"The family won't let it."

Xiang Shan never thought that an old professor with silver hair would say such things that only a child would say, so he snorted and almost laughed.

"Huh? You don't believe it? Professor Jing looked at this expression and felt a little funny.

Xiang Shan nodded: "You were still studying at that time?" ”

"I'm done with college, I'm staying in school." Professor Jing stirred the ketchup with his fries.

"My parents don't like me playing games either, but as long as I buy them with my own salary, they won't say anything."

"Times are different. In your day and age, playing games is not a particularly excessive thing. Jing Hongtu said while eating French fries with interest: "If I wanted to write science fiction novels at that time, it would be politically wrong. ”

"Hmm......" Xiang Shan scratched his head: "Science fiction doesn't need to write those sharp ......"

"No, not to the extent that if you write too sharply, you are in danger of taking the wrong route." Professor Jing shook his head: "At that time, the matter of 'writing science fiction' was a mistake in itself. I remember my first novel, when I wrote a few pages of scratch paper, and my father burned it. He rebuked me harshly, saying that I shouldn't have been so willful and joked about the future of my family—at that time, 'science fiction' was still called 'spiritual pollution'. ”

Xiang Shan nodded: "I seem to have heard of ......"

It seems that there is such a thing.

In 1983, the republic launched a campaign to "clean up spiritual pollution". The reason for this is that the thinking of the Chinese people at that time had not yet come out of the turmoil of those ten years, and they habitually used the means of criticism and struggle to look at some academic and literary polemics. The debate over whether science fiction literature should be surnamed 'science' or 'wen', which seems meaningless at the time, sparked a nationwide movement at the time.

He looked at Professor Jing and said, "A family like yours also has to be careful......

"What." Jing Hongtu frowned, a little unhappy: "Xiang Shan, you don't think I'm compromising like this, right?" ”

Having said that, what else can Xiang Shan do? He shook his head and said, "No, no, no." ”

"My father told me that if it was known that he had a son who was a big weed, how would he go out and meet people? What about my brother? I scolded him, this is the 'ten-year legacy'. I told him at the time that if he couldn't accept it, then I could write him a statement to break off the relationship. ”

Xiang Shanshan gasped: "This ......"

"I'm not just here for this one." Jing Hongtu waved his hand holding the fries, shook off a drop of ketchup, and splashed a cloud of red on the plate: "Actually, I wanted to do this when I was a teenager." When I watched "Riptide Trilogy" as a child, I felt it very deeply - I thought I was living in a big family in the old society! I've long wanted to divide those big parents. ”

Due to the loss of the external thinking loop of "search engine", Xiang Shan spent a few seconds recalling the high school Chinese knowledge of "Torrent Trilogy". He probably remembered that this was a novel written by Ba Jin, about the decline of a large feudal family.

"Imagine your childhood."

Jing Hongtu sighed: "It's a pity, my mother hugged me and cried at that time, asking me why I was so ruthless." She was a very traditional working woman, as if she didn't care about those truths. She only cares about 'the family wants to be reunited' – nothing else! Typical smallholder thinking. ”

"You haven't compromised yet? So how did you give up on this path? "Xiangshan is a little strange. Listening to Professor Jing's tone, he lacked approval of his mother's behavior.

"No, my mother persuaded me to come down." Jing Hongtu shook his head: "I can say that she has the thoughts of a small peasant in the past. But she's still my mother after all. She only asks for so much, how can I not meet her? ”

"In 91, the World Science Fiction Association held its annual meeting in Chengdu. At that time, I didn't give up, and I took the train for a day and a night. But when I came back, my father told me that it would be a shame to have a pen club with those unknown people from outside the world. ”

"This is really ......" Xiang Shan nodded: "After all, that era......

Jing Hongtu shook his head: "It's not necessarily much better now......" Speaking of this, the old man looked sideways at the window: "But now, maybe things will be different." ”

The mountain followed his gaze. It was already night, and the white "tent" was hidden in the night, but the silhouette could be faintly seen.

"An alien voyager...... "If it has the technology in it that can get humanity out of the predicament......"

"No, you don't." Jing Hongtu smiled: "It's enough for it to appear here." This fact alone can bring about change in this dead world. ”

Xiang Shan nodded: "Well, what you said this morning, our next generation may look at the universe in a completely different way than we do...... That's too well said. Now, the concept of 'aliens' seems to us to be something that is easy to imagine. ”

"yes, that's it." Jing Hongtu nodded: "After all, he is a science fiction writer." This brings up a good sociological topic - how does human society develop when 'aliens' become something with a concrete concept? You know, the fact that 'Ogon' appeared is a transformation of the common imagination of mankind. ”

"Shared imagination?"

"It's an anthropological concept." Jing Hongtu said: "We human beings have a great ability, which is called 'common imagination'. A person can fictionalize a concept that doesn't exist and convey it to another person. Then, through language, the human community can collectively imagine a fictional concept – such as religion, such as God. ”

"Let's take another visual example. There is no such thing as a 'national border' on the earth. However, everyone thinks that there should be such a thing as a 'national border'. Thus, for human beings, national borders really exist. It's just that animals can still move between borders at will – because for them, borders don't exist. They can't see what humans can imagine. ”

Xiang Shan nodded.

"And just the concept of aliens at your fingertips, I think it can bring peace for 20 years."

Xiang Shan scratched his head: "Teacher Jing, what you said is a bit mysterious......"

"How?"

"Let's talk about materialism." Xiang Shan said: "Only the economic base can determine whether the superstructure is not." If we don't disassemble the technology inside, its impact on human society will be limited, right? ”

"Xiang Shan, you are a typical dogmatism. Aside from exams, you haven't studied much in this area, have you? Jing Hongtu shook his head.

Xiang Shanwei was embarrassed: "Banmen got an axe." I'm just an engineering student, and I can't compare with you liberal arts bigwigs in this regard......"

Jing Hongtu sighed: "It's a good thing to concentrate on the academics of your major. But other professional knowledge must at least be involved. I think this helps to form a poetic understanding of the world as a whole......"

"Poof......" Xiang Shan couldn't help laughing: "I'm sorry Mr. Jing...... Well, I write some novels, but I'm not a poet. ”

"This 'poetic nature' is not the 'poet's interest' or 'the interest of writing poetry' in the everyday context, but a way of thinking other than 'love and wisdom'." Jing Hongtu is very patient: "This kind of 'poetic understanding' may not be useful for your research and work, but it can allow you to see all kinds of fun in daily life, which can be regarded as a spiritual power to help you move forward." ”

Xiang Shan nodded: "You continue." ”

Jing Hongtu pointed to the "tent": "Then I'll just say so, Xiangshan, the arrival of this thing may postpone the world war of mankind for decades." It's just the fact that 'it's here'. ”

Xiang Shan thought for a moment: "When Director Hu talked just now, he really emphasized that it is now a time of peace......

"That's right, because it fell here, there won't be a big war anytime soon."

"But let's just postpone it." Xiang Shan, puzzled.

"It's already a terrible thing." Jing Hongtu shook his head: "Xiangshan, the modern society you are familiar with is actually very fragile. In the seventies, less than 30 years after the war, the West was once again in an economic crisis. Those familiar with history know what might be after the economic crisis. However, the birth of information technology and the industrial revolution have led to industrial upgrading. As a result, this fragile modern society continues to develop. ”

"In the 90s, the financial crisis happened again. This time, the big guy ate Japan's 'future' for more than half a year, and then encountered the disintegration of the Red Alliance. Every member of modern society is supported by eating the corpse of Big Brother. ”

"Then the next economic crisis will happen in 2009 – in fact, this economic crisis has not survived well, and countries around the world are shrinking, turning to xenophobia, pointing the finger of internal pressure at their neighbors. If you look back at modern and contemporary history, you will find that the surrounding atmosphere also changed around that point in time. ”

"Until 21 years, natural and man-made disasters almost destroyed the world market. Over the years, the atmosphere has approached the Cold War. ”

Jing Hongtu took a sip of juice and said, "So, Xiangshan, even something like World War II, which almost destroyed the faith of a generation, can only make mankind settle down for thirty years." What a great thing it is that this 'Alien Voyager' can bring peace to mankind for several more decades. This is the equivalent of a full-blown industrial revolution! If a new industrial revolution occurs in human society in the past few decades, then the history of this 'modern society' can be twenty or thirty years longer! ”

This angle is indeed very convincing. Xiang Shan could only nod: "Well, if the potential benefits of 'Ogon' can tempt the big powers to sit back at the negotiating table, then peace can indeed continue." ”

"This is still feudal thinking, heroic historical view."