On the verge of death, my breathing was uncontrollable, my heart twisted, my heart, my skeleton, my flesh seemed to flicker, I seemed to dissipate.

The intense torment consumed me, and I looked at my palm, it was extinguished, and I tried my last strength to walk towards the changing convenience store, as if it were my last salvation.

My extinguished hand touched the wooden door, and in an instant, a burst of bright light burst out, and the pavilion instantly collapsed and disintegrated, and then there was a cold metal sensation on my hand.

This is a metal handle attached to the glass door, and the image in front of me is no longer flickering, it is the convenience store I just saw.

I leaned forward with weakness, and it looked like I had pushed the door open.

The cold air-conditioned breath comes in, and a polite welcome and rock music that shakes the soul.

I looked at the uniformed clerk at the counter, choked throat and unable to make a sound, and saw a long table and stool by the glass window, and I walked there with the last of my strength, and sat down straight.

The clerk didn't say much, I stared out of the glass window, the trees and grass of all colors, the floor of the path shimmered with a faint fluorescence, and the night market was gone.

I reached out and touched the floor-to-ceiling glass window in front of me, the cold, ordinary glass.

There are also posters on the wall next to the glass. Eye-catching "SOS".

The clerk seems to have switched the music, it's very ordinary and good, that kind of tragic love song, and the modern city is so miserable that only the feeling of love can not be satisfied.

I softened my breath and softened my body, but the slight tremor was still tearing at my soul.

The particles in the air seemed to be vibrating, and no, the violent sound waves were transmitted to my periosteum, and I looked out the window in horror.

There was a sudden bright light, and a few people wearing hard hats seemed to be digging the floor, and the flying sand and dust were floating, as if it was some special artistic act, but what was the perception of the number one repairing?

"Excuse me? Our fiber optic cables need to be upgraded here, so there will be some noise. ”

I turned abruptly, and the clerk was full of apologies.

"Fiber?" I asked my question with what little strength I had left.

"Yes, the old cables have caused a lot of problems recently, and many roads and tunnels have been lost to varying degrees, so we have to step up the upgrade for safety."

I couldn't understand the meaning of this man's words at all.

She wore two small braids, and her lips were orange-red with lipstick, which made her look very young.

As I looked at her, I grew accustomed to the sounds of construction.

But it always seemed like there was another engine, and the sound of the motor kept coming closer to us.

I looked at the source of the sound, and a motorcycle gradually approached and stopped in front of the convenience store.

The man got out of the car, took off his hat, and his curly hair was shaking.

He smiled mischievously like a sea otter, but it was probably just the way he moved his facial muscles.

He pushed open the glass door, and the clerk greeted him politely.

They seem to know each other.

"I saw a lot of beautiful flowers again this time, and I was really envious." The girl with the double pigtails said lightly, like a little girl complaining, but not annoying: "I'm here all day long, all the time in front of the cash register, coffee machine or something?" ”

"Don't you see a lot of strange people too? Live specimens cruise through the exhibition, and all you have to do is sit back and forth in an air-conditioned room. The curly-haired man spoke with some horror.

"I've never thought you weird, but it's a little weird that you have to take a detour to our service area every time."

The girl's voice is bright and relaxed.

"By the way, I also came here to collect specimens, and drink some wine, people in this era are simply addicted to alcohol, and there are too many kinds of wine." The curly-haired man replied.

"Okay, what's needed here tonight? Do you want to buy a map again? Or mineral water? It's still a car boy noodles. The girl seemed to be thinking about it, enumerating it.

"Ahem." The curly-haired man seemed to cough deliberately to avoid replying, "Well, did you make coffee tonight?" ”

"Coffee, it's rarely drunk at night, so it's not usually boiled," the girl's voice was a little mischievous, "but ah, I thought that a paleobotanist who was collecting specimens from all over the place might come tonight, so I made a pot." ”

"Ahem." The curly-haired man coughed again, "That's, that's American, thank you." ”

"Okay, may I ask if it's dine-in or take-out?" There seemed to be a smile in the girl's voice.

"Take out, I'm going back tonight." The curly-haired man replied.

"Okay, how do I pay?" The smile in the girl's voice disappeared suddenly.

The curly-haired man didn't answer, but just showed a QR code on his mobile phone, and the girl scanned the code easily, and clicked the cash register a few times, and the man's mobile phone rang.

The curly-haired man seemed to be thinking about talking, but the girl with the double pigtails had already quickly turned around, holding the paper cup and lid, ready to pack.

The curly-haired man seemed to sigh, just looking at the busy girl.

"Hello, this is your American, welcome to visit next time." The girl did not give him a chance to speak.

The curly-haired man had to pick up his coffee and walk to the door, and when he pushed it open, he looked back at the girl, but the girl was tidying up the shelves next to the cash register by herself, as if she couldn't see the man at all.

The curly-haired man was helpless, pushed open the door and left.

The sound of the engine started again, boom, and went away again.

I felt like I had watched a live postmodern drama, like waiting for Godot, there was no story background, I couldn't hear any story, the two of them were in a time and space where I didn't know what time and space, and they were just there.

After watching a play, my mood gradually eased up, and reason told me that I should ask about the current situation.

I got up from my chair and walked to the counter as I thought about what to say.

"Hello, do you need anything?" The girl is sharp and bright.

"That's right, where is this place? I thought, I might be lost. I was still in the night market just now, ah no, it should be a mountain cliff, and it's not right, in", I obviously didn't organize my materials.

"This is the summer solstice branch of the 032 section of the high-speed service area." The girl replied.

"Huh? High-speed service area? "My mind was full of questions.

"Is your vehicle out of order? We can contact a maintenance technician here, please let us know the specific location. The girl said enthusiastically.

"Transportation? Is it like the man's motorcycle? ”

"Yes, are you driving a motorcycle?"

I shook my head: "I don't have a vehicle. ”

The girl seemed a little surprised: "Then you are carrying other people's tools?" ”

"Someone else's tool?" I repeated, "Ah, is that the bus?" ”

"Do you mean custom-made special buses? It's been a long time since this service was discontinued. The girl replied.

"Ah, then I just can't go back?"

"Where did you come from? Where is the destination? The girl asked patiently.

But I didn't know how to answer, "I don't know." ”

"Huh?" The girl asked.

"I don't remember where I came from? At first, a guy put me on a bus and said he was looking for someone. ”

"If you don't know the starting point, it's more troublesome here?" The girl also seems to be a little troubled. "We can't find it here."

"And where did that man come from? Where is he going? You just said this is just a service area for the journey? I confided my doubts.

"That's Mr. K, who studied the mystery of the nasty, and I don't know where he started, I just know that he was going to the Middle Cretaceous, to collect specimens, and he was a paleobotanist."

"Nasty mystery?"

"In this way, isn't there a general law that all living things have a process in their evolution? The fins of fish evolved into the limbs of amphibians, which then climbed ashore and evolved into other animals. Plants are the same, the world must not have flowers at the beginning, it must have evolved from some plant before, this nasty mystery is to find the world's first flower, and find the species that evolved between them. This is what Mr. K told me, and I don't know if there is a mistake in retelling. ”

"By the way, there's a picture here," she suddenly remembered something, and opened her phone's photo album to show me. There is a flower on it, like an illustration. She continued to slide across the screen, something like a sand painting, and a silhouette, in the shape of a black flower.

"This is the fossil of Shizuko flower found in Burmese amber from the Middle Cretaceous period. This fossil is beautifully preserved and complete, with the calyx, petals, stamens, and pistils of an angiosperm fully flowered, and is a very typical core true dicot.

"This fossil, along with other fossilized flowers and fruits of other true dicots of the same era, tells us that about 100 million years ago, true dicots suddenly appeared in large numbers on Earth. In fact, the origin of angiosperms actually predates this period very early. Studies have shown that although the trifurrow pollen of true dicots was present as early as 125 million years ago, they did not form a climate in vegetation at that time. After about 20 million years of evolution, true dicots appeared in large numbers at the turn of the Morning and Late Cretaceous about 100 million years ago. ”

It was as if I was in class, baptized by the grandeur and mystery of scientific knowledge.

But what makes it all shine is the girl's gesture, which she cherishes and values as if she were cherishing the person who taught it to her.

She continued to speak, in fact, I didn't understand very well, I didn't ask what I was going to ask, but I had a lot of questions in my head, and my mind was full of "the first flower in the world." ”

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20 July 2020