You on the other side of time

"I believe that writing is not a necessary condition for civilization." Her voice was not loud, but it could be clearly heard in every corner of the classroom. "Although the Jinchuan civilization did not have a mature writing system, it had a complete civilization system."

She paused, then continued in a steady tone, "First, there's the issue of the recording medium. Jinchuan is located in a basin with a humid environment, so perishable materials like bamboo slips, wooden tablets, and silk simply cannot be preserved for long. Furthermore, the people of Jinchuan don't have a tradition of inscribing characters on bronzes or oracle bones, so it's naturally difficult to leave any written traces."

"Secondly, there are the needs of social institutions. Jinchuan was a society dominated by theocracy and supplemented by royal power, with core information passed down orally by priests. Artifacts such as the bronze sacred tree and masks served to transmit narratives and beliefs, without the need for written documents such as administration, laws, or classics. It was a 'civilization in terms of artifacts'."

"..."

"Finally, the absence of writing does not equate to the absence of complex societies and advanced civilizations. The Inca civilization had no written language, yet it maintained its vast empire through knotted ropes for record-keeping. The Liangzhu civilization has also not been found to have a mature writing system, but it possessed sophisticated urban planning and a ritual system. The same applies to the Jinchuan civilization; its advancement is reflected in its advanced bronze smelting technology, unified belief system, and complex social division of labor, which do not require written language to prove."

She spoke for three minutes straight, her logic clear and her arguments solid, and the entire classroom fell silent.

As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Qingwan was the first to applaud. Immediately afterwards, thunderous applause erupted in the lecture hall.

Si Yang clapped along, secretly astonished. This was hardly the level of a high school graduate. Even an undergraduate archaeology major might not be able to explain it so clearly. His graduation thesis topic was "The Definition and Continuation of Civilizations Without Writing," which analyzed the Jinchuan Civilization. Yet, the girl's points included several aspects that he hadn't considered at all.

If he hadn't known Lao Xu's personality so well—that he would never have asked a "tuoer" to create a learning atmosphere—he would have almost thought the girl had memorized her lines in advance.

"Well said!" Xu Qingwan said with admiration. "Your viewpoint is novel, your arguments are well-supported, and you think more deeply than many undergraduates."

The girl smiled faintly, "Thank you, Teacher Xu," before slowly sitting down, her hair once again covering her cheeks.

Ke Siyang's doubts deepened. How could a high school graduate have such a deep understanding of Jinchuan civilization? Moreover, there was no uncertainty in her tone about "being able to research it," but rather an almost certainty of "knowing it by heart."

"How can you be so sure that Jinchuan doesn't have a mature written language?" Si Yang couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

The prevailing view in academic circles is that the Jinchuan civilization most likely had writing, but it was either recorded on perishable materials and not preserved, or it has not yet been discovered by archaeologists. The girl's absolute certainty is highly unusual.

The girl paused, her gaze drifting across the notebook in front of her: "I...I guessed."

Si Yang watched as she quickly lowered her head, her thick black hair covering most of her face, but he still caught a glimpse of her reddened ear tips.

She is lying.

He didn't press further; it wasn't really that important. He could tell the girl didn't want to talk about it. But he already had a guess in his mind: this girl might have access to some unpublished archaeological data, or some unknown channel, to have such a thorough understanding of the Jinchuan civilization.

The girl took notes very quickly, with neat handwriting, and even used different colored pens to highlight important points. When Lao Xu talked about the structure of the bronze tree's branches, she would subconsciously draw a sketch on her notebook with her finger, the strokes flowing smoothly, clearly showing that she knew the tree's shape by heart.

Aside from occasionally stealing glances at the girl, Si Yang couldn't concentrate on the lesson for the rest of the class. He wrote "Mind your own business" in small print on the first line of every page of his planner. But this incident wouldn't happen until next year, and the planner wasn't entirely reliable; he would definitely need to reinforce the message in other places.

"What exactly is it useful for...?"

As Si Yang was deep in thought, the bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class. He handed the pen back to the girl and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The girl put the pen and notebook into her phone bag, then got up, opened the door, and left.

Si Yang did not stand up; his mind was still racing, but his gaze was fixed on the swaying door.

"Hey, Si Yang, the girl's already gone, don't look anymore."

The person who said this was his roommate, Wang Qiang. To be precise, he was the dormitory head.

"Stop fooling around, I'm thinking about something." Si Yang went through all the objects he could think of.

But when his roommates leaned towards him, he felt a sense of panic. Months later, those "soft knives" they had stabbed him with kept replaying in his mind; even if the wounds healed, they would leave scars.

They seemed so close, calling each other brothers, but in the face of trouble and disaster, they were utterly insignificant.

"After all, there are far more monks than porridge in our major, and there are simply not enough girls in the class to go around."

"This girl is very aloof. She comes to audit classes every Friday. I asked her for her contact information before, but she completely ignored me."

"Don't you think Si Yang's gaze towards us today was strange and inexplicable, with a kind of indifference...?"

"You're talking nonsense. That's called forgetting your friends for the sake of a pretty girl. His mind is completely on that beautiful girl."

"We're going to eat first, you can take your time reading."

"..."

Several single men left the classroom noisily.

Si Yang snapped out of his reverie, frowning slightly. Was she aloof? Yet she had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation and borrow his card. She had kept her head down the whole time she spoke to him, never even looking him in the eye, her voice soft. But when answering questions, her voice was strong and confident.

These girls' thoughts are so strange, I just can't figure them out...

His gaze followed his thoughts to the desk. The desks and chairs in the classroom were fixed; unless there was a major overhaul, they would basically remain there until they were retired.

Since he usually sat in the last row anyway, he might as well carve a few words in a fixed spot to remind himself. But Si Yang didn't carry a knife with him, so he could only take out his dormitory key and use the sharp edge of the key to carve the four words little by little.

Don't meddle in other people's business.