Chapter 1

Before writing this story, I had asked myself countless times whether we are truly the only intelligent beings in the vast universe.

Looking up at the starry sky, is there someone out there looking back at us?

The answer is obvious; we cannot be the only intelligent beings.

Whether from a probabilistic perspective or from our innate fear of loneliness, we cannot be a solitary entity.

With the development of modern science and the emergence of various measuring instruments, we have not found any other life forms within our visible range, not even the slightest possibility.

This disappoints us so much!

The lonely Earth continues to orbit the Sun in the solar system, without a beginning or an end.

We keep walking the same path, like a donkey grinding grain, blindfolded in a pitch-black environment, making the longest journey.

There are always donkeys that refuse to be blindfolded; they want to walk straight, so the reins break, and the mill collapses.

Or, is there another possibility?

A door on the playground (1)

Yun Zheng didn't sleep all night. It's not that he didn't want to sleep; he desperately wanted to, but thinking about the thirteen children in the experimental class made him lose all sleep. Only heaven knows why he agreed to the old principal, choosing to teach these selected young masters and misses instead of normal children.

Liang Weiwei, I know your father is a senior programmer, but do you really need to encrypt the file you sent for a math problem? And you tell the teacher that the key is the answer to the problem. Knowing the key is useless when the screen is full of 0s and 1s. How am I supposed to grade it?

Intimidation isn't done this way. I only ever put a plastic bag of ice water on the door. Although I was scolded by a female teacher for half an hour, I was admired by my classmates for a whole semester.

Yun Zheng swore he had never used English to write his thesis, not even after passing the university's English Level 6 exam.

But this kid, the phrase "heart with a tiger, fine scent of roses" is known to the teacher. It's a famous quote by Sassoon. I told it to your future mother-in-law when I was in college. He Pengcheng, you've shown your tail, don't try to hide it. I'll deal with you tomorrow.

What a large piece of paper, what beautiful cursive, rivaling the drunken calligraphy of Zhang Xu. I won't return it to her; my study needs a calligraphy piece. Although the meaning isn't good, what does "lying on the beach for three and a half years, I flip when the big wave comes" mean?

Trying to fool the teacher with your scribbles? If you can't draw a hundred turtles in an hour tomorrow, I'll draw turtles on your little face, Xin Dandan, just wait...

After dealing with his tasks, Yun Zheng found he no longer needed to sleep. He turned his head to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table, waiting for it to ring to start a new day.

Yun Zheng was very satisfied with his alarm clock, which always rang at exactly seven.

This wasn't much to talk about, but for two consecutive days, only the alarm clock was normal, and nothing else went smoothly.

While brushing his teeth, he thought, if he hadn't chosen to be a teacher, would he be living more comfortably now? At twenty-seven, still living in the school dormitory, isn't that a bit pitiful?

The familiar number on the phone hadn't appeared for over a month. He called twice, both times to an empty number. Well, being alone and unencumbered, he might as well live freely.

Just as he had sworn to heaven, a thunderclap sounded above his head, making Yun Zheng's hair stand on end. How could there be thunder so early in the morning? A heavy rain was about to pour down, and he ran with his backpack over his head.

He leaped over a half-person-high wall of elm trees, and with a push, he cleared a half-person-high railing. Just as he was feeling proud, a strong wind blew, carrying sand and mud. After rubbing his eyes for a while, he suddenly heard the sound of sweeping. Who would be sweeping during a strong wind? Through his tear-filled eyes, he finally saw the fool sweeping against the wind.

Seeing the boy in school uniform, Yun Zheng was speechless. Others sweep to keep things clean, but this guy sweeps for a thousand yuan a month.

This is his mother's job. He Jianqiang helps his mother sweep every day, a good child. If that pretty little face had more smiles, Yun Zheng would vote for him as an outstanding student this year. These thirteen young masters and misses would never vote for anyone else, so He Jianqiang could win by a two-vote margin.

He looked around but didn't see his mother.

"Don't look for her, my mother is gone," He Jianqiang's voice came from behind Yun Zheng.

"Gone? What do you mean by gone? Where did she go?" Yun Zheng asked, puzzled, unable to understand the boy's straightforward words.

"Gone means she's not coming back. She left me fifty yuan," his voice was still monotonous but a bit hoarse.

"Why are you still sweeping? Are you bored? Let's go eat, then find the principal to discuss your future. Be a man, be strong. It's not a big deal. Your teacher is much worse off, but he still graduated from a prestigious university."

He Jianqiang looked at Yun Zheng as if he were a fool, and after a long pause, said, "I've been sweeping this area for twenty-seven days. This month is a long month, with thirty-one days. If I sweep for four more days, I'll get one thousand and thirty-three yuan. I need it to eat next month. Are you telling me not to sweep?"

"You are a minor. The state has laws to place you with relatives and provide you with a subsidy. You don't need to worry about earning money to support yourself."

He Jianqiang suddenly smiled, the first time Yun Zheng had seen him smile. But this smile didn't belong on his face. He put the broom on his shoulder and said to Yun Zheng, "My own mother doesn't want me. Do you think my relatives will take me in?"

The two stood on the playground, and before long, the rain started pouring down. He Jianqiang showed no intention of seeking shelter; he planned to sweep all the rain away, not a single drop left.

This was nonsense. In the end, it was still about self-struggle, trying to show that he could endure all the pain in the world through this fragile strength.

The kid was completely disobedient. If he stayed in the rain any longer, he might get sick, which wouldn't be good. Yun Zheng put He Jianqiang under his arm, opened a door at random, and walked in. It was dark inside, like a storage room. He realized there was no door on the playground.

Half an hour was enough for Yun Zheng to walk around the school, but he was still fumbling in the dark. He shouted loudly, but there was no echo. He took out a lighter, and a small flame appeared. No matter how much he adjusted the flame, it remained a tiny spark.

He Jianqiang seemed to have fallen asleep, his body becoming heavier. Yun Zheng put away the lighter, held him with one hand, and slowly moved forward. Finally, he found a wall. If he didn't find a place to rest, he felt he would break down.

Breathing heavily, Yun Zheng's hand slowly felt along the wall. He found it wasn't very solid. He put He Jianqiang on his back and rammed the wall with his shoulder.

Then he saw the sun, red and bright in the sky, as if it had just risen. This was right. Who had played this prank on the playground? Yun Zheng was angry. It had to be his students; no one else would do it. He Jianqiang was most afraid of his mother leaving and would never joke about it.

His students had gone too far. Yun Zheng allowed his students to be mischievous but never without compassion. Just as he was about to scold them, he closed his mouth, feeling helpless and sinking into the darkness.

No matter how powerful his students were, they couldn't have brought a panda. Now, a panda the size of a cat was licking his feet. This wasn't strange; Yun Zheng hadn't washed his feet the night before, and they were salty...

He turned his stiff neck and saw a green bamboo forest. He was only wearing one shoe, the other lying nearby. Why had his shoe fallen off?

Looking down at his small feet, Yun Zheng confirmed it was his own. The ink mark on his left foot was still there.

A small boy in oversized clothes was staring at him, bewildered. He asked in a childish voice, "Who are you? Why am I here?"

Yun Zheng didn't have time to answer. He wrapped the boy in his sleeve, tied it, and put him on his back. There was a small panda at his feet, which meant there must be a large panda nearby. Pandas eat meat as well as bamboo. There was no reasoning with a protective mother panda; they had to escape.

The shoes were too big, making it hard to run, but the boy's shoes fit perfectly. He quickly changed into them, tied the laces, and ran around the bamboo forest, diving into the bushes. On a dry red sandstone, Yun Zheng carefully examined his situation.

His body had shrunk severely. His once-proud height was now at most 1.4 meters. His bearded face was gone, replaced by a youthful, chubby face. The four-year-old boy lying in the clothes, with his eyes darting around, could only be He Jianqiang.

"Your pants are open," He Jianqiang pointed at Yun Zheng's broken zipper and laughed.

"Teacher, I'm now a minor. You can apply for assistance for me. I really need it, and I'm hungry," the child said in a grown-up's voice, which was eerie, like a monster.

Yun Zheng was also hungry. He hadn't eaten anything that morning. Standing on the sandstone, he looked around and was sure there was no one around. Seeing a group of wild boars grunting and walking past without fear, he knew they had never encountered hunters.

He took off his oversized clothes and put on He Jianqiang's. Despite the boy's protests, Yun Zheng insisted, putting his own shirt on him and tying a rope around his waist, creating a cute child in a dress.

After packing everything, Yun Zheng carried He Jianqiang to the edge of the bamboo forest. The spring bamboo was lush, and many young shoots were sprouting. He dug with a bamboo stick and quickly dug up three shoots. Then he ran back to the red sandstone, where there was a small cave. He carefully placed He Jianqiang inside and sat at the entrance, peeling the bamboo shoots. He Jianqiang tried to help but found it too difficult with his small hands, so he waited for Yun Zheng to finish. When they were about to eat the raw bamboo shoots, Yun Zheng suddenly took He Jianqiang's shoot and put it on the ground, realizing that a four-year-old couldn't eat raw bamboo shoots.

"Endure it. Eating raw bamboo shoots can make you sick. I'll start a fire and see if I can cook them for you," Yun Zheng said, not daring to go far. He found some dry grass and wood nearby. Perhaps heaven pitied the two helpless people, and Yun Zheng found a bird's egg in the grass, larger than a quail's egg but smaller than a chicken's egg, looking fresh.

To roast the egg, it must be covered in mud and placed in hot ashes to cook slowly, or it would explode. Yun Zheng, experienced in such tasks, did it skillfully. He ate the bamboo shoots while He Jianqiang drooled, watching the mud lump in the ashes.

When Yun Zheng cooled the peeled egg and offered it to He Jianqiang, he didn't take it, wanting Yun Zheng to eat first. Yun Zheng forcefully put the egg in his mouth and continued eating the bamboo shoots.

The situation was too strange and happened too quickly, leaving Yun Zheng no time to think about what had happened or why he had suddenly moved from a small city in the northwest to a beautiful southern region.

"Teacher, there's a scientific explanation similar to our situation: a wormhole. I've always dreamed of creating a machine to go back in time, to see my father before he died. I've studied wormholes in detail. The famous American professor John Gribbin proposed an interesting hypothesis: wormholes and the human world are not in the same time system. Entering another time system could take you to the distant past or the future, as time in wormholes is directional and reversible. It can move forward or backward. We are lucky; we encountered a backward time, so we became children."

Yun Zheng smiled, wiped the egg yolk from He Jianqiang's mouth, and ruffled his hair. "I don't believe in hypotheses; I only believe in facts. Our situation is strange, and I need time to verify it. Jiaqiang, your name is good. Strength is what we both need now."