out of the room, and helped the old man downstairs.
"Grandma, please watch your step and walk slowly."
The corridor in front of me was piled with debris and garbage, the iron railings were rusty, and there were many small advertisements and children's graffiti on the walls on both sides.
This place looks very much like an old residential area from more than a decade ago. With the rapid development of technology, such communities have become extremely rare.
The old man led Han Fei down one floor and stopped at the door of Room 1031.
The numbers painted on the wall with blood-red paint had become a little blurred. She coughed lightly and opened the door of Room 1031.
A rich aroma of meat wafted out from the house. Han Fei swallowed his saliva and looked into the house.
There were no lights on in the old man's house, just a few candles lit on the dining table.
"The fuse is blown. The repairman probably hasn't come because he's on holiday for the holidays."
"Grandma, how about I help you? I replaced the fuse myself when it burned out in the past." Han Fei did not regard the old woman as an NPC in the game. He himself did not know why. Perhaps it was because the other party gave him the feeling of a living person.
"Be careful, the spare fuse is in the drawer." After giving the instructions, the old woman went into the kitchen. The meat she stewed seemed to be cooked.
Standing on a bench, Han Fei replaced the fuse. He turned on the power switch, and the warm light illuminated the dark hut.
"Player No. 0000, please note! The G-level ordinary task of replacing the fuse has been completed. Meng Shi's friendship level has increased by five. Harmonious neighborhood relations are the first step to a perfect life."
A cold mechanical : "The mission system has been activated, and the novice mission has been updated. Completing the novice mission will help you understand everything in this world as soon as possible."
Listening to the unfamiliar voice in his mind, a property panel appeared in front of Han Fei, but before he could take a closer look, the old man walked out of the kitchen carrying a pot of fish soup.
"The fish soup is freshly stewed. Drink it while it's hot." The old woman put the fish soup on the dining table with a smile. She turned and walked to the bedroom door and opened the iron lock on the bedroom door: "Chenchen, come out to eat."
A moment later, a little boy of five or six years old walked out of the bedroom. He kept his head down, as if he was angry with the old lady.
"You guys eat first. I still have a few dishes to prepare." The old man opened the refrigerator door and took out half a frozen chicken from the upper shelf: "The power has been out for so long, why hasn't it thawed yet?"
She put the frozen chicken into a small bowl and placed it on the dining table.
"Grandma, don't make so many dishes. We can't finish them."
"It's rare to have guests at home. If I don't cook more, the meat in the refrigerator will go bad." The enthusiastic and kind old man busy in the kitchen reminded Han Fei of his family.
When he was very young, the New Year celebrations at home were always so lively.
The aroma of meat wafted into his nose, and the fish soup just out of the pot was steaming. The hazy fragrance made Han Fei a little dazed, and the memories in his mind seemed to overlap with the virtual game .
The dim light illuminated the small house. The sounds of pots and pans came from the kitchen. Commercials were playing on the square TV. The faint smell of fireworks seemed to dispel the indifference of this strange city.
“These simple beauties may be life itself.”
There will always be a special dark time in life. If you stop moving forward because you are afraid of the future, you will be trapped in the darkness forever.
Han Fei picked up the soup spoon and served a bowl of fish soup to himself and Chenchen respectively.
The milky white fish soup exuded an enticing aroma, and Han Fei blew gently at the bowl a few times to release the hot air.
He was about to taste the fish soup when he suddenly saw from the corner of his eye that the child across the table was holding a bowl of fish soup above his head.
"What does this kid want to do?"
Before Han Fei could react, the child threw the bowl full of fish soup heavily to the ground!
"I won't eat anything out of a coffin!"
puff!
Hearing the child's words, Han Fei spat out a mouthful of fish soup.
coffin?
The ceramic bowl was broken all over the floor, and the fish soup was spilling everywhere. The old lady heard the noise and ran out of the kitchen: "Chenchen! What are you doing?!"
“Everything you made was taken out of the coffin!” The boy, who looked only five or six years old, raised his head, with bloodshot eyes.
"What nonsense are you talking about!" The old lady was worried that the boy would be scalded, so she didn't even bother to take off her apron and ran to the dining table.
"The building manager said that dead people are only placed in coffins!" The boy broke free from the old man's hand, threw the frozen chicken he had just taken out of the refrigerator to the ground, and ran to the bedroom.
"Come back here!"
The old man also entered the bedroom, and only Han Fei was left in the living room, holding a bowl of fish soup.
"This naughty kid is so scary." Han Fei put down the porcelain bowl silently. He found a broom and dustpan behind the door and wanted to help the old man clean up, but when he was about to pick up the frozen chicken on the ground, he suddenly remembered something.
The child said he didn't want to eat anything taken out of the coffin, but Han Fei saw clearly that the half frozen chicken was taken out of the refrigerator by the old man.
This would have been nothing, but if combined with what the child said later, the building manager told the child that only dead people are placed in coffins.
Why did this child think the refrigerator was a coffin? Is it because there is a body hidden ?
kindness?
Thinking of this, Han Fei was stunned. This didn't seem like the start of a healing game!
