"Chirp chirp chirp chirp!!!"
The little monkey excitedly jumped onto the coffee table, clutching its chest with one hand and pounding the table with the other, displaying an angry demeanor. It seemed to empathize deeply with the apes in the movie.
Raymond watched, dumbfounded.
After spending an entire afternoon watching TV with the monkey, the sky gradually darkened. They had dinner, and then Raymond went out to walk BEN MAO.
The sunset was like a blazing fire, intensely red and beautiful. The weather was great, and the scenery was lovely.
"The streetlights of Park No. 7, extinguished so cruelly! The empty life begins to separate you and me. The streetlights of Park No. 7 flicker with fading fate. Repeating the question, when you turn into the third person."
Raymond hummed his favorite song, singing a few lines here and there. However, he hadn't sung more than a few lines before an annoying "chirp chirp chirp" sound interrupted him.
Raymond's face darkened as he turned to see the little monkey covering its mouth with both hands, laughing and occasionally glancing at him. The meaning was all too clear.
"What are you laughing at?!" Raymond was furious. He thought he sang quite well, given that BEN MAO seemed to enjoy it a lot. Look at BEN MAO's silly, contented face; it was almost clapping. How could anyone say he didn't sing well with such a loyal audience?
"This damn monkey has no sense of music!" Raymond muttered.
Because of the monkey's disruption, he stopped singing, but he decided he needed to cultivate the monkey's musical sense. He had some songs on his computer, but not many. Without internet access, he couldn't download more. So, relying on his memory, Raymond headed to a music store a few streets away.
In recent years, with the rise of the internet, the number of music stores had dwindled. Like DVD players, they were becoming relics of the past. After all, with songs available online, who would still buy CDs or tapes? CDs and tapes were also inconvenient to use. As society progressed, certain things were bound to be phased out. This was a rule of nature. Yet, people often felt nostalgic about the past, which was also a rule of nature.
Standing in the dusty music store, Raymond felt both nostalgic and sad. He remembered when his middle school English teacher asked them to buy a tape player to listen to English tapes. He didn't listen to much English, but he played Westlife's songs over and over again. Wait a minute! What brand was the tape player I bought back then?
Raymond had a good memory and remembered many small things, but he suddenly realized he couldn't recall the brand of the tape player. After frowning and thinking for a moment, he didn't mind much.
After all, he wasn't one of those geniuses with photographic memory; forgetting some small things was normal.
He picked up a tape from the shelf by the counter, wiped off the dust, and saw it was Westlife's "If I Let You Go," an album from over ten years ago. No one would buy it now. It was probably the store owner's personal collection.
Nowadays, those who still ran music stores often had a special fondness for CDs and tapes.
Sure enough, Raymond found a classic, exquisite old-fashioned radio under the counter.
He happily picked it up.
Yes, this would do!
Then he scoured the store, leaving with an old-fashioned radio and a bunch of CDs and tapes. Although the radio couldn't play CDs, he had a DVD player and a computer at home.
Back home, he sorted out his purchases, cleaned the old-fashioned radio, found an unmarked tape, and put it in, pressing the play button.
This tape was cherished by the music store owner, and Raymond was curious about its contents.
The sound of the tape turning gave Raymond a nostalgic feeling.
Suddenly, without any prelude, a clear, transparent girl's voice echoed from the old-fashioned radio.
The familiar rhythm and the emotions of parting brought a flood of memories, overwhelming him.
Raymond stood there, stunned.
Halfway through the song, tears were streaming down his face.Raymond's plan to cultivate the little monkey's musical taste ended in failure because the foolish monkey simply didn't like music. BEN MAO, on the other hand, would often sit quietly in front of the old-fashioned radio, listening to songs.
Although it listened to many songs, sometimes it would quietly loop the same song all day long.
Life was peaceful.
Three months passed just like that.
After several failed attempts, the vegetables Raymond planted began to yield results, growing quite well. He was pleased at the prospect of soon eating fresh vegetables he had grown himself.
One day, it started to drizzle. The rain fell continuously from morning till night without stopping.
Raymond didn't think much of it, only worrying that his vegetables might drown.
By the next day, the rain still hadn't stopped. Strangely, the intensity of the rain neither increased nor decreased; it remained exactly the same as when it first started. Raymond hadn't noticed this peculiar detail the day before, as he spent the entire day playing single-player video games.
He only realized it when he idly stared outside in boredom. Initially, he didn't believe it and observed for a while longer before confirming that the rain's intensity hadn't changed. Furthermore, perhaps due to the continuous rain, a white mist began to rise from the ground, severely limiting visibility.
Raymond frowned, finding the rain quite eerie.
That night, the second night since the drizzle began, the little monkey disappeared from the house. Along with it, the meteorite BEN MAO had retrieved from the big dog was also gone.
Raymond discovered this the following morning but wasn't surprised. In fact, he had suspected the little monkey was lying from the initial interrogation.
Back then, when he showed the meteorite and asked if it was interested, the little monkey shook its head. However, there was a problem. The little monkey couldn't understand Raymond's words. From its perspective, it should have seen Raymond suddenly taking out a stone and asking a question it didn't understand. Yet, it immediately understood and responded before BEN MAO could translate.
Too fast!
Such a reaction was too fast!
Raymond didn't think the meteorite looked particularly special. Even if the little monkey could recognize it from having owned one before, its speed was too quick, like it recognized it at first glance without hesitation.
Why?
Why was there no doubt or hesitation?
Why was it so certain?
It wasn't because of the meteorite's shape or texture but because of attraction. The meteorite attracted the little monkey, so it recognized it instantly.
Perhaps, it even sensed the attraction before Raymond took it out, which is why it understood so quickly. This was only part of the reason; the other part was that Raymond believed BEN MAO had retrieved the meteorite from the big dog on purpose. If it were just an ordinary meteorite, why would BEN MAO go to such lengths?
The meteorite obviously attracted the little monkey. It denied its interest only to lower Raymond's guard, making it easier to steal.
Raymond understood everything but chose not to expose it. The meteorite indeed had value, but it was useless to him and BEN MAO. Instead of keeping it for an uncertain future, he decided to use it for an experiment.
Raymond wanted to know what would happen to the little monkey after obtaining another meteorite.
"Alright, don't be sad." Raymond squatted and patted BEN MAO's little head.
BEN MAO seemed very downcast. Understandably so, since over the past three months, despite frequent clashes between Raymond and the little monkey, BEN MAO had formed a good relationship with the monkey. This was also why the monkey could successfully steal the meteorite last night—BEN MAO didn't guard against it. If this had happened three months earlier, the monkey wouldn't have been able to steal it even if Raymond left it on the coffee table.
After comforting BEN MAO, Raymond stood up and looked out at the still drizzling rain. The gloomy sky mirrored his current mood—oppressive and heavy. The rain's intensity remained unchanged.
This wasn't just a few minutes but had been falling continuously since the morning two days ago. It wasn't like water flowing from a tap. Normal rain didn't behave this way.
The rain seemed strange, and the mist rising from the ground felt peculiar too. However, what could Raymond do about the rain?
He had no choice but to go about his usual activities.
Another day passed in the continuous drizzle. The mist on the ground grew thicker, completely obscuring visibility by evening.
Standing on the balcony, Raymond could barely see the large tree a few meters away.
"This rain is..." He couldn't help but frown.
Suddenly, Raymond felt a sense of discord, the same sense of discord he had felt months ago. This time, it was clearer.
Raymond sensed it stemmed from his current situation. He seemed to have overlooked something important, leading to a significant misunderstanding.
That night, in a hazy state, Raymond had a peculiar dream. In the dream, it was still a world with only him, yet different from the current one. The differences were unclear but seemed lonelier.
In that lonely world, there was another him. So isolated, so sorrowful, distant like he was in the clouds, unreachable. Raymond couldn't help but reach out to his dream self.
But then, the scene suddenly shifted to his home—not his current residence, but his parent's home.
"Dad, Mom..."
"Crack..."
Suddenly, a sound like shattering glass echoed.
The dream seemed ready to change again, but at that moment,
"Boom!"
A loud noise shattered the peculiar dream!
Raymond jolted awake!
He panted heavily, quickly stunned by the scene before him. A large hole had broken through his room's wall, allowing a fierce wind to blow in. A black, fanged lion with wings slowly walked in. Through the hole, he could see the rain had stopped, and the mist had dispersed.
The big dog, the little monkey, and the winged lion before him...
Raymond's pupils contracted. In a flash, countless memories like lightning bolts flashed through his mind, finally settling on the brilliant, dazzling light of that night when the meteor streaked across the sky.
The light! The burning light!
Raymond finally realized what he had overlooked and understood what he had gotten wrong.
Who said evolution had begun?