Chapter 45: Time

It felt a bit too darkly humorous that,

just before Professor Chen Anmin left this world, more people were paying attention to him because he was the first person to use the 2611 Longevity Injection than because of his own merits and academic achievements.

Being the world’s first recipient of the 2611 Longevity Injection, many people were closely watching Professor Chen Anmin’s life and death.

Professor Chen Anmin himself took this quite calmly.

From the birth of the 2611 Longevity Injection and the founding of Research Institute 011,

Professor Chen Anmin spent most of his extended life after using the injection, working inside Research Institute 011 as a researcher.

After the 2611 Longevity Injection, he also participated to some extent in the development of the Human Reproduction Device and the exploration projects within the Human Enhancement Research Project.

It wasn’t until much later, as he entered old age again, that Professor Chen Anmin stepped away from the front lines of research. In his last ten to twenty years, he taught a few more groups of students.

Back in his seventies or eighties, Professor Chen Anmin had considered not taking on any more students because Qin Yu, such a brilliant gem, had come along first.

But in the decades after, he seemed to change his mind again.

Among those last few batches of students, while none shone as brightly as a super talent like Qin Yu, each graduated and went on to contribute within various areas of the Field of Life Sciences.

“You’re here, Qin Yu. Sit, sit down.”

When Qin Yu came to the hospital for his final visit with Professor Chen Anmin,

the professor’s mental state seemed quite good.

By this time, very few people—perhaps only Professor Chen Anmin, or just him alone—still called Qin Yu by name.

And it was foreseeable that fewer and fewer people would address Qin Yu that way in the future.

After Professor Chen Anmin invited Qin Yu to sit,

the two talked alone for a while in the hospital room.

“Qin Yu, I want to thank you. I’m 116 years old now. In this lifetime, I’ve experienced two periods of being terribly old, and also two periods of feeling ‘young’. This unique experience will probably become less and less common for people in the future.”

Leaning against the bed’s headboard, Professor Chen Anmin seemed peaceful before the end.

His gaze rested on Qin Yu. He seemed to think for a moment before continuing with a smile,

“Actually, over the last thirty or forty years, I’ve occasionally thought—maybe even felt a bit envious—that if I could have used the 2611 Longevity Injection when I was younger, maybe I could have lived to 150, or even 180. Later, I thought, reaching this age now means I’ve already lived decades longer than expected. Also, in these over thirty years, I’ve witnessed immense and numerous changes in the world.”

After laughing softly, Professor Chen Anmin looked at Qin Yu more seriously and said,

“Qin Yu. From the very start of your learning and research in the Field of Life Sciences, I actually taught you very little. Still, I want to say: having a student like you is the thing I’m most proud of in my life.”

“Some say that my most renowned title at the end is just being ‘Qin Yu’s teacher’, which sounds a bit desolate. But I say, let them envy it!”

Having said that, Professor Chen Anmin laughed out loud twice.

“Professor.”

Qin Yu spoke very little throughout.

Although he had long foreseen this moment, knowing it was inevitable,

now that it was truly happening, his feelings were complex.

After his parents, who passed away early,

Professor Chen Anmin’s departure was probably the first loss Qin Yu experienced, since gaining Absolute Immortality, of someone close and familiar to him.

Professor Chen Anmin, however, seemed increasingly carefree,

“Qin Yu, I suspect I won’t last much longer. As the first person in this world to receive the 2611 Longevity Injection, living to this age, it shouldn’t count as a failure of the ‘first clinical trial’ for the injection, right?”

If you thought about it, the 2611 clinical trial conducted on Professor Chen Anmin as its inaugural subject only truly reached its conclusion at this very moment.

“It does not.”

Qin Yu gave a simple reply.

“That’s good.”

Following that remark,

this final conversation between Qin Yu and Professor Chen Anmin came to an end.

Later that same night, Professor Chen Anmin passed away peacefully in his sleep.

Afterwards,

Qin Yu, as Professor Chen Anmin’s student, attended the professor’s funeral in full.

National News Broadcast, Huaxin News Agency, and various mainstream media outlets reported on Professor Chen Anmin’s passing.

Many people brought flowers to his memorial service.

…

“This early morning, the renowned biologist, researcher in the Field of Life Sciences, former Researcher of Lingchuan University’s School of Life Sciences, Professor Chen Anmin, passed away due to advanced age. He was 116 years old.”

“…Professor Chen Anmin was an outstanding scientific researcher. Under the leadership of Academician Qin Yu, he and fellow researchers participated in the research of several major scientific projects, including the Human Reproduction Device and the Gravity Protective Fluid.”

“Concurrently, Professor Chen Anmin was an exceptional educator, having taught multiple cohorts of significant scholars within the Field of Life Sciences. He was also Academician Qin Yu’s teacher, guiding him onto the path of Life Science research.”

“During the clinical trial of the 2611 Longevity Injection, Professor Chen Anmin served as the first volunteer…”

“At this time, let us collectively remember and mourn this eminent educator and distinguished scientific researcher.”

Beneath the obituary released by mainstream media, many people left comments.

“Mourning Professor Chen Anmin. Thank you for your contributions to science and for guiding Professor Qin Yu onto the path of Life Science. All of humanity has benefited from your work.”

“Besides sadness, I also feel a strange sense of loss… So, even after extending our lives using the 2611 Longevity Injection… we will eventually still grow old and die.”

Although over the years, there had been others who took the 2611 Longevity Injection and later died of old age—

certainly many used it when they were already older than Professor Chen Anmin had been initially, so the injection’s effect on them was minimal—

still, as the first to receive the Life-Extending Serum, Professor Chen Anmin’s passing felt distinctly different to people.

Many, while mourning, felt an added sense of melancholy.

…

“…Professor Qin, are you alright?”

After Professor Chen Anmin’s funeral concluded,

Qin Yu returned to Research Institute 011 and remained silent for a long time.

Wei Muyun, Qin Yu’s life assistant who was always mindful of his state, waited a while but couldn’t help expressing her concern.

“I’m fine.”

Qin Yu shook his head and only said that.

Wei Muyun observed Qin Yu’s expression and didn’t ask further.

Qin Yu’s emotions were complex at this moment.

It wasn’t just due to Professor Chen Anmin’s departure,

but also because he knew this departure was only the beginning.

As time flowed onward, starting from losing the first familiar person beside him,

those close to him would eventually pass away, one after another.

This was one of the more sorrowful aspects of being an immortal being.

Moving forward through time meant continuously witnessing the new transformations and novelties of the world.

But the things of the past could only remain in history.

Rarely did anything accompany an Absolute Immortal through his endless life.

By a certain day, perhaps very soon, he would discover this:

the people he first knew, even everyone from that entire era he remembered,

were all gone.

For Qin Yu, he had never expected any individual to walk far with him.

He only hoped that the entirety of Human Civilization could accompany him a little longer during his long existence.

This was the source, the first driving force, behind most of what he did now.

…

Year 66.

Qin Yu finally recruited two students.

The surname of one was Qi, named Qi Zhuang.

The other’s surname was Shen, called Shen Mingguo.

They were both the same age, thirty-four.

The former belonged to the first generation of millions of children raised by Collective Social Rearing.

The latter was born to a traditional family using the Human Reproduction Device and raised in a conventional household.

Considering the nature of Qin Yu’s research,

these two students weren’t actually recruited from Lingchuan University,

but selected internally from within the Negentropy Research Institute.

The very fact they were admitted to the Negentropy Research Institute at this age in this era spoke volumes about their talent.

Even if not compared to Qin Yu, they were still top among their peers.

Qin Yu occasionally observed Qi Zhuang, raised collectively.

In habits and personality, there was no real difference from a traditionally raised child.

The worries held by household upbringing supporters—that children raised collectively would lack selfhood—simply hadn’t materialized.

Essentially, these children grew up surrounded by peers,

instilled with a sense of collective identity.

Although lacking natural familial bonds,

they still built sufficient social relationships through growing up in the Social Upbringing Bureau,

attending school, and later entering society.

Perhaps they had no parents, but they had friends, classmates, and like-minded companions.

Though outside, supporters of Collective Social Rearing and household upbringing were sharply opposed,

here with Qin Yu, these two students—one from a traditional family, one from the Social Upbringing Bureau—got along quite harmoniously.

“Take this and read it. Ask me if you have questions. Once either of you can independently complete the improvement of a widely applicable crop,

or develop a research direction within the Human Enhancement Project,

you’ll be considered fully trained by my standards.”

During their first meeting, Qin Yu tossed each student a copy of Life Science,

his unfinished academic text intended for the world.

Although unpublished, it wasn’t entirely restricted within the Negentropy Research Institute’s Research Institute 011 Lab.

New Researchers joining Research Institute 011 over the past years had all studied it for further learning.

“Thank you, Professor.”

Both students spoke respectfully, expressing their gratitude.

Hearing the title “Professor,” Qin Yu felt a subtle strangeness.

A human life often involves many shifts in role:

from child to parent, student to teacher, or junior to elder.

In Qin Yu’s eternal life, how many more such changes would he experience?

…

Year 67.

Though the debate between household and Collective Social Rearing remained far from decided,

just as most people expected,

as more children raised by the Social Upbringing Bureau reached childbearing age,

the proportion of non-collectively raised children among annual births kept dwindling.

Among the nine million new people each year,

those from traditional households had dropped below two million and continued falling.

For a child raised traditionally,

it felt natural: raised by parents, then growing up, starting a family, and raising their own children.

But for those raised collectively, this “natural feeling” simply didn’t exist.

Their upbringing naturally inclined them toward supporting Social Upbringing, not raising children themselves.

This view was captured in a quote, widely shared among and agreed upon by those raised collectively online:

“You mean I have to spend decades raising a kid,

never knowing if they’ll turn out good or bad,

then hand over all my life’s resources to them?

What’s the point?”

Fundamentally, children raised collectively struggled to understand the household upbringing supporters’ perspective,

just as household supporters couldn’t grasp theirs.

Moreover, crucially,

supporting Social Upbringing required little beyond belief—no extra effort.

Supporting household upbringing meant real, immense investment:

long years and vast resources poured into raising a child.

Additionally, over these years,

many household upbringing supporters realized something frightening:

most of their children couldn’t compete with those raised collectively.

One reason was the numerical imbalance within age groups.

Secondly, though Social Upbringing Bureau staff didn’t love children like parents,

they were certified, professional figures—far more experienced and qualified in child-rearing than most parents.

Even if occasional issues occurred at some bureaus—similar to pre-Bureau incidents like malicious teachers—

this didn’t change the overall trend on a large scale.

Most children from the bureaus adapted quickly when starting school.

Now, Qin Yu’s curiosity centered on one thing:

Following this trend, children raised collectively would dominate society.

Yet inevitably, a persistent minority favoring household upbringing would remain.

Logically, this group might still control significant resources.

How would the majority—the Collective Social Rearing supporters—handle them?

Would society gradually grow hostile toward those from traditional families?

Or would the minority be forcibly “suppressed” at some point?

Or would this tiny faction persist but dwindle in influence over time, fading into irrelevance?

Still,

to Qin Yu, the outcome didn’t matter.

So long as Human Civilization endured,

he would simply watch events unfold, patiently awaiting the result.

…

Time flowed onward—68, 69…

By Year 70,

Academician Shen Yaoguo passed away at a hundred and twenty years old.

Shen Yaoguo was only a few years younger than the late Professor Chen Anmin.

Although he had also used the 2611 Longevity Injection,

it didn’t grant him the product’s optimum effect.

To Qin Yu, Academician Shen Yaoguo had been a familiar presence.

Qin Yu attended Shen Yaoguo’s memorial service.