Twenty-four years old.
Time had passed, surpassing Zhu Zhengwei’s real age.
The family became increasingly prosperous.
They got electricity and bought a black and white TV.
They were the only family in the entire village with a mobile phone.
In the late 1990s, having a bulky brick mobile phone was quite the prestige.
Many children gathered around their house every evening, eagerly wanting to watch the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" on the black and white TV.
Although the territory kept expanding and had already reached over a hundred square kilometers, with children being born and forming their own world, this small city and town could not advance technology.
In the end, it was just a mountain village county town, and over countless years, the level of civilization here was completely trapped and sealed in the late 1990s, the era when Zhu Zhengwei was just born.
There were even signs of civilization regressing, as if returning to ancient times.
This backward rural township had no corresponding factories, and machinery couldn’t be produced.
The world was already regressing.
Perhaps it would take the continuous expansion of the world, with civilization restarting, hoping for the emergence of a knowledge giant, like Einstein or Tesla, to pave the way for a new era...
At this time, at home.
The parents found a match for the elder brother.
"This one seems unreliable at a glance, with shifty eyes and not childbearing hips."
"This one looks pretty, but no, you can tell at a glance she’s up to no good. There’s something wrong with this girl — why would she fancy our paralyzed eldest son? She must be after our family’s wealth."
"Ah, this one is good. Clearly honest and reliable. When we’re old and gone, she’ll certainly take care of the eldest and not abscond with the family fortune."
The two parents were earnest and honest rural people, selecting a wife for the eldest son, scrutinizing every option, already thinking about the future earnestly.
In the end, it was a tall and large ugly woman. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs NovєlFіre.net
Though ugly, she was diligent, quick in her work, and good at rabbit husbandry. The two got married.
The eldest son didn’t like her, but opposition was futile.
The third brother was healthy and considered a smart lad.
Over the years, he matured into adulthood, being quite good at farming and rabbit husbandry, but he didn’t want to stop there, yearning to study and read.
"Why don’t you become a teacher?"
The village had no teacher, so the third brother opened a private school.
He eagerly asked Zhu Zhengwei countless times about cultivating the Qi Eating Skill but struggled to get started.
Zhu Zhengwei told him, "To me, Qi Eating is as instinctive as eating and drinking water. You are different; now the Heaven and Earth Qi is thin, making it difficult for ordinary people to eat Qi."
Since it was his own dream, naturally, he was born with the perception.
But how you perceive the Qi, Zhu Zhengwei truly didn’t know.
Not everyone can mine NeuroCoin; it’s very rare.
"Then I can also figure out the way for ordinary people to get started." The third brother was very stubborn.
Open eyes and close eyes.
Zhu Zhengwei continued researching the Qi Eating Skill, ultimately stopping at physical strengthening.
Zhu Zhengwei felt that something was wrong, with efficiency always too low, yet didn’t know where to begin solving it.
These years, his parents, just shy of sixty, were already in poor health, passing away in sequence.
After managing his parents’ affairs, Zhu Zhengwei built a hut behind Bamboo Scenic Village and began secluded life, focusing on researching the mysteries of this spiritual world.
Almost every year, the eldest and the third brother would visit him in the mountains.
The third brother had become an outstanding teacher, opening a primary school in the county and becoming the principal, with many clever students, wielding some power and influence, visiting each year with proud students.
His scholarship was excellent, already famous in the region.
Some said if it were ancient times, he could enter the court as a statesman or great scholar.
"This is the birthday gift I brought you."
The third brother, Zhang Zhi, took out a black radio, though it no longer received any signal.
"Thanks." Zhu Zhengwei nodded, seriously placing it on a nearby shelf, along with various gifts from the third brother over the years, including an old phonograph.
"Are these the excellent students you’ve trained? You say they’re diligent and knowledgeable?"
Zhu Zhengwei sat on a bamboo chair, calmly sipping tea, observing the visit of the students, his expression turned odd as he glanced at the three, his eyelids twitching wildly.
A counselor, young at heart, getting along with us students, approachable.
The old professor who taught programming, known as the "Roll Caller Maniac," struck fear in many, often tormenting their dormitory.
The elderly professor from a neighboring department, renowned nationwide in chemistry, retired back to this third-tier city college.
All of them were high-quality human cloud servers,
Truly worthy of being the third brother; your county primary school faculty is indeed strong!
The time seemed about right, the second batch of servers entered, and they indeed at this age, in their twenties.
Time flies in the blink of an eye; I’ve truly aged.
The students bowed with curiosity in their eyes.
Is this Mr. Zhang Da’s brother?
They thought this one, whom their teacher highly respected and often mentioned with admiration, would also be a revered elder,
Mature like their teacher, with a Confucian demeanor, a hermit in the Yun Gui mountain village, only to find a refined middle-aged man in his thirties, slightly older than themselves, exuding an extraordinary charm.
The most distinctive was the mole at the corner of his eye, a tear mole.
It was beautiful, enchanting, with a captivating mystery.
"Ahem, I’ve heard you students study well. I’ll give you a few questions to test you." Zhu Zhengwei coughed twice, speaking profoundly.
Would you test my students?
Zhang Zhi felt comforted, thinking to himself:
"Second brother has always been indifferent and uninvolved with worldly affairs, living like an immortal in the mountains, yet he’s unexpectedly interested in my students. Seems like they really impressed him!"
After the parents, the eldest of the Zhu family also passed away at fifty-six, leaving a daughter behind.
The countryside kid who used to watch, sniffle, and pick his nose outside the door had a tranquil life despite his illnesses.
"We’re gradually aging, and second brother, you’re still so young."
That day, the third brother, now with half-gray hair, visited again, his elegant appearance envious of the still thirties-looking Zhu Zhengwei.
Zhu Zhengwei shook his head, pouring him a cup of tea, saying, "I have no worries, no burdens, no children to trouble me, living only for longevity, naturally keeping young, yet losing much of life’s earthly joys because of that."
He trained daily to become a high-quality male.
Living just for health, combined with the Qi Eating Skill, indeed prolonged life.
In reality, many fifty-year-olds, if well-maintained, could still appear around thirty; I am not exaggerating.
"Parents are gone, and the elder brother is gone."
The third brother, Zhang Zhi, and I indulged in a heavy drinking session.
The next day, donned a coat, left in the endless winter snow.
"Qi Eating, Qi Eating Skill, second brother, I felt your care for us from a young age, teaching us to rear wild rabbits, helping our family thrive, but yet felt a huge strange gap between us."
"I’ve studied hard over the years, made every effort, yet always far behind and unable to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. Perhaps when I’m old and gone, you’ll still be , dwelling in the mountains, except our descendants will visit you every year...."
"Teacher, we should head down the mountain."
The students from back then were entering middle-age, now thirty-something, standing behind him.
They thought about the unchanged visage of this mountain hermit from a decade ago, marveling at the wonders in this vast world, as they traversed the rugged mountain path, couldn’t help but softly ask behind him: "Teacher, do you think there are really any Immortal Gods in this world?"
The counselor, college professor, does not remember past lives, but their county had implemented nine-year compulsory education.
Electricity, telephones, newspapers, narrating the progress of societal civilization, even wealthy people in the county carried mobile phones, wore gold necklaces, and everywhere was a scene of prosperity.
"In this world, there are always mysteries science cannot touch."
"Second brother told me that in ancient times, there were Immortal Gods, who disappeared for unknown reasons." He looked complex, suddenly clutching a crumpled book, the "On the Enlightenment of Qi-Eating Creatures" given by his second brother.