Chapter 276: Beauty Like Flowers (Thirteen)
After being half-asleep and squeezed for the entire journey, the crowd gradually thinned out, and Snake Taoist finally had some room to breathe.
After all, they were almost at the city's outskirts.
Those with some money in their pockets would not choose the outskirts, the reason being—dirty, messy, and poor.
Most of the people left in the carriage were young individuals, clearly office workers who had just entered society. They didn't have much money, so they could only live further away, preferring to spend more time commuting.
As for people Snake Taoist's age still squeezing onto the flying car, there weren't many.
Snake Taoist was quite proud of this.
After all, not many elderly people could still go out and earn money like him.
Often, after turning seventy, they would be forced to retire, living on meager pensions.
But considering the New Human's lifespan could reach several hundred years, how would they spend the rest of their days? So most people could only immerse themselves in the virtual world, minimizing their real-world expenses.
Snake Taoist still preferred the hustle and bustle of reality, so he had to seize the opportunity to earn money while he still had some charm left.
"Qili City has arrived. Passengers wishing to disembark, please prepare."
Over the broadcast, it was the sweet yet cold female voice Snake Taoist was familiar with.
This was precisely Rose, the intelligent brain developed by Rising Dragon Group.
"This thing really is everywhere," Snake Taoist rolled his eyes.
Snake Taoist recalled the promotional slogan when it was first launched: "Don't you like the cute and versatile Rose, a sweet little sister?"
It was even accompanied by a loli image with pink hair, twin pigtails, and a small dress, bouncing and blowing kisses to the viewers.
However, as time passed, this virtual image no longer conformed to the rapidly evolving aesthetics, so it was withdrawn.
It was said that a new image was being developed.
But Snake Taoist didn't care.
"To hell with your cute sister, she's just a bitch, she should just be a stinking bitch," Snake Taoist muttered under his breath.
"Dear passenger, please do not use foul language, otherwise your Resident ID will be publicly announced and criticized across the entire network."
Rose's voice rang coldly in Snake Taoist's ear.
Snake Taoist's vertical pupils narrowed, and he clamped his mouth shut, no longer speaking.
He got off the car and walked towards home.
Snake Taoist's home was the Sunny Apartment building on the street corner.
Though called an apartment building, it didn't actually look like a "building"; it was just a cluster of silver, egg-shaped apartment rooms. "Sunny" meant that each room would have an equal amount of time to surface and bask in the sun.
It was considered a rather decent apartment in the area.
It was also close to the flying car station, making transportation convenient.
If Snake Taoist hadn't been a once-somewhat-famous old actor, he really wouldn't have been able to afford it.
Anyway, he would occasionally take on small acting roles. Additionally, he could take commercial gigs, attending opening ceremonies, annual meetings, birthdays, engagement parties, and various other events for others. He would put on his Snake Taoist attire and stand there, allowing wealthy elderly people to indulge in nostalgia, while he could also earn some extra money.
Earning money isn't shameful.
With a swipe of the chip on his wrist, his egg-shaped cabin descended. A slit opened on its smooth surface, just wide enough for one person to squeeze in.
As soon as Snake Taoist entered the room, he immediately lay down on the floor.
He curled into a ball, like a snake.
He hugged himself, then fell into a deep sleep.
In his dream, there seemed to be a pair of gentle hands stroking his hair.
Just like a mother.
Under the sunlight, it was his mother's face, a warm smile gracing her inverted triangular face.
Snake Taoist lay on his mother's lap, feeling her hands caress his face.
"Mother..."
Snake Taoist murmured unconsciously, tears slowly rolling down his face.
A gentle yet cold hand brushed his face, wiping away his tears.
This temperature was precisely his mother's hand.
Tears flowed even more profusely.
In the room, a Little Tentacle was playing with Snake Taoist's head.
It tied his hair into several small knots and braided several thin pigtails, having a great time.
Liu Sheng never let it play with her hair, which was a shame.
Seeing the two slits on his face welling up with water, it curiously rubbed them with a tentacle.
As soon as it wiped them clean, new ones appeared.
Little Tentacle was puzzled.
Why did this water just keep coming?
【...】
Liu Sheng, who remained on the planet, silently watched this scene, feeling a bit strange.
"Liu Sheng Jie, Liu Sheng Jie!" a crisp voice rang out above her head.
Liu Sheng looked up and saw Little Little, who had grown a bit, standing on a Sophora japonica tree branch.
Her robes fluttered, like a little fairy.
At this moment, only two hours had passed since Snake Taoist returned to the Starfall Empire.
But for Liu Sheng, in the blink of an eye, it was two years later.
...
Snake Taoist didn't know how long he had slept; the light in the cabin had already dimmed, and there was no sunlight.
This sleep was very comfortable, reminding him of his long-missed mother.
But this beautiful dream was interrupted by a communication.
Snake Taoist ungraciously answered the communication, lazily saying, "Hello, spit it out if you have something to say."
"What? You old rascal, you've gotten bold, daring to speak to me like that?"
The voice on the other end was hoarse, accompanied by a "zzzz" sound, like the static heard from ancient telephones in museums.
Upon hearing this, Snake Taoist was startled, knowing that the person on the other end was his agent, Tosca Orr.
His voice immediately softened, and the triangle on his face rounded out.
"Brother Tosca, oh, I didn't know it was you," Snake Taoist's voice was fawning and sickeningly sweet.
The other party paused, perhaps goosebumps had appeared, and after a moment, continued to speak coldly.
"I heard you're quite the big shot, leaving the show after less than ten minutes?"
"Brother Tosca, please understand, this isn't my fault! The production team made new arrangements and even kicked me out, and the money was just a tiny bit. I wanted to settle accounts with them!"
Then Snake Taoist quickly explained the situation at the time.
It didn't matter who misunderstood, but his agent absolutely couldn't misunderstand. He was still able to get gigs and perform thanks to this agent brother!
"What happened? How come I heard you were acting like a big shot, overslept, and intentionally messed up the act?" Tosca said hoarsely, "As soon as I heard 'overslept,' I thought, 'That must be you, kid.'"
"It really wasn't my fault!" Snake Taoist protested, "Wasn't I there to show my face, demonstrate my New Human training abilities, and promote my training class? How could I run away at the last minute!"
It wasn't easy for him to cross dimensions for a trip, only to be kicked out without accomplishing anything and even get such a reputation. These young people nowadays really bully old actors.
Thinking that his training class promotion plan was going to fall through again, Snake Taoist felt even more heartbroken.
It's not easy for an old man to come out and earn some money!
"Alright, I'll go inquire about the situation."
The other party hung up the communication after saying this.
As soon as the communication was hung up, Snake Taoist immediately cursed a few obscenities.
"Damn it, always just blabbering, never offering to help me out. It's really bad luck in my snake life to run into such a coward like you."
In his anger, he kicked the wall.
However, the wall's material was hard, and it made his toes ache instead.
"Fine! Everyone bullies me, this old man!"
"Forget it, let's watch some TV."
He casually turned on the TV, and a huge light screen appeared in mid-air. As soon as it turned on, he saw a familiar face.
Isn't that the stinky brat!
Looking closer, it was that show called The Metamorphosis.
Even more incredibly, this show, which was almost unable to secure sponsors, had actually become the number one trending topic, with the entire network following it!
Upon seeing it, Snake Taoist's face contorted even more.
It was all the stinky brat with that Little Little, and another tag-along boy, all over the mountains practicing martial arts and running.
Perhaps because the audience complained that the progress was too slow, the production team directly skipped the time to two years later, so these stinky brats all looked a bit older.
"Damn it, this role was supposed to be mine!" Snake Taoist gritted his teeth in hatred.
Note: Snake Taoist's remarks only represent him as a snake! They do not represent the author's views!
Rubbing hands, starting to enter the entertainment circle genre, beginning the path of the Snake Demon Face Grandpa's Film Emperor (not really).