154. The Secrets

It was not far away, just like Gu Ying said. After about ten minutes of driving along the road planted with sycamore across the villa area, they entered a military administrative zone.

Qi Le’an had lived in the villa area for a long time and he didn’t know that there was such an administrative zone.

The soldier standing guard outside seemed to be familiar with Gu Ying’s car and let them in without checking.

Qi Le’an was a little curious and looked around. Gu Ying reminded him, “Don’t look around.”

Qi Le’an, “…” He withdrew his eyes and looked straight ahead.

Gu Ying finally parked his car beside an old house. The building was built in the 1970s or 1980s, integrated with the Western style, and each household had a huge terrace, and many green plants were exposed from the terrace.

Gu Ying said: “Elder Xu.”

Qi Le’an was confused, “?” ? ? ”

Gu Ying had to say it again, “You can just call him Elder Xu when we meet him later.”

Qi Le’an understood and quickly said, “Okay.”

Elder Xu’s house was located on the sixth floor, which was the top of the building. It took Qi Le’an a long and arduous time to finally get there. Gu Ying knocked on the door, which was soon opened by a woman in an apron.

“Hello, Aunt Wang,” said Gu Ying.

Aunt Wang’s hair was a little grey, but it was well-kept. She looked at Qi Le’an behind Gu Ying and smiled, “Elder Xu is in the study.”

Gu Ying nodded and led Qi Le’an into the house.

The room had an old-fashioned tile floor. The two of them changed their shoes and went straight to the study room. At this time, Qi Le’an’s heart pounded and he suddenly felt unreal.

Gu Ying looked at the nervous Qi Le’an and knocked on the door of the study.

“Come in.”

An old but dignified voice was heard. Gu Ying pushed the door open and said: “Elder Xu, I brought him here.”

Qi Le’an looked into the room. The study room was very large and it was filled with books. Elder Xu was sitting in a wheelchair with reading glasses and a book in his hand.

Qi Le’an saw a flash of nostalgia in Elder Xu’s eyes when their eyes meet.

Gu Ying took Qi Le’an in and left, leaving Qi Le’an alone in the house. Elder Xu was a very serious old man, always with a straight face. Qi Le’an was a little afraid. He didn’t know what to say, but after thinking for a moment, he said, “Hello, Elder Xu.”

Elder Xu nodded and put the book on the desk beside him. He pointed at a small stool and said, “Have a seat.”

Only then did Qi Le’an dare to sit down.

After sitting down, he didn’t know what to say again. Qi Le’an had never met someone with such knowledge in his two lifetimes. He could only try to look ahead with a smile and hide his anxiety in his heart.

Thankfully, Elder Xu looked at him for a while and took the initiative to speak, “You’re still a little more like Pingjin.” Pingjin, that was Qi Le’an’s mother’s name.

As he spoke, he turned his wheelchair away from Qi Le’an to look for something on the old-fashioned mahogany desk. After a while, he turned back and handed Qi Le’an a photo.

The photo was very small with a little color. It showed the younger Qi Xiaoguo and his wife holding a baby.

Qi Le’an had never seen a photo like this before and was at a loss.

“Your mother was one of the most beautiful girls in the school, but in the end, she was snatched away by your father,” Elder Xu said slowly as if he was reluctant. “If you look like your father, I won’t see you anymore.”

Qi Le’an, “…”

Elder Xu thought about it and said, “But your father was not bad either.”

Qi Le’an said involuntarily, “I’ve never heard anyone tell me about my parents’ stories.”

It was reasonable to say that Qi Le’an was not young when the Qi Xiaoguo couple passed away, but the couple was always on their work, leaving their children to the elderly all year round.  And Qi Le’an’s grandparents rarely talked about these things, which led to Qi Le’an’s limited memory of his parents.

Elder Xu said, “There’s nothing to talk about. A bastard from the countryside stole my favorite student.”

Qi Le’an, “…” He didn’t think he could talk about this topic anymore.

The old man spoke with such a cold tone, but he quickly added, “They were supposed to pick you up and raise you. But later, they were afraid that radiation might not be good for the child, so they left you in their hometown. By the way, did Gu Ying tell you what project it was?”

Qi Le’an shook his head, thinking that Gu Ying said it was in the confidentiality agreement, how could he tell him?

“Oh,” Elder Xu replied, “He wasn’t qualified to participate in the project back then, so he couldn’t figure out what it was. Your parents were studying physics. Do you learn physics?”

Qi Le’an could only continue to shake his head.

Elder Xu was not surprised. He looked at Qi Le’an and said, “The field of physics… Einstein also studied physics, time, space… time, and space…”

Qi Le’an’s pupils contracted.

Time, space, space-time?

Elder Xu didn’t see Qi Le’an’s expression and continued to say, “Your parents probably were studying in this field too. Have you heard of the Grandfather Paradox?”

Qi Le’an was embarrassed to continue shaking his head. He was like an idiot in front of an old scientist.

Elder Xu sighed and mumbled, “I should have asked Pingjin to take you over then. Then you wouldn’t know nothing now.”

Qi Le’an, “…”

“We have been researching on an instrument. The purpose of this instrument is to travel through time and space,” Elder Xu ignored Qi Le’an’s shocked gaze and said, “But it was too difficult. It was not until your parents passed away that we made any progress.”

“Back then, I was the one who restarted the project and your parents were my assistants. We restarted the project and worked on it for four years. But because of the death of your parents, this project was called off again.”

Elder Xu looked at Qi Le’an as if he wanted to see something through Qi Le’an’s expression. However, he was destined to be disappointed. Qi Le’an was an actor. His face was calm, even as his heart was in turmoil.

Elder Xu shifted his gaze away from Qi Le’an and said, “Never mind. It’s all old history. I watched your anti-japanese drama on TV the other day. It’s good that a young man can do it. I heard from Gu Ying that you’ve been doing this all these years, right? ”

Now it was finally time for Qi Le’an to speak. He said, “Yes. I started doing it shortly after my parents passed away.”

Elder Xu nodded and said, “Your mother loved to sing back then, and you inherited it.”

Qi Le’an could not tell Elder Xu that he was the worst at singing.

Elder Xu didn’t mind Qi Le’an and said, “We are not in the same system as the people in the Bureau of Culture. When Gu Ying told me that, they had already released the document. I heard that you planned to go abroad? To learn physics? ”

Qi Le’an never expected Elder Xu to change the topic so quickly. If he kept the pace like this, Elder Xu must have already known that he was banned. But studying physics was too exaggerated a topic, wasn’t it? Qi Le’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He said, “I can’t learn physics. I would probably learn film and television performance if I go abroad.”

Elder Xu nodded and said, “It’s not bad to go abroad. Pingjin had a chance to be exchanged to a university abroad back then, but unfortunately, she was pregnant, waiting to give birth to you then. Later on, as long as she quarreled with your dad, she would bring it up. If you go abroad, have a good visit to the foreign universities for her. Then she wouldn’t make a fuss about it every time.”

The image of his mother seemed to be alive at this moment. Qi Le’an didn’t expect that he would have the opportunity to hear someone talk about his parents’ family details, and he was quite touched.

However, after Elder Xu said this, he did not say anything else. Qi Le’an looked at him and found that the old man had closed his eyes.

Qi Le’an was confused, “?” ? ? ”

After staring at the old man carefully for a few seconds, Qi Le’an noticed that his body was still heaving. He was finally relieved. He was hesitating if he should say something when another word came from the old man.

“You may go now.”

Qi Le’an blinked and thought that this old man was too weird.

However, he still left the study very quietly, then he closed the door with a puzzled face. Gu Ying sat in the living room playing with his mobile phone. Seeing Qi Le’an come out, he put the phone in his pocket.

“Finished chatting?”

“I don’t think so,” Qi Le’an said honestly.

Gu Ying was also a little confused. He quickly adjusted his expression and said, “That’s how Elder Xu is, never mind. By the way, Elder Xu wanted to give this to you.”

With these words, Gu Ying handed Qi Le’an a crumpled piece of paper.

Qi Le’an opened it and found that it was a cheque! He looked at the amount again and realized that it was exactly one million yuan! Coincidentally, it was exactly what he lacked with money!

At the signature part of the cheque, the word “Xu Cheng” was written frantically.

Qi Le’an turned around and wanted to go back to the study, but he was stopped by Gu Ying. He said, “Just go. Just do what he asked you to do.”

What did Elder Xu say? Elder Xu said, “Go abroad and have a good visit for her…”

Qi Le’an’s eyes were finally wet.

He didn’t know how much money an old scientist could make, but Elder Xu was still living in a residence distributed by the country. The most advanced equipment in his family was probably his electric-powered wheelchair. These one million yuan… It must not be an amount that can be given away casually by an old man like him.

Qi Le’an opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. Gu Ying said, “Let’s go.”

Qi Le’an looked back at the direction of the study and followed Gu Ying out.

On the way back, he was speechless. When he got out of the car, Gu Ying finally said, “Take the money and do what you want. Don’t waste Elder Xu’s kindness.”

Qi Le’an nodded and said, “Please bring the appreciation to Elder Xu for me.”

Gu Ying waved his hand and drove away.

Qi Le’an watched him leave and enter the house. He was thinking about it as he walked. He met a strange old man today, listened to him talk about his parents, and then was given some money.

What his parents had been studying, time, space, space-time…

Qi Le’an suddenly took out his phone and typed the word “Grandfather Paradox” in the search bar.

At the same time, Gu Ying drove his off-road vehicle back to the military administrative zone, hummed a tune when he was parking, and went upstairs. Just as he took out his key from his pocket to open the door, he was lectured by Elder Xu in the living room.

“You’re almost forty years old! Can you be mature a little?”

Gu Ying closed his mouth.

“Did you send him back?”

“Yes,” said Gu Ying quickly.

Elder Xu nodded thoughtfully.

Gu Ying looked at Elder Xu’s expression and said: “Elder Xu, I think this Qi Le’an should not know about these things back then.”

Elder Xu didn’t say anything about it. He just said, “When I was talking about the project, he was very calm.”

Gu Ying shrugged and said, “It showed that he didn’t know.”

Elder Xu shook his head, his eyes revealing a hint of sharpness. “If he didn’t know, shouldn’t he be surprised instead? But he was way too calm as if he was covering up something.”

Gu Ying was shocked and said, “You mean… he knows that?”

Elder Xu didn’t say yes or no. Instead, he said something else.

“Back when we were collecting the bodies from the accident… The weight of the corpse was not enough for five people. The people who disappeared in front of us were armed with the equipment… Then where did they go?”