"Wii!"
A car sped past on the road sd Lu Ze again adjusted to the strong brightness and opened his eyes. White-collars were rapidly moving by while talking on the phones, and a group of children was running around on the street with balloons in their hands. The scene was no different than before.
Lu Ze suddenly felt a slight soreness from his waist, and his two shoulders felt as if they were being pressed down by something, causing him to slightly bend. He extended his hands with a shudder. Sure enough, his skin had turned old and wrinkly, with green blood vessels clearly visible. The answer was clear— he had turned into the old Lu Ze.
"Watt da f*ck!"
Lu Ze finally understood the meaning of the simulation phase. Somewhere back in his memory, he recalled hearing that if one wished to learn a foreign language, the fastest way was to go and live there. Yet, what was this? To imitate an old man's living habits and thoughts, must he become an old man himself? What the f*ck was this reasoning?
'Then, what should be my next step?' Lu Ze thought for a moment. 'Oh, right! Go to the park and play chess?' Since his work was already cut out for him, he felt disinclined to think what he should do and decided it would be enough to stick to the old Lu Ze's daily schedule. However, the feeling of weakness coming from his old body really shocked him. Perhaps gradually growing old would be a habitual process, and one would only recall his youth once in a while and lament. 'My body is so weak compared to back then.'
However, what about now? Lu Ze had skipped his middle age and directly placed one foot into his grave. This uncomfortable feeling coming from every part of his body felt as if ants were crawling on his body.
He dragged his body to the park with great difficulty, where a group of old fellows was crowding around and playing chess. Lu Ze stood at the side and enjoyed the spectacle.
Deciding turns amongst these old fellows was like a riot as they were scrambling to sit down and play a few turns. The old Lu Ze could be considered a great general amongst them. He could directly kill his way in, pushing the other old fellows around him away and almost always securing his position as soon as he arrived at the park . However, Lu Ze didn't have much interest in doing so. With his arms behind his back and stretching his neck out, he watched the game from the outskirts, feeling like a true gentleman who watched chess without speaking. Compared to the other shouting and quarreling old fellows, he looked a bit too serene.
He watched his friends complete one game and took out his old phone to look at the time. Seeing that only fifteen minutes had passed, he cursed inwardly 'Damn!', feeling that time was passing too slowly.
After standing for forty minutes, he felt a slight soreness from his legs, feeling as if he could no longer stand. He turned his head and glanced at the old fellows, who were still playing, and could only give up the idea of playing chess. Instead, he walked two circles around the park.
As he walked, he spotted a few empty wooden benches beside the basketball court. He walked over and sat down, watching the youngsters drenched in sweat play basketball while inwardly sighing himself. "It's good to be young…"
A little guy, who liked to show off, threw a three pointer. The ball bounced off and rolled over to Lu Ze.
"Grandpa! Can you throw the ball? Thanks!"
'Brat, who are you calling grandpa!' Lu Ze cursed inwardly but didn't decline. He was intending to bend and scoop the ball, but the moment his hand touched the ball...
Crack!
He felt as if his back had been lashed by a whip dipped in hot-pepper water. This kind of pain could directly make one's scalp go fucking numb. Feeling the pain, Lu Ze lost it, "I'm leaving! I'm leaving!"
"Warning: The host is emulating an old man's daily life and thought process. This conduct is heavily penalized. Please make sure to pay attention!"
'I'm your f*cking grandpa, and you dare hit me! You don't know hitting an old man is a crime? And you even whip me? This whip surely will surely cause bleeding! Motherf*cker, you... how could you be so harsh!'
The system no longer replied, but it instead made Lu Ze terrified. The stinging pain from his back rapidly dissipated, probably not leaving behind any scars. Seeing this bunch of little youngsters looking at him to pass the ball, he glanced at them then at the ball. Raising his old leg, he lightly kicked the ball, sending it slowly rolling toward them.
"Don't watch! It will only piss me off!"
Somewhat pissed at the system, Lu Ze prepared to leave the park. However, the moment he stood up, a kacha sound came from his back. He immediately held his waist and lightly poked at it.
"F*ck, do you want me to die? Ah...this pain, tch tch tch…"
Slowly walking two steps and adjusting to his bad waist, Lu Ze went to the food market according to his memory. Stroking his bag, he thought, 'I still have two hundred Yuan. I can eat quite well. It's a twelve hours experience anyway; It will be a waste to not spend it.'
First heading to a butcher's shop, Lu Ze carefully eyed inside and pointed to a chunk of belly beef as he asked the boss, "How much for half a kilo belly beef?"
"Oh, Uncle Lu! Forty two yuan for half a kilo. It arrived just this morning. This belly beef is so good I don't even want to sell it! Just look at the texture."
"So, everything just arrives from your mouth? I just arrived too, no? Give me a kilo!"
The boss seemed as if he were seeing the old Lu Ze for the first time. He chuckled and said, "Why so generous today, uncle Lu? Guests at home? Planning to make something good?"
"I can't make something good for myself? Give me half a kilo pork belly too."
"Of course, you can take it for yourself too!! I'll make the beef eighty for you, alright? And fifteen for pork belly...total ninety ninety five."
Handing out hundred yuan and getting five back, Lu Ze went back to the vegetable stand again while carrying one and a half kilo meat. Purchasing yam from the same boss whom the old Lu Ze had tormented yesterday, he returned back to his home in satisfaction.
Once he climbed the stairs, he finally felt that old Lu Ze's head full of sweat was no joke. It really was straining on his body! These old arms and legs, having not eaten Xingai Zhongai High Calcium Tablets, really could not reach the fourth floor.
Taking off the jacket upon reaching home, Lu Ze headed to the kitchen in his sleeveless blue sports vest. He first washed the meat and then cut the beef into large chunks and dumped it into the cooker, adding spring onion white on top. Then, he chopped the pork belly on the other sideand transferred it into a pan, adding cooking wine and light soy-sauce.
After blanching it a bit, he scooped out the pork from the sizzling pan and added aniseed, ginger, green onion white, spice powder, light soy-sauce, and salt, rapidly sauteing on low heat. He then added dark soy sauce and water, and left it to slowly cook. In about an hour, he had a pot of yam stewed belly beef garnished with a few wolfberries, and a bowl of glowing red braised pork, ready to eat.
Tasting the beef soup, Lu Ze let out a satisfied sigh. 'Today is...awesome!'
Scooping up a spoonful of rice and throwing a piece of pork in his mouth, he began to savour the taste. It was quite delicious. However, he soon discovered that he simply couldn't chew through the meat.
To his fortune, old Lu Ze's teeth had all fallen off. The current him only had artificial teeth. Otherwise, he might not have been able to prevent swallowing his own teeth while chewing through the meat. However, despite this, the more he chewed, the more he felt that he couldn't. His gums were already aching, and even his cheeks had begun to turn sore.
Wishing to eat but being unable to do so was the most painful feeling. Lu Ze unblinkingly stared at the two dishes for a while but had to give up in the end. He put the two dishes in the fridge and ate rice with pickles.
Actually, Lu Ze didn't wish to talk to his so-called daughter. After all, he feared that this daughter of his who had appeared out of nowhere and was even bigger than him could leave behind some kind of physiological trauma for him. However, he thought about these two delicious dishes. He couldn't eat them, but it would be a real pity if nobody else ate them either. Thus, in the end, he decided to call his daughter.
"Hello? Little Qin? What are you doing? Are you free tonight?"
From hearing the last call old Lu Zhe made to his daughter, he knew that his daughter called her little Qin, though it came off quite blunt from his mouth.
"Eh? Father, I'm quite busy over here. Why? Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened. I was asking if you guys have time? I've made yam belly-beef stew and red braised pork. Can you come home and eat it?'
"Father, you know you can't eat those things. What on earth are you doing? I'm too busy today, really can't make it. If you really can't eat it, just throw them away. I've got to go."
Hanging up the phone, Lu Ze fell into a stupor. Recalling the scene of him talking with his parents, he thought how better he could have been compared to this little Qin's attitude towards him. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
After lunch, time passed extremely slowly, and Lu Ze felt extremely bored. He turned on the television and switched to the film channel. However, the movie being currently broadcasted looked like an eyesore to him. In the end, he could only turn off the television and pick up the old copy of Romance Of Three Kingdoms. In this manner, the time finally passed quickly.
However, once again, his back pain flared up due to sitting for too long.
He took the book and lay on his bed as he read it until nine oclock, when he began to feel a bit sleepy. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes. He then went to wash his feet and went to sleep.
The scene again darkened…
"Phase one simulation complete. Score, forty five points, failed. Applying penalty."
"Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat!"
"Och, ouch, ah! Your mother is a wh*re! Stop it! Alright! I admit! I was wrong! Are you still not satisfied?"
The total of ten whips almost made Lu Ze piss himself. He directly dropped on the ground with his eyes rolled over, feeling as if he were about to die from suffocation.
"Initializing phase two emulation training. Duration, one month. Get ready, host. 3...2..1…"
"F*ck your mother, there is more!"
"…"