"Our S City is a very inclusive and harmonious city," Ke Xun said, leading everyone off the high-speed train. Passing a sesame seed cake stall, he bought a square, sesame-covered cake for each person. "It's a clay oven sesame seed cake, one of S City's specialties."
Qin Ci and Zhu Haowen, without any hesitation, each took a bite of their cakes, praising their chewy texture.
Wei Dong, tasting the flavor of his hometown, felt a sense of rebirth: "I'm thinking that when I'm successful, I'll make a documentary called 'A Bite of Sesame Seed Cakes,' featuring all kinds of sesame seed cakes from across the country—crab shell cakes, roasted naan bread, chess pieces, and our unique S City clay oven square sesame seed cake!"
"Young man, you have lofty ambitions!" an elderly man sitting next to the stall, eating a sesame seed cake, praised.
"Grandpa, you have good teeth, you're lucky!" Wei Dong replied, adding, "This is how we exchange ideas in S City. In the eyes of the elders, we're all promising young people!"
Qin Ci answered a phone call and told everyone, "The organizers of the medical exchange conference have arranged a hotel. If Haowen is inconvenient, he can stay at the hotel with me."
Zhu Haowen chewed his sesame seed cake vigorously, feeling his jaw bulge out: "I'll stay at my aunt's house. My cousin's wedding decorations need help, so I'll have to go there early to help."
Ke Xun checked his phone; it was a little past 5 PM: "It's still early. Let's find a restaurant to rest for a while, have dinner, and then go home."
Everyone nodded. Qin Ci added, "Let's have something simple for dinner, and then we can have a proper get-together when Xiao Mu arrives in a few days."
So Ke Xun led everyone to a clean noodle shop, where a fit and healthy man... The restaurant owner sized up the four handsome men in front of him—the fruit patterns on their T-shirts made each of them look fresh and juicy…
The restaurant owner spoke with a distinct S City East accent: "Ke Shen~ you always talk nonsense, always fooling me, today I'm going to treat you really well!"
Wei Dong whispered to his two companions: "Ke'er is like Mr. Li's reincarnation…"
Mr. Li spoke up directly, his voice loud: "My two new friends probably don't know, three years ago, people called me Fatty Li! I weighed over 230 pounds, don't believe me? If it weren't for Ke Shen, I'd probably be too fat to walk by now!"
As Mr. Li spoke, he showed everyone the muscle lines on his upper arms. Qin Ci and Zhu Haowen couldn't help but give Ke Xun, this top-notch body sculpting expert, a thumbs up—it was the first time they had interacted with their companions off-screen, chatting and laughing, yet feeling a sense of mutual respect.
Over there, Ke Xun and Boss Li were muttering at the entrance of the private room: "There are only four of us, all family. Stop with the formalities, a whole lamb feast? Come on, stop! Just bring four bowls of authentic he luo noodles, and a few side dishes..."
Boss Li said, "The shop is small, the food is simple," while he instructed the waiters to line up "sixteen steamed bowls." Sixteen steamed bowls, including the black porcelain bowls on top, made thirty-two bowls.
"Old Li is generous, I give him 32 thumbs up!" Wei Dong didn't stand on ceremony, picking up a steamed meatball with his chopsticks and putting it in Qin Ci's bowl, then picking up a piece of fried tofu soaked in broth and putting it in Zhu Haowen's bowl. Having gone through several scenes together, they had a pretty good idea of each other's tastes.
"Since my experience of entering… this is the first time I've been able to calmly savor delicious food." Zhu Haowen dipped the fried tofu in chili oil, popped the hot, spicy tofu into his mouth, and chewed with relish, exhaling the steam. "The more good food I eat, the more I crave this world…"
In the past, this sentiment might have dampened everyone's spirits, but now no one thought of that. Everyone laughed and raised their glasses: "Those who crave this world deserve to drink!"
Ke Xun placed his phone in the middle of the table. The screen showed Mu Yiran. He frowned slightly, staring at the slightly shaky camera, and finally understood. He held his coffee cup in front of the camera and toasted with everyone.
"Seaweed and crispy pork—your favorites!" Ke Xun pushed two steamed bowls in front of the camera.
Mu Yiran, having been told what he liked, put down his coffee, stroked his chin, looked at everyone, and at the table full of delicious food that he could see but not eat.
"Brother Mu, when are you coming over? Let's go to Ke'er's to make dumplings!" Wei Dong's alcohol tolerance was low; after a few cups of baijiu, he was already a little tipsy.
Mu Yiran smiled faintly and remained silent, but Ke Xun understood from his smile that this person probably wouldn't have time to come and keep everyone company—the next time they met would likely be at the next painting.
Painting, this strange existence, should he hate it or be grateful for it? Ke Xun and Mu Yiran clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp.
"So, how many levels have we cleared in total?" After observing the room, Zhu Haowen felt it was safe before bringing up this sensitive topic, but still avoided using the word "painting."
Zhu Haowen continued, "I started from the tenement building with everyone, and we've passed three levels in total."
Wei Dong pushed the egg roll meat towards Zhu Haowen, saying, "Ke'er and I are both better than you."
After finishing his drink, Qin Ci's face wasn't red, but rather pale. "Xiao Mu and I went through it twice, and the third time we met Xiao Ke and Dongzi."
Zhu Haowen savored the delicious egg roll meat, mentally calculating, "That means, in total, we've already passed seven levels. Brother Qin, are you sure you've entered the first level?"
Qin Ci's thoughts drifted back to that day he didn't want to recall: "Back then, all 13 of us said it was our first time. It was in L City in the Northwest. I worked there for half a year because of a medical exchange, and I would visit art museums on weekends. I still remember the name of that art museum—the Time Art Museum."
Only those who had been part of the painting could understand Qin Ci's feelings at that moment.
Mu Yiran remained silent on the other end of the screen.
"I think we should write down each experience. We don't need to be detailed, just vaguely note down some keywords and numbers. Maybe we can find some patterns." Judging from Zhu Haowen's expression, he had probably recorded all three paintings he had experienced.
Wei Dong, already flushed from drinking, tugged at his hair: "When will this ever end? Are we just going to keep… trying to enter these paintings for the rest of our lives?"
To be constantly entering paintings for a lifetime—that's probably the most despairing thing.
"If we can confirm that what Brother Qin and the others went through was the first trial, then that means this whole thing had a beginning," Zhu Haowen hesitated for a moment before patting Wei Dong beside him. "Everything has a beginning and an end; it can't go on indefinitely."
"Regarding the beginning, there can only be two conclusions," Mu Yiran said on the screen. "Perhaps what happened in L City was the very beginning of this whole thing; or perhaps it was a new starting point after a previous complete annihilation."
"In any case, that was a beginning," Ke Xun continued. "Every trial we've gone through so far has its rules. As long as there are rules and patterns, it means there's a limit. So we can't keep trying to pass through these trials indefinitely. There must be a total number of these trials."
These paintings must have a mysterious total number.
People keep going in and out of the paintings. At which painting will it be the end?
"Since there are 13 people, perhaps the total number is also related to 13," Wei Dong said, echoing the thoughts of many people, then scratched his head. "It's really not an auspicious number."
"Under this assumption," Zhu Haowen dipped his finger in water and wrote the number 13 on the table, "starting from the first level in L City, we have passed 7 levels to today. We have already passed the 13th level and turned halfway. But from the three levels I have experienced, it seems that the difficulty is about the same, and there is no pattern of easy to difficult."
"Because these works have different schools and styles, the worlds they depict are also different," Mu Yiran spoke this time. "The NPCs also behave differently; some are very mechanical, some are indistinct, and some can secretly observe us and even manipulate us."
Mu Yiran was referring to the painting "Shadow" that everyone had just come out of: "By the way, regarding those Morris patterns, they are indeed related to the painter's experience: This person once painted Morris patterns for a huge mansion to support his studies. Those patterns were mainly orange, continuous, covering the entire mansion. The painter spent a full year painting them, and then underwent nearly half a year of psychological treatment. This event probably had a great impact on him."
This explains why there are Morris patterned windows in a Fauvist painting, and why Rong Rang's image in that painting appears in orange—these all represent the painter's inner world.
Mu Yiran seemed to have encountered something, nodded to everyone, and ended the video chat.
Ke Xun looked at the video that had been pressed, Mu Yiran's last gaze was directed at him.
"Based on what Xiao Mu just said, could it be that the NPCs in these levels are gradually becoming stronger? Perhaps even developing their own thoughts?" Qin Ci speculated.
Everyone longs to glean some clues about the patterns in all the paintings; even the slightest hint could be a lifesaver.
But the current analysis is just pure speculation.
The door to the private room opened, and the restaurant owner entered, carrying four steaming bowls of beef noodles on a tray, sprinkled with vibrant green cilantro—it looked incredibly appetizing.
"I personally press the noodles in the crevices, the taste is absolutely extraordinary!" The owner enthusiastically placed the noodles on the table, along with a plate of sliced beef and several small dishes of condiments. "When I came in, I overheard a bit of what you young people were saying, and I couldn't understand a word you were saying. You're similar to my kid who stays home all day playing games, chatting with his classmates about all sorts of things. I told him: the real danger isn't the game world on the computer, it's reality! You'll understand when you enter society. In a game, you can revive after losing a life, but in real life, if you stumble and fall, sometimes it's hard to get back up."
Everyone agreed with this and raised their glasses to drink with the owner.
"I'm sorry, I've given up drinking since I started working out," the boss poured himself a cup of tea and shared it with everyone. "This year is my birth year in the Chinese zodiac, and I'm a few years older than you guys. In these past fifty years, I've experienced a lot of ups and downs in the world. I think that some things that seem difficult aren't necessarily bad. Everyone has to have some experiences. Once you've experienced them, you won't be so timid anymore."