Just as Li Chengyi began preparing for the second enhancement,
thousands of kilometers to the south of this forest, within an ancient town.
The architecture of the town resembled that of China in the eighties and nineties: flat houses amidst some plain-looking ten-story buildings.
The streets were mostly filled with cyclists and pedestrians, with the occasional car passing by belonging to the rare few who could afford one.
Vendors carried vegetables and meat to the market, some simply setting up shop on the roadside to sell their wares.
Sounds of music from radios and broadcast stations would occasionally drift out from the shops along the streets, a trendy element of that era.
Now and then, a colored TV in a large department store would draw the gaze of passersby, causing them to stop and watch.
Grey, white, black, and the simple red, blue, yellow—these were the main colors of that period.
