After being away for more than ten days, Shi Dazhuang became extremely busy as soon as he returned to Wuzhong. There was no way around it; the work of the criminal investigation team depended on him.
Qingmu, however, remained a nobody.
Bi Shenghua handled the bar's renovation and opening, so he didn't have to worry about anything. Bi Shenghua did bring him a huge stack of bills to review, since he was the major shareholder. But Qingmu's head spun at the sight of the dense numbers, and he waved his hand like an emperor emeritus. "Everything is up to you, my dear minister." Bi Shenghua shook her head helplessly, tidied up the room for him, and then left him to his own devices.
The community's mental health counseling room was never very busy to begin with, and since Liu Huaian's incident, even fewer people came for counseling, afraid of being mistaken for mentally ill. In the ten-plus days since he left, only three people registered for counseling, all children accompanied by their parents, mainly for reasons like being addicted to video games during summer vacation. Qingmu quickly dealt with the situation and then went inside with Crow, whom Xiao Qi had brought back, to relax in the air-conditioned room.
When Xiao Qi returned the Crow, he kept complaining, "This bird is so hard to raise. Not only is it talkative, but it's also a busybody and seems to know everything. My house is too small, and with Mo Yu and me living together, having a bird is just unbearable..."
The Crow perched on Qingmu's head, rolling its eyes at Xiao Qi's complaints. Knowing the bird wouldn't say anything nice, Xiao Qi quickly scurried away.
The Boss Coal asked Qingmu what delicious food he had eaten in Southern Yunnan. Qingmu rattled off seven or eight kinds of rice noodles, and the Crow Guagua loudly, "Eating rice noodles for over ten days, how come you haven't turned into a worm?"
Qingmu was also helpless. When Yao Jingjing took him to eat in Spring City, she did order a few local specialties, but he forgot the names of the dishes.
Taking advantage of a lull in his work at the consultation room, Qingmu decided to visit Professor Mei Yiqiu. On one hand, if Yao Jingjing's mother were to transfer to Wu University Affiliated Hospital, Professor Mei's qualifications at Three Wu University would certainly make it easy for him to put in a good word. On the other hand, Kitano Masatake's Group Real-Scene Dream in the mountains was truly too shocking, and he now had many questions in his mind that he needed to discuss with someone, especially someone as knowledgeable as Professor Mei.
Judging by the dates, Mei Yiqiu been in Copenhagen for over half a month and should be back by now. Just as Qingmu was about to send a message to Professor Mei to confirm, he received a call from Mei Ziqing.
Mei Ziqing's voice sounded somewhat anxious, "Mr. Qingmu?... This is Mei Ziqing. I need your help with something... It's... We're back, but the professor... the professor seems to have gone mad. He's locked himself in his lab, refusing to see anyone, saying he can't trust anyone. Many of his old friends have come to see him, but he's turned them away. The crucial thing is, he refuses to sleep, saying he'll be invaded if he sleeps. He's also forcing the lab staff to learn the Lester Signature; if they can't, they'll be fired. I don't know what's wrong with the professor; he seems insane. Mr. Qingmu, you're the professor's closest friend; perhaps you have some ideas!"
Qingmu felt the situation was a bit serious. He knew Mei Yiqiu well; this erudite and somewhat arrogant scientist possessed wisdom that was difficult for ordinary people to understand. He had every reason to be proud. However, his heart was as simple as a child's, never hiding his hatred, and he was also a natural optimist.
This is precisely why he was able to become friends with Qingmu; to some extent, they shared similar temperaments, or as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.
In Qingmu's view, nothing could defeat this unfathomable old man. Although his research on consciousness and spirit remained only in theory, and he never tried to have lucid dreams himself or peek into other people's dreams, Qingmu knew that his Mental Power was extremely powerful, far exceeding that of ordinary people.
Professor Mei's lifelong pursuit was to reach the pinnacle of science and explore humanity's ultimate mission. Neither money, power, nor even threats to his life could shake his spiritual world. To drive someone like him insane, something significant enough to affect the fate of humanity would have to happen.
When Qingmu arrived at Mei Yiqiu's special experimental building, the researchers who usually worked diligently in the various laboratories inside were noisily crowding into the conference room on the second floor, protesting the study of the Thought Matrix Cipher.
They certainly wouldn't understand Mei Yiqiu's intentions, assuming that Mei Yiqiu had lost his mind after Lester 'Lester death due to blind worship. Although these scientists all admired Lester, they didn't feel it necessary to mourn a great scientist in this way.
The best way to commemorate a scientific giant is to continue forging ahead on the path he paved.
Mei Ziqing led Qingmu to Mei Yiqiu's workshop. The door there was tightly locked.
Mei Ziqing gently knocked on the door and called out, "Professor..."
Before she could finish speaking, Mei Yiqiu's irritable voice rang out. "Don't come in! No one is allowed in until your identities are verified with Lester Signature!"
Qingmu seemed to have heard the term before, but couldn't quite place it, so he asked Mei Ziqing, "What is Lester Signature?"
Mei Ziqing explained, "It's a type of information transmitted through brainwaves, also known as the Thought Matrix Cipher. It requires a deep state of self-hypnosis to complete, and the decoder must have a thorough understanding of the sender's thought patterns, locate the consciousness within the matrix, and then combine the disordered information flow into ordered information for deciphering. Because this Thought Matrix Cipher was invented by Mr. Lester, and because it guarantees the authenticity of the information and cannot be forged, it is called the Lester Signature."
"So complicated?" Qingmu scratched his head and thought for a long time, still not quite understanding how to sign this signature.
Mei Ziqing laughed, "Yes, this Thought Matrix Cipher was invented by Mr. Lester while researching quantum problems. I heard the professor mention that Mr. Lester was trying his best to prove the interaction between quantum mechanics and consciousness. They often discussed this topic together when they were at Princeton University. Speaking of which, the professor also deserves some credit for the invention of the Mind Matrix! Unfortunately, it seems that the experiment on the influence of consciousness on quantum mechanics failed, but the Lester Signature became known as the most difficult encryption method to decipher and forge in history. However, to master the Lester Signature, one not only needs a very high level of mathematics and logic, but also a very strong Mental Power to hypnotize and control one's own consciousness. Even in the scientific community, not many people have truly mastered it!"
When Qingmu heard about the high level of mathematics, he turned and walked away, shaking his head and saying, "It seems I'll never be able to learn it in my lifetime."
Just as Mei Ziqing was about to ask him to stay, the door to the workshop suddenly opened.
Professor Mei Yiqiu, looking haggard and smoking a pipe, stood by the door. "You don't need to study, you can come in."