Monday, December 24, 2085, Sunny.
10:23 AM
Su Xiangli felt a bit unnerved by Simon's stare.
"Why are you staring at me?" the little girl asked, crossing her arms and feigning displeasure.
"Your head is too small," Simon said with regret, then turned and walked away.
11:32 AM
Teacher Li was eating in the cafeteria when Simon carried his tray over, sat opposite her, and stared intently at her face.
"Student Simon, is something the matter?" Teacher Li felt a bit restless under his scrutinizing gaze; his look brought back some deep, terrifying memories, and any adult would be wary of such a stare.
Simon: "I want to look at your head."
Teacher Li screamed in fright, abandoning her tray and running away.
Simon raised his hand to stop her, "Hey! I just wanted to take some inspiration..."
1:03 PM, during afternoon self-study.
Meng Qijun was reading in the library, and Simon sat opposite her, staring at her.
"Is something the matter?"
"I'm looking at you," Simon said seriously and earnestly.
Meng Qijun's face flushed, "You... you can look if you want. It's just that I... I'm not very good-looking, so maybe you... shouldn't look."
Simon replied thoughtfully, "No, you are very good-looking. So I need to look more."
The little girl Meng Qijun lowered her head, silent.
2:33 PM
Zhang Yingxuan and Zhou Ping were playing string games, and Simon watched silently.
Children's faces have a lot of fat and round contours, but some are also sharply defined, like Zhou Ping, who is thin.
Simon was considering the form of the model's head: should it be flesh and blood, a skull, mechanical, plant-like, ceramic, made of stacked gems, or a concrete and brick structure? Should the facial features be young or old, living or dead, human or non-human?
And actually, there's no need to limit the theme to the conflict between machine and nature...
Zhang Yingxuan asked worriedly, "Simon, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, just watching you guys," Simon said with a mysterious smile.
Zhou Ping and Zhang Yingxuan exchanged glances.
...
School dismissal time arrived, and the dismissal bell played the classic "Going Home" by Kenny G, with its lingering saxophone melody, as graceful as floating silk on still water.
Simon sat at his desk, tidying his homework. He liked listening to this dismissal bell and would linger in the school for a while because of it. Music is something that can transcend time, just like the Xinhua Bookstore he loved back then; he would always stay until the closing bell rang, which was this very "Going Home," holding so many memories.
But what's the old saying? The more you see, the less novel it becomes.
His mind was still on that missing head, without a hint of nostalgia.
As he was about to leave, several of his friends came over and stopped him.
Su Xiangli, Zhang Yingxuan, Zhou Ping, Yu Fei, Meng Qijun, and Mei Shenglin—these were all familiar friends.
Simon clutched the strap of his backpack, looked around, a bit confused, "What do you guys want with me?"
Su Xiangli looked worried, "Bad boy, are you sick?"
Simon immediately understood, "Oh, absolutely not, and nothing happened at home. Don't worry, I'm just looking at you guys because I need material."
"Material?" x 6
Simon rubbed the bridge of his nose; he actually wanted to push up a pair of smart glasses like Teacher Shao and his cousin, but unfortunately, he didn't wear glasses. "Yes, for the science competition, we're making a model. Meng Qijun suggested making a half-mechanical, half-biological human body model, and I think it has great potential. Now, we just need a head."
Yu Fei exclaimed, "This is a science competition, why do we need to make a human body model? Wouldn't a universe model be better? We could make a model of the Milky Way Galaxy!"
Simon asked the others, "Here's a Milky Way Galaxy model, and here's a human body model. Which one would you choose to look at?"
"Human body!"
"Definitely a human body, who doesn't know what the Milky Way Galaxy looks like?"
"Right, right, uh, the human body is more interesting."
Yu Fei was deeply discouraged and quietly retreated to the back.
Simon smiled, "See? We need novel ideas, otherwise, how can we stand out?"
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I'm very sure, I'm perfectly fine."
"Tsk—" x 6
"Boring."
"Let's go, let's go."
Simon trotted after his friends, "Hey, don't leave me alone, let's go home together after school."
"Who wants to go home with a bad guy like you!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
The children laughed, strolling through the evening glow.
...
At eight in the evening, Simon was about to go to bed when he suddenly received a survey.
Hmm, Simon carefully reviewed it.
Was this the consequence of scaring Teacher Li away this morning?
"National Culture and Social Credit Supervision Bureau: Dear Citizen Simon, we have received a citizen report that your words and actions are contrary to scientific literacy. Please complete a questionnaire. The latest submission date allowed is 2085.12.30. Please answer conscientiously; your answers will be recorded in your electronic file."
Simon began answering the questions seriously when Sun Hui and Lu Jiande suddenly rushed into the room, questioning Simon with tense expressions.
"Kang Kang, have you been associating with disreputable people?"
"Do you know you've been reported? This won't do. We've told you many times at home not to say inappropriate things in public."
Simon covered his ears, "I know, I know! Stop bothering me!"
"What's wrong with you? Your mom and dad are doing this for your own good. If you don't listen now, it'll be even worse later..."
Simon sighed silently.
Alas, guardians receive emails too. I'm so silly, truly. And Teacher Li, are you really that scared?
...
1 AM.
Simon woke up with a start from his dream.
He had just had a very strange dream, full of flying human heads, as if he had encountered some demonic sect's old monster. Simon was startled awake by a sudden dive of a bronze-colored skeleton, which seemed to be the tattoo on Great-Grandfather's back.
Incredible, what you think about during the day, you dream about at night. Simon pondered it on his bed, feeling particularly inspired.
So, a machine head full of pipes and gears, with flowers and plants growing in the pipes, and a person looking up from the top of the skull...
But isn't that too idealistic?
Simon knew that different forms of artistic expression emphasized different aspects. If it were a painting, one could add living elements to show vitality, but a model or sculpture was another matter.
So, it still needs to be changed. Don't divide it in half, Simon thought. Just unify the style: branches growing in pipes, rotting flesh covering metal, blooming flowers and withered leaves as clothing. And remove the person on top of the head, change it to eyes.
Then, what should the posture be like?
Simon excitedly jumped out of bed, inspiration, endless inspiration! He couldn't use his phone or computer, but that was fine; he would use paper and pen to describe his thoughts.
He turned on the desk lamp, drew back the curtains, and Simon faced the bright desktop, with the lightless starry sky behind him.
Getting into the groove, he tapped his leg and hummed softly.
"If people had no past. If the world would not forget. Living today, alive. It would not be there, plundering our minds..."
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