Genius Club.

Chapter 374 Gawain's Safe
Even a tiger won't eat a dog.

In the end, Zhao Yingjun got up and poured a bowl of dog food for the Pomeranian VV.

VV immediately started to devour the food.

"Feel sorry."

Zhao Yingjun stroked its head and whispered:

"I didn't mean to forget you."

She rubbed her forehead.

Take a deep breath.

He stood up again, sat down on the sofa, leaned against the soft back, and began to consider the possibility of this "paranormal event".

From a scientific point of view.

There is no way this could happen.

Giving birth to a child is something that can be done in a short time. It takes at least ten months of pregnancy. She is a woman, and there is no need to worry too much about whether she has given birth to a child or not.

That Yan Qiaoqiao definitely couldn't be her child.

"Hey……"

She actually felt a headache.

I originally thought that he had caught his parents having an illegitimate child and secretly gave birth to a younger sister without telling me.

What a great result.

Find out you have a daughter!
It would be better not to bother and just accept Yan Qiaoqiao's character as the "granddaughter of a distant relative."

What should we do now?
Zhao Yingjun quickly calmed down...

【Everything happens for a reason】.

Zhao Yingjun's long-term independent and rational lifestyle allowed her to put aside her emotions and seriously consider where the problem lay.

"The problem is definitely not with me."

She was sure of that.

"That means..."

She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the dim ceiling:

"The problem still lies with that little girl."

Yan Qiaoqiao, where did she come from? And what is her identity?
must.

We need to get this matter clear.

Although Zhao Yingjun does not consider herself a picky person, this matter, firstly, concerns her own innocence; secondly, having a daughter out of nowhere is very wrong in any case... Therefore, the truth must be found out.

Give a reasonable explanation to myself, my parents and Yan Qiaoqiao.

"If she is really my daughter...what should I do?"

Think of this question.

Zhao Yingjun's mind was in a mess.

She was only 25 years old and had no idea what to do. She was not prepared to be a mother at all. She didn't know how to raise a child or how to get along with him.

It's not her fault.

Regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, the change in your family identity should be gradual and slow.

How could it be possible that a teenage daughter appeared out of thin air and then someone could recognize her?

No warmth,

No emotion,

Yes, there is only horror, repulsion, and a chill down the spine.

"Let's go see Yan Qiaoqiao tomorrow."

Zhao Yingjun let go of other unnecessary emotions.

Now that the truth has come out, there is no need to escape or deny it; you have to face it.

The source of everything comes from that little girl.

That's it.

Find the answer from her!
After thinking about it.

Zhao Yingjun sat up from the sofa, opened the refrigerator door, and prepared to make something to fill her stomach.

……

At the same time, in the fifth dream, Face Village, it was bustling with activity.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!"

The big-faced cat took a big pork elbow and tore it in half. He put one half on the plate in front of Lin Xian and the other half on CC's plate. He was extremely excited:
"Speaking of this village, you may not know that this village was already called Face Village long before I became the village chief and my father was the village chief."

"Do you know why? Because when I was born, it was a good omen! Although it was the middle of the night, the moment I was born... all the chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, and pigs in the pigsty in the village were humming my name."

"Huh, Big Face Cat?" CC looked at the ruddy-faced Big Face Cat, who was a little drunk, and doubted the authenticity of the story:
“How do those pigs and chickens do it?”

"Hey, sister-in-law, listen to what your elder brother has to say."

The big-faced cat shook the bamboo wine cup and shook his head:

"Big-faced cat is just my nickname, not my real name. It's just because I have a very big face since I was born. The midwife said my face is as round as a pancake, so the name Big-faced cat has been passed down."

"But I do have a name. My father is a rare cultured man in this era. He gave me a very nice name, but...for so many years, no one has ever called me by it."

thump.

Lin Xian put down the bamboo wine glass, blinked and looked at the big-faced cat:
"You actually have a name."

"Bah, you are talking nonsense, brother!"

The big-faced cat snorted coldly:
“Who in this world doesn’t have a name?”

"Speaking of your father..."

Lin Xian continued to ask:

"Your father gives me the feeling that he is a legendary figure, someone I have heard of a lot but I have never met him in person."

"And your father does seem to be quite remarkable, well-educated and intelligent. So...what's your father's name?"

For so long, Lin Xian still didn't know the name of Big Face Cat's father.

The big-faced cat sighed and whispered:

"[Chen Heping]."

……

Lin Xian looked at the greasy pork elbow on the plate, wondering about the cat's father's name.

Indeed, it is a very grand name.

As a super genius who deduced the result of the cosmological constant 42 using only pen and paper, he truly deserves this name.

Lin Xian then realized it.

The big-faced cat in the fifth dream seemed to be still alone.

I didn’t see his parents, the gentle and virtuous sister-in-law, the rebellious daughter, or the proportionally shrunken little cat.

Hey.

He didn't ask either.

In this era, without any modern medical care or medicine, a minor cold or inflammation may eventually develop into a serious illness that takes your life.

"I heard that your father left behind a lot of research manuscripts?"

Lin Xian continued to ask:

"Can I go check it out later?"

"Of course you can, brother. You are already a member of our Lian Village. Don't be shy. Do whatever you want! Hahahaha!"

The big-faced cat drank a few more cups of grain wine and rubbed Lin Xian's shoulders with his greasy hands:
"He took a lot of notes, all of which are in the room next door. Before he fell ill and died, he told any child who was eager to learn to study more, saying that knowledge was the only way to change one's destiny."

"But in this day and age, can knowledge be eaten? Since my father passed away, no one has entered that room, and no one has taught us classes...Since then, Face Village has not changed much. It has been pretty good all along. At least we have enough food and clothing."

"Oh, let's not talk about such a depressing thing! Today is such a happy moment, come! Cheers! After drinking this glass of wine, let's go dancing! Dance around the bonfire!"

Big Face Cat raised his glass, clinked glasses with Lin Xian CC, and drank it all in one gulp.

Then he pulled Dazhuang, Erzhuzi and Sanpang, and with staggering steps, came to the bonfire in the middle of the village where the flames were several meters high.

To the beat of a few animal-skin hand drums, they twisted around the campfire, singing and dancing with the villagers.

CC ate the fruit on the table, looked at the people singing and dancing, and smiled:
"If I had known earlier that they were good people, why would we always fight and quarrel like that? If I had known they were so innocent, I would have sneaked in earlier."

Lin Xian smiled and shook his head:
“So, there are also ways to get along with each other.”

"But it's not that easy for you to sneak in by yourself. If you want to get past Erzhuzi, the identity of sister-in-law or brother-in-law is a necessary stepping stone...so two people must cooperate."

CC threw away the fruit core in his hand and looked at Lin Xian:

“Should I continue to perform?”

She wiped her hands:

"Teacher Wei also taught me some techniques for playing the role of a wife."

“No, no, no…”

Lin Xian waved his hand:
"Your acting is really exaggerated. In fact, like I said at the beginning, there is no need to act. Just be yourself. The people in Face Village don't have that many tricks."

"Besides, Mr. Wei's teaching of you is completely based on his lover, the type of little bird that is dependent on others... This style is obviously not suitable for you."

He picked up a piece of fruit next to him and handed it to CC:

"Don't you realize it yourself? Didn't you feel disgusted or disgusted by the hypocritical performance at the village gate before?"

"Not really."

CC shook his head:
"I don't have any special feelings... Mainly because I've never been in a relationship before, so I don't know what true love is like, or... what lovers in love should do."

"You may be overthinking it, Lin Xian. In this world, it's already very difficult to survive, and there are no literary works to refer to. Normally, a child of my age would have no way to understand this kind of thing."

She took the fruit handed to her by Lin Xian and turned to look at the huge bonfire where the dance was lively and cheerful.

Every era has its own form of entertainment.

Then the methods varied.

But happiness seems to be common to all.

"Can you dance?"

CC turned his head and looked at Lin Xian.

"I can."

Lin Xian nodded:
"But I can't do their dance."

He smiled helplessly:
"This should be the 'face dance' unique to Face Village. There is no rules at all. I can't understand it."

"Hey! What's there to not understand?"

suddenly.

Erzhuzi's voice came from behind.

The two turned their heads in shock.

I found that this version of Erzhuzi... is really unfathomable and elusive!
Erzhuzi was a little drunk, and he smiled and took the hands of the two people:
"Come on, let me teach you!"

"No, no, no need."

Lin Xian waved his hand to decline.

He sneaked into the Face Village with a purpose. Immediately, he planned to enter the room of Big Face Cat's father and look at the notes he left behind.

then.

You also need to go to a corner of the village, find Gawain's safe, try to open it, and see what's inside.

just.

Erzhuzi couldn't refuse the kindness and dragged the two of them to the campfire.

The flames rising into the sky made everyone’s face red.

Erzhuzi put Lin Xian and CC's hands together:
"Just hold on to me like this and follow me, come~"

The agile Erzhuzi led the dance from the side, signaling Lin Xian and CC, who were holding hands, to twist to his rhythm.

Lin Xian was helpless.

In order not to expose his straightforward purpose, he could only force himself to blend into the environment and start tap dancing.

CC was obviously dancing for the first time.

While watching Erzhuzi's teaching, he also had to be careful not to step on Lin Xian's feet. Now he felt like he was learning to walk in Handan again, and he was extremely stiff.

But she studied very hard.

This kind of seriousness... Lin Xian couldn't help but think of Chu Anqing.

The dancing flames reflected on CC's face made her look more lively and enthusiastic. There were also flickering flames in her eyes, and her pupils became much softer.

CC is the cold version of Chu Anqing.

And now, the temperature of the flames seemed to melt this indifference, making Lin Xian dream back to the New Year's Eve dinner in 2023 that he still remembered vividly...

Chu Anqing, dressed in a blue evening gown, was like a forest elf, leading him to perform a stunning waltz.

That was his first time dancing with Chu Anqing.

It's also the only time.

The last time.

For some reason, he thought of a sentence.

Say it is...

[Many times, before you realize it, you have seen someone for the last time.]

Lin Xian now feels deeply touched by this sentence.

Perhaps being able to see CC again in the fifth dream is a miracle in itself.

What about the next dream?
Will she still be there?
What will the world become?
Lin Xian was not sure at all.

Just like what is happening right now, I am trying hard to learn the dance steps without stepping on my CC... Who can guarantee that she will still be here the next time I dream?

"oops."

CC finally stepped on Lin Xian's shoe and smiled embarrassedly:

"Feel sorry."

Lin Xian was also pulled back to his thoughts by this apologetic smile:

"Don't look at Erzhuzi anymore, let me teach you."

This kind of bonfire dance only has a few moves, but he memorized them all after watching it twice.

Again……

How difficult could a dance be if the people in the Face Gang could learn it?
He had been a dance partner for senior and junior students in Tunghai University's dance classes for several years, and his ballroom dancing skills had already reached perfection.

He held CC's hands and took her with him.

Step by step, tramp by tramp, they danced around the campfire, circling the flames, kicking back and forth to the beat of the animal skin drum.

Soon, CC understood these dance steps and no longer needed Lin Xian's guidance. He gradually followed the rhythm easily.

"You really are talented."

Lin Xian looked at CC:

"You've always had great physical coordination and artistic talent."

"You're the first person to say that."

CC says:

"But... this is the first dance I can dance. I never had the opportunity to dance before, and no one taught me to dance. Thank you."

"Not so polite."

Lin Xian and CC, together with increasingly intense drum beats, ushered in the final climax of the bonfire dance.

"That's great."

CC looked at the bonfire with flames rising to the sky, and it was hard to tell whether his eyes were happy or lonely:
"only……"

"【We'll meet again tomorrow, and we'll meet again in the future... Will I forget the dance steps I just learned and have to start all over again?】"

Lin Xian nodded:
"That depends on how powerful your memory fragments are. In each world, I will meet you countless times, but you will only remember one of them."

"If you're lucky, maybe in the next world, you'll have more fragments of memory from tonight and still remember how to dance this dance."

"But I don't think there's much hope... It seems that the logic of your memory fragments is generally concentrated on the times before the world changed. The further away, the less you remember."

The villagers' hand-beaten animal-skin drums have reached a crazy rhythm and may stop at any time, ushering in the end of the bonfire dance.

"I'll try to remember."

CC smiled.

She smiled like Chu Anqing.

Eyes that curved into shallow crescents,

The dimples at the corners of her mouth,

Pure and bright, Lin Xian was dazzled for a moment:

"Thank you for teaching me this dance."

thump—

The last drumbeat stopped instantly.

The crowds around also stopped and dispersed, clapping or screaming.

Lin Xian and CC also let go of their hands.

Each of them took a step back and stood on either side of the campfire. What was between them... seemed like a sea of ​​fire, like an ocean.

Just like the vast Pacific Ocean between Brooklyn and the East China Sea.

distant.

Yet we are on the same planet.

"genius!"

Erzhuzi clapped enthusiastically, ran over with a look of approval, and gave CC a thumbs up:
"Sister-in-law, you are a genius!"

Then he turned his head and looked at Lin Xian:
"Brother, you're not bad either!"

"You may not know this, but this fabric sun hat on my head is the championship prize of the village dance competition last year... Look at the craftsmanship and stitching... It's so exquisite. It's not something that a small village like ours can make. That's why it's considered a championship prize!"

"But I see that your dancing skills are not inferior to mine and you are quite talented, so I decided -"

Erzhuzi decisively took off his green fabric sun hat and put it on Lin Xian's head:
"You will be crowned king!"

"No, no, no..."

Lin Xian quickly took off the curse and quickly put the hat on Erzhuzi's head:
"I'm still far from it, you're the dancing king!"

Also weird.

This Erzhuzi always wants to put a green hat on his head. What kind of weird sense of ritual is this?
……

Finally, it was time for free time and chatting.

Everyone was full and satisfied, and they stood or sat in various corners of the village chatting and talking.

Lin Xian also had the opportunity to enter the house of Big Face Cat's father, Chen Heping, with CC.

Fortunately, the animal husbandry and hunting industries in Lian Village are very developed.

Grease, an important material for making oil lamps, is very abundant. Even in a room like this that no one enters all year round, there are two large oil lamps.

CC took a burning branch from the campfire and lit two oil lamps to illuminate the house where Cat Dad used to live.

It's very tidy and clean, and it seems that someone cleans it regularly.

There is a small bookshelf here with several notebooks on it, all bound with very rough paper. It should be the ancient papermaking technique, which is considered very advanced technology in a village like this.

Lin Xian and CC each took a book and checked the contents.

The book in Lin Xian's hand contains many poems...

It should have been discovered and recorded by Cat Dad during his archaeological work, right?
Including the "Yueyang Tower Inscription" that A Zhuang excitedly recited in the afternoon, all were recorded in this notebook.

Recalling what A Zhuang and Big Face Cat said.

When the cat father was still alive, he often taught the children in the village and taught them knowledge. However, after his death, the school was abandoned, and the Face Village officially entered the era of Big Face Cat's leadership and began to live a wild life.

Keep scrolling.

This notebook is full of ancient poems, many of which are incomplete and many of which are wrong.

Of course, Cat Dad didn’t know it was wrong.

But Lin Xian had memorized it, and he copied many places incorrectly... It's not Cat Dad's fault. It's already amazing that he could find the heritage of these civilizations through archaeology.

"CC, what's in your book?"

Lin Xian put down the book in his hand and looked at CC next to another oil lamp.

“It’s math.”

CC handed the book in his hand to Lin Xian:

"It's simple math."

math?

Lin Xian suddenly became interested and took the rough notebook to look through it.

really……

These are all simple arithmetic problems.

It’s not as difficult as the equations taught by Zheng Xiangyue, which are too basic.

Lin Xian originally wanted to find clues about the cosmological constant 42, but after reading all the notebooks, he was sure...

The big-faced cat father in the fifth dream had not been exposed to the research on cosmological constants.

This is also understandable.

In 2400, a major disaster struck the Earth, turning the entire world upside down and changing many things.

In previous dreams, the reason why Big Face Cat’s father could continue to study the cosmological constant was entirely because of the book "Introduction to the Cosmological Constant" found in the grave of Liu Feng’s girlfriend, Li Qiqi.

Although "Introduction to the Cosmological Constant" was written in Lin Xian's era.

but.

Because it was proven to be completely wrong and worthless, no publishing house was willing to publish it. Only Li Qiqi asked Taobao Merchant to print a copy herself.

This is the only copy.

The only copy in the world.

At least, there will be no second "Introduction to the Cosmological Constant" on Earth for the next few hundred years.

obviously.

In the future world of the fifth dream, a super disaster destroyed everything. Almost all healthy people on Earth went to Mars, and the Earth was abandoned by humans in the disaster.

Naturally, the only copy of "Introduction to the Cosmological Constant" in the world was never unearthed and never delivered to Big Face Cat's father. The research on the cosmological constant 42 was naturally terminated.

The logic of time and space is interconnected.

A slight difference can lead to a loss of thousands of miles.

"Let's go and take a look at the hafnium alloy safe."

Lin Xian put Big Face Cat's father's notebook back to its place, picked up the oil lamp, and walked to the corner of the village with CC.

The hafnium safe is there.

I raised the oil lamp and took a look. I tried the brute force method to crack the password. The password had been tried backwards to 00002701.

There are only 2700 possibilities left!

If we try at the fastest speed... it won't take more than an hour to open Gawain's safe.

"Thanks Face Village."

Lin Xian said sincerely:

"If they hadn't helped us crack the code more than a decade in advance and eliminated nearly 100 million combinations, it wouldn't be so easy for us to open the safe today."

“Is this safe important?”

CC asked:

"This man named Gawain... do you know him?"

Lin Xian neither denied nor confirmed:

"Not really, and I'm not sure if this Gawain is the same Gawain I know."

"If it's the Academician Gao Wen I know... then the contents of this safe are very worth looking forward to."

"Academician Gao Wen is definitely a true genius. His inventions have changed the world and reversed the future."

"I believe that a true genius will not be buried like this. Since he used the hafnium alloy safe, it is very likely that he entered the hibernation chamber and headed for the future."

"Under this premise, they usually leave something very important for their future selves... Anyway, there aren't many possible passwords left. We'll know what's inside once we open it."

CC turned his head and looked at the eight code wheels:

"They have already tried up to 00002701. Let's follow their progress and continue to crack them one by one."

"no no."

Lin Xian is a person who listens to advice and does not get carried away.

He simply turned the eight code wheels back to 00000000, then said with a smile:
"We start from 00000000. Although it doesn't matter where we start for exhaustive enumeration, we still have to learn the lesson."

talking.

He began to turn the rightmost code wheel, trying the codes one by one.

00000001,

00000002,

00000003,

……

Click, click, click.

The familiar sound of a lock that couldn't be opened.

For so long, so many hafnium alloy safes, so many dream adventures... Lin Xian really has never successfully opened a single safe.

in front of you.

Maybe a breakthrough from zero will finally be born!

Click, click, click.

As the numbers on the code wheel continued to increase, Lin Xian tightened his lips, unable to help feeling a little excited and nervous.

Click, click, click.

00000039,

00000040,

00000041,

Press the lock.

Still not open.

Lin Xian turned the last digit of the code wheel downwards.

On the hafnium alloy safe, eight combination wheels are arranged in the following order:

00000042
This……

This is an extremely familiar number, and an extremely familiar decimal.

[It is exactly the same as the value displayed on Liu Feng's space-time clock, 0.0000042, except that there is a decimal point missing.]

Lin Xian didn't think too much and pressed the lock mechanically -

Bang.

A muffled sound that had lasted for hundreds of years.

The hafnium alloy safe opened with a sound!

“It’s open…it’s actually open!”

CC immediately jumped up from the stone bench next to him and opened his eyes wide.

Although it is realized that the brute force method will eventually open the safe.

But when the moment finally comes...

She still felt a little unbelievable!

Lin Xian didn't say anything.

He was still wondering.

Why is it such a coincidence?
The password of the safe set by Gawain is not only related to 42, but also exactly the same as the curvature of space and time of the current timeline...

what does this mean?
With doubts, Lin Xian opened the hafnium alloy safe that had been sealed for many years.

I saw.

The empty safe, with almost nothing inside.

Only in the bottom corner, there was a full-page plastic-covered notebook lying flat.

Lin Xian took it gently.

Thanks to the full-page plastic cover, it is still well preserved even after hundreds of years, just like Zheng Xiangyue's small plastic-covered piece of paper, and can be viewed normally.

He opened the sacred and heavy notebook.

CC also came over holding an oil lamp, and they both looked at the cover page of the notebook.

Through the still intact plastic film, one can clearly see several lines of black handwriting left on the paper inside -

[My name is Gawain, and this diary was stored on December 2201, 12. I plan to enter the hibernation chamber and wake up within the 7-year safe period to ensure that my memory will not be lost, and come to take this notebook.]

[And if you are not Gawain, but you have seen this notebook, then it means...]

【I am already dead.】

(End of this chapter)