Chapter 18 Bubbles (2) Two identical people, a doppelganger...
Xie Tan's trip was in vain; the director had already left work.
He shook his wet hood; thankfully, the swimming pool wasn't far from Building A.
Number 7 lay on his head, its warm kitten belly absorbing the moisture from his hair.
The rain had stopped, so it didn't matter that Xie Tan didn't have an umbrella. He went downstairs, and the class at the end of the third-floor corridor was just finishing up.
Lu Jinzhao was caught in the flow of students leaving get out of class, packing his books as he walked out of the classroom. He looked up and caught a glimpse of a familiar figure, and his eyes lit up.
"Xie Tan?" He apologized as he squeezed his way through the crowd. After finally catching up, he patted the man on the shoulder. The man turned around, but it wasn't the face he expected.
"Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."
Lu Jinzhao scratched the back of his head blankly. A classmate he knew patted him on the shoulder and asked him to go to the cafeteria together. He came to his senses and walked away with his classmate.
Xie Tan came out from around the corner of the classroom and gave the kitten a high five.
But he didn't actually know why he was hiding from his neighbors; by the time he realized it, he was already hidden.
On the way home, the preview image for the next episode also came out.
A painting was displayed all alone on a white wall. The painting itself was entirely black, with a person standing in the center, a half-length portrait.
The swirling, colorful bubbles obscure the figure of the main character in the painting, making him appear as if he has detached from the body.
The painting is called "Bubble".
It looks like the title of the new episode.
Xie Tan searched for the painting online but couldn't find it. He then searched for the painting's name and finally found it.
This painting is in the collection of the Reef Art Museum, but it is not publicly exhibited. The museum owner bought it from a foreign businessman.
He and the cat exchanged a glance; Thursday's trip was going to be anything but simple.
Thursday, Reef Art Gallery.
The Reef Art Museum is niche and remote, not only in its art style, but also in its size, location, and visitor traffic.
Fortunately, Fuechiu University is also in a remote location, so remote that the journey from the university is not far.
Today, being a weekday, only the first-year art history students were visiting.
All three weeks of appreciation classes were held here. Students worked in groups of two, choosing a particular work to present.
They were browsing inside the museum, looking for suitable works, when the director went to discuss something with the curator.
Xie Tan planned to go see the director before get out of class ended. Before that, he tried to avoid other students and search in the empty exhibition hall.
There was another corner at the end, which he almost missed. "Bubble" was hanging on the wall, as if to hide the painting and also to leave space for it to be displayed separately.
The curly-haired girl with the blue headband whispered a voice message to her classmate: "...Yes, my original partner dropped out of school, saying she wasn't used to life at Diqiu and was going back to repeat her studies and retake the exam. She was my partner for so many group assignments and course activities, and we even had the midterm presentations for the appreciation class all assigned. Now I'm all alone... I'll see what the teacher says later. She'll probably join another group. Sigh, not only is my topic selection wasted and I have to prepare all over again, but the other groups are complaining that adding someone at the last minute messes up the division of labor."
She caught a glimpse of someone approaching out of the corner of her eye, assuming it was a classmate, and didn't pay much attention. Only after finishing speaking did she take another look, and she froze.
She instinctively admired Xie Tan's face, but he wasn't a classmate or someone visiting the exhibition.
She had ended the voice call, pointed to her phone, and nodded apologetically.
Xie Tan didn't notice that when he came to this picture, his vision was taken away by it.
The painting is very long and hangs high, reaching the ceiling, so you have to look up to see it.
A vast expanse of blackness poured down, and behind countless dreamlike bubbles stood a figure, its outline blurred and its colors swallowed by the shimmering light of the bubbles.
Is it that the bubbles are blocking people, or are people made up of bubbles, with the bubbles being just a separate part of the person?
The view outside the window was blocked by the shade of trees, and the gallery felt like it was raining even during the day, dim and quiet.
Chang Mingai felt a little strange standing with strangers, and her heart pounded with unease.
It's more about the feeling the painting evoked in her.
As for strangers, they don't look like bad people at all, do they?
She condemned herself for letting her values follow her eyes for a second, took a picture of the painting hidden around the corner that didn't seem very popular, and then prepared to leave, as there were other paintings she wanted to photograph.
But after taking two steps, she turned back and asked, "Excuse me, do you know where the restroom is?"
Birds of a feather flock together, and buildings are grouped by kind. The Reef Art Museum, which has a deep collaboration with Deechu University, also has a winding road, just like Deechu University.
Xie Tan then looked away from the painting, walked around the corner, and pointed out the direction for her.
"Thank you." The girl quickened her pace and jogged away.
Xie Tan turned around and kicked something. He picked it up and found it was a girl's bracelet pendant, a translucent moonstone.
He glanced outside, but the girl was already gone.
He was demoted to Class 1. After the documents are signed, the director will probably say a few words about him to the students.
He should be the girl's new group partner; we'll give him back to her later.
The painting in front of him still gave him a strange feeling.
It was not open to the public, hidden in a strange corner, with a black ceiling and bizarre content, all of which made people uncomfortable.
This precisely proves that he didn't make a mistake.
Could the obscured figure in the painting be a ghost?
As the footsteps drew closer, Xie Tan caught a glimpse of the same girl with the blue headband out of the corner of his eye.
He returned the pendant to her and looked at the newcomer. The girl was clearly startled, her eyes slightly lowered in unease, as if she hadn't expected anyone to be there.
He had indeed been standing there for a long time, and she was probably surprised that he hadn't left yet.
Xie Tan touched the moonstone in his pocket, about to take it out, but then noticed that the girl's bracelet was intact.
The identical moonstone pendant swayed gently with her movements, reflecting a beautiful white light.
He loosened his grip, and the moonstone fell back into the depths of his pocket.
Xie Tan quietly observed the girl in front of him.
She has stylish long curly hair, a blue headband, and a delicate and cute face like a porcelain doll.
She has a somewhat understated demeanor, but her expressions are vivid, like daisies swaying in the wind on a green plain.
She seemed to realize she had overreacted, so she found something to do and took a picture of the painting with her phone.
But didn't she just take a picture?
Xie Tan continued looking at the painting, as if she were just glancing at someone, but her peripheral vision kept an eye on her movements.
As the girl was about to leave, she struck up a conversation with him: "Excuse me, do you know where the restroom is?"
Great, here comes the work.
Xie Tan thought to himself.
He wasn't surprised at all, and just like the first time she asked him, he calmly gave her directions again.
"Thank you." The girl's figure quickly disappeared.
Xie Tan seemed to be deep in thought. Two identical people, a doppelganger?
Because you saw this painting?
Fifteen minutes before ten o'clock, he looked out the window and saw the bespectacled boy from yesterday carrying the director's umbrella as he walked into the art gallery.
He waited until the boy returned the umbrella before avoiding the boy and other students and going upstairs to get the director's signature.
The director also inquired about his situation, chatted with him for a few minutes about his studies, and then didn't let him leave.
“One of our students dropped out, and another student is now working separately to submit her assignments. You will be paired with her. I will let you know when we meet up.”
"OK."
With twenty minutes left before get out of class ended, the students gathered in the lobby and spoke in hushed tones.
The director went downstairs, and Xie Tan followed behind him, slowly descending from the shadows of the stairs. The students immediately fell silent.
"This is Xie Tan. He will be our classmate from now on. We will have class together next week. Chang Mingai, you will be in a group with Xie Tan."
"Okay, teacher."
"We need to finalize the topics this week, so everyone hurry up." The director glanced at the art clock hanging on the wall. "get out of class isn't over yet, so stay until it's time to leave."
Several enthusiastic students greeted Xie Tan. After the other students had left, Chang Mingai walked with Xie Tan: "So you're also a student at Di University! That's great, you're a lifesaver! I was worried about that too. We still have some time, let's find a place to discuss our group assignment."
"good."
Chang Mingai showed him the artwork she had chosen. Because the artwork was too large, it was not exhibited inside the museum but placed on an open-air display stand outside the back door. It was much taller than the art museum and was an iron tree made of various metals to simulate the shape of tree branches.
The tree trunk and dense branches, devoid of leaves, form a throne of thorns. Due to the sharp and cold nature of metal, the entire work lacks the warm vitality of natural plants, instead using steel to express the ruthlessness of nature.
She was very interested, but she still asked her new partner for his opinion.
"This one will do," Xie Tan said.
“We still have plenty of time. These are the pieces my previous partner and I selected. If you have any other works that interest you, we can discuss them together, like that piece called ‘Bubble’? You’ve been looking at it just now.”
"That painting is indeed interesting."
Xie Tan originally wanted to say that it was the "most interesting" or "only interesting" painting in the entire room.
But considering the hidden talents in Diqiu, who knows what amazing treasures this small art museum might hold?
Just be more cautious, I didn't say anything definitive.
"Let's do it your way. What am I responsible for?"
Chang Mingai was surprised that he was quite easy to talk to, really, it was because of his face and his temperament...
After the initial amazement and the return to reason, it becomes incredibly daunting.
Just like artworks in a museum, you can only fully immerse yourself in their beauty by appreciating them from a distance.
They agreed on their respective tasks and parted ways at the entrance of the art museum.
The art museum closes once all visitors have left.
Suddenly, the bathroom mirror rippled like water, and a tall, strong man emerged from it, with two hideous scars on his face, symmetrically intersecting.
He changed into a cleaner's uniform, which was too small and stretched bulging by his muscles. He pushed the cart and cleaned all the way to the end of the gallery, turned the corner, and wiped the border of "Bubble".
He took out a shard of mirror. It hadn't rained today, the temperature inside the museum was just right, and it wasn't damp, but the mirror surface was slightly fogged up. He wiped it off casually and put it back in the frame.
In the painting, the brilliance of countless bubbles shifts for a fleeting moment.
The cleaner patted the figure in the painting, as if to encourage, or perhaps to warn.
He thought of the boy who had been demoted; how unlucky, but it had made things convenient for him.
He has a bit of an even-number compulsion; he likes to be in pairs. He was wondering what to do with the girl who was alone, but then an unlucky girl just showed up at his door.
Which class is the worst to transfer to, and when is the worst time to transfer?
He gave a cold smile: "Thanks, at least you'll have company on your journey."
A note from the author:
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