The door to the arcade was gently pushed open. A seventeen or eighteen-year-old inch-haired boy walked out, he was thin and had a sallow face. The young man was holding his coat behind his back, and when he saw the young man sitting in the guest seat in the lobby, he showed a smile, sat down in front of him, stretched his waist comfortably, and said with a smile: "Brother, you came to pick me up so early." ”

The young man sitting in the guest seat closed the newspaper in his hand, and the four black letters "Ancient Morning Post" were printed on the front of the newspaper. The headline in the newspaper was "Yang Liuer, the new favorite of the ancient business world, is engaged to Zhao Ziyan, the emperor of the smoke of the eastern market". The young man stroked the beautiful woman in the photo who looked like a fairy outside the sky in a white wedding dress, and pressed it lightly with his hand, which was naturally as gentle as caressing the girl's skin. The young man didn't raise his head, and replied: "I'm not busy with work, I left work early - did you return the card?" ”

"Retreat!"

"Hmm." The young man looked down at the watch on his left wrist, the watch had faded in some places due to the time, and the hands stopped at 11:39. He said lightly: "There will be rain at twelve o'clock." Let's go - get dressed, it's windy today. ”

Sun Ming replied and put on his clothes. He knows his brother's temperament too well, he doesn't like to talk much, and his expression is rare. With a pair of black and white eyes, he couldn't see what he was thinking.

The young man stood up, his height of 1.9 meters looked very tall, with short hair and a suit, and he was in his twenties. Standard urban white-collar workers.

His name is Sun Hao, and he is Sun Ming's elder brother. In Sun Hao's mind, today is no different from usual, pick up his younger brother back to his residence, and send him here after noon. The younger brother continues to struggle in the virtual world of "Ancient Times". He continued to go to his class, and the rhythm of his life remained the same as yesterday...... The difference is that the sky is a little overcast today, and there are signs of rain.

Sun Hao folded the newspaper and put it back on the newspaper shelf. I went out of this club with my brother hanging on the door sign of the 'Star Ancient Internet Café'. Sun Hao rode his dark black motorcycle, which cost him more than half a year's salary and was his most precious 'friend'. Sun Hao took out his helmet from the trunk and handed it to his younger brother, "Have you been free for the past two days?" ”

After Sun Ming went out, he took a deep breath of the fresh air outside the house, listened to his brother's words, and replied, "What's wrong, brother?" ”

"You haven't been home in more than half a year." Sun Hao looked at his younger brother and said, "In the past two days, clean up and buy some things, and take the car home to see my parents." ”

Sun Ming turned his head away and said unhappily: "Brother, I don't want to go back yet." ”

"Obedient."

"Brother! Don't do that! Do you think I'll be able to come out again when I get home? Sun Ming suppressed his emotions, and there was a hint of pleading in his voice. His brother's words made it difficult for him to resist, but he was really unwilling to succumb to the arrangement that his parents forced on him. So just half a year ago, he resolutely chose to run away from home.

Sun Hao looked up at this gloomy sky. Of course, he understands and understands his brother's situation. But is "Ancient Ancient" really that important? In order to pursue this virtual world, I was like this two years ago; The same is true for my current brother. You can even find such people in any corner of this world, who can do whatever it takes to stand in the virtual world of "Ancient Times".

Even if you fall in "Ancient Times", even if you fall and your body is broken, you still insist on the persistence in your heart!

But is it worth it?

"Is it worth it?" Sun Hao spit out these two words lightly, not knowing whether he was asking his younger brother or sighing. Then, he shook his head and said to his younger brother: "I don't care what you do or what you do in "Ancient", and I don't ask. But anyway, how worried are your parents when you've been away from home for so long......"

Sun Ming clenched his fists and interrupted him: "Brother! Why are you always like this! You tell them this, you talk about that, when do they think about your feelings. Don't think I don't know anything, two years ago, my parents treated you like me......"

"Shut up!" Sun Hao glared at him. Immediately, he calmed down his emotions and said resolutely: "Mingming." Don't be willful, pack up and go home tomorrow! ”

"Bang!" Sun Ming suddenly returned the helmet to his brother and roared at Sun Hao: "Brother, I won't go back!" I won't go back if you say anything! Do you think I'll be able to come out again when I go back? ”

After speaking, Sun Ming turned around and ran a few steps, as if he had suddenly made up his mind. He said a word with his back to Sun Hao, then walked to the side of the road, stopped a taxi, got on it and left.

Sun Hao stretched out his hand and stopped talking. In the end, he didn't stop his younger brother, and the last words he said made his seemingly calm appearance finally moved.

"Brother, I'm sorry. I don't want that. But ask yourself from the bottom of your heart, is your current life what you want! ”

Is your life right now what you want!

There was a light rain in the sky, Sun Hao raised his head, and let the cold raindrops fall on his face, which deeply stimulated his nerves.

Obviously, it would be nice if I could be as willful as you!

Amid the roar of motorcycles, Sun Hao left here and sped towards the community where he lived.

Speeding on Xinhua Street in the center of the city, Sun Hao was wearing a pitch-black helmet. The whole person's face was covered under the black helmet, like the sky now shrouded in dark clouds, mysteriously unable to see clearly.

This is a world called Huaxia. In this world, people live and work in peace and contentment, and cities are lined with high-rise buildings; Technology is changing with each passing day. Everything is so orderly, at least, on the surface. Sun Hao and his younger brother live in a corner of this Chinese world called Yan City.

On the other side of this world, there is a virtual world called the ancient. In the Chinese world a long, long time ago, "Ancient Times" was only an online game of Xianxia, with the theme of ancient mythology, in which players could play various roles, such as immortals, demons, demon races, etc., because it was close to the real virtuality, it also set off a craze at that time. It can be said that "Ancient Times" at that time had no other meaning than for people to entertain and play; However, now, a long, long time later, it is no longer just an online game, after continuous updates in history, "Ancient" has gradually integrated into people's daily life, and many people have been employed and developed in "Ancient". Now more people are willing to call it a world, a world that can make people crazy!

"Ancient Times" is a book set in ancient China. The mythical world of scenes. Because its virtuality is almost close to reality, anyone who has entered this world full of fantasy colors will have the illusion of being in a different world. The so-called mythical cultivation, the unpredictable supernatural powers of heaven and earth, and the flying eaves of peerless masters described in martial arts novels, all this is no longer just a dream in this virtual world.

Of course, if "Ancient Times" is just like that, it is not enough to call it a world. The so-called world must have its own order and laws, and "Ancient Times" is based on the needs of the real world, and it should be born from time to time.

In this technologically intelligent but extremely dense Chinese world, there is inevitably a surplus of labor force that leads to a large number of unemployed people in society. In the Chinese world, where the population base is 6 billion, there have been hundreds of millions of unemployed and laid-off people in history, which caused a sensation in the whole world and brought a lot of burdens to the society at that time. Aware of this, the Chinese government urgently came out. Taiwan has issued a number of policies, one of which has relaxed restrictions on the virtual industry and vigorously supported the development of the virtual industry, such as online games......

At that time, the Chinese world, which attached great importance to industrial development, was still very unfamiliar with virtual intelligence. "Ancient" has grasped this point and recruited a large number of unemployed and laid-off personnel to replace the NPCs in the game in order to achieve intelligence. At that time, even employment became a social phenomenon premised on marriage, and the recruitment of "Ancient Times" was undoubtedly timely for the society at that time, using the funds borrowed from the bank to frantically recruit unemployed people in the society, which once detonated the talent market in every city. In just a few years, the number of employees in "Ancients" has reached more than 100 million, not only ranking first in the world's online games, but also the number of players online has increased from 70 million to more than 600 million! The nearly tenfold growth was an unprecedented achievement in the online game industry at that time. It solved a major problem of difficult employment for the Chinese world at that time, and also laid a solid foundation for the future "Ancient Times" to go to the world.

Now, thousands of years have passed, and "Ancient Times" has become a glorious civilization in the world after continuous updates in history. Integrating into people's daily life, it is like a symbol that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Sun Hao, who was driving on Xinhua Street, swept the shops on the side of the road from the corner of his eye, the ancient Internet café, the ancient account trading center, and the ancient studio...... These new industries that have emerged because of the popularity of "Ancient Times" have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain in recent years.

If it weren't for the incident two years ago, he would have opened his own shop, or at least set up a studio; It's a pity that there are no ifs in this real world, and even today, two years later, it is difficult for him to change the status quo. As always, I live a 9-to-5 white-collar life.

It's July 2014 in the ancient calendar.

July is the rainy season in the north of the Chinese world. In the sky above Yan City, a city covered by dark clouds, thunder roared, and in just an instant, the sky and earth of Yan City were shrouded in rain.

Sun Hao, who returned to his residence, stood at the door downstairs of the unit and looked at the pouring rain outside, and couldn't help but be glad that he came back in time.

"Ah, Xiao Hao is back! Why don't you see your brother Sun Ming? ”

Acquaintances who came from the rain greeted Sun Hao eagerly.

"Oh, it's Uncle Li. I was back beforehand, but now I'm probably waiting at home. Sun Hao replied with a smile. Because he picks up his younger brother home every day, every time he meets neighbors and acquaintances, he will greet them cordially.

Uncle Li is a middle-aged man in his forties, very gentle, and is a neighbor of Sun Hao. Sun Hao has lived here for two years, and the two are familiar with each other.

"It's raining so hard today! Xiao Hao, if you have time to sit at my house, let your aunt cook you something delicious. By the way, I also pointed out that stinky boy in my house, you also know that he is thin-skinned. I'm sorry to open up to you. ”

"Okay, no problem!" Sun Hao said with a smile.

"Haha, Xiao Hao, then it's decided. It's okay, uncle, I'll go up first. After speaking, Uncle Li walked into the corridor.

Sun Hao smiled indifferently and pushed the motorcycle into the corridor. Uncle Li's son is a well-known ancient madman in this community, the fourth level of ancient theory, the fifth level of ancient technology, and the most important thing is that he is only eighteen years old, which is placed in the Chinese world thousands of years ago, which is equivalent to the level of genius, you know, the standard of ordinary people at the age of eighteen is the third level of ancient theory, and the third level of ancient technology. Very few can break through level four, let alone level five.

Originally, Sun Hao and Uncle Li's son should be people from two worlds, although the two are neighbors, but Uncle Li's son has always been above the top, and he looks down on Sun Hao, an urban white-collar worker who follows the rules and goes to work every day, and Sun Hao's life has always been low-key, so he has not really had any intersection with Uncle Li's son. But because of the arrival of his younger brother Sun Ming half a year ago, the barrier between the two of them was broken.

The reason is that the younger brother can't get used to Uncle Li's son's usual style, and he has the intention to frustrate his spirit, so he challenged him in front of Uncle Li's son. Witnessed by everyone in the community, a competition of ancient theories was conducted.

For his younger brother to have a few pounds and a few rains, Sun Hao is still very clear, the ancient theory is only the second level, after dropping out of school half a year ago, the theory has not grown in the slightest, if it is a competition for ancient technology, he still has a little hope, after all, long-term efforts have also made his ancient technology improve by leaps and bounds to the fourth level. But Uncle Li's son is different, he has been talented and intelligent since he was a child, and his family has excellent conditions, and he was also admitted to the ancient university in Yan City, where not only the threshold is unattainable, but even the high tuition fees are not something ordinary families can afford to go to.

Originally, for this kind of competition without the slightest suspense, Sun Hao was not interested in watching. But the younger brother really didn't let him worry, and actually made a bet with Uncle Li's son, if anyone loses, he will learn to bark in front of everyone in the community, and he will have to spare the other party when he sees each other in the future.

When Sun Hao learned about it, he smiled.

The rules of the Ancient Theory test are very simple, each side asks three questions about the ancient to be answered by the other party. The one with the most correct answers wins.

At the beginning, both sides had the intention to test each other, and both sides answered the relatively simple questions accurately. But when it came to the second question, Uncle Li's son was worthy of being a top student who could be admitted to the ancient university, and he grabbed Sun Ming's weakness with the first question alone, and came up with a question that Sun Ming was not familiar with. Sun Ming thought about it for a long time, and finally overtimed. It was Sun Ming's turn to come up with the question, and he copied a question that he thought Uncle Li's son was not familiar with, but Uncle Li's son had already figured him out and answered it easily.

Uncle Li's son scored one point, the situation was very clear, Sun Ming was not Uncle Li's son's opponent at all, and the audience was also disappointed, thinking it was an evenly matched competition, but I didn't expect it to be one-sided. Just when everyone despised Sun Ming for not being able to do anything, a person stood up.

"Can I try this last question?"

Sun Hao stood up, regardless of whether the people present agreed or not, and replaced his younger brother, seeing that his younger brother showed a malicious smile. Sun Hao glared back, the so-called bet was to force him to make a move, to see if he would make a move to save himself in the face of a face that was about to lose face.

The answer, of course, is yes.

Thinking of this, Sun Hao smiled helplessly, this younger brother has given him a headache since he was a child, even when he grows up.

Sun Hao went up to the fifth floor, reached out and grabbed the doorknob and pulled it down.

"Khooth!"

The door didn't open.

Sun Hao frowned. I took out the key and opened it, and walked into the house, where the furnishings were the same as when I went out in the morning, unchanged.

The most important thing is that his younger brother Sun Ming should come back before him in the car, but why is there no one at home. My brother doesn't have any other acquaintances in this city, and if he doesn't come back, he will call in advance to say what he is doing, and he is not the kind of person who plays with his disappearance after a quarrel.

Strange, think about it, today's younger brother is indeed very abnormal.

Sun Hao took out his mobile phone and dialed his brother's mobile phone number.

A minute later...... No one answered.

Dial the ...... again Still no one answered.

Something happened to Sun Ming!

Sun Hao didn't know why this idea came to his mind, and his intuition told him that everything that happened today was not normal, and he always felt that there was something wrong in his heart, but he didn't know what it was. Restless and confused, this is the current Sun Hao.

Sun Hao suddenly thought of something, took out a black umbrella from the umbrella barrel, and rushed out of the door.

Sun Hao watched his younger brother get into a taxi and leave, if he went home, then the camera at the entrance of the community should have filmed him.

If not...... Then the taxi did not go to the community.

Outside in the heavy rain, Sun Hao came to the security room with an umbrella, and through the window, the security guard Xiao Liu inside was having lunch.

"Bang bang!" Sun Hao knocked lightly on the door twice. Xiao Liu inside put down his chopsticks and said with some dissatisfaction: "I'm eating, who's it?" ”

"Oh, I'm a resident of this neighborhood - Sun Hao. Something! ”

"Sun Hao? Brother Hao! Security guard Xiao Liu's voice suddenly became a little surprised. When I opened the door and saw the person coming, I couldn't hold back the joy on my face.

"Brother Hao, why are you here?! Come and sit down. "If it was half a year ago, Xiao Liu might still be very unfamiliar with Sun Hao. But since the last round of ancient theory competition between Sun Hao and the young master of the Li family, Sun Hao's name has become a household name in the entire community. Because of Sun Hao's last question, the young master of the Li family couldn't answer it at all.

Who is the young master of the Li family, who is a high-achieving student who can be admitted to the ancient university; The ancient university only admits 100 students in the city every year, which is the number of places that high school students in the city want to fight for.

Sun Hao, an unknown ordinary person, actually stumped the young master of the Li family. In Xiao Liu's eyes, Sun Hao is the kind of outsider who hides in the market without revealing mountains and waters, if he can learn a trick or two from him, then who would dare to underestimate him in "Ancient Times" in the future!

"Excuse me, I'd like to see the footage from the camera at the gate between half past eleven and twelve." Sun Hao didn't care what Xiao Liu was thinking, he was worried about his brother's safety, and he just wanted to find his brother as soon as possible.

"Well said, well said." Xiao Liu is still very talkative, and quickly helped Sun Hao find the video.

Sun Hao stared intently at the picture on the display screen, controlling the mouse with his hand and constantly fast-forwarding the progress bar, and in the screen, cars and people came and went. But until the end of the broadcast, Sun Hao didn't find his younger brother Sun Ming, not even the taxi.

Sun Hao fell into deep thought. My brother never came back, and the phone couldn't get through, so where else could he go in this city?

"Brother Hao, is something wrong?" Xiao Liu saw Sun Hao's frowns and asked softly.

"Oh." Sun Hao came back to his senses and thanked Xiao Liu: "It's okay." Xiao Liu, thank you, you should eat first. I'll go back first. ”

"Then go slowly, Brother Hao, I'll invite you to dinner when I'm free."

Leaving the security room, Sun Hao walked in the rain with an umbrella, and the cold made his mind clearer. It may be that he is too sensitive, maybe his younger brother is eating out, and the mobile phone may be set to silent and not noticing, or he is angry and does not answer the phone, etc.

"Jingle bells."

Sun Hao's phone rang. He took out his mobile phone, and the number on the caller ID was unfamiliar. But for some reason, seeing this unfamiliar number made him feel a little uneasy.

Sun Hao connected the phone, and after waiting for a few seconds for no one to speak, he replied tentatively: "Hey! ”

“…… Sun Ming's brother, is Sun Hao a man? ”

An unfamiliar voice came from the phone, the voice was cold and stiff, and it sounded very uncomfortable. Sun Hao's eyes unconsciously became a little sharp, and he replied in a very low tone: "I am!" Who are you? ”

"You don't need to know who we are. Sun Ming is with us, he is safe. Don't look for him anymore! ”

"What do you want to do, why did you arrest him!" Sun Hao quickly looked around, and couldn't see anything in the rain. Unnaturally quickened the speed of his speech, revealing the unrest of his heart.

"Catch? Friend, you seem to have misunderstood something. He stayed with us of his own free will, and we didn't force him. If you don't believe him, you can ask him! ”

Sun Hao held his mobile phone tightly and listened carefully to the situation on the other side. The cold voice did not come again, but was changed to the hands of another person, although the other party did not speak, but the heavy breathing still made Sun Hao recognize, it was his younger brother Sun Ming!

Long

Sun Hao calmed down and said, "Obviously, I know you're listening." What happened today is my fault, it's that I didn't take your feelings into account. I know that "Ancient Times" is your dream since childhood, and you never gave up at the expense of running away from home and falling out with your parents. Seriously, brother sometimes really admires your persistence. Because "Ancient Times" is also my dream since I was a child. But we all grew up, and I had to let go of my childhood dreams for the responsibility on my shoulders. Because ......"

"Beep-" The other party hung up.

Sun Hao closed his eyes, his chest was like a boulder that had been crushed by ten thousand catties, and he couldn't breathe dullly.

Because...... Because I love you and love this home!

But what should I use to express that you can feel it?

The umbrella slipped from his hand to the ground, and the rain instantly wet Sun Hao's whole body. He could clearly see his sad face in the puddle of water on the ground. After a while, the melancholy eyes gradually became cold with the temperature of the body!

No matter who it is, they can't hurt my family!