novel
| ← Ch.194 | Ch.196 → |
"I don't understand what you mean." Chen Yekai said, "How is the matter at hand that we're discussing related to Ryuusei?"
"Don't get anxious." Zhou Sheng murmured, seemingly thinking about a rather brain-burning and complicated problem. After a moment, he seemed to relax a little, "But Ryuusei wouldn't be forgotten completely just like that. Everything related to him would just turn into fragments that are buried in the deepest part of the subconscious — the Forgotten Ruins."
Chen Yekai said, "That's equivalent to being forgotten. After all, according to our discussion last time, if you burned my memories of Ryuusei, then the chapel in the distance would be destroyed under the divine fire, and the memories in the Forgotten Ruins will never be recalled again."
Zhou Sheng, "No, there are two possibilities for the requirements of recollection."
Chen Yekai suddenly frowned, Zhou Sheng wasn't surprised in the slightest. He glanced at Chen Yekai, and the corners of his lips turned up slightly.
"The first possibility, " Zhou Sheng answered, "Is that before everyone dies, their subconscious world will be reconstructed. All memories throughout their life would flash by in front of them then."
Chen Yekai remembered now. This was a problem that he and Zhou Sheng had discussed seriously before, so he nodded.
"Trotting horse lamp?" When Yu Hao heard this, he instantly thought of the saying.
"Yes." Chen Yekai said, "Life's trotting horse lamp. For a period of time before death, it is said that one's consciousness will become very clear. But of course, accidental deaths don't count..."
Zhou Sheng said, "The second possibility is the tinder I rekindle in the subconscious. Just like when we entered Liang Laoshi's subconscious world."
Chen Yekai said, "And memories would rise from the ruins and return to the subconscious world, get reconstructed, then establish impressions on the surface."
Zhou Sheng said, "So it is possible to reawaken memories."
Yu Hao could roughly guess Zhou Sheng's line of thought. He answered, "The two of you think that Huang Ting might 'reawaken' Qihang's memories? That's too ridiculous, it's impossible for him to do that."
"Perhaps." Chen Yekai said nonchalantly.
"Maybe." Zhou Sheng answered.
Chen Yekai stopped the car and slung his bag onto his back. The three of them entered the airport, their deductions pausing for the moment. It was Yu Hao's first time sitting in business class, and he just felt that it was quite novel, while Zhou Sheng started flipping through his review materials for his postgraduate entrance examination.
"When will you hand me the opening report for your thesis?" Chen Yekai asked.
Yu Hao was having a good time, but when he heard this, he immediately turned despondent, "Don't talk about that."
Chen Yekai pointed at Yu Hao, "You must hand it in before the end of the Lantern Festival."
So Yu Hao could only say 'okay, okay, ' then take out his laptop and prepare his opening report. It was already considered quite late for him to start writing it now, but fortunately, Chen Yekai knew that his work was tough and hadn't given him a deadline. As long as he could make it in time for the defense, it would be okay.
The plane arrived at a second-tier city near the South. Yu Hao was about to wake Zhou Sheng, who had a book on his face, when Zhou Sheng's finger lightly tapped the back of Yu Hao's hand. Evidently, he wasn't asleep.
As soon as they arrived in the South, they entered a winter that Yu Hao was familiar with — an unbroken spell of wet weather and humidity that soaked the bones. The sky was overcast. Chen Yekai rented a jeep, and it was now Zhou Sheng's turn to drive. Yu Hao took out his camera and started taking pictures of both sides of the road, and he started reading the materials that Lin Ze had sent him.
After the three of them got off the plane, they all felt a little heavyhearted and didn't talk for a while. Zhou Sheng yawned, rubbed his face with one hand, and was actually quite energetic. Chen Yekai opened a poetry anthology book and read it in the backseat, while Yu Hao observed everything on their journey through the car's window: the scenery, people, and banana plantation.
"Talk about something?" Zhou Sheng said.
Chen Yekai, "What do I talk about?"
"Anything, make us drink some of your life's chicken soup?"
"Why?"
"It's too quiet." Zhou Sheng murmured, "Uncomfortable, it's so scary."
"This is the first time the three of us are working on an assignment together in two years." Chen Yekai said, "On the night we drank at Liang Laoshi's house, I never expected the two of you to be how you're like today."
The car gradually slowed down. Yu Hao looked down at his camera; he had just taken a picture of the children by the road. When a car drove by, they stood up and looked at them with an indescribable flavour in their eyes. Yu Hao seemed to have seen that kind of gaze before, but he couldn't explain it clearly.
"How are we like?"
Zhou Sheng casually answered, "Kaikai thinks you're too old now; he's saying that you're slippery and worldly-wise now."
Yu Hao, "......"
Chen Yekai burst out laughing and shook his head helplessly. He said, "You've both matured."
"Ah Ze still says that I reek of a 'student' stench." Yu Hao said, "He said that I'm very similar to lady boss."
"It can't be ba." Zhou Sheng whistled, "Your boss wants to woo you?"
"How's that possible?" Yu Hao texted Lin Ze to tell him that he was safe and answered, "I'm dumb, not outstanding, and a pampered brat too. It was just a little untimely type of pity..."
Chen Yekai and Zhou Sheng started laughing. Chen Yekai joked, "Untimely pity. Un, that's what your boss said about you?"
"Jin Laoshi said it." Yu Hao opened up his laptop and looked at another new piece of information Lin Ze sent him, "There are four industrial parks in Nanlu. After the economic reform, banana plantations, mariculture, and fishing became the pillar industries. Later on, after the so-called 'direct marketing' companies came in, the economic focus gradually shifted to these health product companies. Almost all of the original industrial parks have been abandoned; twelve of them are located in Huadong Economic Development Zone, and they're the local major taxpayers..."
"Continue." The car was stopped not long after Zhou Sheng entered the city.
Yu Hao, "Take note of the cops."
The traffic policeman arrived. Zhou Sheng rolled down the car window, pulling his sunglasses down a little to glance at him.
Traffic policeman, "Who are you guys?"
Zhou Sheng, "The successors to communism."
Traffic policeman, "......"
Chen Yekai, "Knock it off already."
Traffic policeman, "What do you do? Let me take a look at your IDs."
Yu Hao hid his camera and took out his bag of documents out of his bag to hand to Zhou Sheng. He said, "Accompanying our boss here to discuss something!"
Chen Yekai casually glanced at the traffic policeman outside from the backseat. The traffic policeman studied Chen Yekai. Zhou Sheng took the kraft paper bag, opened it, then took out the introductory letters and gave it to the traffic policeman to take a look.
"Don't get it wet." Zhou Sheng said impatiently.
The traffic policeman didn't take it. After he took a look, he waved and let them go.
"The questioning at the roadblock is too strict." Chen Yekai said, "There'll be a lot of trouble this time around."
Yu Hao answered, "It's alright, leave it to me."
Yu Hao's deceptive techniques had been honed by Lin Ze and Jin Weicheng to the pinnacle of perfection. After they entered the Huadong District of Nanlu City, Zhou Sheng chose a hotel, Chen Yekai got a room and they stayed at the 11th floor of the hotel. They had a panoramic view of the economic development zone opposite.
Yu Hao said, "There's only one bed, how do we split?"
"I'll sleep on the living room sofa." Chen Yekai said, "During unusual times, we'll just make do and figure something out after we find him."
"You told Huang Ting we came?" Zhou Sheng asked Chen Yekai.
Chen Yekai lay on the sofa and texted on WeChat. He answered, "Can't hide it from him. ID cards are on a nationwide network, he'll know once he gets someone to check."
So Zhou Sheng didn't ask anything else. Yu Hao stood in front of the landing windows and looked out with a pair of binoculars. He thought about which company opposite could be the storefront of the pyramid scheme company, but it's impossible for Fu Liqun to be in one of those buildings. He was probably taken to one of the residential areas or an abandoned industrial park in the suburbs to be locked up for 'training. '
"I'll go down to buy some food." Zhou Sheng said.
Yu Hao asked, "I'll accompany you?"
Zhou Sheng motioned for Yu Hao to stay behind to take care of things and went out by himself.
Yu Hao sat on a single-person sofa, exhausted, while Chen Yekai lay on the sofa. His slightly long hair covered his forehead, and his gaze seemed a bit hesitant. Yu Hao could feel that his attention wasn't on his phone but on him from the corner of his eye.
"Administrator, is there something you want to say?" Chen Yekai asked.
Yu Hao said, "Someone poured their heart out to me and told me that he loved you."
"There are a lot of people who love me." Chen Yekai casually said. He got up and took off his sweater, wearing only a shirt, then took a remote control to adjust the temperature of the air conditioner, "They know that we're close, so it's normal for them to talk to you about it."
"Don't you want to know who it is?" Yu Hao asked.
Chen Yekai said, "I'm trying to pretend that I really want to, but I'm guessing that you've found some kind of clue......"
So Yu Hao had to admit, "Li Yangming."
"Wu." Chen Yekai started thinking.
Yu Hao said, "Everyone wants to save Gege, but no one cares about him."
Chen Yekai said, "A rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its own burrow. If it were me, I wouldn't care about him either. After all, tricking one's own roommate into a pyramid scheme nest is really vile behaviour. And the two of them seemed to be on pretty good terms?"
Yu Hao said, "But thinking about it from another perspective: if he didn't think that pyramid schemes were pyramid schemes and instead thought it was a serious and proper job, so he wanted to help Gege, then wouldn't it be justifiable?"
Chen Yekai said seriously, "So? What do you want me to do?"
Yu Hao said, "He may dream of you. This can be considered untimely pity on my end ba... Although I'm not very sure... but he does often mention you to me."
Yu Hao and Li Yangming had a lot of opportunities to interact with each other. They were in the same department, and in most of his classes, Li Yangming would stick to him and Zhou Sheng, as if all three of them were dating. Because Li Yangming doesn't really have friends in his class, Yu Hao would try to take care of him as much as he can.
Most of the time, Li Yangming and Yu Hao would talk about Chen Yekai. He always wanted to know more about Chen Yekai from Yu Hao, including what he liked to eat, what his temper was like, which bands he liked... it was as if understanding more about Chen Yekai from Yu Hao would be equivalent to him and Chen Yekai having an incorporeal relationship.
On one occasion, Li Yangming even described the entire process of him dreaming about Chen Yekai. Yu Hao had wanted to kill Li Yangming when he heard it, but he let it go after thinking more about it. Dreams aren't under one's conscious control.
Chen Yekai said, "Everyone has a model of an ideal lover in their hearts, it's understandable. You hope that I can save him?"
Yu Hao kept silent. He understands Zhou Sheng too well. Throughout the entire journey, Zhou Sheng almost never mentioned Li Yangming — he was obviously very angry about his behavior. Take Fu Liqun away and leave Li Yangming here; let him go beg for help, that would be the best punishment for him.
Yu Hao felt like that shouldn't be the case. Li Yangming has always been jealous of him, but he didn't have a bad nature and had never taken the initiative to harm him. Everyone has had little, dark thoughts in the depths of their heart before, like how he had ridden an elephant in his dream and stomped Xue Long to death. Seeing Liu Pengxuan delivering takeout all sweaty while his boyfriend was tall, handsome and could stand tall alone for himself, he would be in a really good mood too...
Chen Yekai said, "I always wondered on our way here when you would mention him."
"A little untimely pity ba." Yu Hao said helplessly, "I need to think about it seriously again."
But Chen Yekai said, "No, this is really good."
Zhou Sheng came back, so the three of them ate in silence. Yu Hao didn't mention Li Yangming again. It was close to 10 PM after they ate. Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng lay in bed while Chen Yekai asked for a blanket and slept on the sofa. It was silent in the room. Yu Hao asked in the darkness, "What exactly is the reason behind your dragon?"
Zhou Sheng answered, "Because in Gege's dream, my strength is unstable?"
Yu Hao pondered about it for a bit. Zhou Sheng muttered to himself, "Maybe... we'll see again after entering."
Zhou Sheng pressed Yu Hao's hand, and the Golden Crow Wheel was tied on Yu Hao's wrist. The light flickered, and the two were taken into Fu Liqun's dream.
Within the rented house, Chen Yekai checked his weapons. Zhou Sheng drew the curtains and inspected a distant place.
Chen Yekai said, "This place covers a very large area. We need a way to find out where Fu Liqun is in the dream first."
"That won't be easy..." Zhou Sheng muttered, "We need to find him in reality and in his dream too, Laozi hates finding people the most right now."
Chen Yekai said, "What if we look for him separately?"
"I'm guessing he's in the insect's nest." Zhou Sheng said, "Don't split up ba, our combat strength's pretty weak in the first place. Without Yu Hao, there's nowhere we can go to find a doctor if we get eaten by insects."
"Hold on." Yu Hao looked around, "Why do I think... it's a bit similar?"
"Similar to what?" Zhou Sheng asked.
Yu Hao had stood for a quite a long time in front of the landing windows of their hotel room that afternoon. He vaguely felt that the ancient city in the distance and the place where the safe haven was located were strangely similar to the position of the hotel it corresponded to in reality's economic development zone!
"Think of this place as the hotel!" Yu Hao said, "Gege might have stayed in the same room as us!"
Zhou Sheng immediately drew the curtains. Chen Yekai went to the landing windows and murmured, "It does seem a little similar, what does this mean?'
"To him, the hotel was his last shelter before'embarking on the road to work'." Yu Hao said, "In his impressions, he must have stood in front of the landing windows as well to look at the economic development zone opposite us. He had to start work after leaving the hotel, just like how he left our previous home... then it all makes sense!"_
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| ← Ch. 194 | Ch. 196 → |