In early July, there were still two weeks until the serialization of "A Study in Scarlet" began in "Good Words."
Lionel finally completed all his studies at the Sorbonne, passing his graduation examination with a satisfactory written score and an excellent oral score.
The university system of this era was three years, and students were not required to submit a graduation thesis—that was only for doctorates.
The process this time was rather uneventful, with no dramatic situations occurring.
After the Christmas holiday, Miss Sophia almost stopped coming to the Sorbonne to "audit," instead focusing all her energy on social activities.
Her loyal follower, Louis-Alphonse, also became much more low-key, shrinking into a corner every day, afraid that Lionel or Albert would notice him.
Dean Henri Patin strongly urged Lionel to continue his studies, but Lionel had already decided to take a long vacation.
A year of parallel life, with writing and academics progressing simultaneously, had left him exhausted.
Recently, he had even been spending two days every weekend at "Charpentier's Bookshelf."
"A French Journey for Two Children" achieved an "overwhelming victory" with the "French Reader" selection committee and was officially established as the primary reading material for upper elementary school students.
Selections from other authors were all "supplementary readings," including Lionel's "My Uncle Jules."
Georges Charpentier had already assembled the writing team for "Montiel's Secret Scrolls," and Lionel's weekends were spent on training matters such as explaining key concepts and establishing formatting.
So, by the time the graduation examination was over, he was numb and didn't want to touch anything that required thinking.
Although "A Study in Scarlet" was not too long, it was still enough for a bimonthly like "Good Words" to serialize until Christmas.
"Le Petit Parisien" and "La Vie Moderne" were eagerly awaiting his new work, but according to his agreement with "Good Words," these two newspapers could only begin reprinting in September.
His friendship with Paul Pigot and Georges Charpentier was older, but editor Norman McLeod offered a more sincere remuneration!
After receiving his Sorbonne diploma, Lionel felt as if a great burden had been lifted from him, and he immediately fell into a deep sleep upon returning to his apartment.
Lionel finally woke up leisurely around noon the next day.
After eating the "brunch" prepared by Patty, Lionel began to open his mail, and soon his attention was drawn to a letter from Pierre Curie.
In the letter, Pierre Curie stated that preliminary results had been achieved in the modification of the typewriter and bicycle, inviting Lionel to come and see them when he had time.
Lionel, looking for something to do, immediately announced after reading the letter: "This weekend, we're going to Montmartre Hill!" The workshop rented for them by "Delacroix's Office" was located there.
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The summer sun generously streamed into the streets and alleys of Montmartre Hill, filling the air with the smells of paint, sawdust, metal, and cheap tobacco.
The residents here were mainly artists, artisans, laborers, and small vendors.
Nearby, there were small factories and workshops of all sizes, densely packed; in the distance, stood the construction site of the Sacred Heart Basilica, bristling with scaffolding.
The church's magnificent white dome was still under construction, creating a peculiar contrast with the secular human activity around it—if one considered for whom it was built, it seemed even more ironic.
As the four-wheeled carriage rented by Lionel passed by, Mr. Delacroix, the accompanying notary, suddenly remarked,
"Parliament might issue a general amnesty this year..."
Lionel looked up at the stern and upright gentleman and asked,
"A general amnesty? For those exiled Communards?"
Mr. Delacroix replied,
"The proposal is already under discussion, but it's still unknown how many will be able to return from New Caledonia."
Lionel turned his head to look out the window:
"I hope this is a true amnesty; they should all return to their homeland."
Mr. Delacroix seemed a little surprised:
"You... are a sympathizer of theirs?"
Lionel neither confirmed nor denied, not answering the question, but instead pointed to the Montmartre Cemetery they had just passed outside the window:
"I heard 'The Lady of the Camellias' is buried there?"
Mr. Delacroix did not press further, but nodded:
"Yes, 'Plessis' is buried here—after the cemetery, we'll reach the workshop soon."
Sure enough, not long after the carriage passed the cemetery, they saw a row of handicraft workshops, and at the entrance of one, Pierre Curie was waiting for them.
This used to be a small furniture factory; "Delacroix's Office" had rented one of their warehouses and could use any tools in the workshop.
Walking into the workshop's warehouse, a wave of heat mixed with the smells of engine oil, metal, fresh sawdust, and a faint hint of kerosene wafted over them.
Files, pliers, wrenches, saws, hand drills... were scattered on the wide workbench or hung on wooden boards on the wall.
In the corner, there were piles of angle iron, brass materials, rubber of different thicknesses, buckets of glue, and wood.
Several semi-finished parts were scattered nearby, and some structural diagrams and calculation drafts were hastily drawn on the blackboard on the wall.
Henri Poincaré, wearing only a shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, embraced Lionel upon meeting him:
"Mr. Sorel, congratulations on your graduation!"
Lionel eagerly asked,
"Where are the results? I can't wait to see them!"
Poincaré led them to one side of the workshop, where two objects were covered with clean canvas.
The first to be unveiled was the thoroughly modified typewriter; it was completely unrecognizable from its original Remington No. 2 appearance.
The original iron casing that enveloped its exterior had been removed, revealing its complex internal mechanical structure.
Pierre Curie proudly began to explain:
"As you can see, Lion, based on your sketches and suggestions, we have solved the problem of 'visible typing'!"
He pointed to the intricate levers and connecting rods inside the machine:
"We replaced all the wooden typebars with thinner, narrower metal typebars. Look at their structure—"
He gently pressed a key, and the corresponding metal typebar traced an elegant arc, its hammer head striking upwards with a "snap" against the platen—the platen had also been moved to the top.
Henri Poincaré proudly introduced:
"We call it the 'upstroke' typebar!"
He pointed to the clear letter that had just appeared on the white paper:
"Now, you can clearly see every character without taking your eyes off the paper."
Pierre added:
"Because we used more slender metal typebars, we successfully increased the number of keys..."
Lionel leaned in to look and indeed saw the familiar special character keys, and the positions of A and Q, and Z and W, had also been swapped, making it more suitable for French input habits.
Pierre Curie sat beside the thoroughly modified typewriter and began to type.
A famous quote from Hugo appeared on the paper—"Man is born not to drag chains, but to unfold his wings."
However, the letter alignment was uneven, the ink marks varied in depth, and it even jammed twice in the middle; the two tinkered with it for quite a while before fixing it.
Alice was the most excited:
"This is amazing! Now I won't have to pull out the paper to check it anymore!"
Mr. Delacroix offered a suggestion:
"Once the blueprints are finalized, we can have a sewing machine factory or a piano factory produce samples for us."
Pierre Curie excitedly motioned to everyone:
"Alright, we've seen the typewriter, now let's look at the other 'big toy'!"
With that, he uncovered another canvas, revealing a bicycle that had undergone radical modifications!
Before Pierre Curie could begin his explanation, a timid child's voice piped up at the warehouse entrance:
"Good morning, Mr. Curie..."
Everyone turned to look and saw a boy, about eight or nine years old.
Pierre Curie waved to the boy:
"Don't be afraid, come on in!"
Then he turned to introduce him to the others:
"He lives next door, his father is a building surveyor and works at the cathedral."
Henri Poincaré also patted Paul's head:
"Paul is very clever and interested in these things. He's been coming here to help out a bit whenever he has time these past few months."
Seeing so many strangers, the boy was a little shy, leaning against Pierre Curie:
"Good morning, gentlemen, ladies. I am Paul, Paul Langevin..."
Lionel: "..."
What a twist of fate!
Pierre Curie burst out laughing:
"Paul, why are you suddenly so shy? Last time, didn't you say you would also get into the Sorbonne and become my student? Where did that ambition go?"
Lionel knelt down and earnestly said to Paul Langevin:
"Paul, listen to me, actually, being Mr. Poincaré's student is quite good too..."
Pierre Curie became displeased:
"Hey, Lion, what do you mean? Paul must be my student! No one can take him from me!"
Lionel could only stand up and pat Pierre Curie's shoulder:
"Pierre, this is what you chose yourself..."
(End of chapter)