Genius Club.

Chapter 103 Starting Point (asking for monthly ticket)

"Sir, have you finished watching the movie? How did you feel about it?"

Private cinema hall.

The waiter saw Lin Xian walking towards the room, stood up and greeted him warmly.

"is acceptable."

Lin Xian replied:

"I watched it a long time ago, and today I suddenly remembered it, so I watched it again."

"Then you must be a science fiction fan too! Let me show you something!"

The waiter smiled and took out a poster from under the counter. On it was a hodgepodge of famous characters from various science fiction movies, with a lot of different elements.

And on the background of the entire poster... there is a big, dark blue number 42 written on it.

"Would you like to give it to me? Your service is really great, thank you." Lin Xian asked.

"How... How is this possible!" The young man hurriedly folded up the poster:
"This is a treasure! I just bought it at the East China Sea Exhibition Hall yesterday."

Lin Xian tilted his head:
"Does the East China Sea Exhibition Hall still sell this thing?"

"Yes." The young man put the poster down, raised his head and said with a smile:

"To be honest... I'm also a science fiction fan. My favorite movie is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!"

It's rare to meet someone like him, the waiter looked very excited:
"Since you came here specifically to watch this Adams movie... you must be a hardcore science fiction fan, right? People who come here to watch movies usually order romance movies, comedy movies, or some Hollywood blockbusters."

"There are very few people like you who come to watch this kind of old science fiction movie. If you really like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you should really go to the East China Sea Exhibition Hall to watch it."

"The World's Outstanding Science Fiction Works Expo is being held there now. There are many precious materials and first edition manuscripts of famous works by famous authors, including some manuscripts and creative notes of Mr. Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which are also on display there."

Ok?
The young man's words successfully caught Lin Xian's attention.

"Douglas Adams's manuscript? About The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"

"Yes!" The young man checked the date on his phone:

"Tomorrow is the last day of the exhibition. If you want to go, you'd better hurry up."

"Is there any explanation for 42?" Lin Xian asked.

"Haha, how could that be possible!" The young man laughed:

"The number 42 is obviously made up by Adams to be mysterious. It is just a cheap joke to twist the plot. It has no deep meaning at all."

"As you know... it became a popular sci-fi meme because it was so mysterious. The main storyline of the Marvel movie takes place in the parallel universe 42, and the lines of the great inventor in League of Legends also mention the 42 meme."

"By the way, it seems that Spider-Man 2: Spider-Man 42 will be released in June this year. The mysterious spider that bites the protagonist in the movie seems to have also traveled from Universe 42. The word is written on the spider's back."

"Anyway, everyone is just joking. It has no practical significance at all. The author Adams himself has answered this question many times."

Lin Xian nodded.

It can be seen that this guy is indeed a die-hard science fiction movie fan. He knows all kinds of science fiction movies like treasures. He must like this job very much.

"Thank you for your reminder. I will go if I have time."

"Since you like watching movies so much, why don't you get a membership card? Come here often!"

"Definitely next time."

……

Get out of the mall and into the outdoors.

Lin Xian looked up at the midday sun.

The stars move and the sun and the moon rotate.

It’s a pity that the dream world and the future world 600 years later... are forever frozen on August 2624, 8.

There is no movement of the stars, no rotation of the sun and moon. Time has never flowed, forever imprisoned in this day. Destruction is on time at 00:42.

42 again.

Why is it always 42?

Before I noticed it, I didn’t seem to feel that there were so many 42s around me. But since I saw the strange phenomenon in the room of Big Face Cat’s father and knew clearly that the cosmological constant is 42...

I feel as if I have already been surrounded by 42.

"I feel that it is necessary to go to the East China Sea Exhibition Hall to take a look at the manuscripts of Douglas Adams when he wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Lin Xian knew it very well.

The sci-fi movie fan just now was talking about the 42nd universe in Marvel movies, the 42nd parallel universe in Spider-Man, and the 42 in the lines of the great inventor in League of Legends...

The number 42 in these movies, TV shows and games are all memes. They have no meaning at all. They are all memes about the number 42 in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

but.

Douglas Adams wrote the number 42 when he wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...

【Lin Xian felt that this was definitely not a joke.】

Since he created this meme himself, whose meme could he use?
There are so many numbers that can be set at will.

Why did Adams choose the number 42?
Lin Xian felt that this was very doubtful.

is it possible……

Had he heard 42 somewhere?

Or seen 42?

Or maybe he had been in contact with the Genius Club and knew 42?

"I always feel that things won't be that simple. Let's go and take a look." Lin Xian stretched out his hand to stop a taxi and headed to the Donghai City Exhibition Hall.

……

Donghai City Exhibition Hall, also known as Donghai City Exhibition Center, is a very large, long-standing and majestic group of buildings.

It was built in 1955 and is one of the representative buildings of Donghai City. It was also the first large-scale building built in Donghai City in the 50s. Like the Imperial Capital Exhibition Hall, it belongs to the Russian classical architectural style.

Many international events have been held here and it has witnessed many great historical events.

When there are no important events held, the exhibition halls here will be rented out for use in various social activities.

Lin Xian had never been here before, and he was a little confused as soon as he got off the car.

There are more than 40 large exhibition halls here, and most of them are hosting events.

After some effort, Lin Xian finally found the exhibition hall that the private cinema attendant mentioned.

World Excellent Science Fiction Works Expo

Today is a weekday, so there aren't many people inside. Especially compared to other exhibition halls I just passed by, the number of visitors here seems even smaller.

Perhaps the audience for science fiction works... is still a little small in China at present.

Lin Xian looked at the index at the door and walked straight into the exhibition hall.

have to say.

The content of the exhibition inside is still very rich.

Many well-known science fiction works have special exhibition areas, including setting collections, original films, shooting props, precious materials and images, etc. It is truly a carnival for science fiction fans.

There were many young people inside shouting excitedly, probably because they saw something they liked.

After walking around several aisles, we finally arrived at the exhibition area of ​​"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Compared with the previous popular IPs this year, this area is pitifully small.

After all, this movie isn't that popular.

It's just that the 42 meme is more popular.

Lin Xian went straight to the glass cabinet where the manuscripts of author Douglas Adams were placed.

There are a lot of precious materials inside, and there are bound copies on the glass cabinet for people to browse and view.

Although the handwritten notes were all in English, Lin Xian's English level was pretty good and he could generally understand them.

After all, Adams is just a science fiction writer, not a scientist, so there are no professional terms in his manuscript notes and it is easy to understand.

The contents of the manuscript are very interesting.

Just like Lin Xian’s intuitive impression of Adams, he is a person with interesting thoughts and a big imagination.

Soon, he came across the manuscript record of the setting "42".

Douglas Adams' explanation is unremarkable...

He generously said that this was a random number that came to his mind [subconsciously]:
"I can't really explain it. When I was writing the short stories in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the number 42 suddenly came to my mind."

"This number has no special meaning to me or anything else. But this is the first number that comes to my mind..."

"It's hard for me to describe that feeling. When I was creating the story at this stage, I was also thinking, what answer should the supercomputer give that would be the most dramatic and reversal, and would convince the audience to accept that this is the [ultimate answer to the universe, life, and everything in the world]?"

"When I thought of this idea... the first number that popped into my mind was 42. I thought it was a good idea, so I just wrote it down."

……

Judging from the description of this manuscript, the author Adams himself actually came up with the number 42 as the ending of the unit drama due to a flash of inspiration and the need for reversal for the sake of reversal.

but……

Lin Xian was very keen to capture a key word——

【subconscious】.

He inexplicably recalled Gao Yang's previous boasting:
"You know what the subconscious mind is, right? You are usually not aware of its existence, but it always affects your behavior, emotions, and... dreams!"

"Many times, you forget what you saw and heard the moment you turn around. But have you really forgotten it? Actually, no! Your subconscious mind still remembers it for you. This is the feeling of déjà vu and déjà vu that often occurs in life."

……

Snapped.

Lin Xian closed the copy of the manuscript in his hand and placed it on the glass cabinet.

He looked up at the photo of Douglas Adams on the wall...

If it is said that Adams really thought of the number 42 from his subconscious mind as the ultimate answer to the universe, life and everything in the world.

Then according to "Gao Yang Psychology":

"It is very likely that Adams himself had heard of the cosmological constant 42 somewhere."

If that is true.

That means that the Genius Club has existed in the long river of history for perhaps even longer than he had imagined...

Lin Xian closed his eyes.

There seems to be a long river flowing eastward in my mind.

它的终点，是在2624年8月29日00：42分。

So……

Where is its starting point?

(End of this chapter)