The meeting between the two Bian Senlin (Part 2)

"Well, it's okay now. Thank you, Professor. Um... Okay, I understand..."

Dr. Bian just finished a phone call with his immediate superior, the director of the Institute of Intelligence.

As soon as he turned around, he saw Bian Senlin staring at him in amazement, and he couldn't help but stop.

Even though he was prepared, he couldn't help but reveal a complicated expression when he saw himself many years ago.

At this moment, he heard the person on the other side speak hesitantly: "Were you... brought here by them too?"

Dr. Bian noticed that Bian Senlin subconsciously used the word "bring" and avoided the word "catch".

But the other party didn't realize that the hesitant look on his face conveyed the same meaning.

At this moment, the watch on Dr. Bian's wrist vibrated slightly.

He smiled and said, "I am a researcher at the Intelligence Research Institute under the Space-Time Bureau.

As a rule, whenever there is a major case, the research institute will assign personnel to the task force to provide technical support.

I heard that this incident was related to me, so they sent me here."

He did not directly answer Bian Senlin's question, but explained the current situation in a different way.

Bian Senlin didn't notice why the other party avoided his question. To him, the meaning of this sentence was:

I am a staff member here, so there is no situation where I was brought here by force.

Compared to this, he cares more about his future identity - a researcher at the Institute of Intelligence.

29-year-old Bian Senlin once thought about giving up technology and changing careers. Does this mean that he finally did not give up?

This made Bian Senlin, who had been in a depressed state these days, feel unusually happy.

Bian Senlin suddenly had a lot to say, but he didn't know where to start, and was a little hesitant for a moment.

Dr. Bian saw it and asked with a smile, "Are you free?"

Bian Senlin was stunned.

Dr. Bian looked at the small robots that had already moved everything in and were leaving one by one, and said, "Would you mind helping me?"

Bian Senlin nodded without thinking, then followed Dr. Bian into his room in a daze.

Bian Senlin's own dormitory has a one-bedroom, two-living room and one bathroom, while Dr. Bian has an extra study room.

The furniture is all ready and you can move in right away with your luggage, but Bian Senlin can still see some traces of modification.

Bian Senlin looked around and saw that the robots had already put most of the things in place, so he couldn't see any way he could help.

He looked at Dr. Bian in confusion, and Dr. Bian took him into the study.

Unlike the outside, which has only been slightly modified, the study has obviously been carefully decorated.

There is a large desk, an entire wall of custom-made books, and a workbench whose purpose is unknown.

There is a very comfortable reading area in the corner, where people can read lazily on the single sofa.

The books brought in by the robots were piled up on the desks and workbenches and had not yet been sorted.

This made Bian Senlin a little stunned, and he subconsciously asked: "Will you live here for a long time?"

After asking this, Bian Senlin felt a little stupid. The other party was different from him. He was a staff member here, so it was not surprising that he lived here permanently.

Unexpectedly, Dr. Bian shook his head and said, "No, I have my own residence, but it's a little far from here.

How long I stay here depends on how things are resolved, maybe a month, maybe even longer."

As he spoke, he walked towards the stacks of books. "I'm used to arranging the bookshelves myself, so I didn't ask the robot to do it. Do you want to join us?"

Bian Senlin was startled and stepped forward to help.

He keenly discovered the difference between himself and the fat man 20 years later.

For fat people, even if they live in a place for a few years, it is just a temporary place to stay, so many things can be made do with.

He himself had the same idea. Since he was not destined to stay long, he would not put too much thought into it.

But he is different 20 years later. He seems to take life more seriously and will not deal with it carelessly just because time is short.

"So many paper books? Wouldn't e-books be more convenient?"

Bian Senlin vaguely remembered that Fatty complained that the most troublesome thing about every move was the books.

Because it is troublesome, he also said that he would read e-books if he could, and would never buy books if he could borrow them from the library.

"Well, if I find a book I like, I'll buy the paper version. Also, the electronic versions of some books will be available later."

Bian Senlin observed that most of these books had been categorized as read or unread.

Next, just put the books in order according to the labels on the wall.

Bian Senlin looked through the piles of books he had already read and found that almost every book was carefully marked, obviously not just flipped through.

He also noticed that these books covered a wide range of topics. In addition to professional and technical books, they also included but were not limited to political economics, history, literature, biographies, etc.

This surprised Bian Senlin a little. He himself didn't like reading much, except for occasionally reading a few books related to his major.

Compared with reading books, he prefers to do things by hand and learn through practice.

He also sorted out Fatty's bookshelf, which contained not only professional books but also some social science books;

This surprised him at the time because he felt that this was not a book he would read.

After another ten years or so, it is obvious that my future self has expanded the scope of his knowledge.

Bian Senlin once again felt the sense of separation that time brings to a person.

While sorting, Bian Senlin suddenly saw a familiar book that he had seen at the fat man's place before.

In order to confirm whether it was the same book, Bian Senlin quickly turned to the back cover.

Then he saw the comment the fat man had written: [I wish I had read this book three years ago].

Bian Senlin's heart trembled. It was indeed that book.

However, compared to that time, there was another paragraph below this line of words, and the handwriting was more neat and sharp:

[This book opened a crack in the chaos of confusion for me, through which I climbed out of the trough and rebuilt my broken bones.]

The book had obviously been read more than once.

Bian Senlin was somewhat curious about what kind of book would be worth reading over and over again in the future, and he even wrote down such a comment.

But after looking for a while, Bian Senlin gave up decisively.

Sure enough, it’s the same as last time, I have no interest at all.

However, Bian Senlin thought of something because of this, and he looked at Dr. Bian on the side with curiosity.

Bian Senlin didn't know how to hide his thoughts, and Dr. Bian immediately noticed his gaze.

"Hmm?" He turned his head to look at the forest beside him and expressed his doubts.

"Do you... have any memory of that time?" Bian Senlin asked unclearly.

But Dr. Bian realized what he wanted to express after a slight change of thought;

What Bian Senlin actually wanted to ask was whether he had any memories of traveling to the future when he was 20 years old, or any memories of being with the 20-year-old Bian Senlin when he was 29 years old.

"No." Dr. Bian shook his head and then explained to him.

"There's a spacetime technology called 'blockade'. It's used in certain major spacetime incidents to temporarily cut off the connection between an abnormal node and subsequent spacetime, preventing further chaos."

Bian Senlin suddenly realized: "That is to say, now that we have used this 'blocking' technology,

Therefore, all memories of the edge forest in time and space are memories of the normal timeline when no accidents occurred."

Then, Bian Senlin had a new question: "So, if the 'lockdown' is lifted, will you suddenly have a lot more memories?"

"No." Dr. Bian gave a negative answer again:

“Spacetime has unique self-healing properties.

If the blockade is lifted, the memory in the mind will be self-consistent, and the most common thing is like having a dream.

As time goes by, it will gradually fade away, but maybe when you think of a certain scene occasionally, you will feel like you have seen it before.

Another situation is that if the normal timeline deviates seriously and cannot be self-consistent, a new parallel time and space will be fissioned.

In either case, there's no sudden flood of memories."

Bian Senlin felt that his mind was a little confused: "In other words,

The people at the 2034 Spacetime Base will remember dealing with such an incident.

But won't the relevant personnel find memories that do not belong to the normal timeline in their past memories? "

"That's right," Dr. Bian nodded.

“In addition, the Space-Time Bureau also has a special archive that stores and records all major and minor space-time cases.

The most advanced space-time technology currently mastered by mankind is used there, which can isolate the healing interference of space-time to a certain extent.

Make sure people can accurately record everything that happened.”

"Is that so..." Bian Senlin felt a little disappointed.

He also thought that Dr. Bian would have his current memories, so he would know what would happen next.

That makes sense. After all, the fat man didn’t remember going to the future when he was 20 years old.

But since they were talking about this topic, Bian Senlin felt the desire to talk.

He told Dr. Bian everything he had experienced in 2023, and Dr. Bian listened quietly.

Only when Bian Senlin asked him about it would he tell him his memories of the same time so that he could compare and verify them.

During the conversation, Bian Senlin also complained to him about his body management issues: "I was so fat back then! I thought I would always be like that."

Having said that, he looked at Dr. Bian with relief.

Although Bian Senlin is already 40 years old in 2034, his figure and temperament are more standard than when he was 20 years old.

Speaking of this, Dr. Bian couldn't help but smile knowingly: "It really took a lot of effort to lose weight at that time."

Bian Senlin asked curiously, "How long did it take you to lose weight?"

"Three years."

Bian Senlin couldn't help but click his tongue.

Once the conversation started, Bian Senlin and Dr. Bian talked about many things.

Most of the time, it was Bian Senlin who was talking and Dr. Bian was listening.

But when the conversation got to the end, Bian Senlin's mood became noticeably depressed:

"In fact, I feel that many times I have no choice, whether it is going to 2023 or 2034 or now."

Bian Senlin's time from 2014 to 2023 was an accident. He didn't even react when he saw the fat man's fat face.

From 2023 to 2034, although Wei Li did not show a tough attitude at the time,

But the fat man was seriously injured at the time, and he didn't dare to gamble whether the other party would give up if he refused;

What's more, he himself doesn't have the ability to travel through time and space.

Now, no matter the elimination plan proposed by someone before, or the key plan mentioned by Lu Cencen later, he had no room to refuse.

Bian Senlin told Dr. Bian all his thoughts.

Including his own entanglement and pain, he was afraid of death, and he didn't know whether his cowardice was too selfish.

Dr. Bian just listened quietly without saying anything to comfort her, but only asked a few questions when the topic came to some key points.

Even so, he did not stop the work in his hands, and asked Bian Senlin to help pass some things from time to time.

Then, Bian Senlin found himself being ordered around by Dr. Bian and was sweating profusely.

What’s even more outrageous is that in the end, only Bian Senlin was busy, while Dr. Bian was leisurely drinking coffee and reading a book.

When Bian Senlin reacted, he was extremely angry and slammed a pile of books in front of Dr. Bian.

She angrily said, "I quit! Why should I be helping you with the work while you just sit there and relax?"

Dr. Bian laughed and put down the cup: "I was wondering when you would tell me."

Bian Senlin was stunned.

Dr. Bian took the stack of books, walked towards the wall and put them in one by one:

"Isn't that good? Since you feel uncomfortable, just refuse."

As soon as he finished speaking, the watch on Dr. Bian's wrist vibrated. He glanced at it and ignored it.

After putting the book away, he turned around and looked at Bian Senlin, who hadn't reacted yet, and said in a soft and serious tone:

"It wasn't until I was nearly 30 that I understood the truth: to help others you must first help yourself, and to love yourself before loving others."

The watch vibrated three times as a warning.

Dr. Bian still ignored him, just smiled and told Bian Senlin that he could think about it carefully when he had time, and finally sent him back to the room.

Bian Senlin returned to his room in a daze, still pondering Dr. Bian's last words.

After a long time, he slapped his forehead as if he realized what was happening.

"No! I did his job, and I haven't settled the score with him yet."

Bian Senlin realized that he seemed to have been fooled, so he buried his head in the pillow and howled for a long time in frustration.

I feel that compared to the fat guy, this Dr. Bian is simply more mischievous, which is not consistent with his own temperament at all.

As he howled in the forest, he felt a wave of fatigue coming over him and gradually fell asleep.

Perhaps because he had said everything that was in his heart, Bian Senlin had a rare good sleep.