Many years later.
Great Liang.
An airplane streaked across the blue sky.
Its enormous shadow swept over the dense steel-and-concrete buildings below.
"Next, a political news report..."
At an intersection.
On the screen, a beautiful news anchor announced in crisp, standard tones, "Today, our country's warships paid a diplomatic visit to Thousand Islands Country. On the basis of equality, friendship, and harmony, we signed a port-leasing and trade treaty with Thousand Islands Country... The prime minister delivered an important speech on the matter..."
Xiao Lin rode through the streets at breakneck speed with a schoolbag on his back, paying the news no mind.
He was a happy high school truant, enrolled at Jinshi City Third Middle School.
Thanks to his parents, he had possessed an Imperial Capital household registration from the moment he was born. He could attend school in this district, take the civil service exams... It could be said that he had started out at the finish line of many people's lives.
And yet... Xiao Lin was not happy.
It was not just the pressure of schoolwork. There was also his parents' endless nagging, telling him that he had to get into a university in the Imperial Capital, and that from his freshman year onward, he needed to actively prepare for the civil service exams after graduation. That would give him a better chance of passing!
Has the end of the universe really become the civil service exam?
Xiao Lin grumbled inwardly as he arrived beneath a large bridge.
Several bicycles had long been parked in the underpass, beside a patch of grass.
Unknown little pink flowers bloomed across the lawn, their scent refreshing and soothing.
"Old Lin, we've been waiting for you."
A fat boy lying on the grass waved at him.
Xiao Lin tossed his bicycle