241 Why Not Just Hit Him (2/2)

Now, those who had hurried to Anglo were practically all from the School of Revelations. The seventy-some people were all acquaintances and waved to each other in the hall. Most had white hair already; the youngest were over thirty-years-old.

”Ah, if someone bombed this building, it would be horrible! The ancient word of academia would be pushed back four-hundred years! It sounds exciting!” This came from Charles. It was a serious time, but he still could not help but spout nonsense. Beside him, the expressionless Ye Qingxuan sneakily kicked him. Bai Xi hated these serious events so she did not enter the building. She stayed outside with Old Phil and waited for them to finish.

Ye Qingxuan, Charles, and Abraham sat in the corner, seemingly insignificant. No one recognized them, so while the scholars were discussing quietly, it never occurred to them that the stars were right beside them.

Ye Qingxuan had never expected that the arguments outside would be this interesting.

”Mr. Lennon, you are too naïve. Academia is a serious theory. Someone who has not been taught properly cannot easily make a breakthrough. Mr. Ingmar is orthodox and is a famous figure in the academic world. It’s logical that he can create such results. You can’t jump out, say that he plagiarized, and take the results for yourself.”

”The orthodoxy has been helpless against the Voynich Manuscript for centuries. All the grandmasters were unable to do anything, even grandmaster Miss Lola, but Ingmar can?”

”At least he’s more reliable than some quickly-produced musician!”

”I heard that he’d only been educated for three months! He probably didn’t even have times to learn all the runes!”

”Yeah, those rookie folk musicians just love public attention. Like some alchemy powder that turns water to oil, or that perpetual motor, aren’t they all just jokes made by those ‘folk musicians’?”

The crowd laughed quietly. It was obvious that the term ‘folk musicians’ accurately described what the amateur civilian musicians were like.

Ye Qingxuan had good hearing and could hear the voices clearly from dozens of meters away. He maintained his poker face but Charles’s expression grew worried.

”It seems like Professor’s situation isn’t good.” He sighed quietly.

Ye Qingxuan nodded. This was Abraham’s biggest weakness—he had no reputation in the academic world and was not even a Revelations musician. The academic world was isolated and everyone knew each other. Compared to the familiar and well-known Ingmar, it was difficult to trust Abraham.

The situation looked bleak but Abraham did not seem worried. Instead, he was calm and composed, and expressionless as always—this was how he was. At least being ”slow” was a positive trait here.

”There’s no need to rush.” Abraham looked at his watch. ”There’s still one more hour. There’s no need to be here so early.”

”It’s better to be prepared!” Charles pointed his chin at a figure in the crowd. ”Look at Ingmar, he’s dressed up like a butterfly. Ah, seeing him even makes me fall in love.”

He had proudly used an Eastern idiom, instantly making Ye Qingxuan’s features twist. The other half of the idiom was ”let alone that old guy!” Idioms could not be used so carelessly.

But Charles’s description was amazingly accurate. In the crowd, Ingmar wore a musician’s formalwear and a pure white coat. There were medals on his chest and his sleeves were lined with gold. His long salt-and-pepper hair was tied back, his eyes were deep like a starry sky, and a polite smile was on his face. He was the perfect example of a musician.

On the other hand, Abraham wore the same coat he had for the past few decades, and Charles was dressed slovenly (because he did not have anything else). Only Ye Qingxuan was slightly formal, which was not very formal.

”I feel like we’ve lost on looks.” Charles instantly grew dejected.

Ingmar easily made small-talk with all the scholars in the crowd. He talked about life, made jokes, and caused many smiles. The appraisal was coming but he was still charismatic.

As if on accident, he saw Abraham in the corner and his lips curled into the slightest sneer as he walked over.

”Hey, Yezi, he’s coming.”

Charles grew excited but Ye Qingxuan just looked and nodded. ”Yeah.”

”I’m nervous, what should we do?” Charles asked quietly. ”What’s he coming over for? Is he going to talk trash again? What should I do?”

”He can’t beat you in talking trash so what are you scared of?” Ye Qingxuan thought to himself.

Beside him, Abraham thought for a moment and suddenly slapped his knee, concluding, ”If you don’t know what to do, why not just hit him?”