Demon Lord 3

Chapter 1965 Era

The rain outside continued, having fallen for days and nights. We noticed many teams had already withdrawn, but we weren't too concerned. After all, this was a safe haven; we could stay as long as we wanted. We'd have to wait for the next mission announcement to conduct further exploration. However, those withdrawing teams were being recorded, and we heard their maps would be distributed to us, greatly increasing our success rate. Thinking about this, we all smiled knowingly. It would probably be distributed evenly based on everyone's points and levels. We started chatting again. Zhou Chuyuan thoughtfully provided some sunflower seeds for us to eat while we talked. We discussed the city's development progress. They said the 1990s were the most prosperous period for the city's development. If it hadn't progressed so rapidly in the 1990s, the world we live in today would almost certainly not exist. Although I've never been to the 1990s, I've heard a lot about it. The 1990s were quite chaotic, with several factions vying for power. First, there was the drinking culture. To close a deal, you had to know how to drink. One drink, one contract. In this environment, if you couldn't drink or drank little, you'd either make a fool of yourself or earn less money. They said that back then, people drank an average of two or three jin (1.5-1.5 kg) of baijiu (Chinese liquor), which caused many illnesses. They were essentially trading their lives for money. Later, as they got older, they realized they could buy back their lives with money, but that doesn't make sense. Before technological advancements, money couldn't buy life, and before societal progress, life couldn't be exchanged for money. It's like before the development of new technologies; even if someone was just screwing in screws, doing 8 million a day in a factory, they wouldn't earn much more than others. But things changed later. As long as you were willing to put in the effort and work hard, your body would receive the rewards it deserved. Later still, as long as you were willing to invest money and effort, you could gain longevity for what you considered important. All of this is thanks to the progress of the times. As society progresses, we shed many burdens and take on many responsibilities, but no matter what, the pace of progress will never stop. Those who try to stop the progress of the times will eventually be swept away by the tide of progress. They said that in the 1990s, cars were just beginning to develop in our city. Because this city wasn't a heavy industrial city, it was more focused on manual manufacturing, with many cotton mills, steel mills, and glass factories. In that kind of society, many people worked in these factories; a family might have at least two or three, even three or four, working in these large factories. When I was little, I even heard that some relatives worked there. Lin Zhenfei said, "When I first came into this world, it was the late 1990s. There were already many cars, but not everyone owned one. Most people still rode bicycles. Our city had relatively high standards for bicycles; there was unified management back then. Can you imagine? Bicycles back then had license plates. But now, bicycles have all become shared bikes, and many people don't even want to ride them, using them as exercise equipment." I nodded. Of course, people in the 1990s couldn't understand why later generations treated bicycles like shared bikes. For people in that era, owning a bicycle, or even multiple bicycles, was like changing cars in the 2010s. Every generation has its own products; everyone is going around in circles in one pitfall after another. In the 1990s, many people were laid off, mostly because their employers couldn't pay wages or even went bankrupt. These people had no choice but to find other ways to make a living. Some relied on meager subsidies, while others went into business to try and secure future income. This meant working at banquets and attending drinking parties, which was undoubtedly a major blow to their health, but a significant financial boost. Many regretted it later, saying they shouldn't have ruined their health. But upon reflection, they realized that if they hadn't done it, what would have become of their children, their elderly parents, and their wives? Perhaps their past sacrifices only focused on the present. But what if they hadn't lived in the present? Ordinary people can't predict the future; they don't know what the future holds. They only know that by drinking that glass of wine and signing that contract, they can stand tall in public and private, ensuring their family has enough to eat and giving their children more opportunities to escape this situation.