forget the river mirror

Chapter 1 Make money, it's not shabby.

The high-rise buildings piercing through the clouds lowered the neon-dyed night sky, the luxurious floating car shuttled through the fine rain curtain, and the blue tail flame passed the huge holographic projection floating on the surface of the building.

The projection of a fake whale turned over in the sea of ​​clouds, accompanied by brilliant fireworks, and the low and melodious whale song resounded through the night sky.

……

Lin Chuan, in a neat suit, wore brown rimless glasses. Under the respectful gaze of the bionic mechanical waiter, he came out of the Ember Restaurant located on the 99th floor of the Araki Tower, holding a swaying girl in his arms.

But if you look carefully, you can find that Lin Chuan's hand did not cover the girl's unbearable waist, but hung in the air, blocking the lovely butterfly tattoo on the girl's back waist. It is a standard gentleman's hand .

The girl raised her head, glanced at Lin Chuan reproachfully, and murmured, smelling of alcohol, "You like this butterfly very much?" As she spoke, she pressed Lin Chuan's hand to her waist.

"Miss Mo, I'm not selling myself... Bah, I'm not selling myself. Although this butterfly is pretty, it's not the one I like to see."

Lin Chuan raised his arm naturally, glanced at the time, but looked uncontrollably at the colorful butterfly tattoo under the blue-purple neon, but this downward gaze seemed to make Miss Mo Misunderstood.

She blushed and spat out "rogue." But her body became softer.

"I'm really sorry, I have to go first, or I won't be able to catch the next empty track."

Lin Chuan quickly stopped a floating car, stuffed Ms. Mo in it, and after telling the driver the address, he closed the car door directly, with a set of smooth movements, and when closing the door, he didn't forget to ask the girl to leave him a good review.

Seeing the floating car go away, Lin Chuan rushed into the nearest elevator. After reaching the 69th floor, he rushed into the shopping mall, slipped into the warehouse of the big bird Zhuanzhuan clothing store, and put the suit with the tag on it. He put it in with his tie, and took off the old glasses.

Before going out, he purposely crumpled his ironed white shirt and messed up his back. He quickly changed from a well-dressed gentleman to a somewhat down-and-out company employee.

After quickly changing his image, Lin Chuan hurried to the elevator room again. Before the elevator door closed, the voice of the warehouse manager Lao Zhang came from far behind him:
"Xiao Lin, I have an early shift the day after tomorrow, remember to come and deliver the goods in the evening."

"understood!"

Lin Chuan carefully looked at the information of the next order on the phone, and responded without raising his head.

In order to make up enough tuition to go to his ideal university, Lin Chuan found three full-time jobs, tutoring, delivery, and even registered as a junior double in the hottest double APP.

For example, Ms. Mo, who had dinner with him at the Ember Restaurant just now, just wanted to find a substitute to cope with the marriage urging at home. Lin Chuan only needs to accompany her for a meal, and he can earn 500 federal currency.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that Lin Chuan has received an order for more than 50 floors. Just after Ms. Mo handed him the transparent order tablet, he turned to the last page and found a three-digit order plate. The dishes are "autumn strong".

It wasn't until Lin Chuan finished ordering that he realized it was a piano piece... As a result, he finally went to such a high-end restaurant, but Lin Chuan could only come out on an empty stomach.

In addition, Lin Chuan also played the uncle who held parent-teacher meetings for elementary school students, and the dutiful son who cried out of breath at the funeral...

It's not shabby to earn money.

For the next order, Lin Chuan needs to play the role of the son of an old woman. The younger sister who placed the order is a substitute. Her brother got off work too late a few days ago and was made by scavengers on the way home. The wife has been immersed in sadness and cannot get out, and needs Lin Chuan to comfort her.

……

As the floors got lower and lower, there were more and more people in the elevator. The elevator finally reached the 33rd floor. Lin Chuan struggled to squeeze out of the crowd and hurried to the empty rail platform.

Lin Chuan was finally relieved to catch up with this empty rail train as planned. Planning is a small habit of his.

Whether it's studying or coming out to take orders for substitutes, Lin Chuan will make plans in advance, sometimes even accurate to the second, in order to improve his efficiency.

If I got bored with Ms. Mo for a while, the clothing store he was in charge of delivering the goods would be closed, and Lin Chuan would have to buy the "sky-high" suit even if he didn't remove the tag, so only poverty can make people resist the temptation .

And the thing Lin Chuan dislikes the most is that other people's reasons disrupted his original plan, but now he is not angry at Miss Mo at all, and his mind is full of that radiant butterfly tattoo.

It was the time when the firepower was strong, but Lin Chuan did not deliberately control his reverie, and his imagination did not commit a crime.

……

……

The night sky became deeper, and the fine raindrops also formed a bead curtain, covering the sky and the earth.

After finally comforting the old woman who lost her beloved son, Lin Chuan also received a text message from the bank on his mobile phone:

“您尾号9527的储蓄卡5月28日20时17分收入联邦币200.00元，活期余额10112.23元。【理想银行】”

This is the first time his balance has exceeded five figures. Although he is still 20000 yuan short of the first year's tuition, Lin Chuan still thinks he should celebrate.

After catching the last empty rail train, Lin Chuan was lucky enough to find a seat by the window. Before he fell asleep, the words of the old woman echoed in his mind:
"When it's gone, you know what it means to be gone."

The empty rail train is on the holographic projection, and the pure white robot is broadcasting the latest federal news:

[Federal Parliament sent a congratulatory message to the Extraordinary Academy in District [-], congratulating the Extraordinary Academy on the more than [-] C-level graduates this year. The Extraordinary Academy will start to expand its enrollment in September, and it is expected that the number of new students will exceed [-] for the first time. 】

[The crime rate in the Ninth District remains high, and the federal government may adopt mandatory control. 】

[The Fifth District Ideal Biotechnology Company has launched a new generation of anti-aging drugs...]

Half a century has passed since the end of the Third World War. The nine safety zones of the Federation have isolated the wilderness, and they have also painted a prison to isolate the outside world.

On land with a limited safety zone, the city can only develop vertically. In addition to the ground roads that have been in disrepair for a long time, elevators and floating cars have become the main transportation facilities.

The empty rail platform on the 33rd floor seems to have become a dividing line.

Even in the ninth security area with the highest crime rate, people above the 33rd floor are enjoying the prosperity brought about by the rapid development of science and technology.

The advertising projections of various anti-aging medicines there are higher than the building, and they are slowly rolling upwards until they disappear into the sky and disappear.

And people living below the 33rd floor can only hear those loud voices, those skyscrapers that broke through the sea of ​​clouds, leaving them with only a sense of darkness and oppression.

……

[Station ahead, Guanglin Tower Station, Guanglin Tower Station is the terminal station of this empty train, please bring your belongings and get off from the left side. 】

Lin Chuan opened his eyes tiredly, and quickly walked down the empty track. After scanning his pupils in front of the public locker next to the platform, he took out the schoolbag that was stored here in the morning, and went to the bathroom to change into casual clothes. Only then did he pass through the huge iron gate guarded by the IPC and walked into the elevator.

The iron gate seemed to isolate the two worlds. The wall behind the gate was full of dirty electronic graffiti. Under the blue-green fluorescent light, it seemed that the air was full of dilapidated taste.

Raindrops dripped down the eaves, washed the dusty glass walls, and flowed into the dark alley.

Lin Chuan finally put his feet on the ground and put on his hood, only showing the slightly pale lower half of his face.

Under the pure black hoodie, there are jeans that have been washed a little whitish. Even though the canvas shoes on his feet are a little worn out, he carefully avoids the puddles that reflect the neon lights.

There were not many pedestrians on the road, most of them lowered their heads numbly, and walked towards the next destination like walking corpses. In the deeper alleys, there were girls selling prostitution negotiating prices with clients, and there were also drunk men yelling nonsense with their tongues out. with.

Lin Chuan stopped at the entrance of the convenience store, hesitated for a while, and went in. He bought a ham sausage and a strawberry-flavored protein bar for 12 yuan, and then continued to the edge of the city.

There were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the road, and the streets became more desolate and dark.

As he approached the suburbs, he could see huge floating fortresses hanging on the edge of the safety zone. Every time he looked up at these giants powered by nuclear reactors on the ground, Lin Chuan would feel his own insignificance from the bottom of his heart.

The vague sounds of gunshots and roaring engines became clearer and clearer as they approached.

Lin Chuan was unmoved, just walked into the alley next to him calmly, took a loose wall brick from the dilapidated wall, took out the dagger that had been hidden in it, and put it in his pocket inside.

Growing up in the suburbs, he has long been used to the chaos here. There were gunshots, and it could only be that people in the wilderness rushed through the isolation zone, because the gun control in the safe zone is very strict.

The heavy-armored floating car was hanging at the end of the road. Several heavily armed IPC security soldiers ignored the height of ten meters and jumped directly from the floating car, followed by intensive gunfire. Brilliant gunfire rang out.

IPC is a federal law enforcement agency. Each law enforcement team is equipped with floating vehicles and full-body exoskeleton armor. It is the only law enforcement officer who can legally hold guns in the safe zone.

During a firefight, the IPC will indiscriminately attack all life forms within 20 meters, and Lin Chuan doesn't want to get into trouble.

After less than a minute, the night sky returned to silence again, as if nothing had happened, only a few leaves were blown off by the circular airflow from the floating vehicle.

The "scavenger" who had been waiting for a long time swarmed up like a vulture seeing carrion, and Lin Chuan also walked over.

These scavengers are the scavengers of District Ninth. Most of them survive by collecting materials from corpses. Some of them take risks and do some illegal and criminal activities.

Sometimes the very hungry scavengers would take away some corpses... These unidentified wilderness are a special group of people that only exist in the chaotic ninth district.

Lin Chuan ignored the guarded eyes of the "scavenger" and said to himself:
"The suburbs are becoming more and more chaotic now. Are you sure you can awaken your spirit just by meditating?"

"probably……"

The voice in Lin Chuan's mind was very weak.

Just as he was about to complain, a ragged scavenger stood in front of him.

The somewhat crude mantis knife ejected from the scavenger's mechanical arm, and the dark red rust on the knife gave off a dangerous atmosphere.

Thinking of the old woman's sentence "It's gone, you know what it means to be gone." Lin Chuan slowly closed his eyes, clenched the dagger in his pocket, and said in a low voice under the suspicious gaze of the scavengers:

"Come out to work."

"okay!"

(End of this chapter)