There are so many kinds of goods in the hypermarket, and the dazzling array of goods makes Tao Zhiyue dizzy and feel like he has not been there for a long time.
In his previous life, he loved going to big supermarkets. This time, while shopping according to the list of ingredients, he threw all the snacks he coveted into the shopping cart.
In the end, Tao Zhiyue bought a lot of things without realizing it. It was very tiring to squeeze into the bus with no empty seats, so he had to be extravagant and take a taxi home.
Sitting in the taxi, looking at the three large shopping bags filled to the brim beside him, Tao Zhiyue silently repented of his impulsive consumption.
While I feel remorseful, I am still very satisfied.
He vaguely felt that HR's unexpected appearance seemed to have brought about a series of unpredictable chain reactions in his life.
When Tao Zhiyue returned home, it was already night. The braised beef would take at least two or three hours, so it was obviously too late to make dinner.
But at the moment, Tao Zhiyue was in high spirits. He ate some snacks to fill his stomach, checked the menu, rolled up his sleeves and started to fight.
Wash the beef, cut it into pieces, blanch it and soak it in cold water for half an hour. Then pour it into a large soup pot, add the prepared seasonings and bring to a boil over high heat.
The light pink beef gradually turned brown from the marinade, bubbling in the pot, and the aroma went straight into my nose.
Tao Zhiyue swallowed his saliva, turned the heat to low and simmered until the beef was thoroughly cooked and could be easily pierced with chopsticks.
He picked up a small piece of beef and tasted it. It was fragrant, but unfortunately the flavor had not been fully absorbed into it and it was a bit bland.
According to the instructions on the recipe, the beef should be soaked in brine overnight, which will make it more flavorful.
So that night, Tao Zhiyue fell asleep with great anticipation.
It had been a long time since he had looked forward to the next day so eagerly.
The next day, Tao Zhiyue, who had dreamed of herding cattle on the grassland all night, woke up early. He solemnly removed the plastic wrap covering the pot, took out a large piece of braised beef and sliced it, then added a bowl of noodles, poured in the delicious marinade, placed a full bowl of beef on top, and sprinkled some chopped green onions on it as garnish.
When Tao Zhiyue ate the braised beef and the smooth noodles, he squinted his eyes with happiness.
It was really delicious. He thought it was more delicious than what he had at the noodle shop that night, perhaps because he made it himself.
Yesterday he bought more than three pounds of beef. It was a good portion and the braised flavor went well with rice. If he ate alone, it would be enough for several meals.
It would be nice if I could invite friends to share it.
The tempting aroma of stewed food wafted quietly in the room. Tao Zhiyue took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stopped thinking about it.
It was still a day of doing nothing. After Tao Zhiyue carefully patrolled the house, he decided to do a thorough cleaning to welcome the arrival of summer.
Sweep the floor, mop the floor, organize the wardrobe, put away sundries, change the bed sheets, clean up the grease accumulated in the kitchen...
Time always passes quickly when we are busy, and in the blink of an eye it is time for dinner again.
Tao Zhiyue cooked a full pot of white rice, fried a plate of vegetables, and served rice with braised beef, which was a unique dish.
After dinner, Tao Zhiyue sat down in front of the computer contentedly and started his surfing journey as usual.
I browsed the forum for a while, watched a few funny videos, and saw a new update on my space on PP.
At this time, it is probably the macho coach at the gym who is sending out some chicken soup, urging members to actively make appointments with him for classes in the new week.
Tao Zhiyue clicked it casually and found that it was indeed a macho coach.
He scrolled down as he looked, and a familiar landscape photo appeared below.
[Dynamic] hr: It is a loss to the industry that I did not become an architect/cute [picture][picture][picture]
Seeing the content of the screenshot, Tao Zhiyue was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that the old-fashioned HR brother would also play the most popular online game.
Animal Island is a sandbox game whose biggest feature is the player’s free creativity. However, the extremely high degree of freedom is also a threshold. Players lack a sense of purpose and don’t know what to do when they enter the game, so they easily lose interest.
Therefore, Animal Island has been operating lukewarmly for several years until it unexpectedly became popular this time.
Tao Zhiyue discovered this game not long after he came to this world. It is much better than similar games in the original world. Players can perform many sophisticated operations that Tao Zhiyue once thought were difficult to support with existing technology.
He played and studied at the same time, and spent more than half a year of his free time in Animal Island.
Since Tao Zhiyue chose a little hedgehog as his image at the beginning, it became difficult for him to make some larger objects on his own in the later stages.
He was unwilling to find other players to jointly operate the game, and even more unwilling to give up half a year's hard work to change his account and start over. He was torn and simply gave up playing the game.
HR sent a message asking about the renovation of the cabin, and Tao Zhiyue took out the screenshots he had saved before and sent them to him.
The folder is full of pictures, all kinds of frozen moments, the first harvest of the little hedgehog's farmland, every different style of home the little hedgehog has owned, the little hedgehog and the grape trellis full of fruits in summer...
Tao Zhiyue couldn't help but fall into the still vivid memories, and the message alert sound rang.
[hr: Is Dr. Tao always alone?]
He didn't have time to think about why the HR asked this. He turned back reflexively and his eyes swept across the rich-colored and fragrant braised beef on the table.
[Tao: Has my social anxiety been discovered so quickly? 0.0]
During his working days in this world, people would often curiously ask him why he didn't join a group of colleagues or participate in any gatherings.
Tao Zhiyue always evaded the question by saying he had social phobia. Once this word was mentioned, others would usually not ask any further questions and would look like they understood. At most, they would advise him to try to participate in group activities.
HR was determined to know the reason.
[hr: Is it because you feel like you have nothing to talk about with the people you know, so you can’t become friends?]
Tao Zhiyue wanted to continue to prevaricate, but his fingers froze and he couldn't type a single word.
He couldn't write anything against his will in response to such a sincere question.
Tao Zhiyue's mind flashed through every detail of the past year or so, those dull, regular, unchanging days, and the gaps in his life filled with tiny, deliberately suppressed emotions that instantly burst forth like a flood.
No.
He didn't want to be perfunctory anymore.
I don't want to be perfunctory to someone who really cares about him, and I don't want to be perfunctory to myself anymore.
Tao Zhiyue never feels that he has no topics to talk about with the people around him. There is Gua, the programmer who passionately debates with him about technical problems, and Wang Heng, a colleague who wants to invite him to work together to pursue his dreams. Even the CEO, who seems a little out of touch, is trying to show goodwill to him.
Even the little girl he met by chance while jogging in the park in the morning had generously and proactively said "see you tomorrow".
Since the day he started living again, many people Tao Zhiyue met reached out to him, but he was always unwilling to respond.
Why can’t I become friends with people
Even if you want to escape the terrible plots of novels, there is no need to shut out everyone you know in real life.
The chat window was still, HR was waiting for his answer, and the friend list on the side was empty, without any friends he had met in real life.
Everything was silent, with only the ticking sound of the clock on the wall.
The second hand rotates endlessly in a regular pattern, the only thing in the room that is moving.
It was like he was walking in a vacuum.
Tao Zhiyue finally realized that when he rejected HR's invitation to meet, he didn't just want to have any real connection with the other party.
He doesn't want to have any real emotional connection with anyone in this fictional world.
This is an illusory fictional world that is set in the plot. Will the people he meets have a predetermined fate? Will his presence and interactions be in vain? Will the emotions he gains here have any meaning
Do these people, these passing moments, really exist
Tao Zhiyue tapped out the answer gently.
[Tao: No.]
[Tao: I just... don’t have a sense of reality.]
This is a vague answer, without a beginning or an end, making it difficult to respond.
But to his surprise, HR responded quickly, just like the night they met.
For HR, those problems that troubled him the most seemed to require no hesitation at all.
[hr: You are breathing, you are real, you can see the screen and the messages I sent.]
[hr: That’s the feeling of reality.]
[hr: Dr. Tao, hedgehogs can also be hugged.]