Chapter 15 The Subconscious Backs the Pot

9 PM.

Gao Yang, having just finished overtime, arrived at Lin Xian's house and immediately collapsed on the sofa.

"Alright, Lin Xian, tell me what's going on?"

Lin Xian sat down opposite him at the coffee table and began to recount the whole story in detail...

From the moment he entered the dream and defected the Big-Faced Cat, to learning the real cause of the Big-Faced Cat's daughter's death, to finding out that the mysterious organization that killed the cat's father was called the Genius Club, to the Big-Faced Cat robbing a bank to get an invitation to the Genius Club, and then later, seeing that invitation at the front desk when he went to work...

"Mhm."

"Mhm."

Gao Yang nodded incessantly, drank water, looked thoughtful, and wore a nervous expression.

"I understand."

"You understand again?"

*Bang.*

Gao Yang put down his glass and looked seriously at Lin Xian.

"In the end, it's all about the subconscious!"

"The subconscious is the scapegoat, right?"

Lin Xian couldn't help but complain,

"When in doubt, quantum mechanics? When unable to explain, parallel universes? I carefully explained it to you for so long, and you're still using the subconscious to fob me off?"

"Not the same thing!"

Gao Yang interrupted Lin Xian, explaining,

"Last time at the bar, I was anxious to watch the World Cup, so I didn't explain it clearly to you. But actually, the subconscious is much more complex than you think!"

"Please explain it simply."

"Many times, you see things, hear words, and forget them immediately. But have you really forgotten? Actually, no! Your subconscious still remembers them for you. That's the feeling of déjà vu in life."

Lin Xian got up and waved his hand.

"That's too far-fetched. Go write a novel. I don't want to listen."

"It's not metaphysics!"

Gao Yang pulled Lin Xian back to the sofa and held up his index finger.

"I'll give you an example, and you'll understand!"

"Let's hear it."

"Have you ever heard a song or a melody that feels familiar, that you're sure you've heard before, but you can't remember when?"

"That does happen."

"Have you ever seen a stranger and felt like you've met them somewhere before? Seen an unfamiliar scene and felt like you've seen it before?"

"That… sometimes happens."

"You meet a lot of people on the subway every day on your way to work, and you've had a lot of classmates growing up. You've seen all their faces, but can you accurately remember the appearance of every single one of them now? No need to go too far back, can you remember the subway passengers from this morning?"

"Of course not, who would remember that?"

*Smack!*

Gao Yang slapped his thigh hard! His index finger pointed at Lin Xian's forehead.

"That's the point!"

"Human memory is a very unreliable thing. The more distant the memory, the more unreal it is. But the subconscious is different!"

"You forget a lot of things, but your subconscious doesn't! Including the people you've met, the music you've heard, the places you've been. So, you often have a strange sense of familiarity, feeling like you've seen, heard, or been there before."

"So, let me summarize—"

"You must have heard the name Genius Club somewhere before! Even if it was whispers in an elevator, an advertisement that flashed by on the subway... In short, you must have heard it, that's why you dreamed about it."

……

Lin Xian looked at Gao Yang suspiciously.

"Where did you learn all this stuff? Subconscious, déjà vu... you even make it sound convincing."

"Hahaha, this..."

Gao Yang stroked the stubble on his chin.

"I learned it from that psychologist's Moments. You remember, right? I showed you her Moments last time."

Lin Xian stopped dwelling on that point.

"But your explanation doesn't answer my core question at all... What I'm struggling with isn't that I dreamed about the Genius Club, it's why things from my dream appear in reality."

"I only dreamed about the Genius Club last night, and only heard the Big-Faced Cat say that there was an invitation, and it appeared right in front of me this morning! Do you think that's reasonable?"

"Very reasonable."

Gao Yang took out a cigarette case and put a cigarette in his mouth.

"Many people have precognitive dreams, but they're basically coincidences."

Lin Xian chuckled dismissively.

"What kind of coincidence is that? I even set the background story of the Genius Club in my dream!"

"And I saw the advanced mathematics textbook in my dream. The formulas inside are exactly the same as the advanced mathematics textbook in reality. You know I didn't study advanced mathematics in college. You can't say that I'm better than Gauss in a dream, can you?"

"So what?" Gao Yang didn't care.

"You don't think your dreams can accurately predict the future, do you? Or that your dreams are real, a future world 600 years from now?"

"Don't say it, I've really suspected that."

……

……

The two looked at each other without speaking.

"Fine."

Gao Yang lit his cigarette with a lighter, then reached into his pocket.

"You say your dreams can predict the future, right?"

"I just said it's possible."

*Slap!*

A small red and white piece of paper was slapped on the coffee table by Gao Yang.

"What's this?"

"A soccer lottery ticket." Gao Yang exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Tonight at 3 AM, the Qatar World Cup semi-final, Argentina versus Croatia."

"You go to sleep and dream now, and find the result of the match in your dream. When you wake up at 00:42, tell me who won!"

Gao Yang flicked the ash of his cigarette and smiled, looking at Lin Xian.

"You didn't say your dream was the real world 600 years in the future? Then let's give it a try!"

……

Lin Xian picked up the lottery ticket.

It said 3 AM, Argentina vs. Croatia.

The lottery ticket bet 100 yuan on Argentina to win, with odds of 2.3. If Argentina really won, the ticket could be cashed for 230 yuan.

Indeed.

If he wanted to verify whether his dreams could accurately predict the future... a lottery ticket was the best proof, more convincing than anything else.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

Lin Xian turned and walked into the bathroom to do a quick wash.

"Keep your voice down in the living room, don't affect my sleep."

"Look carefully!"

Gao Yang shouted in the living room.

"It's best to write down the score and everything! If we buy the score directly, the odds are higher, and we'll earn more!"

"...Whether I can find it in my dream is another matter, don't have too much hope."

"You can find a computer and search online! You can find that stuff in a second online."

"I've already tried that, what do you think I've been doing for the past twenty years?"

Lin Xian rinsed his mouth, spitting out the toothpaste foam.

"The first time I learned about lottery tickets in middle school, I found a computer in my dream and wanted to search for the winning numbers of the double-color ball."

"And the result?"

"The result was that I couldn't find anything!" Lin Xian said while applying facial cleanser.

"Not just the double-color ball, I couldn't find any current affairs news or stocks from our time... The internet in my dream is useless, I can't find any useful information."

"I see..."

Gao Yang tore open a bag of snacks, turned on the TV, and lowered the volume.

"Logically speaking, information on the internet can be stored permanently, it's impossible for there to be no trace of it at all. But... when you think about it, this is just a fictional dream, so it seems reasonable."

Lin Xian wiped his face clean.

"I don't think my dream is that simple anyway. There are too many things in it that are beyond my understanding."

"Facts speak louder than words! Go dream!"

After washing up, he walked into the bedroom.

Lin Xian turned off the lights, got into bed, and wrapped himself in the quilt.

"Departing."

……

……

Whoosh!!

The familiar summer breeze brushed past, and Lin Xian opened his eyes.

It was still the familiar square, the familiar hustle and bustle, the familiar chirping of cicadas.

Lin Xian looked at the familiar crowd in the square. The electronic notice board showed the time as:

[August 28, 2624]

[21:54]

"Hmm..."

Lin Xian scratched his head.

"The results of the 2022 Qatar World Cup... where should I look for them?"