If an ordinary person had seen the difference, they would have thought that it was only eleven times. Those who were rich enough could just buy eleven pills.
However, it couldn’t be put that way—they had to be far-sighted. It was known that the performance-enhancing drug for Awakeners could only help people attain LV2, but nothing beyond that. It was possible to predict that, as the number of Awakeners would increase in the future, the limit would also increase. There would definitely be drugs to help Awakeners move from LV2 to LV3.
At that time, how much would a pill cost? With the recovery of supernatural influence, who could guarantee that the drugs would always be in production? What happened if someone needed to engage in some dangerous activities? When such drugs were going to be produced in the future, Hong Xiaofu would experience multiplied effects from taking one pill compared to others taking eleven.
“Brother, this is great. Not only do you have potential to improve, you are doing better than others!” Shen Xiaoling said sweetly, “We don’t have to worry about this in the future anymore, we just need to earn more money!”
With that goal in mind, the remaining tasks would be easy. Money was not a big problem. With the speed at which Hong Xiaofu moved bricks, five thousand dollars was not a huge sum. It was, however, a slight waste of time. Hong Xiaofu was optimistic about it. While others were paying to use the gym, he was earning money from bricklaying, and he earned quite a huge sum. With that mindset, he thought he had a lot to gain.
“Ha! We finally found a direction.” Hong Xiaofu looked at the clock which was hanging on the wall and said, “It is only a little past six. I still have more than a thousand remaining here, let’s go and catch a movie!”
The previous time they had been out, Shen Xiaoling had been dying to watch The Wandering Earth. Of course he had to fulfil this little wish of hers.
The hardship that Hong Xiaofu had gone through for that meant nothing. Anything that his sister wanted, he would do the best that he could—since they were going to watch the movie, they had to watch it in IMAX!
“Really?!” Shen Xiaoling was stunned for a moment before she jumped around joyfully. She cheered, “Awesome, I’m going to get changed now! It is my first time watching a movie, I must dress nicely!”
The little girl got busy. While looking at how excited she was, Hong Xiaofu could not help but let out a satisfied smile. Everything was going in a good direction and they were hopeful about their future. He and Shen Xiaoling would definitely be filled with happiness!
Both siblings were dressed neatly. Shen Xiaoling held Hong Xiaofu as they happily left the house, humming songs. She had not brought her canvas bag along.
In Hong Xiaofu’s words, since it was their first time going to the cinema, they should just enjoy it peacefully and happily without worrying about anything else.
There was a cinema in Tianfu Commercial Plaza which was considered rather big—it had an IMAX hall, too. When they arrived, they were just in time to buy tickets.
The Wandering Earth had started screening on Lunar New Year’s Eve at midnight. It has been one and a half months since then, so the crowds were gone. Hong Xiaofu and Shen Xiaoling managed to choose two empty seats.
Before they entered, Hong Xiaofu took a glance at the popcorn and Coke placed at the side—he had seen the blissful expression that Shen Xiaoling had on her face, and had immediately bought them.
Give your best, nothing less.
“Wow!” Shen Xiaoling was surprised and she asked, “Brother, are these for me?”
“Yup.” Hong Xiaofu smiled and replied, “Since we are here, we should enjoy the movie fully. Furthermore, we have never really had any chance to do this. Since we can now, we should just enjoy ourselves.”
“Brother, you are the best!”
Shen Xiaoling was smiling sweetly. She took some popcorn and stuffed it into Hong Xiaofu’s mouth, saying, “You can have one first.”
She looked at him full of expectations as she asked, “Is it sweet?”
Hong Xiaofu replied, “Yes, it is very sweet!”
Shen Xiaoling celebrated in joy. She held Hong Xiaofu and dashed into the cinema, “I knew it would be sweet! Faster, faster! The movie is about to start. We can start eating once we are seated!”
The cinema hall was nowhere near full. Since it was past the main screening period, there were only slightly more than ten people. Their seats were in the middle, slightly toward the back, and no one was seated around then. They could enjoy the movie in peace without having to worry about anyone disturbing them.
The movie was about to begin. Shen Xiaoling took a sip of Coke excitedly and started munching on the popcorn. While eating, she smiled joyfully and said, “It’s so sweet! Brother, have some too.”
“Okay.” Hong Xiaofu giggled as he popped popcorn into his mouth. The movie started.
Hong Xiaofu and Shen Xiaoling kept quiet throughout it: Shen Xiaoling was an obedient child. After the movie started, she even tried to eat the popcorn carefully and softly as she was worried that she might disturb others if she made any noises.
The Wandering Earth told the story of the last phase of Earth, where everyone was fighting to overcome the apocalypse. The story was touching and the cinematics were beautiful—that left Shen Xiaoling feeling extremely fascinated. It was also Hong Xiaofu’s first time watching a movie from a gigantic IMAX screen. He was truly shaken by the stunning beauty of the perfect cinematic shots. The two hours passed quickly and they left the theater. While they were walking home, they discussed the plot of the movie.
“Brother, I think we are pretty similar to the characters Duoduo and Liu Hukou.” Shen Xiaoling said excitedly, “We are siblings who depend on each other—they have a maternal grandfather, while we have a grandpa.”
“Yup.” Hong Xiaofu nodded and added, “Compared to them, we are so lucky! At least we have not encountered such a crisis here. We can live our lives peacefully and our days are great.”
“Yes.” Shen Xiaoling pondered before asking, “Brother, with the recovery of supernatural influence going on now, do you think our future would be like what happened in the movie?”
Honestly, Hong Xiaofu did not have an answer to that. The world was changing. Within the country, because they had the military, their surroundings were rather peaceful and safe. However, in other countries… Hong Xiaofu remembered grandpa Liu saying that foreign countries were already in a mess.
Liberal democracy? It looked great but sadly, it was in China’s five thousand-year history of civilization. The period of peace may even let people feel that the air carried a sweet scent. But once the world fell into tragedy, what would happen? They would really need to put on a few layers of bulletproof armor. With every household possessing guns, everyone was liberal. Once a gunner met an Awakener, it would be a beautiful scene…
[“What are you looking at?”
“You got a problem? I am an Awakener!”
“Oh, but I have a gun—bang!”]
An Awakener of the fire system could ignite a flame by moving his fingers, and any person carrying a gun may think that he was trying to launch an attack, so they would just raise their guns. In fact, the Awakener might have only wanted to play it cool with some smoke…
The problem was how to define that. Who could make the call?
“I’m not sure either.” Hong Xiaofu held Shen Xiaoling’s hand and as they walked leisurely, Hong Xiaofu said, “No matter what, the environment in our country is pretty good. Also, I would do my best to protect you. Although I have a strange power, it seems quite useful too. Two days ago I met a mutated rat, it bowed down to me when it saw me.
“Really?” Shen Xiaoling’s eyes twinkled as she said excitedly, “I knew my brother was the best!”
“Mhmm.” Hong Xiaofu raised his eyebrows while laughing as he said, “Let’s go home. I have to return to school tomorrow.”
Shen Xiaoling nodded firmly, “Yup, going home!”