498: Chapter 498 Genius Enters the Mountain

The office was silent for a moment.

Outside the window, the parasol tree leaves were stirred by the wind, the rustling sounds drifting in, which only made the room feel quieter.

Dai Shengzong stared at those five characters, his brow furrowing bit by bit.

"Old Liu."

When he spoke, his voice was much lower than before.

"Was this list recorded correctly?"

Professor Liu Zuoqing had anticipated this question and pushed the stack of documents forward with a wry smile.

"Dean, when I saw it last night, I also thought the teaching assistant had made a mistake in the statistics."

"I had Song Yuan pull the original backend records."

"The timestamp, submitter, and confirmation records all match up."

He pointed to the paper.

"This is what Lin Que chose himself; not a single word was changed."

Dai Shengzong did not respond.

He brought the form up to his eyes and read it again.

Shaanxi Province Old Factory Area.

These five characters, pressed onto the paper, carried more weight than all the previous destinations.

Professor Liu Zuoqing explained in a low voice from the side.

"This place is in the Qinba Mountains, a very remote location."

"It was a large military factory back in the day; later, the main body relocated, and most of the young people followed."

"Now, what remains are basically old workers, old residential buildings, and vast areas of abandoned factory buildings."

"It rains all year round, and the mountain roads are winding."

"Let alone students, even the local young people are unwilling to stay for long."

He paused here.

"Yet Lin Que specifically chose it."

Dai Shengzong set his teacup back on the table.

The bottom of the cup tapped against the wooden tea tray, making a light sound.

He did not speak immediately.

Over those two days, because of Jian Shen's thirty annotations, the entire School of Liberal Arts had quieted down significantly.

The students had reined in their arrogance.

The teachers were also waiting.

They all wanted to see how this group of young people, whose problems had been pointed out one by one by Jian Shen, would choose their own paths.

Dan Yi went to the urban village in the south.

Chen Jiahao went to the farmers' market in the northeast.

Xu Changge chose the Gobi Desert in Gansu Province.

These choices were already enough to surprise Dai Shengzong.

But this form from Lin Que still left him silent for a long time.

National champion.

Twenty-eight characters in Beihai Park turned over all the autumn sorrow.

《Ether》 had just delivered a highly accomplished dystopian model.

Such a youth, pushed into the spotlight by applause, had just been publicly criticized by Jian Shen for "watching the fire from the other shore."

If it were someone with a weaker character, the next step would likely be to play it safe.

Pick a place with good conditions, plenty of material, and where it's easy to produce results, write a beautiful draft, and regain face.

Lin Que did not.

He sent himself to the most stifling, the heaviest, and the least opportunistic place.

After a while, Dai Shengzong suddenly smiled.

The laughter was not loud, but it instantly dispelled the oppressive atmosphere in the office.

Professor Liu Zuoqing was taken aback.

"Dean?"

"Good."

Dai Shengzong leaned back in his chair, the light in his eyes unable to be suppressed.

"This kid, he's truly daring."

He raised his hand and tapped the form.

"Jian Shen's strike landed heavily enough."

"The four words 'watching the fire from the other shore,' when applied to an ordinary student, are a reminder."

"When applied to Lin Que, it means laying out his strongest assets for everyone to see."

"Technique, deduction, setting, pacing."

"These are all his strengths, but they are also the most likely to become his obstacles."

Professor Liu Zuoqing nodded.

"Mr. Jian Shen hit the mark."

"Lin Que's intelligence is too easy to use. It's so easy that as long as he sits in a room, he can rely on his brain to construct a plausible world."

"But this time, he didn't continue to rely on his cleverness to get by."

Dai Shengzong took over.

"The fact that he is willing to attack his own strengths is what makes this rare."

He picked up the teapot again and topped off their hot water.

The tea poured into the cups with a soft sound.

"I've taught for so many years and seen too many smart kids."

"Smart people find it easiest to be reluctant to let go of their own cleverness."

"Because it's too convenient."

"Everything they write is fast, everything they learn is fast; while others are still feeling out the way, they have already dismantled the door."

Dai Shengzong paused.

"But in literature, just dismantling the door is not enough."

"In some places, you have to walk in step by step."

"If the soles of your shoes don't get muddy and your fingers don't touch the dust, no matter how precise what you write is, it will still be separated by a layer."

Professor Liu Zuoqing listened and deeply agreed.

"Lin Que's choice of the Shaanxi Province Old Factory Area this time is exactly him smashing his layer of clean glass onto the ground."

"If he can really stay there for four weeks, when he returns, the scent in his writing will change."

Dai Shengzong chuckled.

"This kid has always been quite bold throughout his journey."

"On the first day of the camp, he signed a military pledge to study off-campus."

"When forced to write a poem in public at Beihai Park, he used twenty-eight characters to turn the thousand-year-old road of autumn sorrow on its head."

"This time, he has taken the most ruthless step upon himself again."

Professor Liu Zuoqing also smiled.

"No wonder Jian Shen values him."

"This kind of temperament is something many people who have written for half a lifetime might not even possess."

The atmosphere in the office finally loosened up a bit.

Sunlight slanted in from the window, landing on the preference form.

The two characters for Lin Que were illuminated very clearly.

Dai Shengzong held his tea, the anticipation in his eyes growing stronger.

But the smile on Professor Liu Zuoqing's face quickly faded away again.

He reached out, turned the form over, and pushed it in front of Dai Shengzong.

"Dean, look at this line again."

Dai Shengzong's movements paused.

On the back of the paper were the supplementary notes for the field trip candidate locations.

At the very bottom, there was a line of small gray text.

The font size was very small.

If you don't look carefully, it's easy to miss.

Professor Liu Zuoqing's finger stopped on that line, his voice lowering a few notches.

"The real trouble with the Shaanxi Province Old Factory Area isn't its isolation."

"It's here."

Dai Shengzong looked down.

[Special Note: Some of the old factory buildings in this area are still classified as confidential heritage sites; field trip personnel must not enter the red-line restricted areas without authorization. Local contacts will coordinate individually before departure.]

Confidential heritage site.

Red-line restricted area.

As soon as these two terms appeared, the brow that Dai Shengzong had just relaxed instantly knitted together again.

He brought the paper closer and read it from beginning to end again.

"Confidential heritage site?"

"A former military factory that has relocated, and it still has areas like this?"

Professor Liu Zuoqing's expression also turned serious.

"When I saw this line last night, I broke into a cold sweat too."

Dai Shengzong looked up at him.

"This matter cannot be handled vaguely."

"No student can have any accidents, and we must be especially cautious regarding Lin Que."

"You know how many eyes are watching him right now."

"The Beijing Writers Association, Tsinghua and Peking University, Chairman Xue's side, and also Old Xu's side."

"If any problem were to arise at this field trip site, no one would be able to answer for it."

Professor Liu Zuoqing nodded immediately.

"That's why I didn't wait until today last night."

"After seeing this line, I immediately called Tao Zhiyan, Chairman of the Shaanxi Province Writers Association."

Dai Shengzong asked, "What did he say?"

Professor Liu Zuoqing rubbed his brow.

"Old Tao's voice is so loud it rings in your ears even over the phone."

"He started by pounding his chest, saying the place is safe, the red lines have long had fences installed, there are people on guard, and students can't get anywhere near the edge."

Dai Shengzong did not relax.

"Verbal guarantees are not enough."

"That's what I said too."

Professor Liu Zuoqing immediately followed up.

"I told him to send over the red-line schematic, guard duty arrangements, the list of contacts, and the safety contingency plan."

"The local Writers Association will send people to accompany the team, and the school will also arrange for a team leader to confirm each item."

"On the first day the students arrive, they will first sign a discipline confirmation form."

"They must not approach the red-line area by even a single step."

Hearing this, Dai Shengzong's expression finally relaxed slightly.

"That's more like it."

He picked up the tea and took a sip.

As the hot tea went down his throat, that sense of tension finally dissipated a little.

"So what exactly is inside that red line?"

Professor Liu Zuoqing's expression was somewhat strange.

"Old Tao didn't say."

Dai Shengzong's brow twitched again.

"He didn't say?"

"Yeah."

Professor Liu Zuoqing gave a wry smile.

"I pressed him for a long time, but he just kept me in suspense on the other end of the phone."

"He said the fences are up, the people are assigned, the kids can't even touch the edge, so safety is definitely not an issue."

"As for what's inside..."

He paused, then repeated Tao Zhiyan's exact words.

"Once your people get there, you'll naturally know."

The office went quiet.

Dai Shengzong stared at Professor Liu Zuoqing, silent for a few seconds.

Afterwards, he couldn't help but laugh and curse.

"When did that old guy Tao Zhiyan learn to keep people in suspense?"

Professor Liu Zuoqing also felt helpless.

"I find it strange too."

"He usually speaks directly, but this time he's being very tight-lipped."

"However, judging from his attitude, the safety line should be secure."

Dai Shengzong turned the form back to the front side.

In the name column, the two characters for Lin Que still lay there quietly.

In the destination column, Shaanxi Province Old Factory Area.

A top-tier youth.

A deep-mountain old factory.

A red line that cannot be approached.

Dai Shengzong looked at it for a long time, his eyes gradually sinking.

"Jian Shen is forcing him to leave behind ready-made experiences."

"Lin Que is truly daring to accept this strike."

"He is sending himself deep into the Qinba Mountains to find things that have no applause, no halo, and no shortcuts."

Professor Liu Zuoqing whispered:

"This trip will likely be very grueling."

"Grueling is good."

Dai Shengzong set down his teacup.

"If jade is not polished, its shine is too superficial."

"Lin Que is now just letting the mud, rust, and the dampness of the old factory buildings press down on those overly beautiful things of his."

"Do you believe it, Old Liu?"

He put down the empty teacup, the bottom tapping against the tea tray with a crisp sound.

"The day Lin Que walks out of that old factory in the deep mountains, what he submits to the literary world will absolutely not be another beautiful model."

"But a masterpiece that truly treads in mud, carries blood, and can make everyone unable to sit still."