Diary

Liu Chang'an carried his rattan book box home, having failed to buy any books that caught his fancy. Boss Lan was becoming increasingly indifferent to running the shop; a large portion of the books had been sitting on his shelves for twenty years. Time seemed to have frozen on those old yet sturdy shelves, stagnant and unmoving.

The rattan book box had been golden in color long ago, coated with glossy tung oil. After all these years, the hue had mellowed, taking on a sense of being a cherished collection, especially the calfskin handle, which had developed a wonderful texture.

Old boxes always hold time and memories.

Liu Chang'an's memory, like that of most people, was fragmented, settled deep in his heart—seemingly forgotten, yet capable of surging up at the right moment, steaming into the atmosphere like a sigh.

It was just that he had an extraordinary amount of memories, buried layer upon layer like the sauce spread on a fried pancake, smeared back and forth, mixed together in a complex blend of a hundred flavors.

He had long known that he could not remember every single thing clearly; in fact, he had to forget many things. Otherwise, even if his body had evolved to near-limit growth, his spirit and soul—the part dominated by his brain—might not be able to withstand the accumulation of the ages.

It was truly a pity that his brain had not matched his physical evolution to reach a level that also transcended human limits.

Liu Chang'an wiped the book box clean and placed it on the bed, gently pressing the latch. As the faintly sticky edge was pulled open, a feeling of time being frozen and then rapidly flowing away rushed toward him. It had been less than twenty years, but it was just a fleeting moment that made his heart tremble.

He picked up a diary at random and flipped it open to take a look.

"September 1st, very hot. The school handed out cold drink vouchers, and I traded with Teacher Xiao Lin next door for a watermelon."

"September 2nd, not too hot."

"Addendum: Played mahjong all night with a few people from the courtyard the night before last. Did not attend the freshman orientation yesterday. Today, a student invited me to a dance, and I realized there are many cute and beautiful girls among this year's freshmen. Some old professors with questionable reputations looked quite twisted in their excitement. The girl dancing with me had a slender waist; she was nervous at first, then gradually relaxed, and by the end of the night, she even dared to ask for my phone number."

"September 3rd, Friday. Met a girl while running, surnamed Yan. She is truly beautiful. Her bangs were dotted with fine dewdrops, looking fresh and light."

"October 8th, saw that girl surnamed Yan again. Only then did I learn her name is Yan Huaye. When collecting assignments, I accidentally touched her hand, and she revealed a shy smile—truly adorable."

"October 15th, ran into Yan Huaye again. The person running with her must be her boyfriend, right? A gentleman does not covet what others love. Best wishes."

"October 20th, Ren Changhong invited me to play cards. He cheated and won fifty from me. I happened to be distracted and didn't call him out. Seeing his smug look was quite annoying, but he treated me to cold beer in the evening, which was very refreshing."

"April 10th, the school organized a matchmaking event for older single teachers. Surprisingly, some senior female students participated, and I was forced to join as well. Xu Zhancheng was particularly enthusiastic about this, dragging me over to chat and get close to those students. Watching students who once sat under my podium become matchmaking candidates—did Xu Zhancheng not consider whether I would feel awkward? Of course, I wasn't awkward, but he should have considered it."

Liu Chang'an flipped through the pages while smiling, all the way to the last one.

The handwriting on the final page was different, written in cursive, with emotions bleeding through the lines.

"Today's verification results are deeply disappointing. I have finally decided to give up the expectations I have held for so long. The human brain is limited by genetics; unless there is another encounter like that year, it will ultimately be impossible to explore the origins of the world and other such mysteries. Human power has its limits, and the development and practice of science are not infinite."

"Ren Changhong agrees with my opinion. Darwin's theory of evolution is very interesting, but human evolution is not as the well-known human evolution chart shows—gradually standing upright from ancient apes to become modern humans. Instead, it was a mutation-based growth where a small portion of genes were directly altered to achieve a leap. Xu Zhancheng says directly that it was a viral infection that caused a portion of monkeys to mutate, with humans appearing simultaneously all over the Earth."

"Ren Changhong believes that humans can only achieve a true scientific explosion after completely detaching from the shackles of the flesh. I dare not agree. I told him that there are no ghosts or gods in the world, because ghosts and gods exist only outside the world, and the shackles they have set will never allow humans to break free... Watching him start to ponder religion and theology, I cannot help but laugh. He seems to be preparing for new research and arguments with the posture of accepting a new theory?"

"Xu Zhancheng says it's more interesting to write science fiction; why pursue the need for fantasy to be proven? What if one knows the truth? In any case, interstellar travel is impossible to achieve in our lifetime. I feel I can wait for that day to come. Interstellar travel is very interesting; first, I want to go to the far side of the moon to take a look."

"Xu Zhancheng is truly decadent. He is barely a top-tier physicist, yet he is addicted to writing science fiction to earn magazine royalties. Forget it, I am already tired of it too. It is time to change my way of life. Student days were more interesting; if I could meet a beautiful classmate like Yan Huaye, that would be quite good."

"What exactly is going on with me? It doesn't matter anymore."

There are some things Liu Chang'an has pondered for many years with no result, and the entire human race has pondered for many years with no result.

Browsing through his old diaries and notes, he didn't realize the twilight had deepened. Liu Chang'an hadn't retrieved his book box just for nostalgia; he wanted to see if there were any clues he could use to analyze the phenomenon surrounding that bronze coffin.

Or perhaps something that could give him a renewed sense of expectation. If other abnormal human phenomena were different from the encounter with the monkeys, how did they come to be?

There was definitely nothing dead inside the bronze coffin; Liu Chang'an could be certain of that now... Fortunately, people would bring him small hens or roosters every day. After absorbing a great deal of vitality, perhaps it wouldn't take too long for Liu Chang'an to see the scene he was looking forward to.

Liu Chang'an ate zongzi for dinner. He had wrapped quite a few, and they couldn't be wasted. The old method was to soak cooked zongzi in water to preserve them, but now everyone basically used refrigerators. Liu Chang'an's small fridge didn't have much capacity, so he had to finish them quickly.

Zhou Dongdong brought a basket of red bean zongzi for Liu Chang'an, and he gave her a basket of meat zongzi in return. Zhou Dongdong chatted with Liu Chang'an for a while about the fresh things she had encountered today before heading home, instructing Liu Chang'an to wait for her when he dug up the small hen tomorrow.

Liu Chang'an picked up his pen to finish the letter to Qin Peng, sealed it in a cylinder, and prepared to send it out the next morning as usual.

He received a call from Bai Hui, asking him to check the class group chat. Everyone had already agreed on a barbecue at Yan'gui Lake tomorrow and wanted to see if he would attend.

Liu Chang'an thought about it. Since someone was bringing a small hen tomorrow, he wouldn't need to put the centipedes attracted by the buried hen into the carriage. It would be a waste not to use them, and they would be perfect to take along for the barbecue, so he agreed.

Early the next morning, Liu Chang'an got up. It was a foggy day; the river flowed through the city, and the moisture was heavy. Foggy summer days were common. He sat on a small stool in the hazy air, flipped through his old diary for a while, and then someone arrived to deliver a hen.

It was a large one, not small at all. Liu Chang'an didn't feel it was a pity; he put it directly into the carriage, then dug up the dead small hen from the dirt pit. Having been buried for a while, the centipedes inside were large and fat. Liu Chang'an put them all into a bottle, cleaned them up, and prepared to take them to the barbecue.