Genius Club-Chapter 558 - 9: Dust-covered Memories (Extra Chapter for Monthly Tickets)_3
Technology had rapidly advanced.
What else would Chu Anqing miss out on?
She set down the cassette tape.
Lin Xian picked up another photo album.
Upon opening it, it recorded Zhang Yuqian’s life from birth until her death at 20 years old.
There were many photos, and the album was thick.
It seemed that Zhang Yuqian was a girl who loved to take photos.
But that wasn’t necessarily the case.
In 1980, families that owned cameras were few, and many children who wished to take photos didn’t have the opportunity; back then, taking photos at will was a luxury.
Film wasn’t exactly expensive.
But cameras were expensive.
Most people who wanted to take photos still had to go to photo studios.
"Eh?"
Lin Xian picked up a black videotape.
It was heavy and big, almost the size of a brick:
"Gao Yang, look at this, I haven’t seen one of these in so many years, only caught a glimpse of it a few times when I was a kid."
Nowadays, recording videos of life is easy.
Phones have endless storage space.
But in the past, the only means to record dynamic life were video cameras and videotapes.
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Gao Yang smacked his lips and took the videotape from Lin Xian:
"Cool... I thought it was impressive that Zhang Yuqian’s family had a camera in that era. I didn’t expect them to even have a video camera."
"Speaking of which, aren’t you curious about what’s recorded on this videotape? I know a colleague who likes collecting these old things, and he has a player for these old videotapes at his place. How about we take it back and watch? Let’s see what kind of life Zhang Yuqian, who looked just like Chu Anqing, really led!"
"This... this doesn’t seem right, does it?"
Lin Xian still had some sense of boundaries:
"Let’s just look over it here and find some clues. Taking things out of the coffin feels a bit inappropriate."
"You can’t think like that, Lin Xian!"
Gao Yang persuaded:
"We’re not really stealing anything; we’re solving a problem! We’re solving not just Chu Anqing’s problem but also Zhang Yuqian’s problem! So we must pay attention to these clues."
"Moreover... when you go back to East Sea City, you’ll have to explain things to Chu Shanhe, won’t you? If you have nothing to show for it, will Chu Shanhe believe what you say? Maybe this videotape will be your ’get out of jail free’ card!"
Lin Xian thought about it.
It made some sense.
Not to mention the ’get out of jail free’ card...
If he really had to explain the cause and effect of Millennium Stakes to Chu Shanhe, Zhang Yuqian’s photos and videos would indeed be more persuasive.
"Then let’s take this album as well, since we’re already taking things, taking a few more won’t make a difference."
He passed the album to Gao Yang and then continued to sort through other items.
Awards, toys, certificates...
All these things told the story of Zhang Yuqian’s life from various angles.
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It seemed she was quite accomplished.
There certainly were many certificates.
Although there were no major awards or competition certificates, she had received many minor awards at school: model student, academic excellence, best in arts performances, and so on... she was considered outstanding in both academics and morality.
Besides, there wasn’t much else useful in the coffin.
He swept through it once more.
What remained was a diary with a built-in lock.
"Ah... diaries, such a distant memory."
In Lin Xian’s mind.
He had only been required to keep a diary in elementary school.
Many older siblings often said that parents liked to secretly read their children’s diaries to understand their thoughts.
Lin Xian had never experienced this hassle... after all, people of his generation seldom wrote diaries anymore, and if they did, it was just to appease others; who actually wrote diaries?
But thinking about the era that Zhang Yuqian belonged to.
Perhaps...
In an era with few forms of entertainment, people might actually have seriously committed to writing diaries!
"Lin Xian."
Suddenly, Gao Yang’s voice came:
"Spying on a girl’s diary is really quite low."
Lin Xian looked up:
"That’s pretty hypocritical of you, isn’t it less dishonorable to watch someone’s video tape?"
"Video tapes are made to be watched!"
Gao Yang declared:
"It’s just like posting on Douyin or on social media, where it’s inherently meant for others to see. But diaries are different, they contain very private matters! They belong to one’s own [secrets]!"
Secrets?
Hearing this familiar word...
Lin Xian suddenly thought back to when he had returned from Mi Country after attending the World Hacker Competition, and at Pudong Airport, he and Chu Anqing had started discussing the topic of time travel.
At that time, Lin Xian asked Chu Anqing whether, if she could really travel through time, she would prefer to go back to the past or to the future?
Chu Anqing replied without hesitation:
"I would definitely go back to the past!"
She explained:
"Traveling to the future is meaningless... I’m not even 20 yet, I can live to see the future, even without needing a hibernation pod, I can live for many decades to come."
"On the contrary, the past... those events that have already happened, that are already settled in history, don’t you think they’re more intriguing, senior? The past is the only time nobody can return to, forever unreachable. No matter how advanced the technology, or how powerful the hibernation pod, it can’t take us back even a second into the past."
"So... if I really had the ability to travel through time, I would definitely choose the past, eyes closed, over the future!"
Back then, Lin Xian took it as just idle chat, not taking it seriously.
So, he continued along with Chu Anqing’s thoughts:
"If you could really travel back to the past, what would you most want to do?"
Lin Xian still remembers.
That day, that moment, Chu Anqing was somewhat mischievously smiling.
She raised her index finger to her lips and made a shushing gesture:
"[Secret~]"
...
Secret.
Lin Xian looked down at the pink password journal in his hands:
"Then I should look even more."
"Hey! You shameless person!"
Gao Yang scoffed, then scooted over:
"Let’s look at it together."
Lin Xian turned the journal over, examining its construction.
Indeed, anything used by Zhang Yuqian was never substandard; all were exquisite and high-class.
This password journal looked ordinary at first glance.
But it was a foreign product!
The script on it was from Japan.
Probably... it was a gift her father brought back for her when he went abroad?
Honestly, the quality is very good.
The cover is made of genuine leather, Lin Xian couldn’t tell exactly what kind, but it definitely wasn’t ordinary cow leather.
Looking at the cartoon character on the cover of the journal, it was probably a collaboration edition with some animation or classic character.
But the art style was too outdated, Lin Xian didn’t recognize the animation character.
A normal notebook, left out for over twenty years, would have fallen apart long ago.
Yet, this genuine leather journal, when pulled at, was still firm and robust, although the genuine leather inevitably showed some cracks, it was still tough.
If they really wanted to tear it open, it wouldn’t be impossible, especially since both Lin Xian and Gao Yang had all sorts of heavy-duty tools, making disassembling a notebook easy and enjoyable.
But as Gao Yang said...
One shouldn’t stoop too low.
Spying on a young girl’s private diary was already quite low; if they also used knives and pliers for violent dismantling just to spy...
Forget it, let’s consider that approach a last resort.
The journal’s lock only had four dials.
With just a four-digit numerical password, even brute-forcing it wouldn’t take more than a few days to crack, really no need for any violent destruction, after all... this was Zhang Yuqian’s, the last journal she left for the world.
"Guess the password."
Lin Xian shook the journal at Gao Yang, showing him the still sleek and shiny lock on the side:
"Four-digit numerical password..."
"What do you think it is?"
