The T University Art Museum, established by the Art College of T City University, occupies a small area but boasts a history of over 100 years.
Open year-round, it features exhibitions for young artists for almost half the year, especially during graduation season when it showcases works by graduates from art academies across the country.
The museum's management is shrewd; these graduate works are also sold alongside the exhibitions. Because they aren't by famous artists, the prices are low, and often, people buy the pieces they like—most of the proceeds go to the artists, with the museum taking a cut.
As a result, undergraduates and graduate students from art academies across the country are eager to submit their work to the T University Art Museum, hoping to earn a profit if they are lucky enough to sell.
"This makes the artwork in the museum even more unpredictable. A painting displayed in the morning might be sold by the afternoon, and new works will quickly be added," Qin Ci remarked, standing in front of the museum's floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing at the avant-garde display stands and artworks in the lobby.
Ke Xun and Wei Dong had encountered Qin Ci by chance at the museum's vending machine; it was a very hot day, and everyone was constantly seeking water.
After seeing the previous painting, everyone refused to drink any processed beverages, and each of the three now had a bottle of mineral water.
"These works are so fluid, it saves us the trouble of worrying," Ke Xun said, taking a few sips of the slightly cool water. "Let's just stick to what we have."
"Did you just enter the museum?" Qin Ci asked.
Wei Dong nodded: "We asked around for this place from students at T University. This small art museum is quite well hidden."
Qin Ci looked around the several small exhibition halls: "I've already searched all around here, but I haven't found Hall K."
Ke Xun and Wei Dong found it strange. This art museum wasn't very big, so where could an exhibition hall be hidden?
Qin Ci picked up the invitation in his hand and looked at it: "It is Hall K, but this art museum only has ten exhibition halls in total. If we list them alphabetically, Hall K should be the eleventh exhibition hall."
Most of the people coming and going in the exhibition hall were art students, some of whom were wearing T-shirts with the museum's logo, probably volunteers helping out.
Just as the group was about to ask someone, a volunteer girl with a ponytail approached and greeted them warmly with a smile, "You're here to see the exhibition, right? Today's works are quite extensive, bringing together outstanding pieces from four universities! If you'd like to learn more about these works, I can give you a brief explanation."
"Thank you very much. We were just wondering if there's a K exhibition hall here?" Qin Ci asked.
"It seems you're quite familiar with today's exhibition. The K exhibition hall is a temporary addition we made, because there are just too many exhibits these past two days~" The girl shrugged and smiled cutely, "Please follow me."
They hadn't expected an exhibition hall to be set up so complicatedly; they wondered how the mastermind behind this whole scheme had obtained information about the exhibits in advance.
Without time to think further, they followed the girl to the art museum's backyard, past the stone tables and chairs for guests to rest, and arrived at the entrance of an old-fashioned building.
The girl smiled and said, "This was originally a rest area for guests, but because there were so many works, it was temporarily converted into an exhibition hall yesterday."
She was about to lead them inside when the three of them waved their hands in unison, "Um... no need to lead us, we'll go ourselves."
The girl remained very enthusiastic: "The works in Hall K are very unique. If we categorize them by school, this hall pays homage to Fauvism, and could even be considered a Fauvist revival."
Fauvism—the next painting should be quite impressive.
The three didn't want to drag this innocent girl into the exhibition. Ke Xun gave an embarrassed smile, "Thank you very much for showing us, but we'd like to use the restroom first."
The girl smiled understandingly, "Please go ahead, everyone. I sincerely hope you enjoy today's exhibition."
Wei Dong added, "I think the front hall might need you more, since there are many guests there."
"Okay, if you need anything, just come to the front hall and find me. My name is Ye Ningchen." The girl pointed to her name tag on her T-shirt and left with a smile.
Watching the girl's departing figure, everyone breathed a sigh of relief—at least they had saved an innocent life.
A sign stood before the temporary K exhibition hall—"A Revival of Fauvism: Painting is not an instruction manual, but our emotions.
" "That's definitely a subjective viewpoint of Fauvism," Wei Dong suddenly remarked.
"When did you, a mere art designer, become a professional?" Ke Xun said.
Wei Dong shrugged: "Practice makes perfect."
Qin Ci, the doctor, smiled faintly and pushed open the exhibition hall door.
The lighting inside was just right, the contrast perfect for calmly appreciating the paintings.
The hall was empty; whether it was because of the heat and the lack of visitors to the backyard, or because the previous group of visitors had been absorbed by a particular painting…
before the room darkened, the three of them hurried through the paintings, eager to memorize the content, labels, and artist biographies that might offer some insight into the works.
"Where can I get some hot water?" The exhibition hall door suddenly opened, and a middle-aged woman barged in.
The three people, clearly encountering this situation for the first time, stared blankly at the visitor.
The exhibition hall door behind the middle-aged woman closed. She surveyed the room, holding her half-empty water bottle: "This place is so unfair! How come there's no hot water? Museums and libraries have free hot water! These people really know how to make money, setting up so many vending machines to scam people..."
Before the middle-aged woman could finish speaking, the entire exhibition hall suddenly went dark. The woman roared angrily: "Why is there a power outage?! Is anyone in charge?! If someone falls, who can they complain to?!"
When that familiar white light came on, the middle-aged woman was still rambling: "What's going on? Is this an emergency light? Where's the exhibition hall door...?"
Ke Xun clearly saw the painting... The accompanying label reads "Shadow," by Rong Rang, born in 1993, with ancestral roots in Tongzhou, Hunan…
The painting itself doesn't seem particularly noteworthy; abstract lines are scattered throughout, predominantly black, accented with blue, yellow, red, and purple… These colors share similar intensity and shade, enveloping everyone in a flat, two-dimensional composition…
The new world is blindingly bright. Ke Xun once again experiences the "two-dimensional discomfort" he felt upon entering the painting before—like feeling weightlessness in a rapidly descending elevator or on a plane just taking off—in this painting, this weightlessness isn't simply upward or downward, but extends infinitely in all directions.
The unique architecture before him appears composed of countless colorful dots, with vibrant fruit trees growing along a dazzling riverbank, its surface shimmering and stretching to the endless horizon.
"Is our world three-dimensional?" Ke Xun rubs his temples, trying to alleviate the discomfort with deep breaths.
Wei Dong looks at his still relatively three-dimensional hands: "It's three-dimensional, but the colors are too vibrant, making it feel somewhat unreal."
"The sunlight here is a bit like Nice," Qin Ci explained, glancing at the bewildered Ke Xun and Wei Dong. "Nice is a city in southeastern France, the birthplace of Matisse, a representative of Fauvism, is there, and now there's the famous Matisse Museum. —I traveled there a couple of years ago."
"Maybe this painting is a tribute to Matisse." Ke Xun tried to adjust to the scene before him. Because the entire painting was so artistic, outside this small world, there were several colorful dots in the snow-white void, indicating that it was a desolate place.
"Where do we get hot water?" a middle-aged woman's voice sounded behind him.
Ke Xun and Wei Dong cast hopeful glances at Dr. Qin, who turned to the middle-aged woman and said, "Let's go to the front first, and explain to everyone once we're all here."
"No... I don't understand your modern performance art either. You've made the exhibition hall quite beautiful, and it's quite surprising... but right now I just want to get hot water! I came to your art museum just to use the restroom! And get some hot water while I'm at it!" The middle-aged woman fell silent, surprised to find that the large water bottle in her hand had somehow transformed into a clear, bright European-style glass water jug. "What is this thing? It's so heavy!"
Ke Xun and the other two stopped talking and walked directly towards the beautiful building in front of them. The middle-aged woman was dumbfounded and could only follow along, carrying the heavy, antique water jug.
No one noticed their changed clothing—cloth of no particular ethnicity, with a dazzling white base and various brightly colored patterns.
Under the fruit trees by the river, Mu Yiran and Zhu Haowen were already waiting, along with a middle-aged man in his forties and a young woman who looked like a college student.
The girl sobbed softly, held in the arms of the middle-aged man, who comforted her with kisses from time to time. —This was actually a couple in an age-gap relationship.
Mu Yiran's clothes were mainly white with delicate grape-purple patterns, giving him an air of aristocratic prince.
Ke Xun felt for the first time that appreciating a person could be like appreciating a painting. Just as he was about to linger on this "painting," he suddenly heard a familiar name from afar: "Ye Ningchenyi, hurry up!"
Ye Ningchenyi was the volunteer girl who had led everyone to the K exhibition hall earlier. Unexpectedly, she had ultimately succumbed to fate, stepping into this nightmarish, endlessly recurring, cruel world.
Qin Ci counted the number of people present and then looked at the young people approaching: "Everyone's here."
Approaching from a distance were five college students—three boys and two girls. Walking at the back was Ye Ningchenyi with her ponytail, but her previous enthusiastic smile was gone, replaced by panic and confusion.
Qin Ci had become a recognized interpreter of the painting, and now he was explaining the rules of the painting to everyone with ease.
The newcomers naturally couldn't hide their panic, only the middle-aged man in his forties remained relatively calm, while the middle-aged woman was more of a complaining and irritable person: "What bad luck! What a disaster!"
The middle-aged man, holding his crying girlfriend, looked at Mu Yiran and the other five people: "Have you all experienced something like this before?"
Qin Ci nodded, indicating his companions' agreement.
"Then I'll have to trouble you all for the rest of the way," the man said, instinctively reaching for his business card in his jacket pocket, only to find his clothes had been replaced with a retro style without pockets. He couldn't help but chuckle. "My name is Shi Zhendong. May I ask how you all address me?"
The men gave their names briefly, some only mentioning their surnames, like Mu Yiran: "My surname is Mu."
The other college students glanced at the girl in Shi Zhendong's arms, and one of them greeted her with a somewhat unfriendly tone: "Xin Beibei, we all went to the K exhibition hall to find you. You didn't even say hello to everyone before going on a date?"
Xin Beibei was clearly not listening to these words and was only focused on crying.