The woman finished telling Jenkins her story, with a look of relief on her haggard face:
"I rarely mention my affairs to others."
"Are there no friends in the factory?"
"Everybody's busy, and, sir, do you think I'm pitiful?"
More poor than her is that at least she is eking out a living for now, which is a luxury for many.
"Every family has a story. My story is not uncommon, so I rarely tell others. I don't want others to pity me, and I don't think I need pity."
At last they came to the crest of the gentle slope, and then the straight road continued. The light from the setting sun after the rain is extraordinarily dazzling. It is an orange light, and it can even be said to have a tragic warmth.
Because the rain stopped, there were more people on the street. Every scene here is a manifestation of this magnificent era. Jenkins even believes that if someone can record everything that happened on this street, then these records can be used to describe Nolan in the summer of 1865.
"Do you feel tired from life?"
He finally asked this question, and the woman didn't look at him, but at the children running on the street:
"How can I not be tired? But since it is the life I choose, I have to accept it."
Two children chasing each other passed in front of them, and the two stopped and waited until the children ran to the side of the road.
"Sometimes I also think about how happy I would be if I didn't wake up, but every time I would force myself to wake up and go to work. This is something I can't help, after all, I still have them."
This is a very ordinary-looking woman. After suffering from physical labor and life pressure, her appearance is even worse. But Jenkins would love to see her face now, a face that represents most of the world.
"Some people work to make money, and some people just to live. I don't think there is anyone who doesn't feel tired, after all, everyone knows how tedious and heavy the work in the factory is. But so what? We don't have a choice The leeway, or the choices I made when I was young, led to such a life.”
"So, do you resent life, or the man who abandoned you and the children?"
Jenkins asked again.
"Resent both, the man and the life I'm living now, both make me uncomfortable. But I also resent myself... so what?"
The woman asked the question again.
"It's always going on, working, living, and watching the children grow up day by day. Maybe their lives will be worse than mine, maybe they will be better than I imagined. But those don't matter anymore. I I never dare to look forward, just walk with my head down, and walk forward quickly, so that I can temporarily forget those troubles. I can probably be regarded as a very hardworking woman."
She said it herself without being induced by Jenkins.
"If the family is happy, I will be a good housewife. But now that I have become like this, I can only work harder, otherwise the children's future will really have no way out."
The two turned inward at the alley on the side of the street, and after leaving the main road, they entered the intricate alleys of the slums. The population density here is extremely high, and it is a warm summer evening, and the alleys are full of people.
The children were talking and laughing, and the housewives were sitting at the door washing vegetables. Men gathered in groups of twos and threes to chat, or discuss recent income.
The woman's home is near here, and she is like everyone else here. People greet women, and women respond.
"Look at the people here, which one is not the same as me? Even in other cities I have not been to, I believe most people are the same as me. Life is busy, we work hard, this is life. "
The two walked side by side, and finally came to the door of the woman's house. Under the supervision of the older boy, the younger girl sat at the door and played with the sand in a foolish way, while the oldest girl came out to meet her mother with a spatula.
The family of four walked into the house, but Jenkins didn't follow, but reached out to catch the heart-shaped diamond that floated by.
Touching the well-behaved cat on his shoulder, Jenkins turned to look at the gear man who had been following behind him.
"It's weird, I obviously didn't do anything."
he said.
Jenkins no longer wants to use the depicted future to trick women into working hard. His idea is to make women love life and cherish what they have now. The venue for the conversation is planned to be in a woman's home, which will make it easier.
But before he could do anything, the jewel appeared. He just communicated with the woman as a listener, and he didn't exert any influence other than that.
"The difficulty of the seven goals is different, and this one may be the easiest one."
said the Cogman, and looked with Jenkins at the Silmaril in his hand.
The rain stopped and the clouds dispersed, and in the magnificent setting sun, the light refracted from the surface of the diamond was still dazzling. The diamonds were not big and didn't have much heat, but they did appear.
"Are you pitying this woman?"
the Gearman asked.
"Yes, I obviously didn't feel this way when I was on the road, but looking at this diamond, I really feel pity for her, and at the same time, I want to punch your head off."
"However, her life has nothing to do with me. I didn't do anything, I just took you to see all this."
It was right, the woman's current life had nothing to do with it, but this did not prevent Jenkins from further loathing the Difference Engine.
It's certainly not because it brought him to see this scene, and Jenkins is not so angry. What he hates is that the difference machine deliberately provokes his mood, and the strange environment set up by the other party is definitely aimed at his mood.
The ninth layer of paradox is the last layer. The difference machine may want to make Jenkins hesitate and make Jenkins hesitate before the final decisive battle, but this will only make Jenkins want to destroy the opponent even more.
"Even if I don't bring you here, this person still exists, it's just that you can't see it. Or, are you angry just because I brought you to see things you don't want to see or think about?"
"I'm not that low-level yet."
said Jenkins, then threw the jewel to the cog-man, and turned to the woman's door. After pushing the door and entering, he returned to Papa's antique shop.
"So, William the savior, not being able to see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Let me show you..."
Cogman followed Jenkins back into the store, then stopped talking, and together with Jenkins saw that Pop's place was empty.
"You see, I knew there were going to be surprises. Everything happens. That's what I've learned over the years."
said the gear man, and took two quick steps to go back behind the counter:
"When building any model, variables must be considered. The complexity of reality makes it impossible to count the number of variables. Only an existence like me can calculate every possibility. I guessed that someone would I invaded the final delusion ahead of time, but I didn't expect it to be done in this way. It seems that I still underestimate the Church of the Orthodox Gods, but after all, it is the Church of the Orthodox Gods, and it is normal to have some abilities beyond calculation."
"Is Dad really here?"
Jenkins thought for a while, and then asked the other party:
"Aren't you going to stop him?"
"Why do you want to go? The owner of this antique shop must have gone to the last clock tower. We are going to go there too, so there is no need to stop it."
"Aren't you worried that I'm delaying time here so that Dad has more time to prepare in the clock tower?"
Jenkins asked.
"Of course don't worry. Why do you think I talked so much with you in the ninth floor?"
The gear man asked, and Jenkins replied without thinking:
"In order to procrastinate, let your main body core integrate as much as possible."
"You guessed it?"
"Yes, I guessed it."
"Then why are you still willing to talk nonsense with me here? You shouldn't have thought of this just now, have you?"
Jenkins smiled, leaning sideways on the counter while placing the cat on the counter and stroking it with one hand:
"Actually, I'm very happy to see you become a beast of disaster."
"Why?"
"If I stop you, although I have successfully prevented the doomsday, it means that the eighteenth century lacks a beast of disaster. Therefore, before we try our best to quell the follow-up of the disaster and wait for the oracle to announce the start of the nineteenth century, There will definitely be a beast of disaster, and it will be a beast of disaster that no one knows.
Therefore, instead of facing unknown enemies, let you become a calamity beast and let me defeat you. In this way, isn't it more convenient? "
Jenkins said.
"You are so confident? Confident that I have become a beast of disaster, you can still deal with me?"
"If you don't believe me, why don't you go to the clock tower, let's start the decisive battle here? Of course, your core must dare to appear in front of me now."
Hearing Jenkins' provocative words, the gear man hadn't responded yet, and the chocolate under Jenkins became energetic. It was originally lying on the counter, allowing Jenkins to touch its little head. Now, regardless of getting close to Jenkins, he stood up immediately, his eyes widened, and he looked around excitedly, hoping that the battle would start immediately.
Chocolate thinks her moment of glory is coming.
"We must abide by the rules. Since you said you will see me at the end of the ninth floor, then you must complete this adventure in this treacherous land before you can see me."
"You still want to take more time to integrate the original steam engine and [Mechanical Heart] as much as possible? See, you are still afraid."
Jenkins asked.
"Whatever you want."
Because it wasn't a direct answer, the priesthood couldn't judge whether it was a lie or not.