A Day and a Night

You can live without a boyfriend, you can live without a girlfriend, but you can't live without a cell phone. As for needing Wi-Fi and data... those are kids. Adults never lack Wi-Fi and data.

This shows how important a mobile phone is as a technological product. It accompanies us the most while we are alive, while a coffin is used only after death. So, which is more important: a necessity while alive, or something dispensable after death?

You can burn it to ashes. An urn is not a coffin, so a coffin is not a necessity.

Liu Chang'an earnestly reasoned with Shangguan Dandan.

"The King of Changyi was nineteen years old that year, riding high on the crest of success, galloping through Chang'an; the young Queen was fifteen years old that year; all the beauty was nothing more than the first encounter in life."

"Don't you want to see how future generations will interpret the turbulent events that unfolded in Chang'an back then? Don't you want to open your eyes again and see Everlasting Palace?"

Is your memory hazy? Fragmented? Or vividly clear as if it were yesterday? But now it's been over two thousand years. Wouldn't you like to see those familiar names, those familiar people, vividly portraying your memories from back then?

"All you need is a mobile phone to satisfy all your emotional needs. You live on in this world, but things change, and two thousand years have passed. As Confucius said by the river, 'Time flows on like this, never ceasing.' At this moment, your emotional needs for reliance, comfort, and remembrance all require such a treasure. For you, what could be more important than a mobile phone?"

After Liu Chang'an finished speaking, he quietly looked at the coffin, waiting for Shangguan Dandan's response.

Silence remained.

Liu Chang'an nodded. It seemed that the plan to exchange the cell phone for the coffin had failed. The young girl had never used a cell phone before, and based on his description alone, she wouldn't be so easily Heartbeat.

So Liu Chang'an, regardless of whether Shangguan Dandan could see or feel it, began demonstrating the various functions of the mobile phone in the carriage.

"This is a social networking app. What's the use of this? In your time, when people issued decrees, the actual reach was very limited. It was normal for some edicts to take three to five months to reach remote areas, and three to five years was not uncommon. But with this social networking app, when you issue an edict, the whole world knows in an instant. Look, this is your online identity. Your name is your real name, your nickname is your posthumous title, and your profile picture is your selfie... They even smoothed and whitened your skin, making the dragon pink."

After Liu Chang'an finished speaking, he took two more photos.

"You... you give me the treasure."

"You know it's a treasure, how can I just give it to you like that?"

"You said you'd give me anything as long as I stopped crying, you have to keep your word."

Liu Chang'an was stunned. Was that really true?

Even if that really happened, it was two thousand years ago. Does it still count?

Two thousand years isn't a long time, and it seems a bit inappropriate to disregard things that happened two thousand years ago.

Shangguan Dandan remained silent, but Liu Chang'an felt as if a little girl was watching him from behind, her eyes brimming with tears and a look of grievance.

"All right."

It's not wise to be hasty at this moment. Besides, Liu Chang'an doesn't intend to steal her coffin and keep it for himself. He's not interested in possession, but only in the secrets hidden within.

Liu Chang'an placed the phone screen-down on the coffin.

Shangguan Dandan didn't make a sound, and the phone on the coffin didn't disappear instantly. Liu Chang'an simply went and got the instruction manual as well.

"Are you going to use your phone in a coffin? The signal will be bad."

Shangguan Dandan still did not respond to Liu Chang'an, and Liu Chang'an did not say anything more, just stood next to the coffin and looked at it.

He was clearly a very patient person, but a little girl who spends all day hiding in a coffin probably wouldn't be any less patient either.

It got dark quickly, and for the first time, Liu Chang'an skipped dinner and stood in the carriage staring at Shangguan Dandan's coffin.

Old Man Qian came to call Liu Chang'an to play mahjong, but couldn't find him.

Old Lady Liu came to call Liu Chang'an to go Pao Hu Zi, but Liu Chang'an was still in the carriage.

Zhou Dongdong ran down and fed the loaches, then sat by the puddle for a long time.

Someone even walked by and casually patted the carriage door.

It was soon past midnight, so Liu Chang'an simply continued the lesson, discussing the contents of the encyclopedia. Liu Chang'an believed that the more she learned about the world, the stronger her desire to leave the coffin would become.

Liu Chang'an refused to believe it. Since she had already asked for the phone, her desire must have been incredibly strong, and strong desires are hard to control.

A whole night passed, Liu Chang'an hadn't even had a sip of water. He talked all night long, but this was nothing to him. He was a very patient and persistent person, and no one had ever been able to outlast him in all these years.

"The refrigerator has an automatic light switch on the back of the door, a door stopper, a magnetic sealing ring embedded in the inner wall of the door, an oil compartment, a meat safe, a partition installation channel, a freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, a water dispenser, handles..."

"The baby is broken."

Liu Chang'an was explaining the structure of a modern refrigerator to her. Shangguan Dandan, who had been silent ever since he placed her phone on the coffin, finally uttered four more words.

Liu Chang'an was stunned for a moment. His phone was broken? Luckily, it was a brand new phone and still under warranty, so he could get a replacement. But what if he bought a fake? The unscrupulous merchant would definitely deny it, and he would have to outsmart the seller.

Liu Chang'an picked up his phone and pressed the power button randomly. It showed low battery. It wasn't broken; it just ran out of power.

Wait a minute, this phone was fully charged on its own. If it had been in standby mode, it wouldn't be out of power now.

Thinking of this, Liu Chang'an glanced at the coffin with a puzzled expression.

"Have you been using this phone all this time?"

Shangguan Dandan remained silent.

Liu Chang'an pursed his lips, feeling a bit frustrated. Had he really been wasting his time, teaching all night while she was just playing on her phone?

Liu Chang'an understood a little better how teachers felt when they saw students playing on their phones in high school. Holding his phone, filled with the anger of a teacher, Liu Chang'an charged it, restarted it, and casually opened the Qidian Reading app, where he saw his reading history for <Covering the Sky>.

She read novels all night.

I watched it until it ran out of power.

She probably didn't listen at all while I was giving the lecture.

Liu Chang'an entered the carriage and calmly looked at the coffin. "How could you play with your precious thing like that?"

Shangguan Dandan remained silent. Liu Chang'an asked her three times in a row, but she did not respond.

"Tell me how you used your phone, how you were reading the novel, and I'll fix your precious device for you." Liu Chang'an continued to reason with her. "Look, you said I made that promise to you, and I gave it to you without hesitation. Now you've broken it and want me to fix it, but you're still acting like this. Isn't that inappropriate?"

I'll tell you once you fix your precious item.

Liu Chang'an was secretly delighted; the little girl was so easy to fool.

I haven't been feeling well these past couple of days. I'll feel a bit better tomorrow, but then I'll have another big flare-up.