City A isn't far; it's only a four-hour train ride.
In early winter, the world hasn't completely lost its color. Outside the train window, fiery red maple trees rush past, as if trying to set the entire carriage ablaze.
Ke Xun and Mu Yiran sit side-by-side, their hands outstretched, palms remarkably similar in width to finger length—at first glance, they seem like the same hand.
Upon closer inspection, Ke Xun's hands are rougher, with varying degrees of calluses on his palms and fingers.
"Look, your career line is long," Ke Xun traces the 'career line' on Mu Yiran's palm, comparing it to his own. "My ambition is terrible… but my love line is thick!"
The two whisper about their most mundane conversation.
Mu Yiran leans back in his seat, obediently wearing the neck pillow Ke Xun 'arranged' for him. His usually cold face is nestled in the fluffy pillow, giving him a slightly honest and simple look.
Ke Xun felt Mu Yiran's hand move towards the back of his head, his fingers weaving between the cervical pillow and the back of his neck, seemingly searching for the distinctive tip of his hair.
"Want some chocolate?" A particularly oblivious hand reached out from the front seat, holding two chocolates.
Wei Dong, wearing dark sunglasses, turned around: "Chocolate isn't junk food; we need to store enough calories to maintain our energy."
Ke Xun looked Wei Dong up and down, expressing his concern: "The train police officer kept staring at you."
"Yeah, I also think this outfit gives me courage." Wei Dong pursed his lips, chewing on the chocolate, feeling it looked cool.
Wearing a black outfit meant to boost courage, Wei Dong started handing out chocolates to Qin Ci and Zhu Haowen in the row in front of him, nudging Zhu Haowen's shoulder and saying, "When are you going to sit back down? I don't want to sit next to Shao Ling, that kid's too much of a genius. I've lived in the shadow of a genius deskmate since I was little, I've had enough."
Zhu Haowen replied, "I don't want to sit next to a 'socialite,' I'd rather sit next to a doctor."
Qin Ci was speechless. Wei Dong, the "
socialite," stood up and craned his neck to look at Zhu Haowen in front of him: "Reading on the bus makes you carsick... Wait a minute, Haowen, when did you stop playing games and start reading? And it's a paper book!" Zhu Haowen
flipped through the book, seemingly engrossed in the plot.
Wei Dong's curiosity was piqued: "Holy crap, it's a paper book!"
"A detective novel," Zhu Haowen replied politely.
"Who wrote it? Higashino Keigo?"
"..."
Wei Dong didn't realize he'd misspoke, and scratched his head, thinking, "This book looks old, isn't it written by the detective queen Alyosha?"
"Wang Shuo."
"Damn, don't think the graphic designer is uncultured! Ke'er and I read a lot of Wang Shuo's stuff back in the day, things like 'fierce animals' and 'half sea, half fire'! Wang Shuo writing mystery? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Don't tease me!"
Zhu Haowen held up the book for Wei Dong to see the cover, which read "The Detective Stories of Dan Liren," and the author's name was indeed Wang Shuo.
"Wow, that's rare. Wang Shuo even wrote a mystery novel." Wei Dong muttered, turning to 'report' to Ke Xun in the back seat. But when he turned back, he covered his eyes: "What the hell are they doing in a public place?!"
Ke Xun looked up: "Adjusting the seat height..."
"You two might as well lie down..." Wei Dong then realized that both of them were wearing neck pillows: A once outstanding big shot had been turned into a fat-necked chicken. Love really can lower one's cultivation level... When
the train arrived at a station, Shao Ling came to his companions' carriage. He saw a guy in black clothes and sunglasses waving enthusiastically at him. Shao Ling looked closely at the seats in front and behind the guy in sunglasses before confirming that he hadn't come to the wrong carriage.
The guy in sunglasses said, "There's only one seat left. They don't want to sit next to this 'socialite'."
After greeting everyone, Shao Ling sat down. "In sociology, a 'socialite' refers to a person with both natural and social attributes, as opposed to 'economic man'."
"..." Wei Dong, who had taken off his sunglasses, was stunned for a moment, then obediently handed over his box of chocolates with both hands. "Want some? This is for maintaining energy. It's sweet and quite delicious."
Shao Ling nodded politely and picked up a chocolate. "Actually, sweetness isn't part of the chocolate's flavor. Chocolate originated in Central and South America. Its ancestor is xocolatl, meaning 'bitter water'."
Wei Dong chewed on the chocolate, looking innocently at Shao Ling, feeling the shadows of his student days return. "Ha, right..."
Wei Dong looked at Shao Ling's profile. The other man wasn't eating chocolate; he seemed to be lost in thought.
Everyone has their own way of relieving tension. Wei Dong, for example, numbs himself by joking around, while Shao Ling's way is probably mechanically reciting textbooks like he just did...
Thinking of this, Wei Dong couldn't help but feel a little sorry for this new member: "Don't be shy, eat more, eat more!"
Shao Ling seemed to only come back to his senses after being patted on the back by Wei Dong a few times. He looked down at the ingredient list on the chocolate packaging: "The sugar content is a bit high, but luckily the saturated fat in chocolate contains the unique stearic acid component, so it's okay to eat a little."
"...Eat."
...
The train soon arrived in City A. The hotel had been booked in advance, so everyone wasn't in a hurry to check in.
"It's still early, let's go to the art museum first." It was Qin Ci who spoke. "
Luo Bo said they've already arrived at the art museum." Wei Dong took off his sunglasses as he passed the mirror in the waiting hall. He felt like a blind man in black who needed to be taken care of among this group of people, or a hostage wearing opaque sunglasses being held hostage by this group.
Everyone carried their ever-present art museum admission ticket, this time for the 'Old Station Art Museum'.
They searched the city map for a while before finally finding the old train station. With the construction and opening of the new station, the old one had been converted into a public art museum, supposedly to improve the public's appreciation of art.
Now, the 'Old Station Art Museum' has been open for ten years, and apart from major exhibitions, it's practically deserted—the public's appreciation level can't be improved by just one art museum.
So, when the taxi driver heard that these "tourists" wanted to visit an art museum, he earnestly warned them, "Don't waste your time, it's so boring! There are no masters here, really! Other museums and art galleries have a treasure to their name, but don't even think about it here! You guys might as well go to the botanical garden
or the zoo! The zoo just got some baby kangaroos!" Zhu Haowen, leaning forward, was inexplicably sandwiched between Qin Ci and Wei Dong and sat in the middle of the back seat, feeling very awkward: "I heard that this art museum was built by the mayor against all odds. It's said that the bidding projects included an aquarium, a train model exhibition hall, and a folk museum."
"That's right!" The taxi driver was talkative, "Any of those would be more popular than the art museum! Especially the aquarium, how many children would it attract! They could even open a buffet restaurant in the basement, eating while admiring the big fish and shrimp behind the glass, how exciting would that be! It would also generate revenue for the city!"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes." Wei Dong nodded and laughed all the way.
Upon arriving at the old train station, everyone thanked the driver but insisted on getting off. Wei Dong added, "I just wanted to see how badly this art museum is doing..."
Ke Xun and Mu Yiran had already arrived in the previous taxi. Standing next to them was Fang Fei, a girl with a long black ponytail.
This hairstyle made Fang Fei look more capable and a bit colder. She nodded to everyone without saying much.
"Brother! Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!" A voice rang out from afar, and it was obvious who it was without even looking.
Luo Jin wobbled over on his motion-sensor vehicle. "Luckily you two are tall, otherwise I would have had to circle this dilapidated building again. I searched for ages but couldn't find the art museum."
Ke Xun silently pointed to the large characters at the entrance of "this dilapidated building"—Old Station Art Museum.
"Hey, here it is~" Luo Tan stopped the motion-sensor vehicle, blinked and looked up. "This little shabby building is so run-down and so small. I thought it was a convenience store."
This art museum wasn't actually that small; old train station buildings in old cities were almost all this size.
"I thought you thought this was a parking lot..." Wei Dong said.
"Hey, Dong-ge?! When did you arrive?" Luo Tan suddenly spotted Wei Dong and was very excited. Then he saw Qin Ci: "Qin-ge!" Then he saw Shao Ling: "Shao-ge!" Then he saw Zhu Haowen: "Wen'er..."
Zhu Haowen: "Don't call me 'brother' randomly."
Luo Tan happily went up and nudged Zhu Haowen with his elbow: "Show your ID card if you dare, let's see who's the brother~"
Zhu Haowen: "..."
"Snap!" Luo Tan took a selfie of the two of them with his phone. "Being young now is nothing. Let's take another one in ten years and see who time spares~"
Luo Tan looked at the photo on his phone. The two young faces radiated boundless youth, although one had no smile and the other was forcing a smile.
Luo Jin wanted to suggest taking a group photo in front of the art museum, but then felt the suggestion was unlucky…
Zhu Haowen turned his gaze to the art museum: "The audience for this old train station art museum isn't ideal; many citizens are even complaining about the municipal decision back then…"
Luo Jin: Huh? The topic shift was completely illogical.
Shao Ling looked up at the old art museum: "Was this municipal decision influenced by other factors? The train station was converted into an art museum in 2009. The other art museums you've encountered before had different construction dates; some are over a hundred years old, while others are newly opened in the last two years. I think we need to investigate the reasons for their construction. Take this one, for example. This art museum was built against all odds, and the citizens don't accept it. This can be considered a wrong decision, but how exactly was this decision made in the first place?"
After saying this, Shao Ling looked around. Fortunately, the place was deserted, with only a few companions standing alone in front of the entrance.
"What impressed me most was the painting 'Breaking Ground'. The Hong Kong developer bought the land, which resulted in the old residents of the Spring Bamboo Apartments being forced to move out, and even cau
sed resentment," Qin Ci also felt the same way. "From this perspective, it seems that these art museums were built by some mysterious force."