Liu Changan carried the rattan bookcase home, but he did not manage to buy any books that he liked. Boss Lan was becoming less and less diligent in running the shop. Most of the books had been placed on his bookshelves since twenty years ago. Time seemed to have frozen on those old but sturdy bookshelves, unable to move forward.
The rattan bookcase was golden in color a long time ago. It had been coated with shiny tung oil. After so many years, the color was slightly faded, and it felt more like a collection. The calfskin handle, in particular, had a much more wonderful texture.
Old boxes were always filled with time and memories.
Liu Changan's memories were like most people's. They were fragmented and settled in the bottom of his heart. It was as if he had forgotten them, but at the same time, they could come back at the right time to give rise to the atmosphere of a sigh.
It was just that he had a lot of memories. They were buried layer by layer, like the sauce on a fried pancake. They were rubbed here and there, mixed together.
He knew long ago that he couldn't remember everything clearly. In fact, he had to forget many things. Otherwise, even if his body evolved to the limit of growth, the strength of his spirit and soul … in other words, the part of his brain that was the dominant part, might not be able to withstand the accumulation of time.
It was a pity that the brain did not match the evolution of the body and reached a level that surpassed the limits of human beings.
Liu Changan wiped the bookcase clean and placed it on the bed. He pressed the buckle lightly. As the faintly sticky edge was pulled open, a feeling of time freezing and quickly passing rushed over him. Less than twenty years, it was just a moment of trembling in his heart.
He picked up a diary and flipped it open.
"1st of September, very hot. The school gave out cold drinks. I exchanged watermelon with Teacher Lin next door.
"2nd of September, not too hot.
"Additional note: I played mahjong with a few people in the school the night before yesterday. I did not attend yesterday's school reopening. Today, a student invited me to a dance. Only then did I realize that there were many cute and beautiful girls among the new students. There were a few old professors with bad reputations who were so excited that their faces were distorted. The girl who danced with me had a very thin waist. She was nervous at first, but gradually relaxed. In the end, when the dance ended, she even dared to ask for my phone number.
"September 3rd, Friday. I met a girl when I was jogging. Her surname is Yan. She's really pretty. The bangs in front of her forehead are stained with some fine dewdrops."
"8th October. I saw that girl with the surname Yan again. Only then did I find out that her name is Yan Huaye. When I was collecting homework, I accidentally touched her hand, and she actually revealed a shy smile. She's really cute."
On the 15th of October, I met Yan Huaye again. The person running with her should be her boyfriend, right? A gentleman doesn't snatch what others like. Bless you. "
"On the 20th of October, Ren Zhanghong invited me to play cards. He cheated and won 50 from me. Coincidentally, I was distracted and didn't expose him. Seeing his smug face made me very unhappy, but at night, he treated me to a cold beer. It was refreshing."
"On the 10th of April, the school organized a blind date for the older teachers. There were even fourth-year female students participating. I was also forced to participate. Xu Zhancheng was especially enthusiastic about this matter. He dragged me to those female students to chat and get closer to them. Seeing the students who used to sit under the podium becoming his blind date, didn't Xu Zhancheng consider whether I would feel awkward or not? Of course, I'm not embarrassed, but he should consider this point. "
…
…
Liu Changan smiled as he flipped the pages, all the way to the last page.
The font on the last page was different. It was written in cursive, and there were some emotions seeping through the lines.
"The results of today's demonstration are extremely disappointing. I've finally decided to give up all my expectations. The human brain is limited by its genes for breakthroughs. Unless there's another fortuitous encounter in that year, there's no way to explore the world's origins and many other profundities. There's a limit to one's strength, and the development and practice of science aren't limitless.
"Ren Zhanghong agrees with my opinion. Darwin's theory of evolution is very interesting, and the evolution of humans isn't like the well-known human evolutionary diagram, where ancient apes gradually straighten their bodies to become modern humans. Instead, it's a sudden growth. A small portion of the genes is directly changed, and a leap is realized. Xu Zhancheng directly said that a virus infection caused a portion of monkeys to mutate, and humans appeared all over Earth at the same time.
"Ren Zhanghong believes that only after humans completely break away from the shackles of the physical body will they be able to realize a true scientific explosion. I beg to differ. I told him that there's no such thing as ghosts and gods in this world, because ghosts and gods exist outside this world. The shackles they set up will never allow humans to break free … Seeing him start to think about religion and the theory of ghosts and gods, I couldn't help but laugh. He seemed to be preparing for new research and demonstrations in a manner of accepting new theories?
"Xu Zhancheng said that it's more interesting to write science fiction. Why do we need to obtain proof to pursue fantasies? So what if we know the truth? Anyway, it's impossible to achieve interstellar travel in this lifetime. I feel that I can wait for that day to come. Interstellar travel is very interesting. First, I want to go to the dark side of the moon to take a look.
"Xu Zhancheng is really decadent. He can barely be considered a top-notch physicist, but he's addicted to writing science fiction in exchange for magazine royalties. Forget it, I'm already sick of it. It's time for me to change my life. It's still more interesting to be a student. If I can meet a classmate as beautiful as Yan Huaye, that would be pretty good.
"What's going on with me? This kind of thing doesn't matter anymore."
…
…
There were some things that Liu Changan had thought about for many years, but to no avail. The entire human race had also thought about it for many years, but to no avail.
As he flipped through his old diary and notes, it was already deep into the night. Liu Changan didn't take back his book box to be sentimental. He just wanted to find out if there were any clues that could be used to analyze the phenomenon that appeared in the bronze coffin.
Perhaps it could make him feel some anticipation again. If the various abnormal human phenomena were different from what the monkey had encountered, how did they appear?
The thing in the bronze coffin was definitely not an inanimate object. Liu Changan could be sure of this … Fortunately, people would send him little hens or roosters every day. After absorbing a lot of vitality, perhaps it wouldn't take too long for Liu Changan to see the scene he was looking forward to.
At night, Liu Changan ate a lot of dumplings. He couldn't let them go to waste. In the past, he would soak the cooked dumplings in water. Now, he basically used a refrigerator. Liu Changan's small refrigerator didn't have a large capacity, so he had to hurry up and finish them.
Zhou Dongdong carried a basket of red bean dumplings and gave them to Liu Changan. Liu Changan returned a meat dumpling to her. Zhou Dongdong and Liu Changan chatted for a while about the new things they encountered today before returning home. She also told Liu Changan to wait for her when he dug out the little hens tomorrow.
Liu Changan picked up a pen and finished writing the letter to Qin Peng. He sealed it in a cylinder and prepared to send it out tomorrow morning.
He received a call from Bai Hui, who asked him to check his classmates' WeChat group. They had already discussed whether he would participate in the barbecue at Yangui Lake tomorrow.
Liu Changan thought for a while. Since someone would send the little hens tomorrow, the centipedes attracted by the buried little hens wouldn't be put in the carriage. He couldn't let them go to waste. He could take them to the barbecue, so he agreed.
Early the next morning, Liu Changan got up. It was a foggy day. There was a river flowing through the city, so it was moist. Foggy days in summer were common. Sitting on a small stool in the fog, he flipped through his old diary for a while. Then, someone sent a hen to him.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
