Outside a movie theater on the east side of Broadway Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, USA.

"Smith's movie is amazing, I think it's just the best movie of the year, it's really shocking, how did Stanley Kubrick shoot such realistic pictures, why can he see the scenes in the universe so clearly! Could it be that their crew's cinematographer really took a spaceship to outer space to shoot these images?"

Wilson, who had just come out of the Broadway cinema, was completely impressed by this film called 2001: A Space Odyssey, whether it was from the plot and character dialogue, or from the filming angle of the film and the almost absolutely realistic cosmic picture, he completely surrendered to the image constructed by this film.

Wilson has watched a lot of science fiction movies before this, and although the plot of "Planet of the Apes" released in October last year is also very good, and the characters in it are also great, but compared to this "Space Odyssey", it is so rough that people can't look at it directly.

It is difficult for those who have not seen this film to imagine what the universe is really like! Whether it is as in the color photographs, with countless celestial bodies emitting a little starlight in the cold, silent and dark space, or whether it is also as objective and indifferent as in the textbook.

If you don't know, Wilson can tell you right now that A Space Odyssey will take you on a journey through the universe and the thrill of looking down on the Earth from space, as if you can touch the white clouds and the blue sea that stretches out of the Earth with just one hand.

Smith was also excited, couldn't hide the excitement in his heart, waved his hand violently, and shouted at Wilson: "This is incredible, I must recommend this movie to my friends around me, it is simply amazing! I have never seen such a wonderful science fiction movie, I must recommend it to Sarah, she has always liked to watch science fiction the most, I believe that after she finishes watching this movie, she will definitely be ecstatic!"

"Yes, Sarah will love it!" Wilson's eyes burned, remembering that at the end of the film, he seemed to promote the film's namesake of the movie, and couldn't help but sneak a glance at Smith, and saw that he didn't react, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Although these two are friends, they both like Sarah, who is in the same class, and both know each other, so they have been competing with each other secretly, but on the surface, everyone is still competing fairly, and the day after tomorrow is Sarah's birthday, for Sarah, who loves science fiction, this movie and the book of the same name must be her favorite birthday gifts.

Smith lowered his head and glanced at his watch, as if he had something in his heart, and said a little anxiously: "Wilson, I still have some things at home, so I'll go back first, and we'll recommend this movie to Sarah tomorrow, how about we ask her to watch it then?"

"Okay, we'll be together tomorrow. Wilson smiled and nodded in agreement, but he was thinking about something else.

When the two parted ways and went their separate ways, Wilson suddenly turned around on the street corner and went straight to the bookstore two hundred meters away. When he arrived at the store, he anxiously asked the bookstore attendant, "Is there a book for 2001: A Space Odyssey?"

"Yes, please come with me over here. The waiter led Wilson to the sci-fi books, and the most conspicuous thing was the promotional poster for the book "A Space Odyssey", which featured the two actors Kyle Dura and Gary Lockwood, who had just been seen in the movie theater.

Before Wilson stepped forward to pick up a copy of the sci-fi book of the same name, he heard a very bad voice in his ears: "Wilson, why are you here? Do you also want to buy this copy of A Space Odyssey for Sarah? Sorry I already bought it first, you can exchange it for a gift for her." ”

Smith proudly waved the space odyssey in his hand, walked up to Wilson and said: "When I just watched the movie, I remembered that there seemed to be a publication of the same name in the end, so I went to the bookstore and bought a copy, sorry Wilson, I was a little earlier than you." ”

"I'm not here to buy this book. Wilson pinched the palm behind his back, although he was angry in his heart, but his face still kept smiling, pretending to be casual and glanced at the bookshelf, his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a book with a very strange cover, walked over and picked it up, the name of the book is 1999 - our journey is the sea of stars, the name is quite good, it looks interesting, but I don't know what the content is. But at the moment, Wilson didn't care about anything else, waved his hand and said: "I'm here to buy this book, this book is great, I've heard about it, I've always wanted to buy it, and I just happened to pass by the bookstore and came in to have a look." ”

Seeing Wilson's stiff mouth, Smith glanced at the title of the book and the author's signature below, and smiled sarcastically at the corner of his mouth: "I have never heard of this book, the author Evan? Who is he? It seems that he is a rookie writer." You must know that the author of "Space Odyssey" is the famous science fiction artist Arthur C. C. C. Clarke. ”

At this time, Wilson's face was not very good-looking, but he still stubbornly said: "I believe that Evan will definitely become a well-known science fiction writer, and I am very optimistic about his book." ”

"Hehe......" Smith sneered twice, didn't say anything, and turned around and left, not forgetting to turn around and wave the 2001-Space Odyssey in his hand before leaving.

"Damn! it's always the guy who gets the first shot!" Wilson cursed secretly, if it weren't for the two of them agreeing to fair play, he wouldn't care so much.

...

In the evening, Wilson returned home dejected, ignoring his mother Sarayn calling him for dinner, he went into the bedroom alone, locked the door, turned on the bedroom light, and lay directly on the bed, and began to secretly regret why he didn't run faster!!

"Wilson went downstairs to eat, and Mom made your favorite black pepper steak. Downstairs came the cries of her mother, Salene.

"Mom, eat first, I'm not very hungry. Wilson replied impatiently, looking up at the light on the ceiling, feeling uncomfortable again that he had not been able to get the book earlier in the afternoon, and the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became, and he kicked into the sky in a fit of rage.

With a snap, he accidentally kicked a backpack that he had thrown on the bed to the ground.

After the annoyance, Wilson let out a long sigh, as if he wanted to open it, and when he got up and was about to go downstairs for dinner, he suddenly noticed a book exposed in the corner of his backpack, which was the 1999 book he bought at the bookstore in the afternoon.

Picking up his backpack, he took the book out of it, and glanced at the cover, which was a vast galaxy, but in Wilson's eyes, the galaxy looked like a forest, dark and silent with a little light, and that light seemed to be the green pupils of the eyes of a beast at night.

Infiltrate!

Wilson shuddered unconsciously, sat down at his desk curiously, and flipped through the book, the first page of the preface:

"The universe is a dark forest, and every civilization is a hunter with a gun, sneaking through the forest like a ghost, gently brushing away the branches that stand in his way, trying not to make a sound from his steps, and even breathing carefully: he must be careful, because the forest is full of hunters who are stalking like him, and if he finds another life, there is only one thing he can do: shoot and destroy it. In this forest, the other is hell, an eternal threat, and any life that exposes its existence will be quickly wiped out, this is the picture of cosmic civilization, and this is an interpretation of Fermi's paradox ————Evan"

The universe is a dark forest, and every civilization is a hunter with a gun?

Seeing this somewhat strange preface, Wilson was immediately fascinated, and he didn't even have the heart to prepare to go downstairs for dinner, but just impatiently turned the next page to read.

It wasn't until about 11 o'clock in the evening that Wilson finally finished reading the book, which was only about 140,000 words, little by little.

"Amazing! This book is amazing, no, I have to recommend this book to Sarah, she will love it, I'm sure she will!" Wilson couldn't help clenching his fists excitedly, this book from the very beginning of the imagination of the future world, and the worldview that is almost realistic enough to construct in his mind, and even the different civilizations from Mars and Saturn, all seem to be real, this is not at all like a book by a new author, the text is simply too graphic, he believes that Sarah will like this book.

...

As of mid-January, although there will be no snowy winter scenes in Hong Kong, the weather in Hong Kong has been gloomy in the past two days, and it is inevitable that there will be a hint of coolness if there is no sun for a few days.

Outside Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport, a taxi stopped in the driveway, Huo Yaowen walked down with his suitcase, wrapped in the black coat he was wearing, and before he could pay and prepare to walk to the airport, a middle-aged man in his forties who was slightly bald walked over: "President Huo!"

"Are you?" looked at the person who came, Huo Yaowen didn't know him.

Zhu Wenqing introduced himself: "The president may not know me yet, I am Zhu Wenqing, the manager of the marketing department of the publishing house, and the editor-in-chief Zhang called the day before yesterday and asked me to accompany the president to Taiwan early this morning to talk about cooperation with the people of Aoki Publishing House." ”

"Hello Manager Zhu, now is not the time to speak, this is about to come to the point, let's talk as we go. Huo Yaowen simply shook hands with Zhu Wenqing, and then walked towards the airport waiting hall, earlier when Huo Yaowen learned that he was going to Taiwan to hold a signing meeting, he told his uncle Zhang Zhide, and asked him to arrange for someone from the marketing department of the publishing house to come and go with him.

Zhu Wenqing didn't expect Huo Yaowen to be so resolute, but he also followed him closely.

"Manager Zhu, tell me about the situation of Aoki Publishing House. ”

"Aoki Publishing House is relatively well-known in Taiwan's publishing industry, they have a lot of cooperative bookstores and newsstands in the local area, covering almost half of Taiwan, and because of their good reputation and never defaulting on payments, they have cooperated with many publishing companies in Hong Kong, and if the president wants to cooperate with Aoki Press, it is a good opportunity. ”