I am not Ximen Qing.

Song Yu went to Silicon Valley in the United States to seek greater development opportunities for the Buddha's Hand Company's GTC project. Caesar's big move immediately expanded the company to Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley!

"Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?" Da Liu Shi, displaying the utmost hospitality, drove off to find their shared idol. Both Da Liu Shi and Song Yu loved reading Hemingway's novels, so they went to Hemingway's birthplace together. Of course, Song Yu had read quite a few of Hemingway's novels, and even bought Zhang Sheng a collection of Hemingway's poems—an English version. Song Yu dared not joke with Zhang Sheng again, remembering how Zhang Sheng used to read the complete works of Oscar Wilde with an Oxford English dictionary. Thinking back, Su Meimei still admired Zhang Sheng's diligent study! Deep down, Zhang Sheng and Song Yu are still artistic youths, forever young artistic youths. Their favorite is *The Old Man and the Sea*. Song Yu and Zhang Sheng once lay together on the grassy field at the summit of Yangshan Mountain, beneath the mirror-like sky, a fairytale meadow facing Aohai Lake, under the straight, silvery ginkgo trees, reciting *The Old Man and the Sea*. Those were truly the most carefree, happiest, and most carefree days of their lives. Song Yu asked Zhang Sheng what he had been doing during his time in Silicon Valley. Zhang Sheng hadn't expected to become a dream artist himself, sometimes like Zarathustra, constantly creating the beautiful dreams in his mind at home.

It's crucial to keep the work secret until it's finished. Anthony is incredibly excited about Zhang Sheng's latest creation. Regardless, the GTC project is very visionary. Blockchain's decentralized, shared, open, and distributed hashing algorithm is irreversible. The development of the internet—from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and now Web 3.0—will ultimately return to the spirit of freedom, decentralization, openness, and sharing, because only in this way can human society continue to progress. Bitcoin and Ethereum are pioneers in digital cryptocurrencies, but the GTC project is essentially an abstract artwork by Buddha's Hand Company. The value of GTC is immeasurable.

What is the fate of men? Or perhaps it's the fate of the GC project? The dreams and glory of the GC project on Caesars 9... but any innovative and promising project carries risk. The once-booming Bitcoin and Ethereum craze in China suddenly cooled down.

"I really don't want our story to end in an epic tragedy,"

"What epic?"

"The Iliad".

"To become any one of these heroes would be to be remembered in history. Homer's epics, Aristotle's commentary—these are true epics without rhyme. Milton, too, created a lost paradise modeled after epics."

"God created Adam and Eve, and all of humanity, so mankind has never been able to escape the troubles of love, marriage, original sin, and the flesh."

Who do you want to be?

"I don't want to become Hector or Archia Achilles anyway."

"If you are Hector, am I Achilles?"

That's impossible.

"I mean, that's often the case with friends!"

What are you trying to express?

"I want to express that friendship is a tragedy!"

"But Hector and Achilles are enemies, aren't they?"

"Friends and Enemies"

"However, there is one very important point in Homer's epics: the entire Trojan War was fought for one woman. Enemies and friends alike were fighting for one woman, and Helen was glorious."

"Actually, it's the father who loves the child the most, but the child's fate often ends up in the mother's hands. Yes, Hecarap's sorrow, her husband, her child, and Ilion all vanished in the end."

In the end, it was Priam who went to the enemy camp and ransomed Hector's body from Achilles.

"Let us not suffer the fate of Hector and Achilles,"

"That's why I can't bear to read the ending of the epic aloud; it's too tragic."

That's why Hemingway wrote *The Old Man and the Sea*.

Will we still have someone to rely on when we get old?

"Hemingway wrote that men's fate is like that of old men; you, me, and our fathers all eventually walk into loneliness!"

“Olympia has a bit of a Walden feel to it,”

"We've been here in Australia for over 10 years now. I really wish we could go back to how pure and innocent we were back then. What will our friends eventually become?"

"Meng Liang hates you to death now."

"Let him be, there's nothing I can do. Maybe it was all a mistake of getting married."

"What does this have to do with getting married?"

"Is it possible to go back to the past?"

In the frozen world of winter, Song Yu, Zhang Sheng, and Meng Liang, three old friends, had just finished a Japanese meal and several jugs of sake at Jiangtai. They felt warm all over. Beijing winters don't hold snow, but old Beijingers reminisce about the days of heavy, fluffy snow. They don't know when it happened, but Beijing's climate has become increasingly dry. Beijing drinks water from the south; thanks to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Yongding River has long since dried up. During the Qing Dynasty, the Yongding River was often subject to heavy flooding, requiring considerable resources for flood control. Now, the Yongding River is merely a dividing line, its riverbed overgrown with weeds and some saplings. Occasionally, some sand-dredging individuals would come and dig sand from the riverbed.

Besides the Miyun Reservoir, there's also the Thirteen Tombs Reservoir, and some residential areas rely on groundwater. Therefore, water is Beijing's most critical issue. But that's alright; diverting water from the south to Beijing solves everything. Now, diverting water from the Yangtze River to the north isn't as troublesome as before. The three of them were on the frozen surface of Olympic Lake, and Beijing's winters didn't seem so cold anymore. Walking on the ice, they could hear the creaking sound of the ice cracking. They were preparing to run across the ice to the other side.

"Come here."

"You go first,"

"Whoever came up with this terrible idea, they should go first."

"We are all pathetic creatures,"

We're all cowards.

"The ice on the surface of the Aohai Lake is enough to scare us,"

"Who said that? I'm just afraid of falling in, but that's nothing, I can swim."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"If you fall into the water and get soaked to the bone, what will you do with your phone?"

"They're all excuses."

"Look, the koi carp are still swimming at the bottom of the water!"

"Did your friend go to Hongluo Temple?"

"I just went there and prayed to Guanyin for a child."

"I'm about to have a baby."

"Not yet? They're getting ready; she went back to her mother's."

How is the GTC project going?

"Don't even mention it, the company is telling me to lay off staff immediately."

"Developing digital virtual currencies is quite risky, so they should be cut as soon as possible. It's better to preserve your resources than to run out of firewood."

"Easier said than done. I'm the one who organizes all the cuts. It's easy to invite a god in, but hard to send him away."

"What about Liu Shi's US branch?"

"Just withdraw it. We invested a million US dollars, and it didn't work at all."

Would Liu Shihui agree?

"Of course I disagree, but he only talks the talk without making any real progress,"

"What about the money?"

"Sure, I'll take it."

"Does he agree?"

"He disagreed at first, but later he came to his senses, and it was his wife who persuaded him to give up."

"Has the money been returned?"

"80 US dollars came back,"

"That flowing water is still a friend,"

"We're friends, but you still have to pay me a day's wages."

"why?"

"For no reason other than disrupting his peaceful and tranquil life."

"Isn't his career in the US just so-so too?"

"That being said, you can't blame Da Liu Shi. Think about it, I went to the US with investors, and I even visited Da Liu Shi's home. Da Liu Shi has a son, but I never met his wife. She's a very wise woman, still very wise. Da Liu Shi told me that his wife went to the US to escape the annoying snobbery and hypocrisy of China. What did I do? I traveled with the investors in five-star chartered planes and first class, which was luxurious enough. We had a blast in the US, went to Dallas nightclubs with bearded, burly black men, and really enjoyed ourselves. We even drove around in a big SUV with them, spending thousands of dollars with each gentleman. They treated us like wealthy Chinese tycoons, rich Chinese big shots. What am I? It's all the investors' money. His wife was right. We're just nouveau riche with a little money who don't know what they're made of, uncultured, and tasteless. She even said what's the point of having money? It's meaningless, living like zombies, all we do is money, money. She said we have nothing, haven't changed, and have nothing but knowing how to exploit good people to make money."

"Isn't Liu Cixin quite embarrassed?"

"Of course, think about it, Liu Shi, after I dressed him up like this, his heart became wild and he started to get restless. Liu Shi went back to China several times for the GTC project, and in China, we made mistakes again."

"What is wrong?"

"He thinks he's a rich person,"

"A billion or more is considered quite wealthy."

"Those are the investors. I'm still using someone else's resources to generate profits, and the hen that lays the eggs is still the investor's."

"If the policy environment is unfavorable, retreating is the right thing to do."

"It's right for investors, but for Liu Shi, it's an insult to his personality and intelligence. He angrily told me, 'If you want to do anything, you need to have some determination, right?' We've only just started operating, only been running for a few months, and haven't paid much in salaries and rent—just $20. He didn't even understand what happened, and the project was already stalled. He told me privately, 'What is this? Our level isn't even as high as the Yamaguchi-gumi in Japan.'"

"You guys aren't even as sophisticated as the Yamaguchi-gumi. They invested in a vegetarian factory in China, and I lost 200 million yuan, but they didn't say anything. They just said the 200 million yuan was in the right direction, but they spent it too fast, and that's how it ended up."

"So Liu Shi thinks there's something wrong with my character. This isn't my usual style of doing things, which puts a lot of pressure on him and makes him feel frustrated. He says his wife is right; Chinese businessmen only care about money and are simply not cut out for getting things done. I'm reflecting on this too."

"Reflect on what?"

"Why is it that when I boasted so much, I ended up embarrassing myself?"

"Did you go see your aunt?"

"I have no money, how can I face anyone?"

"Your aunt is your only relative in America,"

"My aunt's opinion of me is the same as that of Da Liu's wife: the inherent flaws of the Chinese mentality—does having money make you superior? Their purpose in going to America wasn't like mine; it wasn't simple. They went to America to escape the vulgarity of China."

"I remember when your aunt came to China with her precious son, you hosted her perfectly,"

"Yes. I was showing off too much. My aunt couldn't stand it after she returned to China. She said there was no family affection left, only a little money to show off."

"So you won't be staying here anymore?"

"Pretty much. Do you remember when I went to my aunt's house in America, her husband even cooked for me?"

"remember."

“You know what my aunt tells me. She says she paid off her 300 million yuan apartment loan a long time ago. And it's the most expensive apartment in Central Park, New York. My aunt used to be a very low-key person.”

Why should I tell you such trivial matters?

"In order to retaliate in kind, the Chinese used the vulgar way to fight back against me."

"Do you hate him?"

"What hatred do I have? She just wants a peaceful and tranquil life. It's me who brought up China's materialism and reminded her of her past wounds."

"Isn't she doing quite well in China?"

"You don't understand, going abroad isn't just about making money. People have their own worldview. Do you realize now how vulgar I am?"

"So you're saying you're not only vulgar, but also despicable,"

"That's right, so everything, cause and effect, is inescapable—it's all karma."

"Is there any way to remedy this?"

Can ice be restored after it breaks?

"cannot,"

"Yeah, so I deserve it."

“I remember your mother always saying behind your back that your father was heartless and ungrateful,”

"That's right. My wife also scolded my father for being heartless and ungrateful, asking why he wouldn't buy me a house in Beijing."

"You could buy it if you earned a few million now,"

"So listen to this, my dad, my mom, her dad, and her mom were all in Beijing making decisions about my marriage, right? My dad shocked me. Without saying a word, he directly transferred 30 yuan to her account. Tell me about that? And he even said she has a big face and is lucky for her husband. I'm speechless. Has anyone ever said anything good about my dad before?"

"We're speechless now,"

"In the end, it's still your dad who loves you. Isn't this world a bit cruel to men? I suddenly feel that if your dad could tolerate your mom, he wouldn't have run away. Was the divorce really a last resort? Why does mom always have such a pitiful image, while dad plays the villain? The man behind the scenes has actually endured so much suffering. Now I think mom never loved dad. Men are just tools for their survival. Thankfully, your dad is a real man. He didn't succumb to depravity. He's still a wealthy dad."

"So my dad told me to be cautious when buying a house,"

"Then we gave you 30 back,"

"I have no face to face my family and friends back home. I've thought about it over and over, and I realize my father only had one purpose: son, Dad still loves you. But what can I do? My mother, my fiancée's family, all think he's an irresponsible father. Can you imagine how I see him? Now I understand, he only had one purpose. Dad wasn't preventing you from buying a house; he was telling me that Dad truly loves you in this world."

"This world is just too bizarre. Do you think your dad was right now?"

"Pretty much. Regardless of anything else, how many fathers can do that nowadays? He really hasn't lost a single penny. And when I got married, my dad even had to give me money to try and win back his love for me."

"Aren't we being a bit too harsh on Dad? A man without money will be abandoned by all his family ties."

“I’m a little crazy,”

"Thinking back now, the investors hinted to you that marriage would bring many troubles, and the key point is that girls' thoughts aren't pure at all; they're all looking out for their own happiness and joy. My friend, your fiancée has talked about me behind my back quite a bit, hasn't she?"

"Dude, don't mind it,"

"It will probably end up being similar to your father's."

"I don't care what you say anymore."

"is it?"

"You know what? People can talk a lot. At first, I thought Meng Liang's words were about problems between the two of you, but now I understand. You've managed to make Meng Liang, who's been with you for over ten years, hate you. Hate you like you're a ghost. Think about it, seeing you is like seeing a ghost, and you even take photos and have WeChat. Are we all just unsuccessful bastards because of you?"

"Stop talking."

I want to say...

Are you going to judge me?

"It's not you who will be judged, but everyone in this world. Remember when I told you, who can escape sin and punishment? God was right, our sin lies in the original sin of the flesh. You are just a Lolita; you don't live for yourself, but for a woman's body."

"Stop talking, we're still friends."

"Friend, how dare you bring this up? We all consider you a friend, but what have you done? For the sake of a woman, all your actions have been controlled by her thoughts. You've lost yourself. The key is that your woman is a soulless little woman with no thoughts of her own. You can be her tool, but why should we be your substitutes in your misery?"