Doze Longevidades

BOOM—!!!

With a thunderous explosion, a fireball suddenly erupted under the clear blue sky. In its wake, countless pieces of popcorn rained down from above, scattering across the empty street.

Qin Changsheng crouched in a shadowy alley by the roadside. The aroma of fresh popcorn drifted on the breeze, but he felt no hunger at all.

Because he knew that just a moment ago, these scattered popcorns had been a living, breathing person...

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2023, Hangzhou, China.

Five o’clock in the morning. In an internet café on the second floor of the university town at Qianjiang, a desperate soul was silently screaming.

It was all over!

Staring at the glaring numbers on the computer screen, Qin Changsheng felt a wave of dizziness, as if the light of his life had been snuffed out in an instant.

Today was the day the college entrance exam results were released. Once, he’d sworn he would get into Zhejiang University—a man with unshakable faith. He’d booked his usual computer at his favorite internet café before dawn, his eyes glued to the screen, waiting for that fateful moment.

At last, the results came out. He clicked to see.

For some reason, the internet was especially laggy that day, and the digits refreshed slowly, one by one, from smallest to largest.

The first number was a 9. Such a high start—it made his heart leap with hope.

Then came a 6. Was it 369? 469? At the very least, he’d made it into a regular university—maybe even a top-tier one!

Qin