Dreaming for 10,000 years

Chapter 420 Meaning
Shi Fei waited in the noodle shop for nearly two hours.

When Lao Liu burst through the door, his shirt was all wrinkled. He plopped down on a plastic stool, which creaked under the weight.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Are you getting impatient? It's so hot today! I was about to shut down the computer when that silly client called and changed two images, which took up a bit of my time."

They outwardly show great respect to their clients, but behind their backs, they call them "idiots." Because they work in the service industry, clients sometimes make demands that go beyond industry norms and expectations.

Its demands are so outrageous that they're like comparing apples and oranges.

"It's alright. I wasn't in a hurry." Shi Fei shook his head, took out a bottle of wine, poured a glass, and said, "Eat something first, then drink something."

"Okay!" Old Liu took the wine, but instead picked up his chopsticks and started eating the dishes in front of him.

A plate of peanuts, a plate of cold dishes, and two stir-fries sat in front of him—simple and unpretentious. Old Liu hadn't eaten anything since lunch and his stomach was growling with hunger.

He shoveled down a few mouthfuls, then picked up his glass and said, "Why aren't you at work today? Did you find a new job?"

Knowing that Shi Fei was home alone, he assumed that Shi Fei had been unhappy at work recently and had gone out for a job interview, so he had skipped work.

Shi Fei also picked up his wine glass, smiled slightly, and said, "Can't I go out and have some fun?"

"You?" Old Liu finished his drink in one gulp and said, "You don't seem like the kind of person who would skip work just to have fun."

"If you find any good places to go, don't forget to tell me about them," Old Liu said.

“In our line of work,” Shi Fei said, “it’s all the same everywhere. We work overtime, the more we do, the more money we earn, it’s hard-earned money.”

Hearing Shi Fei say this, Old Liu sighed and said, "A man's greatest fear is choosing the wrong profession, and that's for sure."

Some industries have upper limits and ceilings, and many people work hard in these industries but can't break through them. It's not that they aren't hardworking or smart enough, but rather that the industry itself is like that.

Looking at the blue sky and white clouds, even if you crash and bleed, you still can't fly away.

Just like programmers, everyone works overtime, but programmers can earn several times more than those in other industries. A programmer who has only been in the industry for two years can earn more than a director in some other industries.

Shi Fei swirled his wine glass: "So, I'm not changing jobs, I just suddenly felt it was meaningless."

"What do you mean by 'boring'? What does 'boring' mean?" Old Liu asked, puzzled.

Shi Fei paused for a moment and said, "Have you ever thought that life might just be someone else's dream, an endless dream? Life's experiences—work, life, love, family—are all fake."

Old Liu said, "I've thought about it."

"Huh?" Shi Fei thought Lao Liu would refute him, but he didn't expect Lao Liu to say that he had thought about it.

Old Liu continued, "I've actually thought about this question." He spoke with a slightly nostalgic tone, "Back when I wasn't married and didn't have a girlfriend."

"I think my girlfriend is the most adorable woman in the world. She should love me, and I should love her. I will cherish her for the rest of my life."

"But I don't love her anymore. Not only her, I've even lost interest in washing feet."

Seeing Shi Fei's puzzled expression, he said, "Marriage is the grave of love. Someone like you wouldn't understand that." "..." Shi Fei was speechless.

“She would nag me about the smallest, most trivial things. Every day she would tell me about the little things that happened in her life and at work, hoping that I could share her burdens.” Old Liu’s words were tinged with bitterness: “But I have never told her about the messy things that happened at work.”

"Because I transmit my emotions to her, making her even more irritable. But she makes me even more irritable."

"Sometimes, she would complain about my uselessness. She would compare me to other people, saying that other people have easy jobs with high pay, can take care of their families, and can take their wives and children out to play on holidays."

"But all I can do is go to work and work overtime, and I don't get home until very late every day..."

After drinking, Lao Liu became very talkative, rambling on about the trivialities of life. He was annoyed every day at work, and annoyed when he got home.

No love can withstand the erosion of life.

Neon lights cast shifting shadows on his face through the glass window, sometimes blue, sometimes red.

"So, sometimes I feel that life is really meaningless." Old Liu concluded: "Those feelings and love are just things that young people do when they're bored. But those ideals and beliefs are lofty and unattainable."

"Only living like cattle and horses is the real reality."

Shi Fei didn't reply, but silently raised his glass. The two glasses clinked in mid-air, the wine rippled slightly. He hadn't expected that Lao Liu, who was always joking around, had such thoughts.

"Have you ever thought that your life might be just an NPC in someone else's dream?" Shi Fei took a sip of wine, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "You've had dreams, haven't you? You know that sometimes inexplicable little characters appear in your dreams."

Old Liu shook his head and said, then suddenly burst out laughing: "And I'm that nobody?"

“Not bad!” Shi Fei said.

"That's good too!" Old Liu said with a resigned tone and a hint of drunkenness, "At least my life has meaning, instead of being meaningless like it is now."

"Meaning?" Shi Fei saw his partner clearly for the first time. That face, which always wore an exaggerated smile, now revealed an unprecedented authenticity under the influence of alcohol.

“Yes! Meaning!” Old Liu sighed again and said, “Sometimes I feel like I’m not myself, but living for my family, for making money, for my children. Is my life all for others?”

The pressure of supporting his family weighed heavily on Lao Liu, causing him considerable distress, but he couldn't express it. He couldn't tell his family, only friends like Shi Fei.

"In all my years, what have I truly done for myself? Living for others, I'm just too pathetic! So, sometimes I don't even know what the meaning of life is. It turns out..."

The ceiling fan in the noodle shop creaked overhead, stirring up the stale air.

Old Liu tilted his head back and gulped down a mouthful of wine, saying self-deprecatingly, "I'm just a pre-programmed NPC! Not bad, not bad at all!"

He drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

Hearing Lao Liu's words, Shi Fei finally understood how deeply some people had been tormented by life. Even the meaning of illusion had become meaningful.

When the glass was empty again, he was silent for a moment. But the next second, the grinning Old Liu was back: "Come on! Cheers to us NPCs! Let's drink until we drop!"

(End of this chapter)