I'm trapped in a block

Chapter 1209 The Missing Taste

Mo Ling could tell that Director Wang had been under a lot of pressure lately.

These pressures may come from higher authorities, from within the research institute, or from his own heart.

As people reach middle age, they often find themselves powerless to do many things. Lacking the creativity of youth, their energy and focus begin to decline. The growing anxiety within them makes it difficult for this research institute director to face the stagnant research.

Mo Ling knew that Director Wang's words, though seemingly addressed to Fang Kuai, were actually meant for himself.

Mo Ling wasn't actually in a hurry to know the so-called "answer." Although he was also confused, he felt a faint sense of peace, as if he had long been used to this confusion.

"Is it because I was in this state all along while I was in the abyss that I got used to it?"

Seeing Director Wang's anxious expression, Mo Ling picked up the electronic screen and wrote words of comfort on it.

Then, the electronic screen and a can of cola were delivered to Director Wang's desk.

"You did a great job..."

"Try this, and you won't be so troubled anymore."

Mo Ling wasn't very good at comforting people; he only knew that people needed some "sweetness" to distract themselves from their pain.

Director Wang glanced at the words on the electronic screen, then at the can of cola, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He picked up the cola, awkwardly pulled the tab, and then carefully took a sip.

After tasting the cola, he first frowned, seemingly unaccustomed to it. But as the flavor spread in his mouth, he gradually accepted it, his brows relaxed, and a dim light shone in his tired eyes, as if he were filled with hope again.

"So this is what it tastes like..."

He muttered to himself, picked up the Coke can and examined it carefully for a while, then looked at the cube.

"How come something so delicious hasn't been passed down to this day? I just can't understand it."

Director Wang licked his lips, and despite being a middle-aged man, he wore the same expression as a child tasting cola for the first time—a mixture of curiosity and joy.

According to Mo Ling's timeline, Director Wang is indeed considered a "child".

A hundred years later, humanity on Earth once again tasted the sweetness of the past. No matter how times change, the pursuit of sweetness etched in human genes will not change.

"No wonder it can awaken your memory; it truly leaves a deep impression."

Director Wang took another sip and couldn't help but sigh.

"It really tastes great..."

"When you taste it, do you remember anything else?" Director Wang asked Fang Kuai.

"I can't remember, I can only vaguely feel that it's familiar," Mo Ling answered truthfully.

After getting the cola, Mo Ling drank many cans. Each sip pulled his thoughts back to the past. He seemed to see himself floating in strange places—forests, deserts, oceans, and some messy places…

There seemed to be many people coming and going outside the cube, but there was also someone who stayed by the cube's side the whole time. That person was very kind to the cube, but Mo Ling couldn't remember what that person looked like. Just recalling it made her feel warm inside, and the cola tasted very sweet.

The blurry figures felt strangely familiar, but that was all. He couldn't recall the specific details, nor his interactions with them. Each sip of cola he drank seemed to stagnate at a point where his memory remained forever blurred and indistinct. When he finally came to his senses, the cola was gone, leaving him only with a void. He could only sit blankly on the bed, lost in the fragments of his shattered memories.

After the sweetness completely dissipated, he returned to reality, surrounded by cold, metallic walls.

It seems like something is missing.

"The cola doesn't taste right; it's still not quite there."

But he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong with it.

"Does this cola taste like it used to?"

They look exactly the same, yet there are some differences.

What's the difference?
Mo Ling wrote down her doubts on the electronic screen and asked Director Wang again.

Upon seeing the question on the electronic screen, Director Wang shook his head.

"I can't be sure if this batch of Coca-Cola tastes the same as before. We've had the Coca-Cola company produce it using the most basic ingredients and production line. So much time has passed, the ingredients must have changed, and there will be some deviations in purity and quantity. The production line hasn't been used for so long, so of course there will be new problems when it's restarted. No one can guarantee that this batch of Coca-Cola will taste completely 'standard'."

As a "modern person," Director Wang certainly didn't know the "standard taste" of Coca-Cola. Finding the Coca-Cola company and producing this batch of "ancient Coca-Cola" was already the limit of what he could do.

"What do you think is wrong with the taste? Is it not sweet enough? Or not carbonated enough? I can notify the Coca-Cola Company to make adjustments. They are just making it according to the old recipe... We can't find the old employees who were familiar with the old recipe now, so we can only figure it out by trial and error."

A hundred years can change a lot.

Mo Ling never imagined that even the taste of cola would be forgotten, leaving only a strange beverage called "cola," with flashy celebrity packaging and a completely different taste...

The real Coca-Cola has long since disappeared into the annals of history.

The drinks he's drinking now, although made according to the old recipes, are only very similar replicas.

Just like how people try to replicate lost dishes based on ancient recipes, even if they can perfectly recreate the recipe, there will still be some slight deviations in taste.

The pots used by ancient people might have contained some rust, the firewood might have been slightly damp, the moisture from the rainy season might have seeped into the food, and there might have been some unspoken details in the seasonings added. The chef would let the food sit for a few minutes before taking it out of the pot, and then stir-fry it again after it came to a boil. The food could not be served on porcelain plates, but on copper plates...

These strange and unusual details may be the decisive factors affecting the original flavor of the dish, but they are not written in the recipe. Even if modern people can perfectly replicate the dish by referring to the recipe, what they get is a defective product that "tastes a little worse".

The same goes for Coca-Cola; although the formula is the same, the resulting product is different from what it used to be.

Even Mo Ling, who had tasted Coca-Cola many times, couldn't tell the difference, but he just knew there was something wrong. His subconscious kept telling him: the taste is wrong, something is missing.

If I really try to figure out exactly what's missing, my brain just shuts down and stops responding...

"This is so annoying..."

Mo Ling pressed her temples and sighed helplessly.

(End of this chapter)