Xu Zhi hadn't planned on crushing anyone underfoot—he merely wanted to figure out how to make the best use of these free laborers. He needed them to work diligently in his sandbox, evolving new species for him.
As he passed through the front gate, he spotted Chen Xi already parked by the entrance, leaning casually against her electric scooter. She waved and grinned.
"What's the point of farming all day?" she teased. "Wouldn't it be more fun to date pretty girls instead?"
"Farming lifts my mood," Xu Zhi replied distractedly. "And it helps with my cancer. Girls aren't nearly as interesting."
"You're such a blockhead." Chen Xi rolled her eyes, then grabbed his hand. "Come on! Let's go have some fun at my high school reunion."
They drove out of the county town and arrived at a quiet street in Dongcheng. The area wasn't particularly lively—just a modest restaurant tucked around the corner. Her classmates were only in their first year of college; no one could afford anything fancier.
They climbed the stairs to the second floor and opened the door to a private party room filled with laughter and chatter. Young men and women were gathered around a few long tables, deep in conversation and halfway through their meal. The moment Xu Zhi stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted.
"Who is that!? Did someone enter the wrong room?"
"He's so handsome! Did a movie star crash our party?"
Xu Zhi rubbed his nose awkwardly, caught off-guard by the sudden attention.
Behind him, Chen Xi emerged with a triumphant smile, clearly enjoying the stir her entrance caused. She lifted her chin with pride. "This is my boyfriend, Xu Zhi. I already told everyone in our group—he's super handsome!"
Girl, are you done showing off yet?
Xu Zhi shot her a helpless glance.
They took a seat together, and soon a group of Chen Xi's friends—former classmates and curious girls—gathered around them like moths to a flame. Manners were quickly forgotten.
"He's seriously good-looking, Chen Xi! Where'd you find him? Is he a model? An actor?"
Another girl leaned in, studying his face with a clinical intensity. "With those sharp features and exotic undertones… he kind of looks mixed-race. Not exactly perfect, but the more you look, the more attractive he becomes."
The chatter continued unabated. A tall girl in a black silk dress reached out and began caressing Xu Zhi's cheek, her eyes sparkling with mischief. A petite one took advantage of the chaos to sneak a quick feel of his abs.
"Hey!" Chen Xi jumped to her feet, planting herself between Xu Zhi and the encroaching hands. She clung to his arm like a possessive dragon guarding her treasure. "Hands off, you vultures! He's mine! Look all you want, but no touching!"
"Stingy!"
"Oh come on, it's not like he lost anything!"
"I couldn't resist! I just wanted to check if he was a real person. And those abs! I had to touch them!"
Xu Zhi cleared his throat with a dry cough. Girls these days were fearless. Was this what people meant by a generation gap?
Even with all the commotion, Xu Zhi remained composed. He knew why Chen Xi had invited him—it was her moment to shine, and he didn't mind playing along.
He hadn't deliberately altered his appearance to be striking. It was simply the natural outcome of evolution. As his body discarded useless genes and refined itself, he edged closer and closer to the ideal of a perfect lifeform.
"Yes, that's right! He's my boyfriend!" Chen Xi basked under the envious stares of her peers. She enjoyed her meal while endlessly bragging about Xu Zhi—how they'd known each other since childhood, how devoted he was, how perfectly their love had blossomed.
Xu Zhi didn't bother correcting her. After all, wasn't that why he was here?
"He's an alumnus of our high school and went on to a top university. Just came back from working at a foreign company."
"No wonder you ignored all the guys who were chasing you. You already had a childhood sweetheart waiting in the wings."
Chen Xi had always been bright and mischievous—plenty of boys liked her. A few of them, wearing less-than-pleasant expressions, came over with wine in hand to toast Xu Zhi. He accepted each glass with a polite smile and drank without hesitation.
He didn't bat an eye.
Over the course of his life, Xu Zhi had encountered far more insidious people. These were just immature college kids, hoping to get him drunk and embarrass him. Their efforts were naïve at best.
Unfortunately for them, Xu Zhi's current body made such attempts laughable.
After dinner, the group moved to a karaoke box.
The initial excitement around Xu Zhi had finally died down. Several boys who'd tried to outdrink him now lay sprawled on the floor, faces flushed and muttering nonsense. No one dared offer him another drink.
The girls sang enthusiastically, while some boys scrolled through their phones or chatted quietly. One group was huddled together, eyes glued to a livestream.
Xu Zhi sat back on the couch, idly browsing his own phone, waiting for Chen Xi to get tired of singing so he could drive her home. But a glance at the boys' screen caught his attention.
They were watching a stream from Spore Evolution.
"Whoa! This is insane," one boy gasped. "There's so much variation! I swear this streamer does the same thing every time, but the outcome is always different."
"They're probably using some insane supercomputer," another chimed in. "Like AlphaGo, running real-time calculations."
"This player sucks though," another laughed, flinging spittle as he gestured at the screen. "I could do way better. I can't wait for the Open Beta! I wanna start from a single cell, evolve something unique, and live a whole second life."
"No way it'll be open to the public," someone else sighed. "Experts say it requires way too much processing power. The evolution possibilities are infinite. It's probably backed by several supercomputers. That's why only a handful of players can join."
So it's become popular now, Xu Zhi mused. Everyone wants in…
But their assumptions were wrong. This wasn't a hardware issue—there was no computer behind it. It was no game at all. Xu Zhi simply didn't want too many players. He gained nothing from a large crowd.
"This game is wasted on amateurs. Let the pros handle it," a student said confidently. "I study natural evolution. If I had access, I'd create something truly exceptional."
Let the pros try it?
Xu Zhi blinked. That thought hadn't occurred to him before.
And just like that, he had a new idea.
This reunion with Chen Xi had turned out to be unexpectedly fruitful after all.