Chapter 832: Chapter 76: The Future and Dreams
In fear, time bees incredibly slow—especially when you have no projects to kill the time, it feels like time crawls by like a snail.
The university dormitory is equipped with a TV, and Caroline has already repeatedly switched between dozens of channels; even then, only half an hour has passed.
Arno isn’t here; he says he still needs to attend classes, otherwise he fears he won’t earn enough credits to graduate—Caroline just found out that Arno is pursuing three different academic societies simultaneously.
The dorm room has certificates and awards and such, all belonging to Arno personally—this guy, perhaps he’s a genius?
Although Caroline doesn’t know what a real genius should be like, there’s no doubt Arno is the smartest person she knows… well, solely in terms of academics.
The university campus is quite quiet and clean. Everywhere are young faces, vibrant and energetic, young men and women walking in groups on campus paths, and Caroline leans by the window, feeling as though she’s entered an “university” zoo—she’s looking at a world she’s never interacted with before.
Caroline suddenly thought of Nia; she hasn’t had any news about Nia for several days. She doesn’t know if Lawyer Karo has sold Nia’s house—perhaps it has already been sold, and the boss of Boston’s people took away two million from it.
She perhaps feels more despair than ever lying on the bed because Lawyer Karo might have vanished into thin air, as even Caroline herself now vanished from Nia’s life in the end.
Every time she thinks of this, Caroline feels extremely sad and guilty.
Perhaps, a truly heartless woman should be more ruthless… Caroline thought for a long time and finally found a reason that could quiet her down.
She makes herself avoid thinking about anything related to Nia—besides, she herself is in a rather precarious situation.
Constantly changing TV channels is because she wants to see if there’s any news regarding the Livia murder.
However, much to Caroline’s regret, what each TV station broadcasts are either mindless programs or all sorts of bizarre news and politics.
Caroline suddenly finds it somewhat ridiculous because she realized, someone like Livia, a sex worker so small and insignificant, even if found dead on the streets, barely anyone would pay attention—police might even be somewhat vexed since it increases their workload and such.
The death of a life is thus obscured in the ever-changing information society… Trash, garbage, for a moment, Caroline even subconsciously labels herself similarly.
As a result, she looks at the young men and women in the campus and suddenly finds these people somewhat repulsive. She knows this is purely her anger transferred to them.
But if not transferred… what can someone like her do?
Someone like me?
Caroline suddenly, recklessly dashed out of the dorm room, recalling Arno’s advice not to leave this place randomly. But at this time, she just wants to find somewhere to breathe some fresh air—even if it’s just a stroll downstairs the dormitory.
Of course, she would take some protective measures.
For example, wearing a hoodie and taking a pair of glasses from Arno’s table—she found out these glasses had no lenses, just frames.
Caroline didn’t think much about things because she felt extremely chaotic now and couldn’t make sense of recent events.
Gradually, she made her way through the path of the male dormitory, ing to a lake on campus. Caroline tossed a few stones into the lake—and even played a game of skipping stones a few times but ultimately found it dull.
As she turned back, she saw an old man sitting alone on a bench not far away.
The old man was staring at the lake, appearing dazed. Caroline thought, this old man clearly wasn’t having a leisurely afternoon… He must have some concerns or something.
Perhaps if she chats with a stranger, time would pass faster… Caroline subconsciously walked toward the old man sitting dazed on the bench.
“Can I sit here?” Caroline went up and asked.
The old man glanced up, didn’t speak, nor did he pay further attention.
Caroline shrugged and sat at the other end of the bench.
“What’s this?” Caroline just noticed the old man had a black card beside him.
The old man didn’t reply, and quickly stuffed the card into his coat pocket.
Caroline didn’t care much.
She suddenly pulled out a few pieces of chocolate from her pocket, “Want some? They say eating sweet things when you’re unhappy can make you feel better. Apparently, chocolate contains some special ingredients or something.”
“Arachidonic acid ethanolamine,” the old man said casually.
Caroline asked curiously, “What’s that?”
The old man glanced at Caroline and frowned, “Arachidonic acid ethanolamine is an endogenous cannabinoid substance that can bind with opioid receptors in our brains and then promote dopamine production. Dopamine can make people feel happy and relaxed… This is the campus of the bioengineering department, are you a bioengineering student? Why don’t you know such basic things?”
Caroline rolled her eyes, “Just because I’m here, does it mean I’m a student? Then are you a student here too, old man?”
Of course, this old man can’t be a student, it’s just Caroline bantering.
“You don’t recognize me?” The old man looked at Caroline in surprise.
“Are you well-known?” Caroline retorted.
“Not particularly famous,” the old man said casually, “I’m just an old man who had to retire and be sent here for retirement.”
“Retirement… isn’t retirement good?” Caroline asked curiously, “After working hard all life, isn’t retirement the ultimate goal? You seem wealthy enough; it should be time to enjoy life, shouldn’t it? Why are you here looking so gloomy?”
The old man said, “My life is long over.”
Caroline saw the old man hadn’t touched the chocolate she offered, so she took it back and ate it herself, then suddenly said, “Maybe, but it’s still better than those despairing on a hospital bed waiting for death. At least you can sit here daydreaming, whereas others might not see tomorrow’s Sun.”
The old man looked at Caroline in surprise, instinctively sensing an air of world-weariness in this girl not found in ordinary students.
He asked subconsciously, “You have concerns too?”
Caroline kicked her legs, seemingly in a better mood, then said, “Old man, you said ‘also,’ right? You go first!”
The old man shook his head.
Caroline simply sat cross-legged, facing the old man’s side, “Isn’t this just right? I have things troubling me, and you have concerns, too. We’re both gloomy, and don’t want to get to know each other; we might never meet again. So why don’t we share a bit? I’ve heard that listening to others’ unfortunate experiences can make one feel happy.”
“What kind of logic is this?” The old man frowned.
Caroline shrugged, “No logic, but isn’t that how it is? For instance, you’ve had a terrible afternoon, feeling it’s the worst. But at night, someone tells you your neighbor tragically died in a car accident, you might feel sad, but don’t you also feel ‘fortunately’? Because someone is worse off.”
“Building happiness on others’ foundation?” The old man shook his head, “Not interested.”
Caroline shrugged, “That depends on who the other party is. Maybe the other party is building joy on your misery too… Anyway, I’ll start? We each share one thing, no need to discuss any reasons, simply listen, how about it?”
Seeing no response from the old man, Caroline thought for a moment, then first said, “I’m currently being chased by several bad guys; nowhere safe to go, having to hide. All my money has been taken by bad people, and now I’m basically having a meal or none.”
“Then you should go to the police,” the old man said casually.
Caroline said, “Wasn’t it agreed, not to discuss the nature of the matter, just listen? Okay, it’s your turn, old man.”
The old man frowned, hesitated for a while, then slowly said, “I could still work, but something went wrong with my work. This will greatly affect my son, so he privately fired me and sent me here. If I disagree, I’ll end up living in a nursing home.”
Caroline said, “A friend of mine recently died unfortunately, and I somehow ended up at the crime scene, so they’ve all considered me as the culprit.”
The old man’s gaze narrowed slightly as he looked at the young girl with delicate features, his face turning somber.
Caroline was ready to run at that moment, but the old man just stared blankly at the lake, “I… I’ve caused the deaths of quite a few people. A long time ago, due to my stubbornness, an accident happened at work, and my colleagues who worked alongside me all perished in the incident. Among them was my most admired student, who was also my son’s wife.”
“No wonder your son doesn’t treat you well…” Caroline said in astonishment.
The old man frowned, “Weren’t we not supposed to talk about this?”
“I’m sorry.” Caroline shrugged, then looked up at the distance, “I deceived someone. Although I don’t know whether she was good to me or not, she was still willing to share the last bit of her belongings with me. But I deceived her, together with others, we took away her hope.”
The old man said, “I’ve also been deceiving, deceiving those close to me, deceiving my grandson… I’m afraid to tell him the truth from back then, trying hard to maintain this family. But we all know, the longer the deception lasts, the more intense the pain will be when the truth eventually es out.”
Caroline remained silent.
The old man was silent too.
After a long time, Caroline suddenly said, “I have no future.”
And the old man slowly said, “My dream is dead.”
A long silence.
Caroline sighed, stood up, shook her head and said, “Turns out there’s really nothing to be happy about.”
The old man also gave a bitter smile.
“Let’s go.” Caroline shook her head and casually patted the old man’s shoulder… a very simple gesture of fort.
However, the moment her palm touched the old man’s shoulder, Caroline’s brain suddenly seemed to explode, strange visions flashed before her eyes.
A white bed, white sheets covering it, surprisingly showing the old man’s appearance. He seemed to have died, right in the hospital room… and beside him, there was a middle-aged man with a plex expression, along with a little boy who was crying.
“You… You will die.” Caroline muttered to herself.
She shivered and came back to her senses, only to see the old man raising his head in astonishment to look at her, and Caroline quickly said, “I didn’t mean that, I just… just…”
“Perhaps.” The old man shook his head thoughtfully, “Perhaps if I had died back then as well…”
“I mean, in the future…” Caroline eventually swallowed back her words.
The old man also stood up, put on his hat, and thus turned and left, while Caroline called out to his back, “Why don’t you go home more often?”
The old man, with his back to Caroline, waved his hand as a farewell.
…
After the old man pletely left, Caroline finally returned listlessly the way she came, perhaps she could make it back to the dorm before Arno returned from class.
She didn’t stop along the way, but right before reaching the dormitory building, she entered a convenience store to buy a bottle of beer—she took the money from the table in the dormitory, just some loose change, barely enough to buy a bottle of beer.
When Caroline walked out of the convenience store, she saw Arno walking past with his head down. Caroline was about to call out to him when she noticed he quickly circled around to the back of the convenience store.
Caroline frowned, decided not to say anything, and quietly followed him.
Arno stopped at the alley behind the convenience store, where a few young men were already waiting… they should be students at the school, Caroline noticed one of them even had a backpack.
Arno appeared to be particularly cautious, they were talking about something, then the guys who looked like students suddenly pulled out money and handed it to Arno.
After counting the money, Arno took out something from his pocket and handed it to the students.
Caroline opened her mouth in shock, quickly turned her back, with a bit of fear in her eyes… her face suddenly seemed pale, Caroline instinctively covered her mouth, but her fingers touched the glasses she was wearing.
Caroline furiously ripped off the glasses—there were no lenses.
Arno was nearsighted, but the glasses…
This person… wasn’t Arno!
…
…
In the evening, a staircase weled an old man.
He was holding a strange black card in his hand, with a look of confusion on his face… he seemed to be searching for something, his gaze continuously scanning his surroundings.
The old man appeared clean and tidy, his clothes likely from a high-end brand.
This drew some covetous glances from the nearby area—though there’s an unspoken rule not to rob locals, many times people actually don’t care much about such rules.
The old man didn’t know there were already two people following him quietly.
Suddenly, his gaze brightened, and he walked toward a general store on the staircase—the old man indeed headed in the direction from the point of view of those attempting robbery.
“Where’s the person?”
“Wasn’t he just here? How did he suddenly disappear?”
“Quick, find him…”
…
Club.
The old man looked up at the entrance of the ancient shop, then stretched out his hand to push open the pine door.
Seeing such a lavish yet stylishly arranged shop in the slums, the old man felt extraordinarily surprised.
Not knowing where the lights were installed, yet the hall was filled with bright, warm lighting, which was soft and not dazzling.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
The old man heard a voice and looked over, seeing a woman in a black and white maid’s outfit quietly sitting in a corner chair.
“I…” The old man instinctively raised the black card in his hand, “It seems… it brought me here. But I can’t remember when this thing appeared in my hand… Have we met somewhere before?”
“Is there anything I can assist you with, Dr. Ferenc?” The club’s maid asked again.
The voice wasn’t loud, yet it reached the old man’s ears clearly and entered his heart, as if possessing infinite Magic Power… countless things flashed through the old man’s mind.
The old man… Dr. Ferenc was not surprised that the woman instantly called out his name, he just felt a certain impulse in his heart.
“I want…”
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