The Rhinoceros Elephant Art Museum, a renowned private art museum, is located in the heart of City B.
Even more famous than the museum itself is its underground restaurant, a popular spot in City B known for its artistic décor and frequented by fashionistas who come to dine and take photos.
"I should have a great time at the famous Rhinoceros Elephant Art Museum restaurant before I die, and maybe even post a picture of myself on my deathbed," Wei Dong grumbled, his gaze immediately drawn to three long-legged women.
The two were currently walking on the steps leading to the Rhinoceros Elephant Art Museum, and the three long-legged women walking atop the steps made their figures appear even more alluring.
"You still haven't had enough?" Ke Xun rubbed his bloated belly. "I still don't understand how I managed to stuff three fried dough sticks, two sugar pancakes, four tea eggs, and three bowls of tofu pudding down my stomach."
"My grandma always said you have to eat your fill before you hit the road," Wei Dong whistled in a low voice, following behind the three long-legged girls. He turned back and shouted to his buddy, "Hurry up, you bastard who stole my tea egg yolk!"
Ke Xun lazily followed behind. He had indeed eaten quite a lot for breakfast today, because he really didn't know what awaited him next. Maybe there would be no food, or maybe the food he was given wouldn't be human food.
Wei Dong burped, with a rare hint of excitement: "Look at those three girls, they're either from a dance academy or models. No wonder it's B City, the standards for beauties have risen so high."
Ke Xun said expressionlessly, "Are you trying to be perverted to death?"
Wei Dong deliberately made a very lewd smile, but deep in that smile was an infinite sadness.
Time flies, and they were about to enter the third painting.
The two entered the museum with their tickets. Wei Dong had already seen the fifth exhibition hall upstairs from the first-floor lobby, his steps becoming more hesitant. Ke Xun beside him also seemed to be barely moving.
"Are you preparing to welcome a big shot…?" Wei Dong's words were cut short by Ke Xun's cold gaze.
Wei Dong looked in that direction: "Isn't that Sha Liu? Who are those two short girls with her?"
Sha Liu quickly noticed them too, a complex look flashing in her eyes, before smiling and greeting them: "You're here too?"
Ke Xun's expression was unpleasant: "Did you bring someone you know?"
Sha Liu hesitated for a moment, then quickly shook her head: "It was just a chance encounter, I guess it's fate!"
The two short girls smiled at Sha Liu and said: "Thank you for the introduction, shall we go upstairs now?"
Sha Liu nodded and said goodbye to the two girls.
Even Wei Dong understood something, thinking to himself that this woman was quite cunning, already looking for companions to accompany him into the painting.
"Those two girls weren't together, were they?" Ke Xun suddenly asked.
Sha Liu was taken aback, then adjusted her glasses without changing her expression. "How would I know? They came to ask me for directions, saying they came specifically to see the exhibition of painter Luo Bin's works," she said, showing the two the museum's brochure in her hand. "Today, Luo Bin's works fill two exhibition halls on the second floor."
"So, there will be a lot of people in the fifth exhibition hall today?" Wei Dong looked up at the crowd surging into the fifth exhibition hall. "I'm worried about the people behind the scenes who are in charge of getting them into the paintings. How are they going to select so many people?"
"They'll find gold in the sand." Ke Xun squatted down and tied the laces of his running shoes. Although he knew he would be forced to change his clothes after entering the paintings, tying his shoelaces before making any moves was a habit he had developed over the years.
Sha Liu felt that openly discussing the mastermind behind the Ru Hua incident in this place was somewhat "disrespectful," so she didn't participate in the conversation anymore and turned to walk towards the escalator: "Let's go quickly."
Ke Xun and Wei Dong waited for her to go up for a while before stepping onto the escalator. Wei Dong couldn't help but ask, "Cole, how do you know those two girls weren't actually together?"
"What the heck is Cole?"
"It's short for Conan Doyle, Cole. From now on, you're Cole."
Ke Xun, transformed into Cole, explained his analysis to Wei Dong: "The two girls Sha Liu chose were both thin and short, and they seemed to lack social experience. Compared to Sha Liu, they were clearly at a disadvantage. It seems that Sha Liu's purpose wasn't to choose capable people as partners, but to intentionally choose the weak."
"Why choose the weak?" Wei Dong seemed to understand after asking this question. "Is she trying to find a scapegoat for herself?"
"Something like that, but the scapegoat is best someone who is alone, otherwise, if the two of them team up, they can easily be turned against each other."
"Oh~" Wei Dong instantly understood, "Smart women can be a bit scary."
Ke Xun's gaze shifted to Wei Dong's large backpack: "I forgot to ask when we got on the train, what's all you've got in that big bag?"
"This time I've packed all-natural fruits, and some bread and biscuits. Even if that heartless painting pusher restores it to its original state, it shouldn't affect our consumption," Wei Dong simply referred to the mastermind behind the painting as "the painting pusher." "The rest is all toilet paper."
Ke Xun deeply understood the toilet paper issue; he had also packed three large rolls of toilet paper—the last painting was just too tragic; everyone had used grass leaves and clods of dirt to get by, and even the chrysanthemums had been rubbed into peonies…
The two went up to the second floor and saw the door to the fifth exhibition hall open, with a group of students chatting and laughing as they walked out. The two were stunned and exchanged a glance: Holy crap? Has the curse of the heartless painting pusher finally ended?
The two walked to the tall wooden door of the fifth exhibition hall, looked around, but there wasn't a single person who wanted to enter the hall.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed the door open again. All the light from inside vanished, replaced by familiar darkness.
The door behind him closed automatically, impossible to open again.
Ultimately, they couldn't escape the clutches of fate; the painting was simply waiting for the right number of people.
Ke Xun tried to see the paintings on the wall in the darkness, but was suddenly blinded by a beam of bright light. He struggled to focus, staring intently at the swirling image before him, seeing only blurry glimpses of everyday life: old wooden windows, an old-fashioned electric fan, and children playing hopscotch with bright smiles…
When his feet touched solid ground, the world before him was a bustling street scene: old, rough asphalt roads, boxy, outdated cars, street vendors, and what appeared to be a primary school where students had just finished school, a group of Young Pioneers buying snacks and toys from a street stall…
"This... have we gone in or not?" Wei Dong looked around, finding the style of this painting completely different from the previous two. "Are you sure this isn't a street in the old town of B City?"
Ke Xun observed carefully for a while: "Are you sure you'd let younger children walk home alone after school?"
Wei Dong glanced at the two fashionable women walking by, noticing their delicate eyebrows and platform shoes, and also felt that the street's age seemed off.
Ke Xun noticed something in his sweatpants pocket, took it out, and saw it was an advertisement. The paper looked very old, and it read "Spring Bamboo Apartment: Low-Price Rentals."
Wei Dong found the same advertisement in his denim jacket pocket; it seemed their destination was indeed Spring Bamboo Apartment.
"Hey, little flowers of the motherland, do you know where Chunsun Apartment is?" Wei Dong asked with a smile to two elementary school students who had just bought Saint Seiya picture cards.
The students politely replied, "It's just around the corner, on Chunsun Street."
Another student added, "Chunsun Apartment has been demolished. My dad said they're building a big art museum there!"
Ke Xun glanced at the date on the advertisement in his hand and asked again, "Uncle wants to test your memory. Who can tell me the exact date today?"
Elementary school students back then weren't as wary as kids are now. To prove their memory, one student quickly and loudly answered, "Today is June 12th!"
The other student added, "Today is June 12th, 1997!"
"Thank you!" Wei Dong actually pulled two large pieces of bubble gum from his pocket. "This is a reward!"
The two children politely replied, "Thank you, Uncle. Our teacher doesn't allow us to take things from strangers! Goodbye, Uncle!"
The two children left together.
Ke Xun shook the advertisement in his hand; the date printed on it was large: June 12th, 1996.
"When did you secretly hoard Big Bubble Gum?"
"All the stuff I brought has turned into 80s snacks! I even have popping candy, sour plum powder, and popping stars in my bag. Which one do you want?"
"..."
As dusk approached, the two followed the elementary school student's directions, turning a corner and arriving at Chunsun Street. The street was narrow, and the shops on both sides were quite old, but there were no signs of demolition.
Wei Dong said, puzzled, "This place is a bit like a mountain city; the streets have many slopes."
Ke Xun, however, looked warily at the shops on both sides of the street that were gradually lighting up, and whispered, "It's not that there are many slopes, it's that it's always going downhill."
Before Wei Dong could even process what was going on, he saw a strangely shaped building ahead—a cylindrical building. Perhaps due to the limitations of construction technology at the time, it wasn't very tall, only about six or seven stories.
Because it was dusk, neither of them could see it clearly, but they both felt that this circular building was strange.
A conspicuous sign hung on the door of the cylindrical building—Chunsun Apartment.
Neither of them intended to go inside, but instead stood in front of the apartment building waiting for others.
No one else could go in first; they had to wait until all thirteen people were present before entering the apartment.
Ke Xun, however, couldn't understand why the two hadn't appeared directly in front of the apartment building, but instead had asked around from other streets. Was the area defined by the painting perhaps too large?
"Logically, we should have appeared directly in front of the Spring Bamboo Apartment," Wei Dong also thought of this.
"Probably because we arrived too early." Ke Xun looked at the deserted street; although the shops were brightly lit, the streets were sparsely populated.
"That Sha Liu is indeed cunning. I thought she went into the fifth exhibition hall first, but I didn't expect her to be secretly observing from outside," Wei Dong chuckled.
The wind was a bit chilly, and Ke Xun put his hands in his pockets. "I just find it strange. We arrived early enough to wait at the apartment entrance. Why did they send us to another street? And the date on the flyer is wrong; it's an old ad from a year ago."
In the dim light of the streetlights in the distance, a familiar, tall figure walked over. Ke Xun's lips curled into an unconscious smile.