"Mr. Lin, may I ask where you are now—?"
Carlos sat in the driver's seat, watching Lin Lixin fiddle with a bunch of electronic components that he couldn't understand at all.
Just call me Lin.
Lin Lixin didn't even look up. He finished assembling everything and then tried to power it on.
While he was fussing, he would occasionally spit out a curse word.
"Damn, is this the level of recent graduates from MIT? I'll have Gerald take them for some intensive training later."
The circuit board is well-made, and the components are all designed reasonably, but the overall assembly and industrial design are just too terrible.
This has always been a weak point for GAMENOVA.
Lin Lixin almost had to oversee the entire process to ensure no problems arose.
After finally finishing tinkering with everything, he casually pulled out a CD from his suitcase, inserted it, and pushed it in.
After doing all this, Lin Lixin finally slowly raised his head.
"This is a black box we designed that records the vehicle's on-road conditions and saves them on this disc."
Okay----what's it for?
Carlos looked at the disc being guided into the machine with a puzzled expression and asked another question.
"Didn't I say it was for research for my new game?"
Lin Lixin chuckled and gently patted the treasure. "I'm planning to develop a video game where you drive a truck to haul goods."
"Ah?"
These words did not dispel Carlos's doubts; on the contrary, they only created more confusion.
To be honest, Carlos doesn't know much about video games. The last time he heard of them was when he played the Atari Pong arcade game in a bar.
Nevertheless, he had occasionally heard about just how rapidly video games were developing.
Realistic racing games, arcade games that can be played with an electric bass guitar—
There seems to be some kind of game out there lately where you go to Colorado to kill raccoons.
But a game about driving a truck to deliver goods----
Unheard of, unseen!
To put it bluntly, is this thing even fun?
"Uh... Mr. Lin, I... never mind."
He opened his mouth, intending to say something, but considering his position, he ultimately gave up.
As a seasoned truck driver with over a decade of experience, Carlos believes he understands the life of a truck driver better than most people.
Work itself is not actually a very enjoyable thing.
Rather, it is the root of suffering.
Carlos didn't genuinely love driving and hauling goods; he was forced to do it by the pressures of life.
Indeed, when driving, you often experience that wonderful state of flow, where your brain can be focused yet completely Panasonic, leaving behind all the troubles that surround you.
But all that fun is something you create for yourself.
Learn to calm your mind, appreciate the scenery along the way, and see the myriad aspects of life.
It's a process that requires slowing down and experiencing it gradually.
This kind of thing seems to be inherently incompatible with video games, and there is absolutely no possibility of it being replicated in the electronic world.
"Ha, I know what you're trying to say."
Lin Lixin smiled helplessly.
I remember his reaction was the same when he first heard about Euro Truck Simulator American Truck Simulator.
How could anyone think driving a big truck is fun?
Oh, driving a big truck is indeed fun, but how could driving a big freight truck be fun?
But it's actually really fun.
On a summer night during my student days, I would shout in the group chat to call over a few close friends, either to grab some drinks from the refrigerator or simply order a glass of sweet water.
He would chat with his buddies over everyday things while wearing a headset, tirelessly traveling between cities in Europe.
Who confessed their feelings and got rejected, making Joker of themselves? Who got into trouble again? What interesting new game has been released by which company?
#m
They didn't care how much money they made from a single trip, and they didn't even care about the small amount of money they made.
On that peaceful and tranquil summer night, slow down and find a moment of peace amidst the hustle and bustle of life.
Later, unable to wait for his brothers to get together again, he changed his pastime to listening to audiobooks or songs.
Later, his attention was constantly drawn to the exciting new works.
It wasn't until another quiet summer night arrived, and I touched my old PXN V10P laptop that had been gathering dust for who knows how long, that I suddenly remembered that I still had this game in my library.
And so, another bottle of iced drink, another summer night.
"What are you lamenting in such an old-fashioned way?"
Sensing the atmosphere was starting to become a little awkward, Carlos chuckled and started his lighter. "While I don't know anything about video games or game development, if you want to experience what it's like to drive a truck, I can certainly give you a proper taste."
"Then I'll learn a lot."
Lin Lixin cleared his mind of all the random thoughts and forced himself to calm down.
He looked at Carlos.
With the hiss of the air brakes, Carlos began to turn the steering wheel and drive the car out of the warehouse.
[ Carlos Miguel Gutierrez]
To be honest, one advantage of the attribute panel is that it allows you to open boxes everywhere from 0 frames.
To be honest, Lin Lixin originally came here to discuss cooperation with Kellogg's.
I just never expected to run into this nobody who's still working as a salesman and truck driver.
The Secretary of Commerce, personally nominated by George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009.
Perhaps the two were still getting used to each other, because neither of them spoke during the initial steps.
Only after the car started moving smoothly did Carlos reach into his pocket, pull out a box of Marlboro, and gesture towards Lin Lixin.
"Do whatever you like."
Lin Lixin waved his hand, his gaze falling on the small LCD screen on the black box that was responsible for displaying information.
Carlos shrugged and simply tucked the cigarettes into the box.
These words seemed to have opened up a floodgate of conversation, and the two finally began to chat casually.
It started with Carlos asking him some interesting questions related to video games, like whether there really are man-eating raccoons in Colorado, which left Lin Lixin completely puzzled.
Gradually, it turned into Lin Lixin asking about various precautions to take on the road and inquiring about any memorable anecdotes.
Through this playful banter, the two quickly became acquainted on the street.
They started in Michigan, which borders the Great Lakes to the north and is almost on the East Coast.
The destination, California, is on the far west coast.
This journey was almost equivalent to crossing the entire United States.
Carlos wasn't driving slowly, and by late at night he had already arrived in Chicago, Illinois, the second largest city in the United States.
Seeing that Carlos was about to collapse, Lin Lixin suggested taking him to his family's Pokémon Water-type Gym for a relaxing spa treatment and a good night's sleep, for the sake of his own life.
Carlos then took the opportunity to chat with him about the interesting things that happened to him when he was hauling goods in Chicago.
Once your heart is inadvertently opened, the things you talk about become uncontrollable.
That night, Carlos wanted to tell him everything from the year of Prohibition to just two days ago.
It's fortunate that these instant corn chips don't spoil easily, otherwise the car would have smelled terrible from Kung-Fu Master the time it was delayed on the road.
The following day, Carlos, full of energy, pushed himself through Missouri and Kansas in one go, only stopping in Colorado.
It wasn't that he was too tired to drive, but rather that Lin Lixin, as if showing off his empire, dragged him around his own mansion.
Next up are the Fire-type Gym in New Mexico and the Rock-type Gym in Arizona.
Finally, after a week of delays, we successfully arrived in Southern California and unloaded a whole warehouse of corn chips into Blizzard.
Mike: "???"
Lin Lixin silently tucked the pen back into his pocket, looking at the notes he had filled with along the way, and felt a little reluctant to part with them.
To be honest, he was really tired. Even though he had been sitting with him the whole way, he was exhausted, like a grandson.
It's hard to imagine how tired Carlos must have been, given how focused he was on driving the whole way.
But I was happy, and I was genuinely happy.
This sense of fulfillment is something you can't experience even if you spend a month buried in the development department working on technical problems.
It was as if I had rediscovered the world all over again.
The CD player slowly ejected, pushing out the disc without a cover.
Lin Lixin gently removed it and wrote a line of small characters on the front with a marker.
[Michigan- California -v0.1-1988.7.24 -Carlos ]
Then, it was carefully placed into a hard plastic box before the equipment was disassembled and packed into its final packaging.
"It was truly an unforgettable journey."
Lin Lixin let out a truly sincere sigh before reluctantly getting off the car with his belongings.
After parting ways here, Carlos was going to the local Kellogg's's branch to pick up a shipment of goods on his way back to Michigan.
"Me too, Lin. I'll probably never forget what happened this week."
Carlos also jumped out of the car and watched Lin Lixin leave.
Happy times are always so short, and all good things must come to an end.
However, he had long since grown accustomed to this kind of life.
Life is like a freight train journey, with stops and starts along the way.
After a brief one-week stop at Lin Lixin's place, we will continue our journey.
After all, she has a wife and children at home. She's already neglected them for a week, and if she drags this out any longer, it will look like she and Mr. Lin eloped.
"By the way, Carlos, don't move around here, I'll be right back!"
Lin Lixin looked at Carlos behind him, suddenly remembered something, called out to him, and then quickly ran upstairs.
Before long, he returned with a small black box, about the size of a main unit.
"This is the official version of that black box. If possible, we hope you can install it in your car so that every trip can be recorded on a disc. We will offer a commission for that."
These were the terms he had previously agreed upon with Kellogg's's and several other major suppliers.
GAMENOVA provides all hardware free of charge.
The driver records the trip data and submits the disc to GAMENOVA. After inspection, a commission is paid based on the mileage and data quality.
It's practically free money.
"Of course, Lin. Even if you don't give it to me, I'll still apply for one myself."
Carlos laughed heartily and reached out to take it.
I guessed so.
Lin Lixin nodded, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a black card.
It's the standard size of GAMENOVA All-in-One Card, but with a plain black design and gold foil trim, featuring only the GAMENOVA logo.
"Here, this card is for you. Remember to support my business on your way back."
The Nova Club Black Gold Membership Card is a symbol of your identity; the cardholder enjoys free and priority access to all services offered by GAMENOVA.
The last person to get it was Trevor.
Years later, when Carlos takes office as Secretary of Commerce and enters the White House cabinet meeting, he may still remember that afternoon when he met Lin Lixin on the truck.