Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 682 - 441: Severe Convective Weather Warning_1

Chapter 682: Chapter 441: Severe Convective Weather Warning_1

Feng Yi returned with his auction item. He had a special storage space for the high-priced charity painting he bought, while the gift painting was taken to his collection museum.

Inside the collection museum, Feng Yi had cleared a special area to display items from around the world, all related to the stories of his ancestors. There were objects with illustrations he had bought during his travels, and even more cryptic items, such as meteorites.

The gift painting he received from the Mingyao Charity Auction was also placed with the previously collected items.

Having arranged the painting, Feng Yi stood quietly observing the naive brushwork that depicted the figure.

The "monster" within looked fierce, with a villainous appearance, and taken out of context, it would definitely be seen as a negative character.

But why did Feng Yi think that in this story, his ancestor was "teasing" the villagers rather than being domineering and oppressing the people?

Children paint with their candid emotions, and these emotions change depending on the stories they hear.

In the story depicted by this painting, the "monster" is mischievous and a prankster, but it doesn’t really harm the villagers. Therefore, while painting, the child would have a bit of timidity towards the unknown creature, along with more curiosity.

But not fear.

Just as with monsters, children react differently to the Monkey King than they do to the Black Bear Spirit.

Similarly, with snake spirits, their emotional response to "Bai Suzhen below Qingcheng Mountain" is different from that to the villainous snake spirits in Journey to the West.

The stories guide their emotional inclinations.

Looking at the "monster" in the painting, whose features were exaggerated in the child’s rendition, Feng Yi thought:

If this story had really happened, if one of his ancestors was truly depicted, he wondered if that ancestor had swindled food and drink there.

Well, there would be an opportunity to visit that village.

His gaze moved away, and Feng Yi looked at the other illustrated items displayed here.

Some of these illustrations might be purely fictitious, and others could be based on real events, altered by varying degrees of artistic processing, making their authenticity highly dubious. But as long as there was a hint of truth, Feng Yi could do his best to sense the rich and varied lives his ancestors might have led in a bygone era.

Although that era had passed, it left behind many legends.

In those ancient times, without advanced communication, even if someone made an appearance in a place, it would be limited to that specific location. The slow spread of news, along with folk superstitions and various exaggerated stories, would gradually erode the truth of the events, thus creating a protective layer.

Unlike nowadays, if one were to reveal their true form somewhere, the whole world would know within an hour!

The risks are not the same, and one daren’t reveal themselves!

Feng Yi sighed and left the collection museum.

Shortly after returning home, Feng Yi received a call from the head of the Joint Preservation Bureau Expert Committee.

"Another international conference? Didn’t I just attend a seminar? Is this conference really necessary? You could send another expert who is more suitable!" Feng Yi said.

He didn’t want to go, but the committee head still recommended that Feng Yi attend.

"They want you to talk about those rare scenes you filmed in the tropical rainforest... Do you know how many people are interested in your photography? You should see how many earnest and unread emails are in your inbox!"

Feng Yi wouldn’t look.

The head continued, "The list of recommended participants for the exchange needs to be reviewed and that takes at least two days, but your name would be immediately approved upon submission. You see what I mean? You can tell they are eagerly anticipating your participation, right?"

Feng Yi remained silent.

The head persisted, "They’re especially interested in hearing about your trip to the tropical rainforest. They have so many questions they want to discuss with you. For instance, when analyzing a line from an ancient text, different people have different perspectives and interpretations.

"It’s the same here; different people have different approaches to the same image. Those who observe closely in person and those who only see the photographic images have naturally different understandings. Therefore, professors researching related topics are particularly looking forward to your visit as they have many questions they would like to discuss with you!"

Feng Yi rubbed his eyebrows.

Discuss what?!

And "many questions"!

Seeing Feng Yi still silent, the head’s voice became more gentle and sincere, "From your perspective, participating in such exchanges and discussing with other outstanding researchers from different countries is beneficial. I have suggested that you could continue to deepen your knowledge and scholarship, like, systematically improving your educational qualifications. If you could communicate more with those renowned professors, you would gain access to more academic resources. Please consider it."

Facing someone like Feng Yi, the head felt helpless; after all, Feng Yi was wealthy, capable, and irreplaceable. Conventional persuasion was useless. But Feng Yi’s academic foundation was genuinely weak—lacking first-author papers and not even having a relevant university major. The higher he climbed, the more he would face skepticism.

After finishing the phone call, Feng Yi sat on the terrace lost in thought.

He understood the head’s intent; the head hoped he would systematically advance his education, preferably by publishing several papers as the first author.

This... an upgrade from easy to hard mode in academia?

He had seen the formidable research papers published by those prominent researchers—he couldn’t compare, the gap was too wide.

He felt like his brain wasn’t quite up to the task...

Feng Yi pondered quietly for a long time.

"Tch! Don’t even think about PUA-ing me!"

I’m pretty awesome too!