Genius Club

Chapter 71: Chapter 71 Butterfly

“`

“So handsome! Much better looking than in photos!”

“Teacher Ji Lin, can you sign an autograph for us?”

“Congratulations, Teacher Ji Lin! I really like ‘Broken Bridge’!”

“Could we take a picture together, please?”

Ji Lin had just gotten out of the car when the group of young people crowded around him.

But he didn’t glance their way, heading instead towards the memorial hall.

Behind him, a few funeral parlor staff quickly intervened to stop the book fans and maintain order:

“Quiet, please be a bit quieter… Don’t gather here.”

“This is a memorial service, show some solemnity.”

“Please respect the deceased, don’t make noise here.”

…

After Ji Lin entered the funeral home’s corridor, the noise outside quieted down significantly.

He just stared straight at Lin Xian… hands in his pockets, stooping slightly, head raised, walking toward Lin Xian with an expressionless face.

Lin Xian was also staring at him…

As the book fans remarked, he was indeed a beautiful young man.

Although Lin Xian also disliked such effeminate adjectives… at this moment, he truly couldn’t find a second word fitting enough to describe the delicate-looking boy approaching leisurely.

He wasn’t tall, probably about 175 centimeters, and very thin. Because he was somewhat hunchbacked, Lin Xian couldn’t estimate his height accurately.

The youth’s skin was pale as snow, but not with the healthy rosy glow; it was the kind of pallor that suggested he’d spent a long time indoors without sunlight, giving off a sickly, listless feel. His hair was very long, nearly covering his eyes, very black and shiny, slightly curly, and also slightly disheveled.

He walked very slowly, with no expression on his face.

But his eyes stayed fixated on Lin Xian, half-open as if he hadn’t woken up, the whole person appearing weary and lethargic, without a hint of vigor or vitality.

Like a dying sea otter, slowly sinking to the seafloor.

Not just sinking by himself.

That dull and lackluster gaze, like a net he couldn’t escape, also aimed to drag Lin Xian, whom he watched, down into the pitch-black abyss…

“Lin Xian?”

Zhao Yingjun’s soft call brought him back to reality.

Turning his head.

Zhao Yingjun, a few steps away, looked back at him:

“Stop daydreaming, we should go.”

Lin Xian nodded and followed the pace of a few vice presidents, leaving through the other corridor.

Before turning the corner, he looked back at Ji Lin.

He still looked the same…

Slowly strolling with his hands in his pockets, slightly hunched over, step by step towards the memorial hall.

Still the same lethargic and dispirited eyes, staring straight ahead, not deviating by the slightest degree.

“…”

Lin Xian understood.

The guy wasn’t staring at him after all.

With that kind of look, he was either half-asleep or nearsighted, and it was Lin Xian who was being presumptuous.

…

Evening.

“Heave-ho!”

Gao Yang exerted all his strength to throw the empty beer can far into the Huangpu River.

Plop.

The light aluminum can of beer floated on the water’s surface, creating a few ripples before being carried away by the current.

“What do you think, Lin Xian! Hehe~ give some feedback!” Gao Yang laughed triumphantly.

“Feedback on what?” Lin Xian shivered from the cold:

“On your manners?”

“On this dinner!!”

Gao Yang, disdainful towards this romance-challenged person, vented fiercely with a fan towards the small barbecue grill:

“I was afraid you’d be feeling down, so I specially arranged a little barbecue by the river to cheer you up.”

“It’s winter, big brother! What were you doing in the summer!”

Lin Xian was truly speechless; he zipped up his coat, opened his hands near the pitiful little stove, competing with the undercooked lamb skewers for warmth:

“You said you’d treat me to barbecue, and I deliberately didn’t wear thick clothes, afraid they’d pick up the smell.”

“Just admit it’s barbecue, come on!”

Gao Yang popped open a beer and handed it to Lin Xian.

Lin Xian took it and immediately set it down:

“And it’s freaking chilled… How does killing me benefit you?”

“Hahaha, drink something cold, forget your troubles!”

Gao Yang fanned a few more times with the fan, grabbed a handful of lamb skewers, and handed them to Lin Xian:

“Feeling any better these past few days?”

“Much better.” Lin Xian took a bite:

“After all, Xu Yun is gone, and being sad won’t help anything. It’s better to visit his daughter more often—that’s the best tribute I can offer him.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Gao Yang grabbed a handful of fish tofu to start grilling:

“`

“I wonder when they’ll catch the two murderers who killed Professor Xu Yun. Such people really deserve to die a horrible death! Out of all people, why did they have to kill such a great scientist!”

“I had been looking forward to taking a trip to the future in a Hibernation Pod, but now that’s probably not going to happen. I doubt I’ll see any hope of that.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Lin Xian countered.

“Whether we have Professor Xu Yun or not isn’t that important anymore. The technology for hibernation has been ignited. Without Professor Xu Yun, there will be Zhang Yun, Wang Yun, Li Yun to carry the torch and keep the hibernation research going. Nobody can stop that.”

“Besides, why would you want to go to the future for no reason?”

After finishing his lamb skewer, Lin Xian rubbed his hands and looked at Gao Yang:

“Hibernation Pods aren’t some kind of time machine. Once you’re in the future, you can’t come back. There’s no antidote for regret.”

“True, I was just saying it off the cuff. Even if there were Hibernation Pods, I wouldn’t use one.”

Gao Yang flipped a fish tofu, opened a beer and brought it over:

“Cheers! To Professor Xu Yun!”

Bang.

After clinking their cans, Gao Yang drained his in one gulp. Then he crushed the aluminum can and threw it violently across the Huangpu River—

Splosh.

This time, the throw was notably further, causing a splash before sinking.

“Let’s toast to your manners first.”

…

The riverside barbecue ended early.

It was because Gao Yang couldn’t stand the cold anymore, so he called it quits ahead of time.

When Lin Xian got home, his head felt heavy, and he had a runny nose.

“Shift…” Lin Xian cursed under his breath:

“I didn’t catch a cold, did I?”

He quickly showered in hot water and drank two packets of Ban Lan Gen.

Turn off the light, go to bed.

…

…@@novelbin@@

…

?

Lin Xian was confused.

Where was the hot summer breeze he had experienced for over twenty years?

Where were the cicadas that had been chirping for over twenty years?

Where were the noisy children in the square that had been there for over twenty years?

Why was it so quiet today!

He opened his eyes—

Brick walls, short houses, narrow alleys, lanterns, roof tiles, green moss…

All around were the haphazardly constructed small, self-built buildings!

Crowded, backward, quiet, desolate…

The scenery around him resembled a poor and underdeveloped village!

“What’s going on?”

Lin Xian looked left and right, staring at the dimly flickering tungsten filament lightbulbs in the windows and couldn’t help but step back a few paces.

Everything had changed…

All had changed!

No square, no playing children, no bustling shop-lined streets, no familiar electronic billboards and bright street lights.

“Where am I?”

Lin Xian suddenly turned around to look behind him…

Still, there were rugged stone-paved roads flanked by unevenly distributed self-built small buildings.

Where was this?

“What kind of dream have I fallen into?”

For the first time in all his years of dreaming, he had come across something so bizarre! He quickened his pace and ran forward—

No matter how he turned or looped around, the surroundings were always two or three-story tall brick and tile houses, even some with mud walls.

The roads were terrifyingly narrow, as though they were never meant for vehicles. He looked left and right, his view obstructed by the chaotically arranged low houses and could see nothing!

“Could it be…”

A chill ran through his heart.

Had he traveled to another timeline?

Another world?

What year and day was it?

Lin Xian turned around and noticed a small shop at the corner of the alley, illuminated by a big yellow lightbulb, styled just like the ones from the TV dramas of the ’80s and ’90s.

He hurried towards the small shop.

Inside, an old man in a white tank top was happily cracking melon seeds, fanning himself, watching a bulky television set.

“Dear viewers, good evening! The news will keep you updated!”

Inside the poor-resolution television…

A formally dressed female anchor smiled at Lin Xian:

“The time is now—”

“August 28, 2624! 10 PM sharp!”