Chapter 3: Earthworm Freedom Han Duoduo

20 minutes later.

Chu Xuan returned home.

It was a 66-square-meter apartment with 2 bedrooms and 1 living room, and the windows had a simulation function that made it feel as if natural light streamed in.

As for Chu Xuan living alone in more than 60 square meters, Xue Ming did not envy him.

His parents had exchanged their lives for this, and no one could say anything about it.

What a pity.

Two such good people were both gone.

At that moment.

Chu Xuan was looking at the photo hanging on the wall, which showed the original owner’s parents.

His father had been an astronaut.

He had been in the same cohort as Liu Peiqiang, but his rank had been even higher, United Government Colonel.

His mother had been a planetary engines special-class engineer and also a professor of mechanical engineering at underground city University.

The former sacrificed his life when, while passing through the asteroid belt, his spacecraft was hit by a meteorite.

The latter encountered a major failure during an equipment inspection and also sacrificed her life at her post.

Now only he remained.

…

It was precisely because of the original owner’s parents’ contributions that he could live alone in a 2-bedroom-and-1-living-room apartment.

In fact, that was the case.

In his heart, he had harbored a different desire.

The original owner had wanted to join the army and loved the military, but because he was a preferential-status person, military service was prohibited.

In the film, it was the same.

Liu Qi was the same and belonged to the preferential-status group, was not allowed to be a soldier, and did not need to engage in dangerous surface work.

He enjoyed government benefits.

Besides that, there was more.

There was also immunity for ordinary violations.

Otherwise, matters would have been quite different.

Liu Qi in his early 20s was not legally ignorant.

How would he have dared to casually drive his grandpa’s vehicle when that was United Government property?

Moreover, it was valuable property.

If an ordinary person did that, the sentence started at several years.

If we did an assessment, Liu Qi’s behavior could only be described as: a willful runaway by a privileged youth!

…

Xue Ming skillfully took out his tools.

In no time, he finished a fried egg, and it was thanks to the room having independent ventilation instead of relying on the corridor outside.

Otherwise, it would definitely have drawn a crowd to gawk.

The two of them split it half and half.

Xue Ming chewed slowly and carefully.

Chu Xuan had eaten a piece of cake before returning.

Although he was full, he did not refuse, because the Sign-In System’s foods were diverse and God knew how long before the sign-in would yield eggs.

“So delicious!”

“I can’t imagine what it was like for people to eat eggs until they were stuffed before the Braking Era.”

Just imagining that scene made Xue Ming feel happy.

Hearing that, Chu Xuan also sighed.

Chu Xuan also felt wistful, and by comparison, people before the Braking Era were truly fortunate.

Back then, there had been all sorts of dissatisfactions.

But it had still been far better than the present level of life.

In the past, it had been different.

Suffering was temporary.

Now, things had changed.

Stifling boredom lasted a lifetime.

The lightless underground city meant a long journey that would last for 100 generations.

It sounded grand, and watching it in a cinema felt stirring.

But the reality wore people down.

For those living under such a background, over time it became a kind of spiritual torment.

Blue skies and white clouds had become a luxury.

Green mountains and clear waters had as well.

They were all extravagant wishes.

In an entire lifetime, one might never smell air with the scent of fresh grass.

“……”

Chu Xuan shook his head, helpless.

He was not a savior, and even if he wanted to change things, he had no ability to do so.

Just mentioning the Jupiter Crisis a year from now gave him a headache.

“Hmm, I could at least give an early warning!”

He had minored in astrophysics, and by using his graduation thesis, he might be able to do something.

Speaking of which, there was a reason.

He had chosen a minor in astrophysics also because of the original owner’s father’s death.

Between Mars and Jupiter lay a dense asteroid belt.

When they passed through it back then, disaster struck.

Earth suffered impacts from hundreds of millions of meteorites.

The losses were enormous.

To avoid certain deadly large meteors and meteor swarms, Earth underwent multiple orbit changes and had already deviated from its planned trajectory.

For that very reason, what followed came to pass.

There was the subsequent Jupiter Crisis. 『From the director’s notes』

“Tsk tsk!”

“Memorable!”

Xue Ming’s words pulled Chu Xuan’s thoughts back to reality.

He thought for a moment.

He pretended to take a bowl of rice from the cupboard and set it on the stove to cook.

At first, Xue Ming was also surprised, wondering why he was cooking Synthetic rice himself when ready-made was sold outside and a bit more cost-effective.

Food blocks were affordable.

Synthetic rice cost a bit more, and shops outside cooked it in bulk.

Calculated out, it was indeed a tiny bit cheaper.

But gradually, something changed.

A rich aroma of rice wafted over.

“Sniff!”

Xue Ming took a deep breath, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “This isn’t Synthetic rice?”

“Yes!” Chu Xuan smiled.

Xue Ming leaned in and took a few more sniffs, looking utterly content.

Someone who didn’t know might have thought he was inhaling something else.

Most in the plant track took yield increase as their topic, and nobody lacking brains would ever play at reducing their own yields.

If eggs weren’t laid daily and easy to fiddle with, they wouldn’t dare bring them out like this.

Therefore, it made sense.

The big bowl of fragrant rice before them was truly rare.

After carbon dioxide-to-starch synthesis technology matured, rice was no longer cultivated on a large scale.

When search teams went outside, there had been some rice at first, but later there was none.

Xue Ming: “Did you buy it?”

“……”

Chu Xuan did not explain and only smiled.

Xue Ming did not ask again, since having food to eat was enough.

He was not afraid it came by improper means; as long as it was not stolen, it did not count as improper, and since they had known each other since childhood, Chu Xuan was not that kind of person.

Even if it had come by improper means, it wasn’t a big deal.

He was a preferential-status person.

He had minor-offense immunity.

What did a bowl of rice amount to?

Although Chu Xuan’s father had died in the line of duty, he had at least once been a colonel.

Originally, after the mission of crossing the asteroid field ended, he would have been transferred back.

Based on his contributions, his rank would have been raised by one grade.

United Government Brigadier General!

That would have meant entering the United Government command echelon.

It carried significant weight.

That was a military rank recognized worldwide; would someone like that have no friends, no superiors, and no subordinates?

In terms of connections, the difference was vast.

It far surpassed his own old man who served at the underground city Public Security Office.

…

The fragrance filled the whole room.

Xue Ming drooled on the side, staring without blinking.

“Brother Xuan!”

Right then, a pleasant voice sounded outside the door.

Chu Xuan froze for a moment as a figure surfaced in his mind.

Click!

He opened the door and saw a teenage girl standing at the door.

Han Duoduo.

Compared to the film, her looks were not merely similar; they were indistinguishable.

She was pretty and lively.

She was charming and cute.

She was smart and quick-witted.

Chu’s father and Liu Peiqiang were both astronauts, so the apartments they were assigned were next to each other.

They had been neighbors with Liu Peiqiang’s family since childhood.

Naturally, that made them close.

Chu Xuan was also familiar with the girl before him, and their relationship was extremely good.

The original owner had been a top student.

Han Duoduo often came over to ask about homework.

As for her brother Liu Qi, although his talent was decent, he had little patience and got irritated after just a few words.

As a result.

Later, whenever she had a problem, Han Duoduo could not be bothered to ask her brother.

Instead, she came to his place.

In particular, his own mother had no daughter and had always treated Han Duoduo as a daughter.

Gradually, Han Duoduo spent more time at the original owner’s home than at her own.

After the original owner’s mother passed away, Han Duoduo cried for a long time.

After that, she often dropped by to ask about homework, helped tidy up the house, and sometimes even brought snacks.

“Duoduo!” Chu Xuan called slowly.

She really looked exactly the same.

“Brother Xuan, here, my brother just bought roasted earthworms.”

Han Duoduo cheerfully took out several skewers…

Chu Xuan took a deep breath, and the thought of the fat earthworms writhing at the internship farm came to mind.

All right!

He could not turn up his nose, so Chu Xuan accepted it with a smile.

“You are very thoughtful, Duoduo; thank you.”

“You’re welcome… eh, Brother Xue is here too!” Han Duoduo noticed Xue Ming.

“Hey, Duoduo!” Xue Ming greeted her.

Just then, Han Duoduo took a deep breath and was about to speak when Chu Xuan pulled her into the room.

He quickly closed the door.

“Real rice?”

Once she knew what that smell was, Han Duoduo’s little mouth dropped open.

…

That meal left Han Duoduo savoring it afterward.

It turned out that even without adding a pinch of salt, rice could still be this delicious.

There was also the rice broth, fresh and full-bodied.

She added cool boiled water twice, swishing until the bowl was clean.

“Burp!”

A satisfied burp came from Han Duoduo.

Only then did she realize it.

She had eaten to the point of being stuffed, and even the roasted earthworms she had brought had gone into her own belly.

Brother Xuan was truly too kind.

Even though he clearly liked roasted earthworms, today he kept finding ways to let her eat them.

Once she saved enough pocket money, she would buy more for Brother Xuan.

She really wanted to grow up so she could earn credit points and achieve earthworm freedom!