lovenovelstory Chapter 104 Time Has Changed
Chapter 104 Time Has Changed
Chapter 105 Time Has Changed
Song Che's statement, "I never act cute!" was extremely decisive.
This is a matter of principle concerning a man's dignity.
Xia Li looked at him, then glanced at her phone.
The two remained silent for a few seconds.
Song Che cleared his throat. "Why did you suddenly want to watch something cute? What weird tutorial video did you watch?"
Xia Li shook her head and picked at the rough edges on the sofa that Bruce had scratched.
"It's not a video, it's from a movie—like when Supreme Treasure talks to Fairy Zixia."
Song Che quickly went through a scene from "A Chinese Odyssey" in his mind.
Is Supreme Treasure acting coquettishly towards Zixia?
It seems that there were a few times when the monkey actually coaxed and tricked Zixia into giving him the Moonlight Box.
"That's not being coquettish—" Song Che argued, "That's lying, it's a strategy."
But Fairy Zixia was very happy to hear that.
"That's true."
Song Che slowly sat down on the stool next to him.
Flirting is essentially the same as playful banter. It's fine when it happens naturally, but when it suddenly becomes formal, it's impossible to flirt with it at all.
Song Che doesn't know how to act cute; he only knows how to throw a tantrum.
How could a boy possibly do something like that?
If anything is to be done, it should be Xia Li.
Xia Li looked away. "Bruce rubbing against me is being coquettish, Tao Xiang's pitiful words are also being coquettish, and when you said I pouted last time, that was also being coquettish. I want to see you pout, or rub against me."
Damn it, that's impossible.
At most—she'll pout.
Song Che carefully examined Xia Li to see what she was up to, but she had a serious face right now, which didn't seem like she was watching him make a fool of himself. It felt more like she wanted to see Song Che act cute so she could learn how to act cute herself.
But Song Che had absolutely no idea how to act cute when faced with a serious face.
Pouting?
strange.
Song Che pouted, then immediately returned to his original expression.
Only he would go along with Xia Li's antics; Song Che wouldn't do something so shameful if it were anyone else.
Xia Li watched intently, "Make another beep."
"Beep—" Song Che beeped and then withdrew his voice.
"Could you mutter for a little longer?"
"----OK."
When Song Che pouted again, Xia Li poked him with her finger.
Satisfied, she continued, "Can you imitate Bruce? He rubs against me all the time, and he seems so well-behaved."
"it's out of the question."
"—Oh." Xia Li didn't press the matter, but instead pouted, "Do I look like you?"
"----Same."
"Is that being cute?"
"I guess so."
Song Che watched as her lips puffed out, her pretty lips pursed, and her usually aloof face turned silly and cute. Then she pulled her lips back and returned to her original expression.
Song Che belatedly realized that he seemed to have missed something.
If he rubs against her and acts cute, will Xia Li rub against him too?
That's how it always seems!
He guessed Xia Li's thoughts this time, but he wasn't sure, which caused him to miss a good opportunity.
Xia Li sat down at the computer. She was already familiar with most of the operations. Except for typing instead of handwriting, the other functions were not much different from those on a mobile phone.
Xia Li searched for movies on her computer.
The silver-haired girl was holding a mouse, but she was sitting rather upright. If she slumped her shoulders, crossed her legs, or put one leg on the sofa while wearing slippers, she would look like a normal, human internet-addicted girl.
That is, Zhang Hanyu.
Xia Li looked like a well-mannered and obedient girl.
Of course, Zhang Hanyu is also very well-mannered.
Song Che sat down to watch Xia Li look for movies. This time, he didn't say much or give any hints about what was good or bad.
He's been the one leading Xia Li around all this time; it's time for Xia Li to find something she likes herself.
The web pages I found contained many free movies, but almost none of them were legitimate websites. They were all scams, like "Macau Grand Lisboa" or "Gou8 Entertainment City".
Especially since these GGs can't be clicked off no matter what.
Xia Li continued searching on the webpage. She could understand the categories, such as comedy, romance, horror, and science fiction. She knew more or less about these terms.
She kept backing out of those movies, never finding one she liked.
Song Che leaned on the armrest of the sofa and looked at her.
He doesn't care whether he watches the movie or not; the important thing is to watch it with Xia Li.
Xia Li clicked on several movies.
She seemed quite picky, and wasn't satisfied with any of the movies she watched. Song Che glanced at them and realized they were indeed terrible films, the kind that were purely for money laundering.
After a while, Song Che lay on the sofa and dozed off for a bit when he suddenly heard a different sound coming from the movie.
Is someone abusing women?
What was Xia Li watching? An adult film?
Song Che looked up.
Good grief, she clicked on the little guy's video and ended up with the real thing.
What does it mean when a mother's best friend is her son's wife, and she gets excited while being spied on?
The translation is a huge problem.
Fortunately, Song Che understood immediately.
and many more!
We can't let Xia Li continue to let go of this now.
Song Che raised his hand and forked it away for her. It wasn't appropriate to put this thing away now. He didn't know if Xia Lixing would be excited, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep all night.
It's human nature to try and understand.
Song Che admitted he was a timid person, but Xia Li wasn't much different. She stared at the screen for a long time before finally blurting out, "—No, not serious!"
You didn't click on this link!
Song Che found the normal page and told Xia Li to continue searching.
She's gotten smarter now, and she doesn't dare touch those young guys at all.
She didn't initially click on those guys because she wanted to watch porn. She actually knew they were porn because she had accidentally clicked on them while searching for something on her phone. This time, she clicked on them more because the guy said he could give her a high amount of money back. Xia Li was a little money-grubber, so she was immediately attracted.
She knew money was important, and it was important to Song Che as well.
It's definitely not just to watch that movie.
Xia Li thought to herself.
She's a very proper person and doesn't like watching that kind of thing.
I watched it last time, and I didn't think it was very good.
Yes, it's not good-looking at all.
Almost two hours were wasted.
The plot is illogical.
Xia Li shook her head, trying not to think about it. She couldn't let Song Che know about this.
She continued searching for regular movies, eventually settling on a highly-rated one.
Interstellar.
Song Che hadn't seen it either, but seeing that it was a science fiction film, he felt that Xia Li might not be able to accept it.
"Xia Li, this is all science, it doesn't conform to the laws of magic at all."
"Hmm, I want to try something new." Xia Li pointed to the screen. "There's a label about family on it. I want to take a look."
"Family affection?" Song Che hadn't seen it before and didn't know how this sci-fi film would portray family affection.
Seeing that she had made her choice, Song Che said no more. He unplugged the computer cable and said, "Let's go to the bedroom to take a look. It's cold in the living room."
Xia Li followed her into the bedroom, drew the curtains, and since it was nighttime, it had a bit of a movie theater feel to it.
Without popcorn and cola at home, the festive atmosphere was a bit lacking. Song Che planned to buy some tomorrow to stock up on New Year's goods, since there would be fewer things to buy outside during the New Year.
Xia Li was already sitting upright, with her hands on her knees and her eyes fixed on the now-darkened screen, waiting for the movie to start.
Song Che never tired of looking at that face.
He went to the kitchen to boil some water. Since there were no drinks available, he could only make do with some water.
He handed her a bowl of water, sat down next to her, and clicked play.
The way he was holding the bowl was a bit distracting.
The film opens with a vast cornfield, where the wind blows and the wheat ripples in the breeze.
As the camera zoomed in, it revealed a man—whom I later learned was named Cooper.
He was driving a combine harvester.
The image has a yellowish tone, which is a warm tone, but as you look further, you'll realize that the yellow color is not only in the tone and the corn, but also in the dust.
Sandstorms frequently ravage this land.
Cooper's daughter, Murphy, is a bright but seemingly quiet little girl who believes there's a ghost on her bookshelf because books are constantly falling off, and nothing can explain it except a ghost.
Cooper, a former NASA pilot now a farmer, explains these things scientifically to reassure Murphy, who, as a father, cannot show his confusion but is actually not entirely sure himself.
Xia Li remained as serious as ever, and she quickly adapted to these daily routines.
The movie continues, and Cooper goes to the school to see Murphy's teacher, only to learn that his daughter has been criticized by the school for insisting that "the Apollo moon landing is real history."
She frowned slightly.
"Why don't they believe it?" she asked.
However, Song Che was also unaware of this.
"It's a setting in the movie, where resources may be scarce in the future, and the direction of education will change, focusing more on survival and denying the waste of resources in space exploration."
Song Che felt that this was probably the case. The world view depicted in the movie was one of resource scarcity, where even eating was a problem, let alone exploration.
"Oh." Xia Li nodded. The changes of the future will negate some things that existed in the past, but that's always how history is. There will always be something new to bring forth from the old.
The story continues.
A massive sandstorm struck Cooper's home.
The sandstorms were everywhere, making it difficult to even grow crops in such an environment. Murphy forgot to close her room window, and sand left marks on the bookshelf. These marks were shown in close-up; at first glance, they looked like the same stripes as the books on the shelf, but something seemed off, as if they were man-made.
So Cooper and Murphy studied it together, and Cooper suddenly realized that the traces left behind were very similar to binary coordinates.
Song Che felt that the plot was finally about to develop in the direction of science fiction. Usually, this is the beginning and the end of the plot.
NASA's secret base was thus discovered.
It's that binary coordinate system.
It turns out that crops on Earth have been wiped out one after another due to a blight disease, and humanity is on the verge of extinction. NASA has been secretly carrying out a "Lazarus Project" to find a planet suitable for human migration. And that "ghost" is interpreted as an entity that helps humanity.
This is the only reasonable approach at present.
When Xia Li saw Cooper decide to leave Earth and his children to carry out a mission that might be one of no return, her fingers on her knees clenched tightly.
She doesn't like losing things, and she feels the same way when she sees others lose them.
The scene where Cooper says goodbye to his daughter Murphy is the first emotional climax in the entire film.
Murphy cried and refused to forgive her father. Cooper, fighting back tears, drove away. In the car, he looked through the watch that he had originally left for his son on the passenger seat. At the same time, he discovered the watch that his girlfriend had secretly slipped under it—a keepsake he had left for her to synchronize their time.
These scenes were all shown in close-up, so Song Che knew very well that these were all foreshadowing.
He also became interested and wanted to see the moment when the foreshadowing would be resolved.
Xia Li held her breath as she watched Cooper break down on the screen, wanting to leave but also wanting to turn the car around and go back to see her daughter one last time. But all she could see was the garage and the spaceship disappearing into the distance.
She could now sense some of the emotions and Cooper's struggles. She empathized with him, and a sad smile curved her lips.
"He—" Xia Li opened her mouth, but hesitated.
Like many moviegoers, she wanted him to stay, just as Murphy wanted.
"He has to leave," Song Che interjected. "If he stays, we might all starve to death. If he leaves, there's still hope, however slim."
This is a difference in personal philosophy—whether one focuses on the present or the long term.
"Murphy is very angry," Xia Li said.
"Yes, she feels that her father abandoned her. She's still young and doesn't understand why 'hope' is more important than 'being together,'" Song Che said. "Or rather, in her heart, 'being together' is the greatest hope."
Murphy was not wrong, and neither was Dad—this truly proves the saying, "It's not me who's wrong, it's the whole world."
Xia Li didn't say anything more, but picked up the bowl and took a small sip of water.
She wasn't particularly thirsty; she just wanted to do something.
Her gaze fell on the screen, where Cooper's spaceship had entered hibernation and was heading into deep space.
She knew this; Song Che had said that people could fly to outer space, where there is a moon and a sun.
As the film progresses into its middle section, the science fiction elements become more prominent.
Wormholes, black holes, time dilation, unknown planets—visual wonders abound.
Cooper and his teammates land on the first candidate planet—an ocean world ruled by giant waves.
Because of its proximity to the black hole, one hour here is equivalent to seven years on Earth.
This is also a scientific concept. Song Che forgot whether it was a guess or had been confirmed, but excessively strong gravity can affect time.
However, this is cruel.
They encountered danger on the planet, which delayed them.
When they returned to the mothership that carried them through the black hole, the companions who stayed behind had aged more than twenty years.
Twenty-three years have passed on Earth.
It was only a blink of an eye, but then came the long wait.
Cooper eagerly checked the messages coming from Earth.
He witnessed his son graduate, get married, have children, and then experience the pain of losing his son. Finally, in a video message, he said to his neglectful father, "I have my own children now. I understand you, Dad. You can come back now."
He also saw that Murphy, now an adult, had recorded a birthday greeting on the same date.
"You told me that when you came back, we might be the same age. Today, I've reached the age you were when you left—so it's time for you to come back, Dad."
Murphy had been waiting for a long time.
Song Che felt a sudden pang of heartache. He didn't know why, but his heart ached terribly. It wasn't because of Murphy, but because of something else.
The Murphy on the screen is no longer the crying little girl she once was, but a scientist.
She has grown up.
Cooper watched the images, tears streaming down his face, crying like a child.
Song Che sensed that Xia Li beside him had a serious look in her eyes and a tense body. Since she had never been exposed to movies before, her sense of immersion was even stronger than Song Che's.
Xia Li's expression was also very sad.
She can now show expressions of anger and sadness, and Song Che feels that Xia Li has learned quite a bit.
"Time—" she suddenly whispered, "has changed."