Looking Ahead (Revised)
An Nuan and Han Zhizhi went home together, while Liu Chang'an continued to wander around the Xiangtan University campus.
Having lived in Junsha for so many years, I can say that I have traveled to every corner of this place in terms of geography. However, the city has developed so rapidly that it is sometimes even more unrecognizable than the changing landscape. On the contrary, this campus, nearly twenty years after I last lived here, still looks much the same as I remember.
The general appearance in my memory is only a rough outline; upon closer inspection, many of the subtle details that left an impression from back then are hard to find.
Some saplings grew into large trees, some large trees had their canopies pruned, some railings were removed, some security cameras were installed, some glass windows became weathered, some iron gates lost their paint, some tiles became stained with rust, and some people left and never returned.
Life is like a fleeting shadow, like a wild goose leaving its footprints on the snow.
A fingerprint is left on the mud by chance; the wild goose flies away, never to return.
Liu Chang'an glanced at the old apartment building he had unconsciously and habitually walked to, smiled slightly, and saw a petite girl carrying surveying equipment passing by with a tired expression. So this place had been converted into a student dormitory.
Female students are extremely rare in surveying-related majors. Back then, a girl with such good looks in such a male-dominated major was treated like a treasure by the entire department. It seems that male students nowadays are more realistic, or perhaps it's a subtle change in mentality... After all, girls in the past didn't often have thoughts like, "I'm a girl, so you should help me. I don't need to thank you; you just want to fawn over me."
Between people, emotions are always sensitively touched and understood, leading to responses. Nowadays, young people are not so willing to maintain a warm and humble attitude. They think, "You treat me this way, I'll treat you that way." Otherwise, it's common for their enthusiasm and goodwill to be taken for granted or as something they're entitled to, and they end up hurting themselves.
The petite girl stumbled and was about to fall when Liu Chang'an swiftly caught her.
"Thank you," the petite girl said quickly, standing there intentionally or unintentionally showing signs of fatigue, her fingers weakly hooking the object in her hand.
It seemed that if Liu Chang'an didn't lend a hand, these things would fall to the ground.
This is an implication.
"Keep it up." Liu Chang'an clenched his fist to cheer her on, gave her an encouraging look, and then left.
If you need help, just say so. Don't wait for others to offer it, then have to refuse several times before reluctantly accepting help.
What kind of mentality is this? How interesting. Of course, Liu Chang'an couldn't be sure that the other party would definitely act this way, but after his response, he didn't care what the other party actually meant and forgot about it as soon as he turned around.
The girl was stunned for a moment. It was the first time she had ever seen someone who not only didn't help but also gave her an encouraging look.
Liu Chang'an walked home.
I scooped around in the puddle under the sycamore tree a few times, observed how lively the loaches were, and even found some leftover bean curd residue, which was obviously fed by Zhou Dongdong.
There was nothing wrong with the loach. Liu Chang'an stepped into the carriage and no longer felt that unusual thirst for life and vitality.
In other words, after Shangguan Dandan regained consciousness, the coffin no longer unconsciously and actively plundered the life force of its surroundings.
That's how it seems for now; let's observe further.
Liu Chang'an felt that this coffin might actually be more worthy of attention than Shangguan Dandan. The mysterious phenomena surrounding Shangguan Dandan might only be understood after thoroughly studying this coffin.
Or perhaps the things he needs to do also require this coffin, but this coffin is not an AI coffin. It's impossible for it to answer every question Liu Chang'an asks, and it doesn't have an instruction manual. Everything is unknown.
After Qin Peng obtained the coffin, he must have done some basic research and analysis, but he probably didn't get any useful clues. For such mysterious and unpredictable things, they are usually studied in good condition, and it is impossible to take destructive samples. Just like the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the excavation work has been suspended for a long time to protect its original appearance.
After pondering for a while, Liu Chang'an began his lecture on the coffin, saying that today's topic was a milestone event in the history of human scientific development.
His purpose in doing this was simple: he hoped that one day when Shangguan Dandan ran out, she wouldn't dismantle the television to look for the villain hiding inside.
He lectured until dawn.
Although Shangguan Dandan did not respond, Liu Chang'an believed that she was listening attentively to his lecture.
Undoubtedly, although Shangguan Dandan now filled with resentment towards Liu Chang'an, after many lessons, she must have realized that she has been asleep for more than two thousand years and the world now is vastly different from the Han Dynasty of that time.
Anyone who comes to a strange world may experience fear, anticipation, hesitation, timidity, excitement, and so on, and will also have their own coping behaviors. Perhaps Shangguan Dandan's reluctance to come out of the coffin was not only because of Liu Chang'an, but also a kind of preparation for the unfamiliar world.
They resist or want more time to accept reality.
In short, Liu Chang'an felt that his courses were very effective. The more Shangguan Dandan realized the differences in the world under his tutelage, the more she needed his courses.
After talking all night, Shangguan Dandan remained silent without any response or questions. Liu Chang'an thought this was the state of a good student who was paying close attention in class.
Presumably, one day after she leaves the coffin, she will be able to appreciate his good intentions. She may be grateful, or perhaps still shy in front of him, but she will certainly be greatly encouraged to start a new life in the new era, and it is possible that she will regain her girlish innocence and liveliness.
Most importantly, Shangguan Dandan entered the palace as a child and was raised in the deep palace where no one knew her. Naturally, she was not familiar with Liu Chang'an at that time. However, Shangguan Dandan quickly went from being the empress to the empress dowager. The change in her status as a little girl, like many children who are eager to prove that they are adults, always made her look very serious. She also repeatedly tried to act as a "mother" to care for and admonish her stepson.
Hopefully, she can adjust her mindset. She's a stubborn young girl. Two thousand years have passed, and she should have figured things out by now. She can no longer see Liu Chang'an as the emperor who entered the palace to conduct experiments back then.
Daylight broke.
Today, An Nuan is accompanying Han Zhizhi to have surgery. Qin Yanan has left Junsha, and the Third Mistress that Liu Chang'an is looking for has gone to Europe.
With college applications filled out, summer vacation officially began. Kindergarten was also on break, and Zhou Dongdong was no longer in school, completely unaware that primary school was a far more difficult future than kindergarten. Liu Chang'an would continue selling rice noodles as usual.
Every day of summer vacation seemed pretty much the same. She would sell rice noodles every day and occasionally cook something delicious. Zhou Dongdong always managed to find some broken and tattered things to bring back for Liu Chang'an to fix. After Liu Chang'an fixed the little stool, she thought that if she found broken things and gave them to her brother Chang'an, he would have something fixed to play with.
Of course, he and An Nuan would go on dates from time to time. They did more than just go shopping. They would climb Mount Lu, proudly look at the couplets at the entrance of the Mount Lu Academy, go to Plum Creek Lake to see the unfinished art center that looked like an alien spaceship, go to Orange Isle to look forward to the autumn harvest of the orange grove, and even go to the remote and ancient Window of the World. As for the shops on Slope Street, they ate at almost all of them.
For the locals of Junsha, many places are ordinary and unremarkable, but when two people are together, going anywhere feels different than before.
Most of the summer vacation passed by just like that. After receiving their admission notices one after another, the students who stayed in Junsha began to see off those who had been admitted to universities in other provinces. Liu Chang'an and An Nuan went to see off Gao Dewei, who was preparing to rush to Capital early.
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