Cyberpunk 2074: Shadows of the Past

"Pork, fish, mutton... should you buy some of each?" Gloria opened the freezer in front of her and carefully selected among the neatly arranged pieces of frozen meat.

"I don't care..." David shrugged, pushed the shopping cart, and followed Gloria, looking around aimlessly.

He can neither cook nor taste the subtle differences between different meats.

Mainly because the meat sold to ordinary people in supermarkets in Night City are all chemically synthesized products.

The raw materials are all taken from meat insects cultivated in groups in factories, and then mixed with chemical flavors to imitate the taste of different types of meat.

For example, the fishy smell of fish and the mutton smell of mutton are all products simulated through technology. Essentially, they are just a bunch of highly concentrated insect meat.

In Night City, 60% of the residents have never tasted real meat. From birth to death, cheap and rich-tasting insect meat faithfully accompanies them.

The remaining 39% of the residents are mostly poor people who have no jobs or have ended up on the streets for various reasons. They cannot even afford these cheap synthetic meats.

Only 1% of the upper class and wealthy class can enjoy the taste of real meat, even poultry meat that is expressly prohibited from sale by Night City law.

In short, there is no problem that money cannot solve.

"Want to buy cabbage? Although the price is a bit expensive..." Gloria stood in front of the beautifully decorated vegetable counter, hesitating between two packages of mutilated cabbage leaves.

In Night City, vegetables are much more expensive than synthetic meat.

Even the poorest quality vegetable leaves are much more expensive than high-grade synthetic meat with carefully blended flavors.

Only middle-class company employees would consider buying a few fresh vegetables during the holidays.

Even the upper class and wealthy people do not have fresh vegetables to eat every day.

"Why don't you forget it...it's really too expensive." David glanced at the price and quickly tried to dissuade Gloria.

"But eating vegetables is good for your health...our David needs to grow a little taller."

"Mom... even said no..."

"Okay, but promise mom, next time you celebrate your birthday, you must eat a fresh vegetable leaf, okay?"

"We'll talk about it later." David shook his head and said perfunctorily.

He didn't want to waste his mother's hard-earned money on those little green leaves.

"I went out shopping with my brother-in-law before... There should be some fruits and vegetables at my sister's house."

"That's good..." Gloria reluctantly put a few pieces of broken cabbage back into place, "Is there anything else you want to buy?"

"I already told you that this is for you to celebrate. You can buy whatever Mom likes..."

"Mom gave up all her hobbies for you...and now she suddenly says she wants something...it makes me scratch my head." Gloria scratched her head. Although she was older, her smile was a little silly.

"So don't say such things suddenly..." David muttered in a low voice, and the tip of his nose couldn't help but ripples of sourness.

"Why did you start rubbing your eyes all of a sudden? Are your eyes hurting?" Gloria looked back at David who was wiping his eyes constantly, and asked subconsciously, her tone full of concern as always.

"No..." David rubbed his red eyes, "It was windy just now, and some dust accidentally got into his eyes."

"So you are still a little kid... I don't know when you will grow up..."

"I don't want to grow up... I just want my mother to be with me like she is now..." David said firmly to himself in his heart.

It was his only New Year's wish.

◎

"The New Year will be celebrated in less than two days... Yahweh."

"New Year? Hasn't Christmas passed long ago?" Yahweh was sitting on the sofa, flipping through a magazine. He raised his head and asked strangely.

"I want to celebrate the New Year with you! The time we met was after Christmas. In order to achieve this goal, let's celebrate the Chinese New Year together!"

"No wonder the streets of Night City have begun to be decorated with lights recently..." Yahweh nodded. It is always a good thing to be happy to spend the New Year happily with your lover.

"Many cities in the new United States will celebrate the Chinese New Year..." Xi Tao touched his long hair, which had been dried a lot, and did not carefully investigate the reason.

"It's good to have more people and more liveliness during the Chinese New Year." Yahweh said seriously based on the data he had just queried.

"I hope that by then, it will be normal gorgeous fireworks blooming gorgeously in the night sky... rather than some explosion that soars into the sky..."

"Night City, it's hard to say."

"Crow's mouth! Bah, bah, bah!" Heda rushed to Yahweh, held his head, and tapped his lips three times viciously.

"Drink more water, your lips are wrinkled." Yahweh pretended to be calm and said.

"Oh... you're not blushing?" Xi Da leaned closer to his face, looking like she was observing carefully.

"Of course, we are an old married couple..."

"Then why are the earlobes so red?" Xi Da caught the flaw and blew a gentle breath of hot air on it.

"Go and call Lucy, it's getting late!" Yahweh covered his earlobes with his hands and changed the subject stiffly.

"Hehe..." Xi Ta smiled secretly, kissed him lightly on the face, and skipped out of the house.

◎

It is said that people will meet their nemesis at a certain stage in life.

Lucy originally sneered at this statement. She always liked to be alone and would not have too much contact with others.

Until I met a certain silver-haired girl.

"Bang bang bang!"

The familiar rhythm of knocking on the door interrupted Lucy's unpacking of the snack bag.

"Open the door! Lucy, I know you are at home!" The girl's clear voice came in tenaciously through the crack in the door and rushed straight into her ears.

Lucy sighed helplessly, put out the burning cigarette in her hand, and opened the window for ventilation.

Someone is a kid and not used to smelling smoke.

After gently rubbing her cheek, Lucy walked to the door and opened the door.

"So slow, Lucy... If you don't respond, I'm going to break down the door!"

"Don't...do you have anything to do with me?" Lucy looked Xi Da up and down.

"Let's go to my house for dinner together! Didn't I say before that this time I will introduce you to the Martinez family..."

"Ah..." Lucy sighed and rubbed her sore eyebrows, "Let me tell you first, I'm not good at dealing with strangers..."

Although he was a little embarrassed to say it, he had nothing to hide from Xi Da.

"Don't worry, the whole family is fine..." Xi Tao patted his chest vigorously, looking confident.

"There's really nothing I can do about you... okay..."