Chapter 4, Choices in Life and Terrifying Speculations

Orange Street has a long history and was one of the most prosperous thirteen districts when Los Angeles was first established over a century ago. During the era of Prohibition, it gained fame as the largest transit hub for smuggled liquor along the entire West Coast, earning a reputation throughout America

At this moment, the sun is setting in the west, and the believers are joyfully conversing and laughing as they head towards the fortress with the day's harvest.

Hearing this, Beck looked at Zhang Longchu's back with a satisfied smile. Then, as if recalling something, he lowered his voice and said: "Kid, during the days you were away, I helped you fertilize those 'little treasures'. But I am really too old now, my hands are trembling, and I can no longer do some things well. So after you go upstairs, it would be best for you to take care of them right away"

Little treasures, big brother has come to see you. Wow, in just two days, you have grown so much, it is truly a bountiful harvest. Looking at the full cabinet of harvest, Zhang Longchu's face revealed a joyful smile as he murmured to himself

Stepping out of the car alone, Zhang Longchu looked up at the familiar street sign. He watched as the bus sped away at twice the normal speed, curling his lip in disdain. He continued forward along the filthy street, covered in graffiti of skeletons and ghosts, and walked into a three-story apartment building made of gray bricks, which appeared to have quite a bit of history.

Deliberately and carefully experiencing the passage of time, Zhang Longchu felt completely different from when he was in a coma

If one is unwilling to wield a baseball bat to smash someone’s skull for the sake of stealing a new pair of sneakers, or to shoot someone in the chest, then the best choice is to "plant grass," and that is life

Four o'clock, four o'clock... I was unconscious for two days and two nights, which is forty-eight hours. It is unclear how long I stayed in that strange, transformed world, but I witnessed the harvest of grain approximately seven times.

Afterward, he reluctantly stroked the old wooden box that he had been carrying under his arm, carefully placing the peculiar item on his bed. He then strode over to the wall on the west side of the bedroom, which was shrouded in shadow, cautiously pushed open the wardrobe, and opened a concealed closet.

The humidifier on the three-sided cabinet continuously emits a mist

In the impoverished neighborhoods of Los Angeles, an adopted yellow-skinned orphan must possess some special "skills" in order to survive smoothly

Afterward, I posed in a few more styles, then checked the time and began to prepare dinner for myself and Old Baker

After the harvest was completed, he began to apply a moderate amount of high-quality whiskey flavoring on the leaves, carefully adjusting the temperature continuously, using the oven to dry them... After several hours of busy work, he produced just over half a pound of exceptionally high-quality handcrafted weed.

Then there is answering questions, this section should be very important, um, it should be the prerequisite for the 'alignment' between the strange object and me. Finally, there is the car accident, the car accident, oh, what is different about the car accident...

Unfortunately, after the splendor comes endless desolation, precisely because this place once served as a transit station for illicit liquor, the entire neighborhood gradually fell under the control of gangs, leading the original common people to move away from this area.

Ah, the dice, right, I saw a die falling from the sky before I felt the acceleration of time while in a coma, and it rolled a four.

Understood. Zhang Longchu waved his hand without looking back and quickly ascended to the second floor

Unfortunately, what I received in return was the furious reprimand of the old man, "Zhang from China, you despicable brat, now you have actually learned to sneak away for the night without a word to avoid paying rent. And it's been two days, a full two days without returning. I thought you had been shot in the head by those welfare guys for selling 'long strips' indiscriminately..."

The most obvious places are the safest, I truly am a genius. With a wooden bag slung across his shoulder, he ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror, realizing that in this era where young people express their individuality, his appearance could hardly be considered strange, which made him feel quite pleased.

In the bygone era before the popularity of artistic furniture, it was not uncommon for old apartments in Los Angeles to have a large closet built into the wall for guests to store their clothing, in order to save space

Thus, when the 'Prohibition' was lifted, Orange Street quickly became one of the most chaotic and dilapidated neighborhoods in Los Angeles. For the following decades, even the police were reluctant to patrol this area, leaving only the ornate street sign 'Orange Street' at the corner, which still tells of its former glory

Zhang Longchu shrugged nonchalantly, interrupting the old man's words, and said with a smile: "Calm down, Mr. Baker, I am your only tenant. I am also the main reason why this apartment is not being valued at 1 million yuan by the municipal government like the three-story building next door. The housing prices on Orange Street are comparable to those in old Detroit; the most valuable resource you property owners should cherish is tenants like me, isn't it? Therefore, you should show me at least a modicum of respect, especially since you are my nominal adoptive father."

A moment later, a flash of inspiration struck Zhang Longchu's mind, prompting him to hurriedly jump out of bed and run to the living room, where he rummaged through the bottom shelf of the tea cabinet to find a toolbox

The part about buying things in the park is no longer important; it was just a foolish merchant trying to deceive me, and I ended up getting a great deal instead

Well, I think I should start from the beginning. Two days ago, I purchased this strange object, and shortly after, I heard a mysterious voice asking many questions. Then, I suddenly found myself in a bus that had been involved in a serious accident, right across from the "Carnegie Museum" in a large park. During the rescue, the strange object resonated with me, and dice appeared.

Afterward, he opened the toolbox and used scissors to cut off the straps of the backpack he had been carrying. He then glued them to the edge of the unopened side of the old wooden box with strong adhesive. He also cut the entire backpack into various patterned pieces and affixed them to the exterior of the box. In less than half an hour, Zhang Longchu skillfully transformed the wooden box into a wooden backpack

Upon reaching this point in his thoughts, Zhang Longchu could not help but shiver, forbidding himself from delving any deeper. He shifted his focus to contemplating how he should securely hide this extraordinary object that had brought him such good fortune.

Exposed electrical wires, um, leaking fuel, and, and, dead, dead bodies... Oh, it can't be that grotesque...

A faint, moist mist emerged from the closet, and after dissipating, revealed a warm, beige sun lamp hanging from above

Next, with practiced movements and nimble hands and feet, he directly harvested the large leaves of the dozens of plants from the cupboard

After several attempts to return to reality and then re-enter the tidal world, I further validated my hypothesis; at this moment, the passage of time in both worlds was astonishingly identical.

Zhang Longchu hurriedly walked to the innermost wooden door on the right, used his fingerprint to unlock the door, and quickly entered the room

If that is the case, with a one-to-one time ratio, wouldn't it take me decades to help them grow? By the way, there is only a small area where the black mist has dissipated... This patch of forest is more than enough to sustain one or two thousand people, but what should we do if the population increases a bit more...! ... These are all unresolved challenges!

The corridor on the second floor of the apartment has no windows for light to pass through, and only two small beige light bulbs hang from the ceiling for illumination, making it appear somewhat dim even during the day. However, there are quite a few rooms, with six on each side.

As he passed the cramped front office on the first floor, he did not forget to politely greet a white-haired old man dressed in a wrinkled black suit, whose appearance seemed more suited to lying in a coffin than sitting in the office, saying, "Good afternoon, Mr. Baker"

Hearing this, Old Baker shouted angrily: "It was Laura who adopted you, may the soul of my kind wife rest in peace in heaven, she is now deceased, so you have nothing to do with me. If there is another instance of you staying out all night without prior notice, you can get out of this apartment." Yet, beneath his words lay a deep sense of concern.

Having prepared the goods for the following week, he stretched, ran back to the bedroom, sat on the bed, picked up the old wooden box in front of him, and laid it open on his lap

This is a suite-style apartment divided into a living room, bedroom, and bathroom, with a total area of approximately 50 square meters, making it very suitable for single individuals or a couple.

With a shift of thought, in the blink of an eye, I found myself once again in that strange world adjacent to the sea

"Rest assured, there will be no next time," a hint of warmth flickered in Zhang Longchu's eyes, yet he said with a smirk, "You should know that my greatest wish is to inherit this apartment after you enter the coffin, to experience the taste of being a property owner in Los Angeles. Therefore, I will never give you an excuse to terminate the adoption." He strode towards the wooden staircase not far away.

Zhang Longchu does not consider himself a bad person, but he also does not believe he is particularly noble; everything he does is merely for the sake of survival

However, the purpose of the wardrobe that Zhang Long initially opened is clearly not for storing miscellaneous items

Upon entering, Zhang Longchu did not linger in the living room but directly rushed into the bedroom

as well as the fertile black soil at the bottom and the lush, verdant plants growing in the soil

In this case, in the tropical regions, crops can be harvested twice a year, and with an additional six months for land clearing, I should have stayed there for four years

In four years, that is to say, one hour in the real world equals an entire month in the realm of the extraordinary, wow, this is indeed a significant difference from the current flow of time

This experimental result led Zhang Longchu to ponder: "Why is there such a significant difference in the flow of time between the two worlds compared to when I was unconscious..."

Although the function of this strange object is still unclear, it appears that its primary purpose is to facilitate the development of these unfortunate refugees' settlement, as it has guided me to assist them