Nipu used to go up with him when he sent the third train, so that it would not be too crowded, and he could just catch up with the punch time, and his colleague Ah Liang, who had just joked with him, also got on the bus with him, Ah Liang didn't pay attention to it, among a bunch of people who seemed to be clockwork, he was a group of people who were more free and loose, and sometimes he was even punished for being late.

Nipu was assigned here three years ago, and like many young people, he was gradually worn out of enthusiasm in such a mechanical life, and when he was a student, he still had many dreams, many things he wanted to do, and many places he wanted to go, but when he entered the work, these thoughts were worn away day after day. People have a behavior called self-exploitation, that is, but you are used to being in a certain state, you will put all the energy and time you belong to it, even if there is a surplus you will use it to restore the state, instead of improving yourself, day after day people will be trapped in it forever, until old age and death will not change anything, Nipu feels that he is in this state, he is in an old book talking about philosophy and social class, he saw this, reading books may be the only hobby he kept, Even when he was tired, he kept the habit of reading every day, and the other young people around him didn't seem to have such troubles, and Nip knew more than they did, but these things didn't help him much, they only added to his troubles.

The shuttle bus makes a boring shaking sound, which makes people drowsy, some people will lean on the window to make up for a little precious sleep, and after an hour they arrive at their place of work on time, everyone gets out of the car, tidies up their state and starts to work, the metal gate at the gate of the factory opens and closes, the rusty iron shaft in the middle is a little overwhelmed and makes a grinding sound of inverted teeth, and people come and go through the gate.

Nipu is a CNC technician, and Ah Liang is operating heavy machine tools, and the place where the two work is not close, but because the residence happens to be next to each other, the two of them still commute together every day, and occasionally have a meal together, he is one of the few people who can talk to Nipu, and the colleagues around him have always regarded themselves as weirdos, and there are very few people who Nipu knows who can be called friends.

Ah Liang was not assigned here at the beginning, it stands to reason that his "class" is higher, he was born in a middle-class ring family, he was an engineer before, and lived a comfortable life that the residents of the outer ring dreamed of, but he came here because he was punished for making some mistakes, and he himself has been reluctant to say what he has done, and Nipu doesn't care, he doesn't say Nipu anymore. He came here a year later than Nip, and since he came in, he has been with the heavy metal monster, and every day he is opposite to the milling machine, his job is to put those alloy ingots that have not been heat-treated on the machine tool for processing, and the machining accuracy is not high, generally speaking, it is a rough job, but it also requires a certain amount of technology, it is better than being on the assembly line, it is good to say that this job is a little dangerous, since Nipu met A Liang, the wounds on his hands have not been better, fingers, arms, Even on the chest, the old wound has not yet grown and the new wound comes out again, of course, Ah Liang is lucky, Nipu listened to the old man on the assembly line, there was once an unlucky guy who inserted the drill into his head because of improper operation.

That's it, Ah Liang has been "fighting" with this big monster for two years, he is now preparing for the advanced mechanical work exam, if he succeeds, he will be transferred to get along with a new metal monster day and night, and the parts he processes will be used in the spaceship, so it looks quite romantic, those iron bumps can see the world for us, see the places we will never go, when we lie in the cramped hut, there is not even a window to look up at the starry sky, But what we produce in our hands can freely roam in space.

Freely......

This idea doesn't mean much to Nip, he is numb to his current life, and his heart will naturally become honest after a few more whips from reality, and Nip doesn't think there's anything wrong with a compact life, freedom is always relative, and sometimes absolute freedom is the real unfreedom.

Compared to freedom, Nipu longs for something else, that is what he has been thinking about, the fatigue of ordinary life and work can not wear away his thirst for it, Nipu keeps reading more books, constantly learning, but also to find it, in his pale life, such things are like shining stars, has been guiding him forward in exhaustion, Nipu knows, it is definitely not a good path, but he still can't help but move in that direction, That was the only thing that kept him alive, and if Nip lost faith in it one day, perhaps he would be no different from the walking dead.

"The truth." Nip muttered to himself.

This is what he desires, he believes that there must be some kind of ideology in the universe, it is the true meaning of all appearances, idealists call it God, scientists believe that it is the ultimate answer to the universe, in short, it must be some kind of existence that is difficult for human beings to understand, the truth...... That's what Nip was after, and while it was ridiculous for him to be who he was, it didn't stop him from thinking, and the passage of time didn't make that feeling go away, but rather deepened the longing in his heart.

Nipu longs for the unknown and the truth that has been artificially hidden, and he has been quietly investigating for a long time from the time he has access to it.

"Ah......h

"Are you alright?" A gentle voice rang in his ears, and Nip looked down the ladder to see a flushed face and a pair of translucent eyes under her work cap, and she was standing beneath Nip with some concern in her eyes.

"I seem to be distracted...... It's okay, just deal with it simply. Nip didn't realize that his voice was getting quieter.