The mountainside of Purple Mountain.
There was no maglev road here, so Lu Zhou came to the foot of the mountain by bus.
The landscape changes along the way were not particularly big, it basically retained the appearance from a century ago.
The sign of Zhongshan International had disappeared. Instead, there was a sign of “Lu Zhou Former Residence”, which was a cultural tourism scenic spot with a “modern style”.
Those who came here were all old people, adults with children, or small groups of young students who were on a school trip.
Generally speaking, the surrounding atmosphere was quite lively. In addition to some art vendors and street shops, there were also some small rustic restaurants that sold some of Lu Zhou’s favorite foods during his lifetime.
For example, various flavors of barbecue meat on rice.
The only thing that puzzled Lu Zhou was the braised pork rice store near his house.
He didn’t remember liking braised pork…
Using the navigation path given by the AR glasses, Lu Zhou walked along a completely tree-lined path and quickly came to his door.
Technically, this was not his own home anymore; it was a museum that had been renovated repeatedly. According to the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, this museum was currently managed and operated by the local Jinling government; it had become a part of the city’s public service resources.
The bricks and tiles here were no different from what he remembered. The only thing that had changed was that the two trees in the front yard were cut down and replaced by some beautiful monuments.
As Lu Zhou looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar house, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.
He still remembered when he first bought this house, Wang Peng said to him that the two trees in front of the window would cause blind spots in his vision and suggested that he cut them. But in the end, he insisted on keeping them.
100 years later, those two trees were taken down after all.
Lu Zhou smiled. With a nostalgic expression, he walked through the courtyard gate and walked along the moss-covered stone steps toward his home.
However, when he had just crossed the courtyard gate, someone shouted from behind him.
“Hey! Wait a second!”
A man in a museum uniform ran after him and spoke.
“Academician Lu’s former residence is not open to individual visitors. If you want to enter, you must make an appointment online in advance!”
Lu Zhou froze for a moment. He suddenly became unhappy. He stared at the museum staff and asked, “I need to make an appointment in advance to go back to my own home?”
The staff of the museum was stunned. He looked at Lu Zhou with a weird look, wondering what the guy was talking about.
Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he was wearing a stranger’s face. He immediately reached out and turned off the necklace on his neck, then stuffed it in his pocket.
“Do you know who I am?”
Staring straight at Lu Zhou’s face, the staff of the museum looked like he had just seen a ghost.
He was dumbfounded before, but now, he was flabbergasted.
A voice suddenly came from the direction of the courtyard door.
“What happened?”
Lu Zhou looked toward the entrance of the courtyard. He saw a tall, skinny, middle-aged man with glasses walking quickly toward him.
The moment he saw Lu Zhou, the man was stunned, and he quickly understood what was going on here.
“Curator…”
The curator said immediately, “Okay, I understand, go back to your post.”
“Yes, sir…”
The curator stared at Lu Zhou for a while, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and asked, “Are you… really Lu Zhou?”
“Of course.” Lu Zhou said with a sigh, “I’ve answered this question many times, I don’t want to answer it anymore.”
“I read the news. But the main reason is… You came from Mars. The reputation of that place is not good, the history books say that you have unfortunately been killed.” The curator smiled awkwardly and reached out his right hand. “Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is King Kong, the curator of the Lu Zhou Museum—”
“Pfft…”
Seeing how Lu Zhou suddenly laughed, King Kong was slightly stunned, and he asked out of confusion, “Um… Is there anything wrong?”
Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Sorry, nothing… It’s something from a century ago, not worth mentioning.”
King Kong looked at Lu Zhou in confusion before he finally decided that he didn’t care about these details.
He continued, “In short, I have seen you in the news. Although this is my profession, I really need to make a judgment… The dormant capsule of Martian civilization sounds incredible. What is it like? Why does it still have energy?
“Logically speaking, I don’t really believe that you are real… But I don’t think anyone will dress up like Academician Lu just to escape buying a ticket.”
Although he didn’t claim anything, the distrust in his eyes was clear.
However, Lu Zhou didn’t care. He just said casually, “I can understand your doubts. It’s normal. More than 90% of the logic in this world isn’t logical, it’s just to convince yourself to believe in common sense.
“However, you don’t have to be so wary of me. I have no plans to return to this old house. After all, it has been a hundred years, and it has been repaired so many times. I guess this house is still here. But it’s not the same one.”
Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s just that I haven’t been home for so many years, I want to go back to my own house.”
“I am very grateful for your understanding!” Curator King nodded slightly and finally showed some respect. “Whether you are really Academician Lu or not, I am willing to serve as the curator of the museum, to accompany you back home for a tour.”
The door opened.
Lu Zhou followed the footsteps of Curator King. He had finally returned to his home after a century.
As he looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar layout, he couldn’t help but look nostalgic.
Curator King asked with a faint smile, “How are you feeling?”
“Familiar.” Lu Zhou nodded. He casually pointed in the room. “It’s just that the location of the shoe cabinet is not the same as I remembered, and the jacket hanging at the door is definitely not mine.”
“This… After all, after so many years, it is normal for some discrepancies, but it’s basically the same. Including the shoe cabinet you mentioned, many of the furniture here are actually copies.” The curator touched the bridge of his nose with a hint of complacency in his tone. “In fact, besides being the curator of the Lu Zhou Museum, I am also a professor of modern history at the Jinling College of Arts and Sciences, and the area of my research… just happens to be related to you.”
Lu Zhou was stunned slightly. He asked curiously, “Me?”
“Yes, modern historiography about you has been a hot research area. There have been two technological leaps in China in modern times, and these two technological leaps directly laid the foundation for China to dominate Pan-Asia, and for Pan-Asia to dominate the world’s international political landscape.
“These two technological leaps correspond to two iconic events. One was the successful ignition of controllable fusion, and the other was the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee… In both cases, you played the role of chief designer. ”
After hearing that history had such a high evaluation of him, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile. He continued to ask with interest, “Not bad, what else? What else have you researched?”
“Various things.” Curator King smiled embarrassedly. “Including your academic career, personal experience, and some rumors about your relationship…”
Lu Zhou felt that his smile was a little unusual.
He heard the sound of footsteps coming upstairs, so he looked at Curator King and asked, “There are other people here?”
“A cultural tourism activity organized by a nearby middle school. This museum generally targets elementary and middle school students. Most individual visitors leave after taking a photo outside. Few people would want to come in.”
Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t respond. He looked around the living room and spoke.
“My study room is upstairs, I want to go and have a look… and my bedroom. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Of course not, this way!”
Following in the footsteps of Curator King, Lu Zhou went up the stairs to the second floor.
Just after he had stepped foot on the second floor, he happened to see a tour guide with a dozen children cramped in the corridor, talking around a hanging picture.
Although he didn’t remember having any paintings in the corridor, Lu Zhou didn’t bother to care about these details. After all, this was a museum, and it was normal to hang a few portraits.
He was about to turn the corner and go to the study room with Curator King when the voice of the guide behind him almost made him choke on his own saliva.
“This portrait is of Academician Lu’s young fiancee, Ms. Chen Yushan. Speaking of Ms. Chen Yushan, the story between the two can be regarded as a poignant love story.”
When they heard that it was a love story, the children nearby became excited.
One of the children standing in the front row immediately asked enthusiastically, “What’s the story?”
“It’s a long story.” The tour guide smiled and spoke, “Apparently, before Academician Lu went to Mars, the two made a promise of marriage. As a token of love, Academician Lu gave her a star and promised to leave a legend about their love on it.
“However, unfortunate things happen, nothing is guaranteed. The Gates of Hell mountain range collapsed in an earthquake. Academician Lu failed to return safely from Mars. Ms. Chen Yushan was heartbroken and spent a year growing an oasis in the deserts of the Northwest. She then resigned from the position of CEO of Star Sky Technology and disappeared from people’s sight. No one has seen her since…
“Some people say that she is dead after living alone in the oasis for the rest of her life. Others say that she hasn’t died yet, but went to a place far, far away, in order to complete her wish for her lover, to write their legend on that star.”
The children listened to the romantic love story with longing expressions. A fat kid suddenly jumped out and spoke.
“But why did Academician Lu give her a star? That star is not his!”
“Um…”
The tour guide looked embarrassed. When he was about to explain, a strange voice came from the side.
“Because Academician Lu is very rich. He spent 10 billion to register a stellar exploration fund.” Lu Zhou restrained the urge to grab the collar of the fat kid. He pointed to the painting and said, “Who hung this painting up?”
Seeing Lu Zhou suddenly became angry, the tour guide and Curator King both looked dumbfounded.
The first to react was Curator King. He gestured to the guide next to him and quickly pulled Lu Zhou away as he spoke.
“Um… I know that this painting was of course not originally placed here, but we are a museum, after all, so we have to introduce it to the tourists who come here—”
“The problem is that she’s not my fiancée at all!” Lu Zhou said angrily, “This is my student! My fiancee’s cousin! Han Mengqi!”
The f*ck?!
Curator King was immediately shocked. He almost choked to death by his own saliva.
“Han… Han what? Wait, it’s wrong? No? This painting has been hanging there for more than 20 years… When I came to this museum, it was already here.”
Lu Zhou spoke angrily.
“Who do you think is right!”
He was 80% certain that these guys used a photo from the documentary film “Scholar”. If he remembered correctly, Han Mengqi happened to play Chen Yushan in the documentary.
Lu Zhou wanted to choke this guy to death.
If it were a random actress it would be whatever, but this was his student!
The children who stood by finally recognized his face.
After staring at Lu Zhou for a while, the little fat kid widened his eyes and jumped out. He pointed to Lu Zhou and said excitedly, “Ah, you are Academician Lu!”
“No wait, didn’t the teacher say you are dead?”
“Not dead, passed away! Can you be more polite!”
“Bah, baah, you’re the one who is not polite! What is wrong with dying?”
Lu Zhou became more and more annoyed.
For f*ck sake!
These little rascals…
I’m still alive!
Curator King and the tour guide looked at each other with embarrassed looks on their faces.
Accidentally hanging up a painting of someone’s student as their fiancee was quite foolish.
“What do we do?”
“Should we… take it down first?”
“But…”
Curator King gritted his teeth and made a decision.
“Doesn’t matter if Academician Lu is alive or not, let’s take this painting down now!”