Hello, How Long Has This Been Going On?

After a night of heavy snowfall, Tao Zhiyue's pneumonia was completely cured.

Bacteria and viruses seemed to be washed away by the vast white snow and disappeared from the body.

Looking out from the window of the ward, there is a piece of silver clothes, and there are patients wrapped in coats playing in the snow downstairs.

There are small snowmen piled on the ground, and a smiling face with crooked eyebrows is painted on a stone tablet covered with white snow.

Tao Zhiyue changed out of his hospital gown, stood at the window and watched for a while, when there was movement at the door.

Huo Ran walked in with a pile of lists, and heaved a sigh of relief.

"It's all done."

Today is the day to be discharged from the hospital.

Tao Zhiyue turned to look at him: "Why did it take so long?"

Huo Ran tried to explain: "There is no wrong line this time because there are too many people paying the fee."

Since he chose the most common way of seeing a doctor from the beginning, Huo Ran simply insisted on supporting himself all the way, and did not ask others to do it for him.

As a result, he moved several times for the pile of comic books, game consoles and vases at home.

"Is there really no wrong line?"

Huo Ran casually stuffed the list into his bag as if nothing had happened, and changed the subject: "It snowed so much before December, so suddenly."

"Well, very suddenly." Tao Zhiyue couldn't help but said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Did you go downstairs to see the snow last night?"

"I see, it happened just when the snow started to fall."

"Does it look good?"

"nice."

"Is a person not lost?"

"No." Tao Zhiyue smiled even more intensely, "Actually, you can ask directly. Dr. Shen and I went downstairs for a walk last night."

Huo Ran looked calm: "Are you guys chatting?"

"Yes, we talked a lot."

Then his voice stopped.

Huo Ran continued to pretend to look at the scenery, and finally couldn't bear it anymore, so he took the initiative to ask: "What are you talking about?"

Tao Zhi admired his expression of pretending not to be jealous for a while, and found it very novel.

The winter sun is still warm, dyeing Huo Ran's hair golden.

"I'll tell you when I get home." Tao Zhiyue picked up the backpack and white scarf that had been arranged on the table.

The knitted scarf wraps softly around the neck.

"I found the answer."

When leaving the hospital, Tao Zhiyue looked back with emotion.

Shen Nian was probably busy in a certain operating room with lights on.

After breaking away from the shackles of the will of the plot, he still needs to get rid of the benevolent or malicious eyes of others, as well as the choice between the expectations of the outside world and his own wishes.

That was the only way he could go by himself.

After the soul is free, the road ahead will always be much smoother.

After returning home and packing up his luggage briefly, Tao Zhiyue found the pure white puzzle box that had been put away by the two of them from the shelf, and there was even a little dust on it.

Huo Ran was mentally preparing to hear the truth, but when he saw his actions, he was shocked.

In particular, Tao Zhiyue picked up the note he had written in the box and looked at it nostalgicly.

Huo Ran remembered what he wrote on it.

[This puzzle is difficult, and finding the answer is also difficult, maybe we can work together faster. ]

He couldn't help feeling a sense of panic digging a hole for himself.

Huo Ran asked very cautiously: "Do you have to complete this puzzle before you know the answer...?"

This puzzle was too difficult. The two of them worked hard a few times, but in the end they either went to the game room to relax, or went to the balcony to watch the construction site to decompress. Anyway, they ended up giving up every time.

A thousand chaotic and disorderly fragments, they probably only assembled less than a hundred pieces.

Tao Zhiyue nodded: "Of course, you bought this."

"..." Huo Ran was in distress, and felt that the front was dark, "Then I will go online to find some strategies."

Tao Zhi laughed more, "Wait a minute, I'll get some auxiliary tools."

A moment later, Huo Ran, who was frowning and staring at the phone screen, heard footsteps and raised his head heavily, only to see Tao Zhiyue bring a bunch of paint and glue.

Tubes of colorful acrylic paint piled on a table next to immaculate white jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Tao Zhiyue took the lead in unscrewing a tube of red paint.

"You can draw whatever you want this time."

Huo Ran was stunned: "Is it drawn on the puzzle?"

"Well, then I'm going to stick them on the wall, right next to the world map."

Vermilion and lemon yellow fused on the white shards for a vivid orange.

Tao Zhi thought for a while: "This sun seems a bit abstract."

Looking at this piece of irregular orange fragments, Huo Ran was surprised: "Is this the sun?"

"I said yes." Tao Zhiyue didn't hesitate any longer, and slashed the paint boldly, painting many orange pieces in one go, forming a big sun, "I have the final say on the world I draw."

After a brief astonishment, Huo Ran seemed to understand what he meant.

He looked around the dizzying array of paints and settled on ultramarine blue.

The raindrops in his imagination were almost of this color.

"Is that Dr. Shen... someone you met in another world? Is it the author of this novel?"

"It might be him, or it might not be him."

Tao Zhi said calmly: "Maybe he also entered the novel world like me, but lost his memory after having a sound body. Or maybe he is just a character in the novel, based on the author, so he has a similar face. But this character has a soul of his own."

"No one can give a real answer. I prefer the latter possibility, so I want to choose this answer."

Huo Ran has now accepted these mysterious-sounding descriptions well: "Is it like me?"

"Well, everyone is different from the book. They all have their own thoughts and souls. The only one who is controlled by the plot is Dr. Shen, who has placed too much obsession with the author."

"Why is this happening?" Huo Ran painted the rain drop after drop with ultramarine blue, "Why does a novel become the real world?"

"I don't know. In fact, I have thought of many possibilities."

"Perhaps all novels will project a real world from the moment of birth."

"Maybe this is not a novel. The novel that appeared in my mind is just an instruction manual to help me understand everything in front of me, but it was introduced wrongly, so I had so many misunderstandings."

"Maybe it's because the original two-dimensional novel was activated by an alien soul, just like the butterfly effect, so everything changed."

Tao Zhiyue recalled the scene when the mobile phone containing the novel fell on the subway that day, and he had hallucinations of seeing shooting stars.

The impact of the fall brings meteors, but there is no space for two-dimensional text, and the falling meteors may fall at any time.

The author who couldn't speak was eager to keep him. He hoped that this strange passenger could be rescued and continue to live a good life.

Human will can always create miracles.

A miracle happened, Tao Zhiyue gained a new life, and the tragic tool man character in the original book disappeared, and was replaced by him, and all the stories were reversed accordingly.

Because he witnessed the passing of life with his own eyes, the author regretted that he should not have written such a plot and ending.

The original novel is full of the author's obsession, and the soul of the premature death who fell into the new world is also full of unfinished regrets.

Maybe Tao Zhiyue's regret started from that moment, entangled with this world and merged into one.

Huo Ran's younger brother has become a younger sister, financial management books have become meteor showers, and liking for making money has become wanting to travel.

That was not only Huo Ran's dream, but also his dream.

Tao Zhiyue liked this answer the most.

It is full of the wonder of life and the romance of the world.

It seemed that he had already existed in Huo Ran's life a long time ago.

Seeing Huo Ran's pensive expression, Tao Zhiyue asked, "Which possibility do you like?"

"I like the first one. If you think about it this way, maybe all the novels I've read are real. Countless worlds are running in places I can't see. Suddenly, the universe seems to be full of infinite possibilities."

After thinking about it, Huo Ran added: "And I can find some theoretical support."

Tao Zhiyue was surprised: "What theory?"

Huo Ran said solemnly: "The second law of thermodynamics, the principle of entropy increase, an isolated system will not become orderly unless another consciousness intervenes, and the author is that consciousness."

"So I hope that all novels can become the real world, so that when I read novels in the future, I may also bring the mood of traveling."

"Isn't the promotion of this law limited in scope?"

"I say yes." Huo Ran also learned his sentence patterns, "I have the final say on my imagination."

Tao Zhi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "That makes sense, then you can really stay in the Saturn library and travel around the world without leaving home."

Huo Ran corrected him very rigorously: "It's traveling around countless worlds."

"Well, there are countless." Tao Zhiyue nodded, "Now I also like this possibility, maybe I come from another novel world."

"Which possibility did you like just now?" Huo Ran was curious, "Let me combine it, maybe it will be more interesting."

"I won't tell you."

"I guess you like the Butterfly Effect, there is a feeling of dominance, and if I were you, I would like this possibility too."

"What kind of strange description is self-important?"

"Then I'll change to another one and dominate the world? Look down on all living beings?"

Among the increasingly weird adjectives, Tao Zhiyue had a flash of inspiration: "Did you read the comic book about fighting for hegemony in the martial arts?"

"No, I just flipped through it casually."

"Really?"

"Really, I only read twenty pages at most."

"I remember these words appearing frequently after about forty pages."

"Ah, you've seen it too? I thought you were busy chatting and didn't have time to watch it."

"...I smell vinegar, so sour."

In the gradually drifting chat conversation, countless pure white fragments were slowly stained with color.

There is never a standard answer to the encounters in life, and there may be no reason for the beginning and end of many things.

But everyone can choose which interpretation they prefer.

The universe is meaningless. Looking out from your own world, you are the soul of everything.

A few days later, the 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle was finally finished.

On the light-colored wallpaper, an orange-yellow square sun, ultramarine-colored rain, and an umbrella made of various mixed colors appeared.

Huo Ran looked at the masterpiece in front of him with satisfaction, it was his creation.

A huge umbrella, and the rain under the sun.

"Is it better than the umbrella you left in Beijing?"

"Well, it looks like plastic surgery." Tao Zhiyue smiled, "I almost don't remember what color it is."

"It's okay, just remember the color of this umbrella."

"First, count how many colors there are in it."

On the dense jigsaw pieces, each piece has a different color and stroke, and they are born in random sway.

"...don't count, keep a sense of mystery."

The pure white instruction manual is filled with a unique world, and the pure white puzzle pieces become a colorful collage.

Looking at the colorful glass-like wall in front of him, Tao Zhiyue said with emotion: "Perhaps in a place that we can't see, an umbrella-shaped world with a square sun was really born."

Huo Ran agreed: "What happened there must be a fairy tale."

"I think so too. Do you want to add a big colorful bear?"

"The puzzle runs out, or if I move the stand up hanger and hang that shirt up, will it get sucked out of the world?"

"You can try it, but if it is really sucked away, there will be no couple shirts in the future, only one left."

Huo Ran immediately came to a conclusion: "Forget it."

The two stood in front of the dreamy wall and talked nonsense for a while, and couldn't help laughing.

The house is also like a fairy tale, full of memories and stories that only the two of them can understand.

Tao Zhiyue liked this home very much.

He suddenly said: "I hope that after the game is launched next month, it will sell well."

"Huh?" Huo Ran was surprised by his sudden change of subject, "Why did you mention this all of a sudden?"

"The more money the project earns, the more bonus it will be." Tao Zhi said more seriously, "Then I can stand in the house like you and casually say to the agent, I bought it."

He also wanted to experience such a famous scene.

Huo Ran was about to say something, but stopped, and smiled instead: "This game will definitely sell well."

Then he can have a home that is completely his own.

After recovering from the winter flu, Tao Zhiyue returned to work in the company, paying attention to rest and relaxation while busy.

This time, he no longer suffers from heart problems.

Time flies, and he hopes that the end of December will come soon.

In the desk calendar on the coffee table, a circle is drawn on December 13th, and a circle is also drawn on December 24th in the next row.

One night when we were reading comics side by side on the sofa, Huo Ran caught a glimpse of the red circle on the desk calendar.

"The 13th is the day of the game's public beta, I understand that." Huo Ran analyzed, "But why are circles drawn on Christmas Eve? Do you like this festival very much? There were no circles on Valentine's Day and Qixi Festival before."

Tao Zhiyue said calmly: "Because I have prepared a gift, and I will give it to you on Christmas Eve."

Gift.

A gift that can be announced by Tao Zhiyue in advance must be very special.

Huo Ranying raised his brows and eyes reservedly.

"Shouldn't I guess?"

Tao Zhiyue said firmly: "It's okay to guess, you will definitely not be able to guess."

"..." The familiar desire to win and lose immediately appeared in Huo Ran's heart, "I can definitely guess it."

"Then you guess, it's impossible."

"Okay, since you are so convinced that it is impossible for me to guess, I will start with the place where you are most embarrassed. Is it new..."

Tao Zhiyue covered Huo Ran's head with a pillow in a timely manner, preventing him from continuing.

"What's going on in your head every day?"