Chapter 1 I pushed open the door and it was just yesterday

  Before writing this story, I have asked myself countless times: are we really the only intelligent beings in the vast universe?

  Looking up at the starry sky, I wonder if there is someone else looking back at us?

  The answer is obvious: we are not alone in the universe; there is other intelligent life out there.

  Whether from a probabilistic perspective or our instinctive fear of loneliness, we are unlikely to be isolated individuals.

  As modern science develops and various measuring instruments emerge, we have not found other life within our visible range, nor even the smallest possible detection.

  This is so disappointing!

  The lonely earth is still circling around the sun in the solar system, without beginning or end.

  We are walking endlessly on the same road, like a donkey pulling a millstone, blindfolded in an utterly dark environment, making the most distant journey.

  There is always a donkey that does not want to be blindfolded. It wants to walk in a straight line, so the reins are broken and the millstone is worn out.

  Or is there another possibility?

  A gate on the playground (1)

  Yun Zheng didn't sleep all night, not that he didn't want to sleep, he wanted to sleep to death, but as soon as he thought of the thirteen kids in that experimental class, he lost all desire to sleep. Heaven only knows why he agreed with the old principal, instead of bringing normal kids, he ended up with these selected young masters and misses.

  Li Wei, I know your dad is a senior programmer. Do you have to encrypt the file you sent over just for a math problem? And then tell the teacher that the password is the answer to this question? What's the point of knowing the password if it's just a bunch of 01s on the screen, how am I supposed to grade this?

  It wasn't supposed to be like this, I just put a plastic bag of ice water on the door at first. Although I was scolded by the female teacher for half an hour, but as a hero, I was admired by my brothers for half a semester.

  Yun Zheng vowed that he would never use English to write his own thesis again, after passing the College English Test Band 6 in university, he had no chance to use it again.

  However, kiddo, this sentence "heart has a fierce tiger, sniffing the rose" teacher still knows, Sason's famous quote, teacher told your future teacher mother when she was in college, He Pengcheng, once you've exposed your tail, don't try to pull it back, I'll deal with you tomorrow.

  What a big piece of paper, what beautiful cursive script! It's on par with Zhang Xu's calligraphy after he got drunk. I won't return it to her. My teacher's study room just happens to need a calligraphic work, and this one will do, even though the meaning isn't very good - what does "Lying on the beach for three and a half years, when the big wave comes, I'll turn over?" mean?

  Do you think the teacher can't recognize your scribbles? Tomorrow, if you can't draw 100 turtles within an hour, the teacher will draw turtles on your little face, Xindandan, just wait...

  After finishing his own affairs, Yun Zheng found that he no longer had the need to sleep. He turned his head to look at the alarm clock on his bedside table, which was still sleeping soundly, and waited specially for it to ring suddenly, so as to enter a new day.

  Yun Zheng was very satisfied with his alarm clock, which always rang at exactly seven o'clock.

  Originally, there was nothing worth mentioning about this matter, but for two consecutive days, only the alarm clock was normal, and none of the other things made him feel at ease.

  While brushing teeth, I wonder if I hadn't chosen to be a teacher, would my life be more comfortable now? At the age of 27, still living in the school dormitory, isn't it a bit pitiful?

  The familiar number on the phone has not appeared for more than a month, dialed twice, both empty numbers, well, naked and unencumbered, then live a carefree life.

  He had just sworn to the heavens when a thunderclap suddenly boomed above his head, startling Cloud into standing on end. What was with this early morning thunder? A torrent of rain was about to pour down, and he jammed his backpack onto his head and sprinted off wildly.

  A wall of elm trees half a person's height high jumped over, a handrail half a person's height high was propped up and crossed over. Just as I was feeling proud, a big gust of wind blew in front of me, bringing mud and sand to cover my face. After rubbing my eyes for a while, I suddenly heard the sound of "whooshing" sweeping sounds. Who would be sweeping the floor when it's so windy? Through my blurry tear-filled eyes, I finally saw that idiot who was sweeping against the wind.

  Seeing that kid in school uniform, Yun Zhen was completely speechless. Others sweep the floor to keep it clean, but this guy sweeps the floor for 1,000 yuan a month.

  This was his mother's job, and He Jianqiang had to help his mother sweep the floor every day. He was a good kid, and if that pretty little face had a bit more smile on it, Yun Zheng decided to vote for him as this year's three-good student. Anyway, these thirteen young masters and misses would absolutely not vote for anyone else, so He Jianqiang could win with a huge advantage of two votes.

  Looked around but didn't see his mom.

  "Stop looking, my mother is gone." Ge Jianqiang's voice sounded behind Yun Zheng.

  "Left? What does that mean? Where did he go?" Yun Ting asked strangely, unable to discern any meaning from the boy's straightforward words.

  "What's gone is gone and won't come back. He left me fifty bucks." The voice was still flat, but a bit husky.

  "What's the point of sweeping the floor then? Are you bored out of your mind? Come on, let's go eat and then find the principal to discuss your future. Be a man, be strong. It's not like it's the end of the world, teachers have it worse than you and they still graduated from top universities."

  He Jianqiang looked at Yun Zheng as if he was looking at an idiot, and after a long time, said: "I've been sweeping this place for 27 days. This month is a big month with 31 days, which means I just need to sweep the floor for four more days and I can get 1,033 yuan. Next month's meals are all relying on him, you want me not to sweep?"

  "You are a minor, the country has laws, and you will be arranged to live with your relatives, the country also provides subsidies for you, so you don't have to worry about making money to support your family."

  He Jianqiang suddenly smiled, this was the first time Yun Zheng saw him smile. But this smile shouldn't be on his face at all, he put the broom on his shoulder and said to Yun Zheng: "Teacher Yun, even my own mother is disgusted with me, do you think my family's relatives will take me in?"

  Two people stood still on the playground, and before they knew it, the heavy rain finally came down. He Jianqiang didn't intend to take shelter from the rain; instead, he was ready to sweep away all the rainwater, not leaving a single drop behind.

  This is nonsense. After all, it's still about being strong for oneself and wanting to show that one can withstand all the pain in the world through this fragile strength.

  The bear child didn't listen at all, and after being drenched for a while, he might get sick. Getting sick is not a good thing at this time. Yun Zheng stuffed He Jianqiang under his arm, casually opened a door, and walked in. It was very dark inside, like walking into a storage room. After feeling his way for half the distance, he suddenly thought, where did the door on the playground come from?

  Half an hour was enough for Yun Zheng to walk through the school, but now he was still groping in the dark, shouting loudly twice, without even getting an echo. He took out his lighter and lit it, but only a small flame came out, no matter how big Yun Zheng opened the valve, there was always only a tiny spark of fire.

  Kui Jianqiang, who was under his ribs, seemed to have fallen asleep, and his body became heavier and heavier. He put away the lighter, stretched out one hand in front of him, and slowly moved his feet forward, finally finding a wall. If he couldn't find another place to lean on, Yun Zheng felt that he would collapse.

  Gasping for breath, Yun Zheng's hand slowly felt the wall, and he found that the wall seemed to be not solid enough. He carried He Jianqiang on his back and used his shoulder to forcefully collide with the wall.

  Then he saw the sun, that red thing hanging in the sky, looking like it had just risen. That was right, who else could have played a prank on the playground except his students? He was getting angry. What Ge Jianqiang feared most was his mother leaving, and he would never joke about this even if you killed him.

  Those kids are too much, Yun Ye allows his students to be mischievous and playful, but he will never allow them to lack sympathy. Just as he was about to loudly scold them, he closed his mouth, his heart helplessly sinking into darkness.

  No matter how capable his students were, it was impossible to produce a panda out of thin air. Now this panda, which was only the size of a cat, was constantly licking its paws. This wasn't strange, Yun Zhen hadn't washed her feet last night and they smelled salty...

  Her stiff neck turned around in a circle, and in front of her was a lush green bamboo forest. She was only wearing one shoe, the other shoe was beside her, but why did the shoe fall off?

  Looking at those delicate feet below, after repeated confirmation, Yun Zheng was finally convinced that these were his own feet, and the ink mark on the sole of his left foot was still there.

  A little boy wearing a big shirt stared at himself with wide eyes, he was also confused, and asked Yun Zheng in a childish voice: "Who are you? How did I end up here?"

  Yun Zong didn't have time to answer him, so he casually wrapped the little kid in his sleeve and tied a knot, then slung it over his back. Under his feet was a small panda cub, which meant that there must be a large panda nearby. That thing not only eats bamboo but also meat. There's no point in talking reason with the mother of the big panda who is protecting her child, escaping with one's life is more important.

  The shoes were too big, and he couldn't run fast. However, the little kid's shoes on his feet seemed just right. He hastily took them off and put them on his own feet, tied the shoelaces, and then dashed into the thicket of bushes, coming to a dry red rock. Only then did Yun Zheng carefully examine everything about himself.

  His entire body had severely shrunk, and his once proud height was now at most 1.4 meters. His old face with a stubble beard was gone, replaced by a youthful face with baby fat. As for the four-year-old kid lying in the pile of clothes, rolling his eyes around, who else could it be besides He Jianqiang?

  "Your pants are open." He Jianqiang stretched out his small fingers, pointing at Yun Zheng's already torn zipper and laughing loudly, he seemed to enjoy the current situation.

  "Teacher, I've completely become a minor now, you can apply for financial assistance for me. I really need it and I'm also hungry." The child speaking like an adult looked eerie, no matter how you look at it, he seemed like a monster.

  Not only was he hungry, but Yun Zheng was also hungry. They hadn't eaten anything since they left the house in the morning and were now standing on a rocky outcrop, looking around in all directions. He was quite certain that there couldn't be any human habitation here. As he watched a group of wild boars snuffling and snorting their way past the base of the rocks, seemingly unafraid of humans, Yun Zheng realized that these wild boars had probably never encountered hunters before.

  Took off his own loose-fitting shirt, and put on He Jianqiang's clothes. Although he was stark naked and kept objecting to Yun Zheng, I did what I wanted to do anyway. I put my own undershirt on him, tied a rope around his waist, and suddenly a cute little kid wearing a romper appeared.

  Everything was packed and ready, Yun Zheng carried He Jianqiang to the edge of the bamboo forest. The bamboo forest in spring grew lushly, with many new shoots just poking out of the ground. Holding a bamboo stick, they frantically dug up three bamboo shoots at top speed. After that, Yun Zheng quickly ran up to the red sandalwood rock, where there was a small cave. He carefully put He Jianqiang inside and sat at the entrance, starting to peel the bamboo shoots. He Jianqiang tried to help with peeling for a bit but found it wasn't something his little hands could handle, so he could only wait for Yun Zheng to finish. When they were about to eat the raw bamboo shoots, Yun Zheng suddenly snatched away He Jianqiang's portion and put it on the ground. It was then that he realized He Jianqiang was only four years old and couldn't eat raw bamboo shoots.

  "Endure a bit, you don't dare to eat raw bamboo shoots, it's even more frightening to get sick from eating them. I'll start a fire and see if I can roast some for you to eat." Yun Zheng didn't dare to go far, so he could only gather some dry grass and firewood from nearby. Perhaps the heavens took pity on two people without a home, Yun Zheng unexpectedly found an egg in the grass that didn't belong to any known bird, bigger than a quail's egg but smaller than a chicken's egg, looking very fresh.

  The roasted bird eggs must be coated with mud and placed in hot ash to cook slowly, otherwise they will explode. Yun Zheng, who has been doing this since childhood, is very skilled at it, and he eats bamboo shoots with a crunching sound. He Jianqiang is drooling on the side, staring at the muddy lump in the ash heap.

  When Yun Zheng handed the peeled egg to He Jianqiang after blowing it cool, He Jianqiang didn't take it. He wanted Yun Zheng to eat first, but Yun Zheng roughly stuffed the egg into his mouth and continued to slowly gnaw on a bamboo shoot himself.

  Things happened too fast, too strange, from beginning to end, without leaving Yun Zhen a moment to think carefully about what had happened and why he suddenly came from the small town in the northwest corner to the mountainous and watery southern country.

  "Teacher, there is a scientific explanation that is similar to our current situation, which is the space-time tunnel. I had a dream before, wanting to build a machine that could go back in time, back to when my dad was still alive, to see what he looked like, so I studied the space-time tunnel carefully. Actually, the famous American professor John B. Keller has an interesting hypothesis, that the space-time tunnel and the human world are not in the same time system, entering another time system may allow us to go back to a distant past or enter the future, because in the space-time tunnel, time has directionality and reversibility, it can move forward and backward, we were lucky to encounter the reversal, so we all became children again."

  Yun Zheng smiled and wiped away the egg yolk from He Jianqiang's mouth, then patted his head and said: "I never believe in assumptions, I only believe in facts. Now our situation is very strange, I need enough time to seek proof. Jianqiang, your name is good, being strong is a spirit that both of us need now."