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Chapter 78: Chapter 76 The Young Teacher
December 26th.
High Education District, East Capital Library.
The brightly lit reading hall was almost fully seated, with the rustling sounds constantly arising.
Most were young people engrossed in their studies, vigorously writing.
There were also a few elderly people with presbyopia glasses, leisurely flipping through books.
Fang Cheng picked up his thermos with goji berries and took a sip.
The desk in front of him was piled high with thick volumes of books.
While drinking water, his gaze swept over the young people, and his heart slightly stirred.
"Only 4 days left until the preliminary test for the postgraduate entrance examination."
"Among them, there must be quite a few people on the same battle line as me, right?"
However, Fang Cheng was already well-prepared for the battle.
His main purpose of coming to the library was just to search for some materials.
The strange phrases and symbols on the postcard sent by the stranger constantly felt like a stone weighing on his heart.
Giving Fang Cheng a vaguely ominous premonition.
He rushed over early today, waiting for the library to open, then soaked himself in the reading room.
In nearly five hours, he had flipped through more than a dozen academic works, involving various languages and archaeology.
Seeking through comparisons for useful clues.
Yet up till now, there was still no clue.
It seemed like those strange symbols were perhaps just random doodles by someone.
While pondering, Fang Cheng faintly felt a gaze drifting over and landing on his face.
So, he looked up.
He saw a young woman sitting diagonally in front of him to the right also looking up at him.
The woman had attractive features, shoulder-length hair, and wore a pair of black slim-framed glasses.
As their eyes met, she slightly smiled and nodded politely.
Fang Cheng remembered her.
He had encountered her the last time he came to the library, self-studying about health and wellness knowledge.
Today, she was still seated in the same spot as before.
Holding a pen in her hand, with several books laid out in front of her, seemingly taking reading notes.
Fang Cheng’s vision was superior, enabling him to clearly see the handwriting she was writing.
It appeared she was a university teacher preparing for a lecture.
Perhaps it was his fast flipping of books that disturbed her.
With this thought, Fang Cheng also nodded and made an apologetic gesture.
Actually, with his current sensitive spiritual awareness, it was easy for him to sense the negative emotions emanating from the people around him.
It was just that after using the Concentration Skill, he always consciously ignored external noises and interference.
[Speed Reading lv1 (196/250)]
[Concentration lv1 (213/250)]
Glancing at the progress of skill enhancement, Fang Cheng finished his water and stood up.
He stacked the dozen or so books on the table into a pile and cradled them in his arms.
He then walked towards the nearby bookshelf area.
After returning each book to its original place one by one, he moved to another row of bookshelves nearby.
"Should I keep looking?"
Fang Cheng pulled out a foreign book, contemplating to himself.
If all else fails.
Perhaps he could go to a university and seek advice from some real professionals.
Or ask the librarians if they could help borrow books from the ancient books area on the top floor.
With a whoosh.
He opened the cover, Fang Cheng simply stood by the window and began reading in the sunlight.
The two-sided wooden bookshelf crammed with various books and volumes, shielding the view, emitted a distinct scent of books.
Readers borrowing books pass by occasionally, contributing to a leisurely and relaxed atmosphere.
Just as he was engrossed in reading with his head down,
a faint scent, like that of jasmine, suddenly drifted into his nose.
Shortly after, a delicate and melodious voice spoke,
"Are you very interested in linguistics?"
Fang Cheng was slightly surprised and looked up upon hearing this.
He saw a bespectacled beautiful female teacher standing in front of him, her eyes filled with interest.
"Sorry."
She raised her hand to adjust the hair beside her ear and took the initiative to explain:
"I noticed you borrowed many foreign language books. It’s quite rare to see someone study several languages at the same time, so I was a bit curious."
Looking at the woman who seemed to consider him an oddity, Fang Cheng internally criticized.
In fact, from what he had observed before, this teacher wasn’t much better.
The books she borrowed were also quite diverse, including economics, political science, history, religious studies, folklore, and archaeology, among others.
The wide range made one wonder if she could truly comprehend them all.
After some consideration, Fang Cheng replied half-truthfully:
"My girlfriend sent me a postcard from abroad with some strange writings on it, and I really want to understand what they mean."
"Oh."
The female teacher nodded in realization, then said:
"I have some expertise in languages. If it’s not too private, you might let me take a look."
Fang Cheng thought for a moment, then took out the postcard from his pocket and handed it to her with a hint of hope.
The female teacher took it and examined it closely.
After a long silence, she hesitated slightly before speaking:
"I haven’t seen this kind of writing before..."
Before Fang Cheng could feel disappointed, she continued:
"But one thing is certain; these aren’t merely symbols but likely belong to a category of script."
"Why?"
Fang Cheng had previously suspected that these characters were merely random scribbles.
"Languages and scripts all follow certain patterns. Even if you don’t understand a foreign script, you can still sense some obscure resonances."
The female teacher lifted her bright eyes to Fang Cheng’s:
"It’s due to an innate talent in humans that allows us not only to convey surface information through writing but also to support advanced cognitive activities, making it easier for us to learn multiple languages."
"Linguist Chomsky calls this innate ability a ’language acquisition device,’ likening it to an organ inside the brain that stores some universal grammatical rules common to human languages."
Fang Cheng nodded thoughtfully.
Reflecting on it, his initial impression when he first saw these characters was that someone was trying to convey something extremely unique.
"Writing not only belongs to nations or ethnic groups. A community or a profession can create their own scripts. Instances in history like Women’s Script, Taoist Talismans, and the yet-to-be deciphered Cliff Heavenly Book are proof of this."
"They might seem meaningless, yet they hold many meanings and serve as a medium of communication for specific groups."
"I recommend that you read some books on folklore, and you might find similarities in some local traditional cultures that could inspire insights."
The female teacher spoke methodically.
Suddenly remembering something, she added:
"By the way, during the New Year’s holiday, the library will host many science popularization lectures."
"One of the sessions will be led by a world-renowned paleolinguist; you might want to attend, as you could discover something unexpected."
Fang Cheng felt that her eyes behind the glasses sparkled unusually bright as she spoke this line,
Seeming to flicker with a trace of cunning, then disappearing in an instant, as if it was just an illusion.
"Thank you for your help; may I ask your name?"
Fang Cheng retrieved the postcard and thanked her politely.
"Nice to meet you, I’m Lin Chuqiao, just a small lecturer at East Capital University."
The beautiful teacher proudly straightened her chest and extended her hand generously.
"I’m Fang Cheng, currently a sparring partner at a boxing gym."
Fang Cheng gently pinched her slender fingers and then let go.
He could feel the softness and plumpness from her palm, just like the impression her name and appearance gave.
