Demon Lord 3

Chapter 1924 No Festive Atmosphere

Time flies, and the New Year is just around the corner. I've only just started looking at the calendar here, and the New Year is slowly losing its festive atmosphere. I asked Zhou Chuyuan curiously why. He shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand either. He used to think that since things were developing relatively slowly here, we still had the concept of celebrating the New Year. But now it seems that celebrating the New Year is mostly about going on trips and spending time with close relatives and friends. Besides that, we rarely contact the rest of the people. When we went outside to look at the vendors selling New Year's goods, there weren't many; almost all of them were elderly men and women. Young people, even if they bought New Year's goods, would order them directly and have them delivered to their homes. What was once called the internet has now become a fully information-driven era. There are no complicated mobile phone programs; you just open your phone, let the assistant buy automatically, and just click to pay. Everything is guaranteed, and there are also short-term usage strategies. There aren't major online platforms; it's almost all direct sales from the manufacturers, with no middlemen taking a cut. Under these circumstances, everyone's enthusiasm for buying is much stronger than before. If there are problems with the goods, they go directly to the manufacturer; there are no middlemen selling counterfeit goods. This is perhaps the world people yearn for, but many people deliberately stick to the old ways—they're a rather conservative group! Under these circumstances, the festive atmosphere of the New Year has gradually faded. Some people said it was because people no longer cherished it or missed it, but that's not the case. As living conditions have improved, people no longer need to look forward to that one day of reunion. Every day is New Year's Day; people can rest when they want and go home whenever they want. When conditions were poor, everyone went home for the New Year on that one day, and everyone stopped working. Now, what we look forward to is the moment we miss home. As long as we miss home, we can go back. Everyone's time to miss home is different, and only in this way can things get better and better. If everyone rested for one day, the world would seem to stand still. Those who work during those days can earn more money, but they have to sacrifice their families. Those few extra dollars they earn... Many people thought it was useless, after all, nothing is better than spending time with family. But things are different now. Half of the previous jobs have been cut, replaced by new ones. With these new jobs, people don't have to be as busy as before. They just have these tasks at hand, close to home, and the work is light. The rest can be left to artificial intelligence. I thought everything was developing in a good direction, but seeing the desolate scene on the streets, I also miss how we used to celebrate the New Year. Indeed, times have progressed. If we look at the world with the mindset of people from the past, we certainly can't keep up with the trends now. But over time, we slowly understand how the world has developed. We still bought a lot of delicious food and put it together, hoping that everyone can have a reunion New Year. A fish is a must on the New Year's table, along with various kinds of meat. Vegetables are rare, except for cabbage. Looking at this sumptuous meal, we raised our glasses together. This represents more than just the New Year; it represents our reunion, the start of a new mission, a renewed appreciation of the world's wonders, and the motivation and courage to continue to the next world. The last time we gathered like this was before our journey to the smaller world. Back then, we didn't know what lay ahead. We thought we would meet more and more after that meal. But when that banquet ended, it felt like we had truly parted ways. The end of that banquet left a deep impression on each of us. It was all heavy, like losing an important teammate. Later we realized the whole team's spirit had crumbled. Everyone had indeed experienced a lot and shone brightly in their respective fields, but under these circumstances, we didn't truly experience our own lives. Later, I somewhat resented that journey in the small world. Although it helped me grow a lot, it wasn't a journey I truly wanted to take. The kind of journey I yearn for is one where everyone gathers together, faces difficulties together, and develops together, not one where we are scattered under arrangement. That caused me immense pain. Perhaps only when we are together can we truly be ourselves! I don't know if we will continue to be separated like before, but at least we won't be apart now. Cherishing the present is the only thing we can do, and the only thing we must do.