Even tigers don't eat their own young.
In the end, Zhao Yingjun got up and poured a bowl of dog food for her Pomeranian, VV.
VV immediately devoured it.
"Sorry."
Zhao Yingjun stroked its head and said softly,
"I didn't mean to forget about you."
She rubbed her forehead.
Taking a deep breath.
She stood up again, went to the sofa and sat down, leaning against the soft back, and began to consider the possibility of this "supernatural event."
From a scientific point of view.
This kind of thing is impossible to happen no matter what.
Having a child isn't something that can be done in a short time. It takes at least ten months of pregnancy. She is a woman, and there's no need to doubt whether she has given birth to a child or not.
That Yan Qiaoqiao could not possibly be her child.
"Sigh."
She really felt a headache.
She originally thought she had caught her parents' illegitimate child, secretly giving birth to a younger sister behind her back.
But it turned out.
She found out she had a daughter!
It would have been better not to bother and just accept Yan Qiaoqiao's persona as a "granddaughter of a distant relative."
What to do now?
Zhao Yingjun quickly calmed down.
There must be a cause for everything.
Her long-standing independent and rational lifestyle allowed Zhao Yingjun to put aside her emotions and seriously consider where the problem was.
"The problem is definitely not with me."
She was very sure of this.
"That is to say..."
She slowly opened her eyes, staring at the dim ceiling:
"The problem is still with that little girl."
Where did Yan Qiaoqiao come from? And what is her identity?
It's a must.
She had to figure this out.
Although Zhao Yingjun did not consider herself a meticulous person, this matter concerned her innocence; secondly, having a daughter out of nowhere was very strange no matter what. Therefore, she had to find out the truth.
To give herself, her parents, and Yan Qiaoqiao a reasonable explanation.
"What if she really is my daughter?"
Thinking of this question.
Zhao Yingjun's mind was in a mess.
She was only 25 years old, had no idea what to do, had not made any preparations to be a mother, did not know how to raise children, or how to get along with them.
This was not her fault.
Originally, whether it was a man or a woman, the transition in family identity should be gradual.
How could anyone suddenly conjure up a teenage daughter and then ask them to recognize each other?
There was no warmth,
No emotion,
Only horror, rejection, and a chill down the spine.
"I'll go see Yan Qiaoqiao tomorrow."
Zhao Yingjun put aside other unnecessary emotions.
Since the matter had already arisen, there was no need to escape or deny it. She had to face it anyway.
The source of everything came from that little girl.
Then.
She would find the answer from her!
After figuring it out.
Zhao Yingjun sat up from the sofa, opened the refrigerator door, and prepared to make something to fill her stomach.
At the same time, in the Fifth Dream, Face Village was bustling with activity.
"Hahahaha! "
Big Face Cat held a large elbow, tore it in half, put half on Lin Xian's plate, and half on CC's plate, his emotions were unusually high:
"Speaking of this village, you may not know that before I became the village chief, when my dad was the village chief, this village was already called Face Village."
"Do you know why? Because when I was born, it was an auspicious sign! Although it was in the middle of the night, the chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and pigs in the pigsty in the village were all humming my name the moment I was born."
"Humming Big Face Cat?" CC looked at the ruddy-faced Big Face Cat, who was a little tipsy, and doubted the truth of the story:
"How did those pigs and chickens do it?"
"Hey, sister-in-law, let your big brother finish talking."
Big Face Cat shook the bamboo wine cup, swaying his head:
"Big Face Cat is just my nickname, not my real name. It's just because my face has been very big since I was born. The midwife said my face was as round as a pancake, so the name Big Face Cat has continued."
"But I have a name, my father was a rare cultured person in this era, and gave me a very nice name, but for so many years, no one has ever called it."
Dong.
Lin Xian put down the bamboo wine cup, blinked his eyes and looked at Big Face Cat:
"You actually have a name."
"Tch, aren't you talking nonsense, old brother!"
Big Face Cat snorted:
"Who in this world doesn't have a name?"
"Speaking of your father..."
Lin Xian continued to ask:
"Your father has always felt like a legendary figure to me, well-known but never seen."
"And your father does seem to be very remarkable, very cultured and very smart. By the way, what's your father's name?"
For so long, Lin Xian really didn't know Big Face Cat's father's name.
Big Face Cat sighed softly and said in a low voice:
"Chen Heping."
Lin Xian looked at the half piece of greasy elbow on the plate, pondering the name of Cat Dad.
Indeed, it was a grand name.
As a super genius who deduced the cosmic constant 42 with just pen and paper, he deserved the name.
Lin Xian then realized.
Big Face Cat in the Fifth Dream still seemed to be alone.
He didn't see his parents, or that gentle and virtuous Face Sister-in-law, or the rebellious daughter and the proportionally smaller Little Face Cat.
Sigh.
He didn't ask either.
In this era, there was no modern medicine, no drugs, and a small cold or inflammation could eventually develop into a serious illness that could take a life.
"I heard your father left a lot of research manuscripts?"
Lin Xian continued to ask:
"Can I take a look later?"
"Of course, old brother, you are all people of our Face Village, don't be polite, do whatever you want! Hahahaha!"
Big Face Cat drank a few more cups of grain wine, and wiped Lin Xian's shoulder with his greasy hand:
"He wrote a lot of notes, which are all placed in the room next door. Before he got sick and passed away, he said that if any child was eager to learn, he would let him study more, saying that knowledge was the only way to change destiny."
"But in this era, can knowledge be eaten? Since my father passed away, no one has ever entered that room again, and no one has ever taught everyone. Face Village has not changed much since then. It has been going on like this, and it is actually not bad. At least we have no worries about food and clothing."
"Hey, let's not talk about such disappointing things! Such a happy moment today, come! Cheers! After drinking this cup of wine, let's go dancing! Dance around the bonfire!"
Big Face Cat raised his cup, clinked glasses with Lin Xian and CC, and drank it all in one gulp.
Then, dragging Da Zhuang, Er Zhu Zi, and San Pang, with their staggering steps, they came to the middle of the village, next to the bonfire with flames several meters high.
Accompanied by the drumbeats of several animal skin hand drums, they twisted around the bonfire, singing and dancing with the villagers.
CC ate the fruit on the table, looked at the singing and dancing crowd, and smiled slightly:
"If I had known they were good people, why did we always fight and kill each other like that? If I had known they were so simple, I would have sneaked in long ago."
Lin Xian smiled and shook his head:
"So getting along with people is also about methods."
"But it's not so easy for you to sneak in by yourself. To pass Er Zhu Zi's test, the identity of a sister-in-law or sister is a necessary stepping stone. So it must take two people to cooperate."
CC threw away the fruit core in her hand and looked at Lin Xian:
"Do I still have to continue performing?"
She wiped her hands:
"Teacher Wei also taught me some skills to play the role of a wife."
"No need, no need..."
Lin Xian waved his hand:
"Your acting skills are really a bit exaggerated. In fact, like I said at the beginning, there's no need to act at all. Just be yourself. The people in Face Village don't have that many tricks."
"Besides, Teacher Wei's guidance to you is completely based on his lover, the kind of bird-like type to guide. This style is obviously not suitable for you."
He picked up a fruit next to him and handed it to CC:
"Don't you realize it yourself? Didn't you feel disgusted or disgusted by the pretentious performance at the entrance of the village before?"
"Not really."
CC shook her head:
"I don't have any special feelings. The main reason is that I haven't been in a relationship and don't know what real love is like, or how lovers in love should act."
"You may be thinking a little too simply, Lin Xian. In this world, survival is already very difficult, and there are no literary works to refer to. Normally, children of my age have no way to understand this kind of thing."
She took the fruit Lin Xian handed her and turned to look at the huge bonfire, the dance was lively and cheerful.
Every era has its own entertainment.
Afterwards, the methods are different.
But happiness seems to be common.
"Can you dance?"
CC turned to look at Lin Xian.
"I can."
Lin Xian nodded:
"But I can't dance like them."
He smiled helplessly:
"This should be the unique Face Dance of Face Village. It has no rules at all, and I can't understand it."
"Hey! What's there not to understand!"
Suddenly.
Er Zhu Zi's voice came from behind.
The two turned around in shock.
They found that this version of Er Zhu Zi was truly unfathomable and elusive!
They saw that Er Zhu Zi was also a little drunk, and pulled the two of them up with a smile:
"Come, come, I'll teach you!"
"No, no, no need."
Lin Xian waved his hand to refuse.
He came to Face Village with a purpose, and soon, he planned to enter Big Face Cat's father's room to see the notes he left behind.
Then.
He also had to go to a corner of the village to find Gao Wen's safe, try to open it, and see what was inside.
It's just that.
Er Zhu Zi was really too enthusiastic to refuse, so he dragged the two to the bonfire.
The soaring flames reddened everyone's faces.
Er Zhu Zi put Lin Xian and CC's hands together:
"Just hold hands like this and follow me, come..."
The agile Er Zhu Zi led the dance next to him, signaling Lin Xian and CC, who were holding hands, to twist to his rhythm.
Lin Xian was helpless.
In order not to expose his straightforward purpose, he could only forcibly integrate into the environment and start tap dancing.
CC was obviously dancing for the first time.
On the one hand, she had to look at Er Zhu Zi's teaching, and on the other hand, she had to be careful not to step on Lin Xian's feet. At this moment, she had the feeling of imitating Handan again, stiff.
But she learned very seriously.
This serious energy could not help but make Lin Xian think of Chu Anqing.
The dancing flames reflected on CC's face, making her more lively and enthusiastic, and there was a flame flashing in her eyes, and her eyes were much softer.
CC was originally a cold version of Chu Anqing.
But now, the temperature of the fire seemed to melt this coldness, making Lin Xian dream back to that unforgettable New Year's Eve dinner in 2023...
Chu Anqing, dressed in a blue evening dress, was like a forest elf, leading him to complete a waltz that amazed the audience.
That was the first time he danced with Chu Anqing.
It was also the only time.
The last time.
For some reason, he thought of a sentence.
It is said that
Many times, in the moment you don't realize it, you have already met some people for the last time.
The current Lin Xian was deeply touched by this sentence.
Perhaps being able to meet CC again in the Fifth Dream was a miracle in itself.
What about the next dream?
Will she still be there?
What will the world become?
Lin Xian had no confidence at all.
Just like in front of him, CC was trying hard to learn the dance steps without stepping on him. Who could guarantee that the next time he entered the dream, she would still be here?
"Oops."
CC finally stepped on Lin Xian's shoe and smiled embarrassedly:
"Sorry."
Lin Xian was also brought back to his thoughts by this apologetic smile:
"Don't look at Er Zhu Zi, let me teach you."
This kind of bonfire dance itself doesn't have many movements. He memorized them all after watching them twice.
Still that sentence
How difficult can a dance that these Face Gang people can learn be?
He had been a dance partner for senior sisters and junior sisters in the dance class at Donghai University for several years, and his ballroom dancing skills were already superb.
He held CC's hands and led her.
Step by step, one step at a time, around the bonfire, around the flames, dancing gracefully, tapping back and forth to the rhythm of the animal skin drum.
Soon.
CC understood these dance steps and movements, no longer needing Lin Xian's guidance, and gradually followed the rhythm easily and freely.
"You really have a talent for it."
Lin Xian looked at CC:
"Your physical coordination has always been very strong, and you also have a lot of artistic cells."
"You are the first person to say that."
CC said:
"But this is the first dance I can dance. I didn't have the opportunity to dance before, and no one taught me how to dance. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Lin Xian and CC together, accompanied by the increasingly intense drumbeats, ushered in the final climax of the bonfire dance.
"It's so good."
CC looked at the bonfire burning with soaring flames, her eyes were unclear whether she was happy or lonely:
"Just..."
"The next time we meet, and the next time we meet in the future, will I forget the dance steps I just learned, and everything will start from scratch?"
Lin Xian nodded:
"Then it depends on how strong your memory fragments are. In each world, I will meet you countless times, but you will only remember one of them."
"If you are lucky, maybe in the next world, you will have more memory fragments from tonight, and you will still remember how to dance this dance."
"But I don't think there is much hope. It seems that the logic of your memory fragments is generally concentrated on the few times before the world changes. The more distant it is, the less you remember."
The animal skin drums that the villagers were hitting had reached a frenzied rhythm, and could stop at any time, ushering in the end of the bonfire dance.
"I will try my best to remember."
CC smiled.
She smiled like Chu Anqing.
Eyes curved into shallow crescents,
Small dimples looming at the corners of her mouth,
Pure and bright, making Lin Xian dizzy for a moment:
"Thank you for teaching me this dance."
Dong.
The final drumbeat stopped instantly.
The surrounding crowd also stopped, dispersed, applauded, or screamed.
Lin Xian and CC also let go of their hands.
They each took a step back, standing on either side of the bonfire, separated by what seemed like a sea of fire, like a vast ocean.
Just like the vast Pacific Ocean between Brooklyn and Donghai.
Far away.
But on the same planet.
"Genius!"
Er Zhu Zi clapped enthusiastically and ran over with admiration, giving CC a thumbs up:
"Sister-in-law, you are really a genius!"
Then he turned to look at Lin Xian:
"Old brother, you are not bad either!"
"You may not be clear, the cloth sun hat on my head is the champion prize of the village dance competition last year. Look at this craftsmanship, the stitches are so exquisite, it is not something that our small village can make, so it is regarded as the champion prize!"
"But I see that your dance skills seem to be no less than mine. You are very talented, so I decided..."
Er Zhu Zi decisively took off the green cloth sun hat on his head and put it on Lin Xian's head:
"You will be crowned king!"
"No, no..."
Lin Xian quickly took off this curse and neatly put the hat back on Er Zhu Zi's head:
"I'm still far behind, you are the dance king!"
It was also strange.
This Er Zhu Zi always wanted to put a green hat on his head. What kind of strange sense of ritual was this?
Finally, it was time for free activities and scattered chatting.
Everyone had eaten and drank enough, and stood or sat in various corners of the village, chatting and talking freely.
Lin Xian also had the opportunity to enter Chen Heping's house, Big Face Cat's father, with CC.
Fortunately, the animal husbandry and hunting industries in Face Village were very developed.
Grease, an important material for making oil lamps, was very abundant. Even in this room that had not been entered for many years, there were two large oil lamps.
CC took a burning branch from the bonfire and lit the two oil lamps, illuminating Cat Dad's former house.
It was very neat and clean. It seemed that someone often cleaned it.
There was a small bookshelf with several notebooks on it. They were all bound with very rough paper. It should be ancient papermaking technology, which was considered a very advanced technology in this village.
Lin Xian and CC each took a notebook and checked the contents.
The one in Lin Xian's hand was copied with a lot of poetry...
Should it be that Cat Dad discovered it during archaeological excavations and recorded it?
Including the Yueyang Tower Record that A Zhuang excitedly recited in the afternoon, was recorded in this notebook.
Recalling what A Zhuang and Big Face Cat said.
When Cat Dad was alive, he often gave classes to the children in the village and taught them knowledge. But after his death, this school was abandoned, and Face Village officially entered the Big Face Cat leadership era and began a wild life.
Continue to flip through it.
This notebook was full of ancient poetry, many of which were incomplete, and many of which were wrong.
Of course, Cat Dad didn't know it was wrong.
But Lin Xian had memorized it, and many places were copied incorrectly. This can't be blamed on Cat Dad. It was already amazing that he could find these relics of civilization from archaeological excavations.
"CC, what is written in your book?"
Lin Xian put down the one in his hand and looked at CC next to the other oil lamp.
"It's mathematics."
CC handed the one in her hand to Lin Xian:
"Very simple mathematics."
Mathematics?
Lin Xian became interested for a moment, took the rough notebook and flipped through it.
Indeed.
They were all very simple arithmetic problems.
Not even as difficult as the equations taught by Zheng Xiangyue, too basic.
Lin Xian's original intention was to find clues about the cosmic constant 42, but after reading all the notebooks, he had determined that
Big Face Cat's father in the Fifth Dream did not have access to the research on the cosmic constant.
This was also understandable.
The 2400 Earth Super Disaster overturned the entire world, and many things changed.
In previous dreams, the reason why Big Face Cat's father was able to continue to study the cosmic constant was entirely due to Liu Feng's girlfriend, the cosmic constant introduction in Li Qi Qi's grave.
Although the cosmic constant introduction was created in the era that Lin Xian was in.
But.
Because it was proven to be completely wrong and worthless, no publishing house was willing to publish it. Only Li Qi Qi found a Taobao merchant to print one herself.
Only this one.
The only copy in the world.
At least, in the next few hundred years, there will be no second cosmic constant introduction on Earth.
Obviously.
In the future world of the Fifth Dream, the super disaster destroyed everything, and almost all healthy Earthlings went to Mars. Earth was abandoned by humans in the disaster.
Then naturally, the only copy of the cosmic constant introduction in the world was not excavated and sent to Big Face Cat's father. The research on the cosmic constant 42 naturally came to an end.
The logic of time and space is interlocked.
A slight deviation leads to a huge difference.
"Let's go, let's go take a look at the hafnium alloy safe."
Lin Xian put Big Face Cat's father's notebook back in place, picked up the oil lamp, and walked with CC to the corner of the village.
The hafnium alloy safe was there.
He held up the oil lamp and looked at it. The brute force cracking method had already tried the password in reverse order to 00002701.
Only the last 2700 possibilities were left!
If he tried it at the fastest speed, it would take less than an hour to open Gao Wen's safe.
"Thank you, Face Village."
Lin Xian said sincerely:
"If they hadn't helped us crack it for more than ten years in advance and eliminated nearly 100 million password combinations, it wouldn't have been so easy for us to open this safe today."
"Is this safe very important?"
CC asked:
"Do you know this person named Gao Wen?"
Lin Xian didn't deny it or confirm it:
"I don't know him well, and I'm not sure if this Gao Wen is the Gao Wen I know."
"If it's the Gao Wen academician I know, then the things stored in this safe are very much worth looking forward to."
"Gao Wen academician is definitely a true genius. His invention once changed the entire world and reversed all the future."
"I believe that a true genius will not be buried here. Since he used a hafnium alloy safe, he probably entered the hibernation pod and went to the future."
"Under this premise, he will generally leave very important things for his future self. Anyway, there are not many password possibilities left. We will know what is inside when we open it."
CC turned her head and looked at the eight password dials:
"They have already tried to 00002701. Let's follow their progress and continue to crack it one by one."
"No, no."
Lin Xian was a very obedient and rational person.
He directly dialed the eight password dials back to 00000000, and then said with a smile:
"Let's start from 00000000. Although for the brute force method, it's the same no matter where you start, but we still have to learn the lesson we should learn."
Saying that.
He started to turn the rightmost password dial, trying one password at a time.
00000001,
00000002,
00000003,
Click, click, click.
The familiar sound of the lock not being opened.
For so long, so many hafnium alloy safes, so many dream adventures, Lin Xian had really not successfully opened a safe.
In front of him.
Perhaps a breakthrough of zero was finally about to be born!
Click, click, click.
As the numbers on the password dial continued to increase, Lin Xian also tightened his lips, inevitably feeling a little expectant and nervous.
Click, click, click.
00000039,
00000040,
00000041,
Press the lock.
Still not open.
Lin Xian moved the last password dial down again.
On the hafnium alloy safe, eight password dials were arranged into
00000042
This
This was an extremely familiar number, and an extremely familiar decimal.
It was exactly the same as the value displayed on Liu Feng's space-time clock, 0.0000042, except that it was missing a decimal point.
Lin Xian didn't think so much and pressed the lock mechanically
Boom.
A muffled sound that had accumulated hundreds of years of time.
The hafnium alloy safe opened in response!
"It's open, it's actually open!"
CC immediately jumped up from the stone chair next to her, her eyes wide open.
Although she could realize that the brute force method would eventually open the safe.
But when this moment really came
She still felt a little unbelievable!
Lin Xian did not speak.
He was still wondering.
Why was it such a coincidence?
The safe password set by Gao Wen was not only related to 42, but also the exact same as the space-time curvature of the current timeline
What did this mean?
With doubts, Lin Xian opened the hafnium alloy safe that had been sealed for many years.
He saw.
The empty safe was almost empty inside.
Only the most
Lin Xian gently took it.
Thanks to the full-page plastic sealing, it was still well preserved even after hundreds of years, just like Zheng Xiangyue's plastic-sealed small piece of paper, and could be viewed normally.
He opened this sacred and heavy notebook.
CC also held up the oil lamp and came over, and the two looked at the title page of the notebook together.
Through the still intact plastic sealing film, they could clearly see the several lines of black handwriting left on the paper inside
My name is Gao Wen, and this diary was stored on December 7, 2201. I plan to enter the hibernation pod and wake up within the 10-year safety period to ensure that my memory is not lost, and come to take this notebook.
And if you are not Gao Wen, but you saw this notebook. Then it means
I'm already dead.