There was a gentle pop in the pot, the butter gradually melted, gradually absorbed by the steak, and the smell of rosemary evaporated in the air, making Parker's stomach more and more hungry, and he took a deep breath, absorbing the smell of beef in the air, staring at the beef out of the pan until it woke up on the cutting board, and finally was loaded into the plate.

Fifteen minutes later, with all the dishes ready, Mr. and Mrs. Parker stood at Nelson's door and knocked softly on the door, allowing them to hear music and laughter from the next room, even through a wall.

"Lisa, how do you know I'm craving steak, come in, hey Parker, I heard you're doing a little bit sick, how's it going, are you okay?"

After the genetic enhancement, the rate of human aging is also weakening, and Nelson, who is now more than 160 years old, although he is full of silver hair, is not too old on his face, with only a few wounds cut by the years on his forehead.

He blushed, he had already drunk a lot of wine, and the smell of wine exhaled could be smelled from a distance of a meter, and he was not too surprised when he saw Parker, but he showed his concern appropriately, patted Parker's shoulder gently, and put his arm around him into the small room.

Not only Mrs. Nelson was in the room, but also his children, children and nephews were present, and when they saw another guest coming, they hurriedly got up to say hello, reached out to take the food from Lisa and Parker's hands, and thanked them again and again.

There was a jazz in the room, and the room was a little dim after sunset, but every corner of the room was lit with candles, adding a touch of warmth and romance to the darkness.

Under the golden candlelight, Nelson's smile was a little dazzling, piercing Parker's heart, this scene, as if taking Parker back in time, back to many years ago, made him in a trance, standing in place in a daze.

"Parker, what's wrong?

"I didn't ...... I'm just, just a little hungry. ”

"Then sit down, Jennifer, and look at Parker's hunger, by the way, why didn't Jason come. ”

"He hasn't finished class yet, and he can't get home until after seven o'clock every day. ”

"Okay, I guess we're almost home, let's eat first, but we'll have to leave something for the kid. ”

Sitting down the couple, Nelson tied the cloth back to the neckline and served Parker a plate of beef stew in red wine, while inviting the others to move their knives and forks together.

The champagne looks a little gloomy under the candlelight, the body is no longer golden, and even the color changes the taste, and after drinking the stomach, it loses its original sweetness, only the bitter taste permeates the tip of the tongue.

At first, everyone talked and laughed at the dinner table, telling interesting stories that they had shared with others hundreds of times and were rare in life, but slowly, when the interesting stories were all over and there were no more interesting topics, everyone fell silent and began to concentrate on fighting with food.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Nelson looked at the clock, got up alone, pressed down with his right palm, motioned for the others to sit down, and in a quiet environment, returned to the room, carefully combed his hair, arranged his shirt, put on the suit that had been ironed for a long time, and when he came out again, an old gentleman with silver hair stood in front of them.

"Nelson, is it tonight?"

"Yes Parker, you know, time is running out......"

When he sat down at the table again, everyone moved, hurriedly packed up their things and put on their coats, and even the Parkers went home and changed into a proper outfit.

"Hoo ......"

When everything was ready, Mrs. Nelson was the first to blow out the candles in front of the window, and then Nelson's daughter, nephew, also extinguished the candles in the bedroom and kitchen.

"Hoo ......"

Eventually, the candle at the door was extinguished by Mr. and Mrs. Parker, leaving only the candlelight on the dining table to provide what little warmth there was......

Mrs. Nelson walked to the kitchen in the dark, brought out the staples that Nelson had not yet eaten, gently placed them in front of Nelson's table, kissed him on the forehead, and finally, looked at her husband affectionately.

"We've been together for one hundred and thirty-five years...... Your temper is not bad, but it is not good, you often complain to me, but you have never been too angry, you have never made a lot of money in your life, but you are not without success, you are frugal on weekdays, but you can meet the requirements of me and your children too much, Nelson, you are a good husband, in my heart, you have always been the most perfect husband, I am proud of myself and you for half my life, and I will definitely tell the story of me and you to others. ”

Nelson just smiled softly, patted the back of his wife's hand, and finally, as everyone stood and watched, sat down at the head of the table, crossed his hands against his chin, and closed his eyes.

"Hallowed be thy name, O my Father in heaven, thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven, and our daily bread and bread be given to us this day, forgive us our debts, just as we have forgiven our debtors, that we may be tempted and deliver us from evil, for all is thee, and power and glory are thee, for forever, may we meet in heaven, and serve thee on thy side and be happy and healthy all day long. ”

"Amen ......"

He began to eat the staple food, full of gentlemanly demeanor under the gaze of the crowd, and the sweetness of the bread even flew in front of everyone's noses, stopping occasionally to take a sip of champagne, and then continuing to eat methodically until the plate was empty.

He closed his eyes, savored the last bite of the world, exhaled a sweet warm current above his white beard, and finally sighed.

"Hmmm......"

The daughter took the top hat and brought it herself, and he blew out the last candle in the room......

In the darkness, the sobs were no longer masked.

"Daddy......"

"Sarina, I have no regrets, I'm sure you too, let's go. ”

He walked in front, followed by the others, got into their respective cars, and gathered together again, and drove off into the distance under the gaze of passers-by.

"Fack!"

The figure with a shoulder bag ran to the entrance of the community, covered in water, with a blue nose and swollen face, and when he saw the convoy far away, he began to run desperately, and finally could only see the tail lights of the vehicles at the end of the convoy.

The anger caused him to smash his schoolbag to the ground, and vented his anger on the trash can next to him, punching and kicking the trash can out one new "wound" after another.

In the end, he could only lean on the trash can that he hurt, sat down slowly, hugged his head and cried.

......

The crowd squeezed the patches of land in the middle, between their chests and backs, squeezed out their homes, and in a city destined to keep the sun out, there was only one kind of low-rise building that allowed it to hide in the darkness all the time, and even dyed itself a disturbing, but fascinating black.

The convoy reunited and left in the near future, and the Nelson group waited in the car until the vehicle in front of them had gone a short distance, and after about an hour, they actually stopped at the door of the small building.

Everyone gets out of the car, enters the building, takes the number, finds the room in the number plate, enters, and waits again.

Unlike the black exterior walls, the interior was so white that a piece of paper was hard to find, and everyone sat down until a man in a white robe, wearing a mask and gloves, and fully protected trolley, entered the room.

"Nelson Stepless?"

"Yes. ”

"ID or driver's license, bank card. ”

Confirming that it was me, the man put the POSS machine in front of Nelson, and he pressed the code, confirmed that it was correct, put the POSS machine away, and pushed the cart into the cabin with a glass wall, and began to adjust some liquid that I don't know what it was.

"Take off your coat and come in. ”

At this time, Nelson was like a good child, without saying a word, quietly took off her coat, handed it to her daughter, let her hang it on the hanger next to her, and then walked into the room slowly.

"Sir...... What should I do?"

"Roll up your sleeves above your elbows, I need to prepare something else, you have about two minutes to say goodbye to your family, and when everything is done on my side, you can just lie on the bed, and I'll take care of the rest, don't get out of this room." ”

Like a child who is very afraid of being reprimanded by a teacher, Nelson shrunk his neck slightly, nodded, and quickly folded his sleeves until the blue blood vessels under the white skin were exposed.

Confirming that the glass of water on the man's cart was reserved for himself, he took it trembling slightly, took a sip, and stood in front of the glass that was a finger thick enough, his hands were helpless, and he didn't know what to do.

"Daddy...... Daddy!"

The room was equipped with microphones and speakers inside and out, like a bank window, and her daughter Sabella banged on the glass, screaming to make him grin a smile that was not ugly, but unusually embarrassing.

"Sabella, take care of Mommy, OK? Be strong, I'm ...... I'm fine, and I'll be fine in a while, that ...... Parker, my wife, please please take care of some for me, I'm ...... I still have some savings, Jennifer will give it to you then, thank you Parker, and Lisa, I'll go home and see Jason later, remember to tell him, tell him...... Grandpa Nelson loves him very much, but it's a pity that I can't tutor him with his homework in the future, I ...... My God. ”

"Don't worry, I'll take care of Jennifer, but not for money, Nelson, if there really is heaven, and you meet Wang Hui and his wife, please tell them that they are doing well. ”

"Okay, I'll bring it, and I'll leave everything to you. ”

The folded palm spread the tear stains on his face, at least making it less conspicuous, but the more he rubbed it, the more cloudy his face became, and in the end, he could only hide in the corner, sobbing, and watching the man's movements.

"The preparations are done, come on sir, please lie down. ”

In an instant, Nelson was much older, and he went to bed slowly, lying flat, feeling the cold temperature of the iron bed, waiting for the staff to fix his limbs and head, and then, connecting his health bracelet to the computer, began to disassemble the bracelet, and turned off the microphone connected to the outside world.

"Don't be nervous, Mr. Nelson, you can feel an extremely strong sense of excitement later, this is a normal reaction, don't panic too much, please allow me to check your bracelet one last time to confirm your identity, check it is correct, Mr. Nelson Silverford, the tired and bitter life is over......"

"Welcome to the dead. ”

The needle was inserted into the arm, the man's technique was very good, the pain was very mild, he turned around, fiddled with the computer, and finally pressed enter, the machine began to run, and the adjusted liquid was quickly squeezed into Nelson's body.

"Hoo ......"

The liquid was cold, and when it entered the veins, his arm tingled until he lost sensation in his entire arm, and then a drunken sensation came over his head, and a strong feeling of excitement was stimulating him to keep coming together and opening his toes.

Saliva began to secrete rapidly, and at the same time, Nelson gradually lost control of his body, his mouth opened wide, he gasped violently, his limbs shook wildly, and the iron bed was slammed into a bang......

He could feel it, death was coming.

The man watched calmly, soaking a cotton handkerchief folded on the cart with disinfectant and gently clasping it on Nelson's face to prevent his saliva from splashing.

The disinfectant foam water was evenly sprayed on the inside of the glass, and the glass cleaning scraper like a shutter was dragged to wipe off the fingerprints left by Nelson on the inside, and then the cart was pushed out of the cabin, sitting on a small chair not far from the family seat, watching the monitor, quietly waiting for Nelson's death.

Death is not a very short thing, on the contrary, it requires people to go through a process from panic, to excitement, to very excited, and finally to death with excitement.

Maybe it could be short-lived, as short as a minute, to kill a living person, but the designers of the afterlife didn't do that.

Perhaps it is because of the emotions of consumers, at least let them feel the ultimate excitement and happiness before they die, so that they will not feel that the money is too much to lose.

Nelson could feel the loss of life and strength, and every minute was as exhausting as an hour of a lot of workout, but this feeling of exhilaration, which also prevented him from shaking, eventually led to more and more amplitude.

He wanted to cheer, even if he knew it was a dying candy, he would praise the sweetness of the candy.

"I'm going to die...... I'm going to die...... I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

After five minutes, the shaking slowed down, getting slower and slower, and eventually, he felt like he had just laid down, and there was no extra movement.

"I'm going to die......"

"It's all over. ”

"That's right...... That's what I want to ......."

The last murmur stopped, and the family could not see whether his face was serene or hideous, only a white handkerchief, which collapsed into his mouth, forming a frightening "basin".

"Drip ......"

The heartbeat line displayed on the monitor has become a straight line, the man gets up, asks Sabella for Nelson's suit and top hat, enters the room, gently dresses Nelson, turns his back to the family, adjusts Nelson's appearance, and finally puts the top hat on his chest, pulls up the body bag, and opens Michael.

"I can take Mr. Nelson home, and may Mr. Nelson be by my father's side and be happy and healthy all day long. ”

"Amen ......"

......

Nelson's body was heavy, unthinkable before Parker, and the three big men, Nephew and Parker, were very difficult to carry, and under the gaze of pedestrians in the hall, they were put into the coffin that had already been prepared on the convoy pickup.

Holding the frail Mrs. Nelson and Sabella into the car, the convoy started, Parker glanced at Lisa in the driver's seat, and then turned his head to look at the picture of Mr. Hea hanging at the door of the Death Courtyard, silent, did not speak, just lit a cigarette, stretched out of the window, was slightly brightened by the breeze, and finally, threw it at the door of the Death Hospital.

......

"Mr. Nelson has never been a bitter man in my mind, even though I know that his situation is much more difficult than mine, and he has taught me a lot in the twenty years or so that I have not used most of it, but his character has influenced me to a great extent, and I must admit that. ”

"Time is always like this, so that we can gradually accept the departure of family and friends, and with the help of Mr. Heya, we can accept more relatives and friends to leave, and we don't know whether we should thank him or hate him in this regard. ”

"But because of this, we are also destined to accept our own death one day, at a certain time, and rejoice in its coming, at least until you become a billionaire, as Mr. Hea said, it is not a good thing to live too long. ”

"He gave us the answer. ”

......

"Insert an urgent news, a giant in the fields of life, genetics, medicine, known as the father of longevity genes of the great scientist, Mr. Zambi Odeles Hea, was found by his family at 9 o'clock this morning hanged himself at home, at the age of 98, the leaders of various countries sent a telegram to express condolences to his relatives, saying that the death of Mr. Heya has shocked and saddened the whole world, and now the leaders of various countries have taken a plane to California to see Mr. Heya on his last journey. ”

There was silence in the classroom, and Parker didn't know what his expression was now, no, he already knew it after a glance at Lisa, and then, the students exploded.

"Fake, right?"

"Today is ...... It's not April Fool's Day!

"How is it possible? It's such a powerful person, how can my idol die? It must be fake! I want to check again, it's impossible......"

It was not only the classmates who were stunned, but even the teacher who was in class stopped his hand while writing, but he did not show disbelief like the student, he knew that in this world, anything can happen.

So, he just glanced out the window to make sure that the sun was still rising in the east, looked at the clock again, made sure that time was still running out, sighed, took the pen again, and wrote the next question on the blackboard, even though he knew that no one would pay attention to the lecture for the rest of the day, or even longer.

As the news spread, the whole planet was stirred, even if life is very tiring now, but the people know that this has nothing to do with Mr. Hea, on the contrary, because of his selfless dedication, the end of life can be continued.

People spontaneously held a memorial event in the downtown square, and as the "radicals" in the school, it was impossible for Parker and his party not to be there, so they came, holding chrysanthemums, in the crowd, accompanied by the shrill whistle of cars, and closed the silence.

On the screen on the exterior wall of the building next to the square, the latest investigation results of Mr. Hea's death are being broadcast in real time, and the people who have placed the memorial items are standing on the side of the street, looking at the beautiful news host, choking up, and reading out Mr. Hea's last words.

"I'm not a financier, so I don't understand what money circulation represents. ”

"I'm not an entrepreneur, so I don't understand how much money you can make by squeezing labor. ”

"I'm not an engineer, so I don't know how to design a building that can accommodate as many people as possible in the smallest area. ”

"I'm not a politician, so I don't know how to make people go along with a series of repressive policies. ”

"But I'm human, and I'm panicking about the skyrocketing price increases, but there's nothing I can do about it. ”

"But I'm human and I know that there shouldn't be just work in my life, but there's nothing I can do about it. ”

"But I'm human, and I don't want to live in a cramped, dark room for the rest of my life, but there's nothing I can do about it. ”

"But I'm human, I want to contribute to the development of the city, but I don't want me to be just a number, a match, a bucket of fuel, but sorry, there's nothing I can do about it. ”

"Therefore I am a sinner, and I cannot see laughter, nor blue skies, nor white doves flying. ”

"I will die for my ideals, so I will die for my ideals in the end, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. ”

"I will go to hell, but I will still look to heaven and hope that my old friends will be happy and healthy. ”

For some reason, the tears rolled and finally fell, and everyone stared blankly at the screen, their mouths open and closed, but they couldn't say a word.

They wanted to vent, but when they turned around, the police were looking at them, and in an instant, this desire was suppressed, and this was Parker's most unbearable moment, at this moment, he flinched, took a step back, another step, and finally turned around and strode towards his home.

......

"I have never hated myself so much, I am surprisingly angry at my cowardice, and Mr. Hea is right, I can't die for an ideal, so I'm a sinner too, or, at this moment, I'm dead. ”

“I’mdead。 ”

"I understand that in the future I will be silent about everything, this is a painful ending, but this is exactly the end of me, I will become ordinary, ordinary graduation, ordinary job, ordinary retirement at the age of one hundred and twenty, maybe a little longer, just like that, as an ordinary person whose ideals will never be realized, and finally die of ordinary happiness. ”

"Will I be a devout Christian, and I will trade my life's toil for the pleasure of death, and look forward to the view of heaven, will it be beautiful? I think yes, it will be, and as for some of this earth, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do. ”

......

The city center was fourteen kilometers from Parker's house, and he ran tirelessly until it was getting late, until he was exhausted, pale, covered with stinking sweat, like an old man about to die, and finally pushed the door open.

Unexpectedly, the lights were not turned on in the house, and there were candles in the corner of the room to provide illumination, which made the whole house unusually warm and warm, and the mother was busy in the kitchen, and the father was sitting at the table drinking alone, and when Parker came back, he did not speak.

"It's ......"

"Parker, where have you been running wildly? Hurry up and take a shower, and then it's time to eat. ”

"What is this going to do?"

"You go take a shower first, and I'll tell you later, okay? I've made your favorite beef brisket with tomatoes and braised pork, go take a bath." ”

The mother pushed, with a look of disgust, and sent Parker into the bathroom, but the moment the door closed, she leaned back against the door panel, looked at her father, and showed a complicated smile.

Parker was so tired that it became a problem to even bend over to play with bath flowers, and at one point he fell asleep in the bathtub until he choked on his nose in the bath water, which lifted his spirits a lot.

got up, changed into furniture and clothes, his parents were sitting at the table waiting for his arrival, and when he sat down, without too much greetings, the three of them picked up chopsticks and ate dinner quietly.

After strenuous exercise, people's appetite will not be very good, and there is something on his mind, he didn't eat too much, he was already full, but he didn't leave the table for the first time, but looked at his parents who were chewing slowly suspiciously, and finally asked.

"Mom, what the hell is going on?"

"I have three things to tell you today, first, your father and I will officially retire from today, let's eat some more. ”

The brisket that has been simmered for a long time is very soft and rotten, and the mother is sandwiched close to the bowl, and the fat shimmers in the light with charming colors, which makes people have a great appetite, and even if they eat it, they have the desire to continue eating.

Parker didn't speak, of course he understood what it meant to retire, but he didn't have to worry too much about it, he had paid the pension insurance for more than sixty years, and now it was time to play a role, and now Parker was just glad that the regulations for retiring at the age of one hundred and twenty had not yet been implemented, and it was estimated that his parents were the last people to retire at the age of ninety.

"And the second?"

"I discussed with your father, and I bookmarked the transfer of the house today, maybe in a few months, it will be demolished, and it will become a community in the future, and we are also very satisfied with the compensation plan. ”

"Why is it so sudden, I don't want to move ......"

"I just moved out temporarily, and I will come back when the community is built, and the other party compensates for a property and gives 1.2 million pounds in compensation. ”

Today's 1.2 million pounds is still a wealth that many families have to fight for for decades, or even a lifetime, not to mention a house, the price is enough to impress Parker.

So he didn't say much, just looked at the single-family house with regret, it carried too many happy memories, and after learning that it would cease to exist in a few months, a reluctant emotion brewed in his heart.

People will always be nostalgic for the past, but in the end, they will follow the footsteps of time and grasp the tail of the future.

"Well, what about the third?"

"Mommy and dad ready to ...... I'm ready to die. ”

“......”