Chapter 1709: The Pursuit of Humanity
"Only the elderly and children can stand to stay in this town. Once the kids grow up, they naturally want to go to livelier places," the old woman said with a sigh. "Little Solan was the same. She said when she was young that she would live here her whole life."
Going by the average lifespan in Zone 019, when Solan moved to this town, the bakery owner and some others were at most thirty or forty years old. Compared to the entire lifespan, thirty or forty could even be considered adolescence, yet the townspeople had a kind of special tenderness for Solan.
That's right, tenderness.
Under normal circumstances, it's hard for people in their prime to have that kind of infinite tolerance for children that the elderly have. This should have been a term of endearment from the previous generation who lived here, people like the old woman.
The officially announced lifespan of Master Solan was 125 years, meaning she had left Dingding Flower Town a hundred years ago. A hundred years ago, there were quite a few children in this town. Of course, over a hundred years, those children would now be nearly 140 years old. If they had children early, there would be several generations of descendants by now.
But in Solan's social network, there was no mention of companions who grew up with her in Dingding Flower Town.
"They moved away very early. Later, just like Little Solan, they never came back," the old woman said after thinking. "I heard some moved to other districts, some died young in accidents. As for whether they kept in touch with Little Solan, I don't know."
"Did they move away the year Master Solan turned twenty?" Xu Huo asked.
The old woman glanced at him. "Not exactly. They left one after another. After all, they were getting older, and within two years, Little Solan moved away too."
Xu Huo asked for the names of a few town friends who had been close to Solan, then asked if the old woman had collected any of Solan's paintings.
There were quite a few of Solan's pre-fame paintings, but after she became famous, they were basically all exposed, and most had been resold at high prices. The people of Dingding Flower Town might not have any, but asking wouldn't hurt.
The old woman actually had one in her collection.
She took out a painting hanging in her bedroom—a very small portrait.
"The Infant by the Bed." The old woman rubbed the painting a few times before handing it to Xu Huo.
Xu Huo took it with both hands, trying not to touch the painting itself. "The infant by the bed, but the bed isn't painted."
The old woman laughed. "Isn't the painting itself the bed? The infant by the bed isn't painting the infant—it's painting the mother."
Indeed, if you treated the frame as the bed, the infant with open eyes should be looking at the person taking care of him.
"Many people like children, but they don't like the hassle of raising them, so they leave everything to robots."
"How can robots compare to real people, let alone a mother? I've seen some children raised by robots. The way they look at people is different from children raised by humans."
"This is a child raised by a mother."
The old woman said firmly, stroking the child's eyes. "Look at his eyes. They're not as cold as a robot's."
Technology doesn't always bring benefits. While using robots can save the hardship of raising children, and even pregnancy and childbirth don't have to be done personally, it also makes blood relations relatively indifferent. Especially when lifespans become very long, this indifference is bound to intensify.
Of course, not to mention in the highly developed Zone 019, even in Zone 014, the historical stage where a family had to work together to survive had passed. The weaker the bonds between people, the weaker the emotions.
However, the need for emotional connection is instinctive for humans. It's just suppressed in fast-paced zones like 019. So when people pass their prime and move toward aging, they especially crave emotions. This is an inevitable, cyclical stage.
Maybe after many years, there will be another wave of human reflection, stirring up a "wave of emotion" in the machine world.
That's how human society develops. When resources are scarce, resources are everything. When you want a good life, money is everything. But the end of the chase always returns to humanity itself. People will gradually realize the importance of spiritual needs and re-examine what they once blindly pursued or reveled in.
There are also people like Solan, who remained clear-headed and independent.
The old woman took back her painting and sighed. "External things don't bring much joy, especially when you live long enough. Life is just repeating today tomorrow. Only by finding your own heart can you live better."
She turned to look at Xu Huo. "A painting—no matter how much money it sells for, it's just a number."
"Maybe it's not always about money. Maybe they just want to survive," Xu Huo said, looking at the setting sun outside. "The sunset is beautiful, but to people like us, it's more like a countdown to life."
The old woman could understand. After all, not every zone was as peaceful as Zone 019, and a player's life was precarious. If divided by living environment, players like Xu Huo were at the very bottom of society, because they could die at any moment and had to run around just to survive.
"You and Little Solan are alike—people who are always running for their lives."
Xu Huo paused slightly, then asked, "I heard Master Solan often went to play in the nearby mountains. Could you point me in the right direction?"
The old woman gave him an electronic map with several locations circled. "These are places Little Solan used to go to often. Some have been rebuilt."
Xu Huo nodded and was about to take his leave when a beep came from the kitchen. The old woman quickly pulled herself out of her emotions, stood up, and headed for the kitchen. "The food's ready. Eat before you go."
Xu Huo didn't stand on ceremony. He washed his hands and went to help.
The old woman had roasted a whole chicken, and it was quite large. The spices and food, after marinating and high-temperature roasting, had blended into a rich aroma. Following her instructions, Xu Huo cut open the chicken, which was stuffed with some specialty vegetables and fruits from Dingding Flower Town.
The old woman forked a tomato-like fruit for him. "Little Solan loved these the most."
Xu Huo poked at the fruit on the plate. When the thin skin broke, the red flesh flowed out like water, vividly filling the bottom of the plate.
He took a bite and nodded. "Very fragrant."
The old woman was in high spirits during the meal, talking on and off. She spoke about Solan, about Dingding Flower Town, about which orchard nearby had the best fruit, or whose family hadn't managed to grow good vegetables this year. She also mentioned that the weather interference device was in need of repair, and heavy rain had washed out the old mining pits. The town only had household robots, and they still hadn't found the right person to fix it.
"Doesn't the government take care of that?" Xu Huo interjected.
"Those are just small mines. They were exhausted long ago. The tunnels and pits were just buried on site. Heavy rain washes them open easily. There's no profit, and they're far from residential areas. The town has to handle it itself."
(End of Chapter)
Source: /txt/35960/32879573