Chapter 105: Chapter 102 The Sorrowful Great Man
Actually, Lin Xian thought that if he could find out when and where Mr. Adams had heard the number 42 or the concept of the cosmological constant, it might be possible to solve the mystery.
The dead do not speak.
Lin Xian shook his head.
He turned, preparing to leave—
Just as he turned around, he saw an unexpected acquaintance.
Bushy brown high ponytail, vibrant large eyes, surprised lips slightly parted, and the distinctive teardrop mole at the corner of the left eye like an anti-counterfeiting mark.
“…An Qing.” Lin Xian reacted half a beat late before he called out the name.
Chu Anqing covered her mouth and laughed out loud, her lively eyes curving into two crescent moons, cute dimples at the corners of her mouth appearing and disappearing:
“Senior Lin Xian, did you mistake me for someone else?”
“Ah…” She suddenly realized, grinning mischievously,
“You wouldn’t… have mistaken me for that girl you liked in high school, would you?”
“Let’s pause for a moment.” Lin Xian extended his palm to stop her wild imagination:
“I did draw that classmate, that’s true, but I never said I liked her… That drawing was really just a casual practice, I had absolutely no ties with that girl.”
Lin Xian sighed inwardly.
Indeed, after telling one lie, you have to tell countless others to make it hold up.
But there was no helping it.
Under those circumstances, the person he had actually drawn was CC, but CC wasn’t from this era; a non-existing person, so he had to invent a fictional high school classmate to cope with it.
Chu Anqing and CC looked exactly the same, without such a story, the sketch would be unexplainable.
“By the way, are you here to see the science fiction exhibition?”
Lin Xian changed the subject.
“No.” Chu Anqing waved her hand and pointed to the corridor on the other side,
“I was at the painting exhibition over there. They’re having an oil painting exhibition in that gallery, and I was just passing through this venue, so I thought I’d take a look… I didn’t expect to run into you here. What a coincidence!”
It really was quite a coincidence…
He looked toward the other side of the corridor, where the walls of the gallery were indeed adorned with a variety of oil paintings. It seemed Chu Anqing was telling the truth.
He took the opportunity to observe Chu Anqing’s outfit for the day.
This should be their third meeting; the first was at MX Company’s celebration party, the second in a lecture hall at East Sea University, and he hadn’t expected the third to be in such a coincidental place—Donghai City Exhibition Hall.
Chu Anqing’s attire was still very casual today.
As the weather had warmed up, girls had shed their heavy down jackets to dress lighter, and Chu Anqing was no exception.
Today, she wore a fresh and pretty light blue sweatshirt paired with a gray skirt, nude-colored tights to keep warm, her look exuding youthful vitality. Paired with slightly thicker-soled boots, Chu Anqing seemed taller than before, appearing more slender and elegant than the previous times they met.
“Are you here alone?”
“Yeah, I don’t have classes this afternoon, so I thought I’d drop by. I’ve always been interested in drawing… but I don’t seem to have the talent for it. No matter how I try, I can’t draw well.”
Chu Anqing chuckled, looking at Lin Xian,
“On the other hand, Senior Lin Xian, you really have a talent for drawing. Aside from sketching, have you considered learning other forms of painting?”
“No, I don’t really like to draw.” Lin Xian smiled,
“But I can’t say I hate it… The reason I practiced sketching was only because the art exam for college entrance included it. My academic grades weren’t that good, so if I wanted to attend a decent university in Donghai City, I had to take the path of an art exam.”
“Do you really like Donghai?”
“I wouldn’t say I like it, it’s more about curiosity about this city, so I wanted to come and see.”
Lin Xian was telling the truth.
Since he was young, the city he would dream of was called Donghai, so he always wanted to see it for himself.
The city from his dreams was now a land of drastic change and unfamiliarity, turned into the poor and backward Old Donghai. In its place was the giant sci-fi metropolis surrounded by a 200-meter steel wall, New Donghai City.
“So that’s how it is…”
Chu Anqing flicked the pom-pom on the drawstring of her sweatshirt’s hood,
“It seems everyone thinks the outside world is better.”
“Actually, compared to Donghai, I like your hometown, Hang City, even more! I’ve traveled there, it’s really beautiful, everywhere is so lovely, unlike Donghai… where it’s crowded everywhere, always filled with a busy sense of urgency.”
“Speaking of which, the Spring Festival is coming up soon. Senior Lin Xian, are you going back to your hometown for the holiday, or are you staying in Donghai City?”
“Hmm, I am planning to go back home,” Lin Xian replied.
Going home for the New Year is an old Chinese tradition. Moreover, Gao Yang was organizing a high school reunion, and he intended to attend.
Chu Anqing turned around and pointed to the oil painting exhibition at the other end of the corridor,
“Senior, there are many originals from famous artists there, and some were even brought over from the British Museum. It’s a rare opportunity, do you want to join me for a look?”
Lin Xian was actually somewhat interested.
After all, it was his field of study in college, and he was curious about the authentic works of many legendary painters.
Since he was there already.
He might as well have a look.
“Alright, let’s go take a look then.”
“Hehe! Great, now I have a tour guide! Senior, you must be quite knowledgeable about these paintings, right?”
“I’m just a jack of all trades.”
the two of them laughed and chatted as they strolled through the oil painting exhibition.
As Chu Anqing had said, there were indeed some original works by modern European painters here, which Lin Xian was seeing for the first time.
The techniques and the historical charm… were breathtaking.
He had only seen these oil paintings in textbooks or prints before.
But the feeling of two-dimensional and three-dimensional is completely different, oil paintings have their own unique sense of thickness and depth, just by looking at them, it’s like being able to delve into the age of the Renaissance.
Chu Anqing was like a lively skylark, talking a lot and asking many questions.
Fortunately, today was Lin Xian’s home ground, so he could casually talk about the painters, the artistic styles, the backgrounds of the paintings, pretending to be an expert which made Chu Anqing incredibly impressed:
“Senior, you’re really amazing… You know everything, you’re truly erudite!”
“Not at all, just happened to hit the mark.”
The two continued on their way, looking as they walked.
As they rounded a corner, they saw a black and white painting hanging on the wall.
The expressionless eyes of the elder in the painting startled them both, so they stepped back.
“Hanging such a scary painting at the corner… must be intentional.”
Lin Xian raised his head and regarded the painting anew.
The elder in the painting was someone everyone was familiar with, a great physicist often seen in various textbooks—
In the canvas, the great man looked somber, as if he had suffered a great blow, listless and devastated.
His hair was unkempt, his face covered with wrinkles, and his eyes were lifeless as though his soul had been hollowed out, giving people an uneasy feeling.
Add to that, the painting might have been meant to convey a mood of melancholic desolation, using very few colors—apart from a few highlights, it was almost entirely done in black and white, giving those who saw it first glance an impression…
Of a posthumous photograph.
“The Sorrowful Einstein.”
Chu Anqing approached the painting and read out the name of the piece:
“This painting was created in 1952 in Brooklyn, New York, by the famous realist painter of the last century from Mi Country, Henry Dawson…”
She stepped back to take another look at Einstein in the painting, truly sorrowful and depressed, even lifeless:
“Why… would there be such a painting of Einstein?”
She blinked her eyes, looking at Lin Xian:
“Isn’t Einstein supposed to be a very successful and impressive scientist? He should be respected and have a very high academic status. But… why does Einstein look so sorrowful and depressed in this painting?”
“Senior Lin Xian, do you know the backstory of this painting?”
That surprised her; her senior… seemed to know everything? Like an encyclopedia.
Lin Xian began to talk about the painting.
That was the benefit of watching a lot of science fiction novels and films; he knew a little about everything.
“Actually, Einstein’s later years were very bleak, mostly spent in gloom and oppression.”
As Lin Xian explained to Chu Anqing, he looked up and locked eyes with the expressionless gaze on “The Sorrowful Einstein”:
“Einstein believed that it was his energy-mass equivalence that opened Pandora’s box, thus allowing humanity to harness uncontrollable nuclear energy, leading to the birth of mass-killing weapons such as nuclear arms and causing the death of millions.”
“But his worries didn’t stop there; he was also concerned about the future of humankind, fearing that if another global-scale war broke out… countless nuclear weapons raining from the sky would lead to the extinction of humankind and the destruction of civilization.”
“Although looking back now, his worries and considerations seem unnecessary, during that particular period in 1952… his concerns were actually normal and reasonable.”
“Once he had these thoughts, he fell into a dead end of self-blame and regret that he couldn’t escape from, and this was also why he became reclusive and depressed in his later years.”
Lin Xian spoke calmly, and Chu Anqing listened very intently.
Before long, they finished walking through the exhibition corridor, and the two headed towards the entrance of Donghai City Exhibition Hall and waved goodbye.
“Thank you so much for today, Senior Lin Xian, you taught me so much, I really learned a lot of new things!”
“No problem, glad to help.”
After seeing Chu Anqing off in her car, Lin Xian waved for a taxi and headed home.
Once home, he had a simple meal, washed up, and then checked the time.
If he fell asleep quickly at this time, he would still have time to catch the three-sword style thief in his dreams, join Lian Gang, and according to the plot, encounter CC at the Waste Treatment Plant.
Lin Xian changed into pajamas, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes.
He imagined in his mind a smiling face that belonged to either Chu Anqing or CC:
“I have so many questions to ask you…”
Still feeling no hot summer wind, surrounded by the silent small village and the jumbled self-built houses, Lin Xian opened his eyes.
He walked to the corner of the alley.
From the distance came Auntie Li’s breathless voice chasing:
“Catch—catch the thief! Catch… catch the… thief!”