"Demons."
"Gods."
How could things like that truly exist?
Luo Ji pushed the sudden dread he felt when he first saw David to the back of his mind.
David raised an eyebrow. He had never seen someone describe skipping classes and retaking courses with such a "refreshing and refined" attitude.
"Why are you going to the Neutron Research Institute?" Luo Ji asked as they stepped onto the pebble path. He caught a glimpse of the institute's sign through the trees.
This was the second time Luo Ji had asked. He suspected David was pretending not to hear just to get back at him for their earlier interaction.
"To find someone." David pulled out the business card Ye Wenjie had given him.
"Who? Maybe I know them," Luo Ji asked with interest. Even he was surprised by his own tone. Usually, Luo Ji acted cynical, as if nothing in the world could pique his curiosity. Yet, for some reason, his curiosity toward David had reached a peak without him even realizing it.
"Yang Dong," David said.
"Professor Yang? Do you need me to call her for you?" Luo Ji let out an "oh."
The institute before them was a square, imposing building that blended Eastern solemnity with Western structural height. Through the transparent automatic sensor doors, a massive brass cylindrical object was visible in the center of the hall. This was the "Luo Shu" neutron spectrometer, equipped with a 46-meter collimator and a triple-detector system capable of detecting structural changes from the nano to the micro-scale.
Its function wasn't limited to serving as a "microscope" for observing the direction, speed, and spin of scattered neutrons; it also played a vital role in materials science. The vacuum system was located in the room to the left, where staff in radiation suits moved in and out.
"No need."
David picked up his phone and dialed Yang Dong's number.
A familiar figure happened to walk out of a room. She removed her gloves and shoe covers, then pulled a phone from the coat hanging on the rack. David waved to her through the glass. When she saw him, she froze for a moment, but a second later, a smile broke across her usually expressionless face, and she waved back.
The call was disconnected. Yang Dong spoke a few words to the staff beside her, threw on her coat, swiped her access card, and walked out of the institute.
"David? What are you doing here?"
Yang Dong was wearing a grey down coat with black casual pants and sneakers. This did nothing to diminish her exquisite features. It was hard to imagine a single face containing so many contradictory qualities: beauty and depth, simplicity and wisdom, reality and idealism. When she looked at you, you couldn't help but feel that she wasn't looking at your physical shell, but peering directly into the soul hidden within.
"I wanted to see you," David smiled. "Let's find a place to talk."
"I think your girlfriend is about to run off with her junior."
In a teahouse at the World Trade Center mall, Luo Ji nudged Ding Yi's shoulder and spoke in a joking tone.
"Don't talk nonsense," Ding Yi shook his head. The youngest academician in the history of East University gave a bitter smile. "There's nothing actually going on between Yang Dong and me."
"Then why did you follow us?" Luo Ji rolled his eyes and downed his lemon oolong tea.
"Yang Dong is a technical pillar of our current institute," Ding Yi answered calmly. The tea was well-balanced; the first sip was a gentle sweetness of honey that wasn't cloying, like a spring breeze on the tongue, while the aftertaste held the tartness of passion fruit and the richness of peach and mango. Ding Yi blinked, deciding to take a few cups back to the lab fridge later.
"She's the only one in the entire lab who understands astrophysics. If she takes leave, the project can't move forward. We might as well all take a holiday. Besides, didn't you ask me to come along?" Ding Yi asked. "What about you? What does this have to do with you?"
Luo Ji went silent. In truth, even he didn't know why he had followed.
"Maybe I'm just too bored," Luo Ji replied. "Don't you have other projects on hand?"
Now it was Ding Yi's turn to fall silent.
"Something has happened at the front lines of physics. It's strange. Very strange," Ding Yi said slowly. His voice was strained at first but became more fluent, as if he finally found an outlet for the distress and confusion he had bottled up.
"Give me details," Luo Ji said. He gripped his plastic cup and then loosened it, sensing that the academician was about to say something of immense importance.
"I remember you and Yang Dong were high school classmates, and you both took astrophysics as an elective in college," Ding Yi suddenly asked.
"Yes." Looking at Ding Yi's face, Luo Ji felt the atmosphere grow increasingly solemn.
"Do you know about the suicide of the person in charge of the high-energy particle accelerator in Liangxiang?"
"I heard it was depression?" Luo Ji saw Ding Yi's troubled expression and had a flash of intuition. "Was it not?"
"No," Ding Yi answered with difficulty. "No, it had nothing to do with the person themselves."
"A suicide that has nothing to do with the person? You've lost me." Luo Ji frowned, sensing the weight in Ding Yi's heart.
"Starting three months ago and continuing until now, the energy levels of the colliding neutral particles in the high-energy accelerator have doubled across the board without any warning." Ding Yi spoke the terrifying truth in the calmest voice. "The fundamental rules of physical research have been changed."
This effectively announced the end of most research in Ding Yi's lab. Anyone with professional scientific training knew that from this moment on, research was a waste of resources with no practical meaning.
"What!" Luo Ji shouted in shock. He nearly stood up. He sat back down awkwardly as the people in the teahouse turned to stare. "Tell me everything."
Luo Ji lowered his voice and stared into his teacup, falling into deep thought.
"I can't believe my mother told you to find me."
When Yang Dong saw the business card Ye Wenjie had given David, her voice turned much colder. "Did she say anything else?"
"No." David shook his head, then reconsidered. "Maybe she didn't have time. I didn't go back to school after I got the prize money; I just bought a ticket and came straight to Yenching."