Chapter 059 Modern Society 20

Donglin City is about to usher in the plum rain season. Every time this time comes, Lin Xiran will feel wilted and heavy all over, so Xie Yunsui plans to take him to the drier Zhongjing City in the north to avoid the humidity.

"Want to travel to Zhongjing City for a month?"

Lin Xiran was packing his luggage, thinking about how many clothes to bring.

He checked online and found that the temperature in Zhongjing City is relatively high in the past two months, so he should bring two more sets of summer clothes.

Xie Yunsui came out of the kitchen. "I'm going to discuss cooperation with the Central Research Institute and visit two herbal medicine bases this time. I don't think I'll be back soon. I heard that Zhongjing has a lot of tourist attractions. Let's take this opportunity to visit them all."

This is the first time I've been away from home for so long.

In the past few years, Xie Yunsui would take Lin Xiran out for travel whenever he had time. Of course, they would not be away for too long at a time. They would stay in nearby cities for about three days, and in places a little further away, they could stay for ten days or half a month.

Lin Xiran initially thought that this would delay his work, but Xie Yunsui said that the purpose of making money is to enjoy it. If you don’t play when you are young, what will you do when you are old and can’t play anymore?

Xie Yunsui is obsessed with this matter.

In the Western fantasy world, he was always controlled by stores. He and Theo didn't start traveling on the mainland until they were over fifty years old. Because they were too old, the carriage was very bumpy, so they had to slow down, and half of the trip was spent on the road.

After going out with Xie Yunsui a few times, Lin Xiran fell more and more in love with this activity.

Xie Yunsui always has an endless desire to explore the world. Lin Xiran boasts that he has lived for more than 20 years, but it seems that he can do nothing and understands nothing except daily life.

Over the past few years, Lin Xiran had followed Xie Yunsui, hearing the rustle of wind through the bamboo forest and watching the sun shine on the peaks of Jinshan Mountain. He had picked bamboo shoots, lotus roots, and chopped walnuts, hammered ink, made paper, and spun yarn. He had participated in wilderness survival training camps, earned a diving license, and fished for seafood in the ocean...

Next I plan to go bungee jumping and skydiving, and experience things I have never seen or done before.

Lin Xiran was full of anticipation and packed two large boxes of clothes, shoes and socks.

Xie Yunsui noticed that he was in high spirits, so he didn't disturb him and continued to prepare lunch.

The weather is getting hotter and the humidity in the air has increased.

Thinking that Xiran had not had a good appetite recently, he made something simple and refreshing.

Put the fine wheat noodles into the pot and cook them. Take them out and put them into ice water. Cut some brightly colored cucumber shreds, tomato slices, and apple slices for later use. Add some sparkling water to the beef broth left over from last night's stew to enhance the flavor. Since the beef broth already has seasonings, there is no need to add anything else. Cut a few slices of beef and then combine all the ingredients together to make a bowl of cool and delicious cold noodles.

Seeing that a bowl of cold noodles was too monotonous, Xie Yunsui made a few crisp and refreshing cold dishes and served them on the table.

There are also perilla green plums made last year in the refrigerator. Lin Xiran likes to eat them very much. He made a lot at that time and took out some from time to time as a snack or a side dish.

Xie Yunsui used the money he earned in the second year to buy a villa in the city center with two large yards in front and back. He grew vegetables in the front yard, flowers in the back yard, and several fruit trees.

After a few years, there are endless fresh vegetables to eat all year round, and the garden is full of flowers.

When green plums were ripe two years ago, Xie Yunsui studied many ways to eat green plums, such as green plum wine, green plum juice, green plum vinegar, plum cakes, plum jam... Each has its own flavor. The best tasting ones are green plum wine and perilla plums. This year, he used the ripe green plums in half and made only these two things.

Neither of them likes to drink, they only drink occasionally to cheer each other up. Every year they give a few large jars of green plum wine to Lin Xiran's friend Ji Tao, and also give some small bottles as gifts to the store employees.

The good thing about this world is that most knowledge is shared. If Xie Yunsui wants to know something, he just needs to search it online.

For some complicated skills, you can also find a special experience center and ask professional teachers to teach you.

The food was ready and served on the table. Xie Yunsui looked around and found that Lin Xiran was not in the living room, bedroom or cloakroom.

"Xiran?" Xie Yunsui raised his voice.

Lin Xiran, who was in the study, heard the sound and suddenly came back to his senses. He gathered up all the papers on the desk and restored them to their original state. He took the tablet and two books on his desk and went out.

"I'm here."

A flash of panic passed across Lin Xiran's face before he pretended to be calm.

Xie Yunsui's gaze lingered: "Is it too hot? Your forehead is sweating. Do you want to turn on the air conditioner?"

"It's okay. I was busy cleaning up and sweated a little." Lin Xiran tilted his head back as he wiped the sweat off his face. He muttered, "It's cold now. I might catch a cold again if I'm not careful..."

"Then don't rush to pack. I'll go with you after dinner, or we can postpone our trip to Zhongjing for two days."

Feeling Xie Yunsui's usual caring attitude, Lin Xiran's mood calmed down a little.

The study at home is where the two of them often stay. They each have a large desk. Xie Yunsui has never been on guard against him, but Lin Xiran has never paid attention to what is on the other's desk before.

In addition to entertainment, Xie Yunsui has been learning a lot of things on his own. The two large bookshelves in the study are filled with books, and professional skill books are piled on the table from time to time. Lin Xiran is overwhelmed when he opens any of them.

Lin Xiran likes literary books and sometimes writes novel serials when he is in the mood. When the two of them are in the study together, they keep their distance from each other and do not disturb each other.

It was not until today that Lin Xiran accidentally discovered that Xie Yunsui was researching something strange.

Last month, the two accidentally walked into a party while traveling. Xie Yunsui was mistakenly thought to be single and was asked for his contact information by more than one person.

Lin Xiran escaped because she was wearing a ring on her hand.

Looking back, Lin Xiran wanted to prepare a ring for Xie Yunsui that he could wear for the rest of his life.

After returning, she secretly went to a silver jewelry store to order a ring of the same style as the one on her hand. When she showed the ring to the person in charge, the person in charge said that with the craftsmanship in their store, they might not be able to make an exactly the same one.

Lin Xiran was still confused, so the person in charge said that there were special patterns on the ring. The patterns were very fine and interlocking. Unless there was a specific pattern of the patterns, it would be impossible to make the same one.

Lin Xiran looked left and right, and finally discovered the extremely fine lines under this simple ring that could only be identified with a magnifying glass.

He was thinking that the ring was probably specially customized, and he only needed to find the original custom store of the ring and he could still make an identical ring.

He didn't want to alarm Xie Yunsui and wanted to give him a surprise.

So he took some time to take pictures of the patterns under a magnifying glass and consulted many people online. Many famous silver jewelry stores said that it was not their product.

Unable to find any big brands, Lin Xiran went looking for niche stores, but still found nothing.

In the end, Lin Xiran gave up and posted the pictures online using a small account for netizens to identify, but there was still no response.

However, several netizens pointed out that these patterns look a bit like ancient formation diagrams.

Lin Xiran immediately thought of the star array map in the store, but when he looked closely, he found that several patterns did not match.

A netizen who studies this field secretly sent him a private message, seriously saying that he could not find the corresponding formation in the formal blessing and prayer formation gallery at home and abroad, and asked him to be careful not to let others borrow his blessings or longevity.

Lin Xiran: ...

He thought that the idea of ​​borrowing blessings and longevity only existed in literary works. Does it really exist in reality?

Lin Xiran didn't believe it at first, until today when he saw a stack of complete formation diagrams on Xie Yunsui's desk.

All are hand-drawn, not copied or photocopied.

The brushwork is unique, not like random scribbles, but rather like the artist has been deeply engaged in this field for a long time.

If this was just Xie Yunsui's personal hobby, it would not be surprising. However, when Lin Xiran looked deeply at one of the formations, he was dazzled and felt as if his mind was being sucked away by the formation.

So scary!

Okay, it seems to be true.

Lin Xiran was feeling uneasy and had another tasteless lunch.

Xie Yunsui looked at him worriedly: "You haven't had much of an appetite these past few days. Why don't you go to the hospital for a checkup?"

Lin Xiran also suspected that there was something wrong with his brain, so he made an appointment to have a physical examination the next morning.

Then he said he felt a little dizzy and wanted to take a nap.

Xie Yunsui didn't suspect anything, quietly closed the bedroom door and continued packing.

Lin Xiran lay in bed, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

When the new store opened, Xie Yunsui said that the formation diagram on the wall was drawn by him, which means that he had been studying these things at least since then, but why didn’t I hear him mention it before?

It’s on the wall of the new store and on the ring on my hand. Could it be somewhere else too?

Lin Xiran couldn't sleep, so he got up and started looking for clues in the house.

After searching for a long time without finding anything, Lin Xiran was so tired that he sat down on the bed.

"Why am I so tired?"

Instead of being suspicious here, it would be better to ask Xie Yunsui in person what is going on.

Things have come to this point, and Lin Xiran no longer cares about the idea of ​​giving her a surprise at the beginning. If he continues to struggle alone, he might regard his lover as a cult.

While Lin Xiran was hesitating, Xie Yunsui also discovered something wrong with the formation diagram in the study.

The formation on the top one was upside down. Because it was a symmetrical shape, most people could not tell it apart, but Xie Yunsui knew at a glance that the upright position had become reversed.

Did Xiran discover it?

This is an unfinished formation diagram. Even if it is just a rough sketch and has not yet been inlaid with magic crystals to activate the formation, it has the side effect of making people dizzy and having wild thoughts.

Xie Yunsui suddenly stood up and went to find Lin Xiran.

The two met at the door of the study and almost bumped into each other. Xie Yunsui helped him.

"Are you dizzy now?"

“I saw the pictures.”

They both spoke at the same time, and were stunned for two seconds after they finished speaking, and then smiled at each other.

Five minutes later, both of them sat on the sofa in the living room, and Lin Xiran spoke first to explain the cause of the incident.

Xie Yunsui listened to him explain why he had lost his appetite for the past few days and said with a helpless smile, "I'm sorry, I should have explained it to you earlier."

Fortunately, it wasn't because of illness.

Lin Xiran grabbed his sleeve and said, "So, those diagrams aren't the kind of perverse formations that people say online that borrow blessings or longevity?"

Xie Yunsui: "..."

Lin Xiran: "...Why don't you deny it?"

Xie Yunsui paused, not knowing where to start explaining.

It was the first time that Lin Xiran saw Xie Yunsui so hesitant. He felt a pang in his heart. Could he really be a product of some evil cult?

Xie Yunsui thought about it, then took out the blue and white backpack from the cabinet and brought it to Lin Xiran.

Lin Xiran knew this backpack. He had been carrying it since he first met it. He had used it for so many years and it had never broken or gotten dirty.

Xie Yunsui sighed softly: "Try and take out everything inside."

Lin Xiran was suspicious: "There shouldn't be much stuff in here, right?"

He remembered that after returning from his last trip, he emptied his backpack and put it in the closet.

Xie Yunsui just asked him to do as he was told.

Lin Xiran reached in, and although the backpack looked empty, he actually felt something.

A pack of tissues, an umbrella, a coat, a thermos...

More and more things were taken out of the backpack, gradually filling up the entire coffee table.

Lin Xiran was stunned: "..."

It feels like more than ten years of scientific education has collapsed at this moment.

This... is just a very common backpack. Does it have such a large capacity?

Lin Xiran asked in confusion, "Is this backpack actually connected to another time and space?"

Xie Yunsui pointed to the fine lines on the side where the three gemstones were inlaid: "Look at these lines, don't they look familiar?"

If it hadn't been pointed out specifically, Lin Xiran wouldn't have thought of the formation diagram. He thought it was just a simple pattern.

Lin Xiran touched it and said, "...is this also a formation?"

"The formations above have the effects of expanding capacity, reducing weight, and preventing theft..."

At this point, Xie Yunsui sat across from him, looked at him, and said solemnly: "Xiran, I'm not from this world."

Lin Xiran suddenly felt that the world became mysterious.

Lin Xiran's brain stopped functioning at this moment, and he could only think of one question:

"When you came to our world, you didn't bring any alien viruses with you, did you?"

Xie Yunsui: "..."

"No!"

Your perspective is a bit strange.