For Jinling, December is already winter.

The red leaves on the mountain have receded, and what remains on the ground is the withered yellow of the fallen leaves, but if you look at it, you can still see patches of emerald green from the mountain. For those taiga, winter is their home turf.

Because of the proximity of his home, occasionally when he is not very busy, Lu Zhou often changes into sportswear and comes to this area for morning or evening runs.

For him, this is like his back garden, and he has to ask who is more familiar with it than him, probably the people who have figured out the area from a technical point of view and are responsible for his safety......

“…… I remember that there seemed to be people who organized mountaineering activities among the attendees who came to the academic conference, so why didn't you go with them? ”

Faltins: "...... I'm an old man and a young man with nothing to play. ”

Lu Zhou reminded and said, "I'm also a young man. ”

Faltins was silent for a moment, then said in a nonchalant tone.

“…… Well, I almost forgot if you didn't say it. ”

Lu Zhou: "......"

After all, the physical strength of the person was too old to keep up, and he had just walked halfway up the mountain, and Professor Faltins was a little gasped. Reaching out and unbuttoning his trench coat, he took off the yarke hat he wore on his head, looked back at the stone steps he had already walked, and looked at the empty mountain road, he took a few breaths and said.

"Here...... Doesn't seem to be anyone? ”

"After all, it's late December," Lu Zhou stopped walking, supported his knees with one hand, took out a water bottle from the hiking bag behind his back with the other, took a sip, wiped his mouth and continued, "The weather is so cold, and it's not a holiday, so it's rare to see tourists." If you want to see the most beautiful Purple Mountain, you have to wait until the beginning of October. At that time, the mountains were all golden, and when the wind blew like ocean waves. ”

Faltins raised an eyebrow, as if he was a little interested.

"Looks like you're here a lot?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "My villa is halfway up the mountain. ”

Faltins: "......"

Although he was the director of the Max Planck Institute of Mathematics, his savings were clearly not enough to build his house on the edge of the scenic area......

However, none of this really matters.

At this age, whether it is a house or a car, there is no value worth pursuing for him.

After resting for a while, the two moved on.

After walking on the mountain for a while, Professor Faltins was already panting a little, although he seemed to want to hold on to the stubborn old man's appearance, but considering his physical condition, Lu Zhou had to deduce that the time was not early, and it was not only inconvenient to go down the mountain again, but also there was no scenery to see, so he persuaded the old gentleman.

The two stopped in the rest area halfway up the mountain, Lu Zhou found a familiar restaurant, and after saying hello to the boss, he asked him to help get a grilled fish and beer on the table.

Sitting on the stone table next to the railing, the two chatted while eating grilled fish.

"The grilled fish here is even better than last night's in the hotel...... What is its name. ”

"There is no name," Lu Zhou said with a smile after opening a can of beer, "You can see it in many small restaurants in China, generally speaking, it is called grilled fish, or Wanzhou grilled fish." The method is basically the same, the difference is only that the ingredients are a little different, and it is very suitable for rice, especially for wine...... Speaking of, can you drink it? ”

Professor Faltins smiled faintly, his thin fingers unbuttoning the tab of the can.

"Are there any Germanic people who don't know how to drink? In the countryside where I live, it may not be so easy to go to the supermarket, but you can definitely find a tavern for drinking. ”

Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile.

"Really? Why didn't I notice when I went to Berlin? ”

"Because it's downtown, it's not a place to enjoy life," Professor Faltins said, sipping a sip of his beer, and turned his gaze to the nearby mountain road.

The sky was already darkening, and a veil-like halo was drawn at the edge of the jungle. Looking at the beautiful scenery and squinting his eyes, the old man took out his mobile phone from his pocket and took a photo.

“…… Speaking of which, how far is it to the top of the mountain? ”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and replied.

"At the speed just now, it will take about two hours to walk."

Professor Faltings was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed with a slight regret.

"Then I'm afraid I won't be able to go up."

Hearing this, Lu Zhou was silent for a while.

Although he felt that the old gentleman seemed to have something to say, he didn't know what to answer at the moment, so he could only comfort him and bring the topic to a less heavy place.

"It's okay, there are still many opportunities, next time we can leave early."

However, I don't know if I didn't appreciate his kindness, or if I didn't pay attention to this heaviness at all.

Professor Faltins, who was looking at the sunset on the horizon, was silent for a moment, shook his head, and spoke slowly

"Time waits for no one, especially for those of us who have little left, almost counting the things that have not yet been done, and counting the days we have left to live."

In the face of time, everyone is equal.

Both the king and the farmer can only face death as equals when the final moment comes.

After a pause of about half a minute, the old man withdrew his gaze from the distant sunset, and his gaze fell back on Lu Zhou's face.

"Now you are probably the closest to God in the world...... Or the one closest to the truth. For the first time since Mr. Grothendieck's death, I felt that there was a man in the world who might have known the answers we all longed for. ”

Lu Zhou: "...... Thank you for the compliment. ”

"It's not a compliment, it's a piece of advice...... Of course, it also contains the blessing of a bad old man," and after a deep glance at Lu Zhou, Professor Faltings continued, "Whether I can see that day or not, I hope you don't give up." If anyone could possibly actually solve this puzzle, it would probably only be you. ”

Speaking of this, the old Germanic man, who was always unsmiling and sarcastic at every turn, suddenly pulled the corners of his chapped mouth and said in a tone as if he was joking.

“…… If I'm no longer there that day, remember to keep a copy on my tombstone. But don't keep me waiting too long, I'm afraid something will crawl out from under my tombstone and knock on your door. ”

Drinking in silence, Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and spoke.

"Forget the tombstone, I swear I won't keep you waiting too long...... Three years at the latest, within three years, I'm sure I'll be able to find the exit to this labyrinth. ”

"Three years?"

Amused by Lu Zhou's words, Faltins smiled.

Shaking his head, he looked in the direction of the top of the mountain and continued after a long while.

"It's good to be young."