I asked you to write a light novel, but you wrote about living?

In the early morning, the temperature control system keeps the indoor temperature at a comfortable 24 degrees Celsius.

When the time comes, the curtains automatically open, and sunlight streams through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, quietly spreading across the light-colored wood-grain floor.

The lingering sound came very early.

She changed into a clean and soft new outfit, carried a new schoolbag, and stood obediently in the living room.

The little girl's eyes, peeking out from under her mask, were bright and sparkling, revealing a hint of nervousness, but even more so, a stubborn anticipation.

Today is her first day at her new school.

Last night, her brother told her that the things taught at the new school in Zhongcheng District were completely different from what she learned at the school in Xiacheng District.

Yu Yin didn't really understand what was different, but she harbored a small but firm thought in her heart: she needed to learn more and become smarter.

I wish I could become as smart as my brother.

That way, she would be able to truly understand the books her brother wrote.

She didn't want to be a burden forever, cowering behind her brother's wheelchair, unable to help with anything.

"Brother, I'm leaving."

Yu Yin, carrying her schoolbag, quietly said goodbye to Yu Wen in his wheelchair.

"Go ahead and listen to your teacher."

Yu Wen smiled gently, straightened her backpack straps, and pressed lightly on her thin shoulders.

Aunt Zhang led Yu Yin out the door.

The school isn't far away; it's located near this executive apartment complex.

The environment here is excellent, and the security is so tight that not even an unregistered electronic bionic bird can fly in. It only takes about ten minutes to walk along the tree-lined path with genetically modified landscape trees on both sides.

The streets of Zhongcheng District were quiet and orderly in the early morning.

The ground was so shiny from last night's cleaning by the tracked cleaning robot that not a trace of radioactive dust could be seen.

In mid-air, the maglev commuter vehicle glided smoothly along the dedicated lane, leaving only a very slight whistling sound.

Along the way, you can see many children carrying schoolbags, walking in twos and threes in the same direction.

Yu Yin followed Aunt Zhang, taking light and quick steps.

Her eyes, however, were too busy to look at everything. One moment she would glance at the green belts along the roadside, which were trimmed like works of art, and the next she would secretly observe the chatting and laughing peers.

Most of the children were dressed smartly and talking about things that Yu Yin had never heard before.

As she approached the school gate, Yu Yin's pace unconsciously slowed down.

This was her first time visiting this top-ranked school in the central district.

Towering, pure white teaching buildings, a huge holographic school emblem, a whole row of intelligent security checkpoints flashing blue light at the entrance...

She didn't recognize any of the people inside.

The excitement I felt on the way here has now been mixed with a sense of awe and nervousness about the unknown.

Fortunately, there were already people waiting at the school gate.

A young male teacher in a crisp white shirt stood by the doorpost, appearing particularly human among the cold, intelligent recognition machines.

Upon seeing them approach, he immediately went to greet them, first nodding politely to Aunt Zhang, indicating that the two knew each other.

He then naturally squatted down, bringing his gaze level with Yu Yin's, and said with a smile:

"You must be Yu Yin? I'm your homeroom teacher, surnamed Lin. The school received the notification yesterday, and I've come to take you to your classroom."

Chang Liren handled things very thoroughly; it was clear that the school had already taken care of everything at each level.

Aunt Zhang doesn't have the right to just leave the child inside the door and walk away.

She followed Teacher Lin through the security check and into the school gate, escorting Yu Yin all the way to the brightly lit teaching building, carefully explaining the child's situation—what she's called at home, what she should avoid eating at lunch, her somewhat introverted and shy personality, and what time she would pick her up after school.

Finally, she squatted down again, tidied the stray hairs on Yu Yin's forehead, and told Yu Yin to listen to her teachers at school before handing her thin little hand to Teacher Lin.

Teacher Lin led Yu Yin into the teaching building.

After walking a few steps, the little girl couldn't help but turn around and wave vigorously to Aunt Zhang, who was still standing downstairs.

Aunt Zhang waved to her and watched the little figure with the brand-new schoolbag turn the corner of the holographic corridor and disappear completely into the stairwell before turning back.

On her way back, she made a special detour to the core pharmacy and medical device bureau in the central district and bought several boxes of the top-grade nerve blocker, as Yu Wen had instructed her to do before leaving home that morning.

Back in the apartment, Aunt Zhang pushed open the door, walked quietly into the study, and gently placed the vial with its cold, metallic sheen, along with a glass of warm water, on the table next to Yu Wen.

In this highly developed cyber age, this level of blocking agent falls into the category of medical supplies on the verge of being banned drugs.

It is usually a potent drug used by mercenaries who live on the edge in the wasteland or underground boxers to forcibly cut off their body's sense of pain and block out all external sensory stimulation.

There are quite a few side effects. The higher-end version is better, but it will still cause nervous fatigue after the effects wear off.

However, it can bring absolute calm and complete detachment from the senses for a short period of time.

Aunt Zhang glanced at Yu Wen's useless legs, which were covered by a blanket and felt nothing, and then at his face, which was slightly pale from thinking for a long time.

She could vaguely guess that these legs must be accompanied by phantom nerve pain that is unbearable for ordinary people.

But as a highly professional housekeeper who had signed a confidentiality agreement with Weiguang Core, she didn't ask any unnecessary questions, nor did she show any cheap or repulsive pity. She simply pushed the water glass forward and whispered:

"Teacher Yu, the things have been bought."

"Thank you, you've worked hard."

Aunt Zhang waved her hand repeatedly, left the study, and closed the soundproof glass door tightly for him.

The study fell completely silent.

Yu Wen opened the constant temperature box and took out the medicine.

Without the slightest hesitation, he unscrewed the tube, tilted his head back, and gulped it down.

The medication takes effect very quickly.

In just a few seconds, the deep-seated pain and soreness caused by years of paralysis, as well as even the slightest environmental noise, were completely shielded by an invisible, cold barrier.

His mind once again entered an extreme state of emptiness and stillness.

In the absolute silence, Yu Wen slowly raised his hands and hovered them above the old mechanical keyboard covered in grease from the downtown area.

His gaze became extremely focused, as if piercing through the virtual screen in front of him, past the skyscrapers of the Midtown area, and looking straight at the howling west coast and the deep, cruel Gulf Stream.

"Click".

A crisp, heavy clang of a mechanical shaft struck the silent study, like a harpoon breaking the surface of the sea.

Immediately afterwards, in the very center of the screen, a line of pure, cold English characters, devoid of any fancy layout effects, appeared:

【He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.】

(He was an old man who fished alone in a small boat in the Gulf Stream, and had been there for eighty-four days without catching a single fish.)