Night envelops Paris.

The moonlight floating on the Seine is like a hazy veil.

Lu Shi and George Bernard Shaw walked back to the dormitory arranged for them by the French Academy.

The two entered the door,

After George Bernard Shaw washed his hands, he eagerly stuffed his pipe with tobacco, lit it and took two puffs greedily.

"Whew~"

He stretched.

Lu Shi smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to be an old smoker and be able to endure all the way." ”

George Bernard Shaw shrugged,

"After all, I'm here to communicate, and I have to show the French the gentlemanly demeanor of our British Empire."

As he spoke, he took another puff of cigarette and said, "What are you going to write?" ”

Lu Shi himself is a little uncertain,

"I haven't thought about it yet."

Just now, he agreed to the invitation of Poincaré and others.

George Bernard Shaw chuckled,

"It's really surprising that you, a person who is so afraid of trouble, are willing to agree to the request. However, think about it, the French Academy has given enough face, and if it were me, I would have agreed, maybe I could be a foreign corresponding academician. ”

Foreign academicians are allowed in the Académie Française.

Lu Shi was curious,

"Is there a precedent?"

George Bernard Shaw recalled for a moment and replied, "The Academy of Inscriptions and Letters has it, but the Academy of Letters does not seem to have it." But from the perspective of regulations, foreign nationals are allowed. ”

There are foreign academicians,

For this alone, the Institut Française is more open than the Swedish Academy.

However, Lu Shi agreed to the draft, and he didn't think about it so much.

He was simply moved by Verne's passion for science fiction that he decided to write an article.

Now the question is, what to write.

Lu Shi walked to the table and picked up the pen and paper.

George Bernard Shaw leaned over curiously,

"What are you going to write?"

Lu Shi turned back,

"Old Xiao, it's hard for me to concentrate when you stare at me like this from behind."

George Bernard Shaw made an expression: "(ˉ▽ ̄~) cut~~"

Later, he said, "I came back so early just to see how you usually create. Otherwise, I would definitely go to the nightclub under Montmartre to watch a show, I heard that people dance very energetically. ”

Lu Shi complained: "Then you go and see." ”

George Bernard Shaw smiled,

"Not bad for this day. Moreover, I've heard that their performances aren't the type that particularly appeals to men...... Hum hum ......"

A smile that all men understand.

Lu Shi rolled his eyes, too lazy to complain about this old man who was not ashamed.

He focused his attention on the manuscript paper and asked, "Mr. Chancellor, what do you think ......?"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by George Bernard Shaw: "Just call me 'Old Shaw', it sounds kind." Anyway, there are no outsiders here now, so there is no need to be so formal. ”

Lu Shi nodded,

"Lao Xiao, how do you usually choose a topic when you are creating?"

George Bernard Shaw moved an armchair over, sat down, and lifted his legs in a comfortable position, holding his pipe and puffing out the smoke.

After a long time, he said, "First of all, you have to look at the purpose of writing. ”

Lu Shi nodded,

"Go on."

George Bernard Shaw turned his pipe with his fingers, but he made a little spark, and the trick failed.

He quickly patted the cigarette ash off his body and continued: "In general, writers create to satisfy the desire for expression; A small number of cases are like you now, it is a proposition essay, whether you can combine the two, it all depends on your level. ”

Lu Shi asked, "Have you ever had the experience of propositional composition?" ”

George Bernard Shaw's eyes were misty, and he fell into memory,

After a while, he replied, "Yes." At that time, for the sake of Ellen I had to create a ...... with a female character Ahem...... I didn't say anything. ”

Obviously, what George Bernard Shaw wanted to say was that he was a good old man -

Ellen Terry.

Lu Shi couldn't help laughing,

"I'm not ashamed."

George Bernard Shaw was slightly embarrassed and diverted the topic: "This time, the French Academy asked you for a manuscript, but it actually wanted a science fiction model article. So, you should think about this when you are creating, and innovation is a must. ”

Innovative.

Lu Shi chewed on the word repeatedly in his mind.

He wrote "Star Wars" on paper and then drew a "×".

George Bernard Shaw asked, "What is it?" ”

Lu Shi thought for a moment and said, "It's a bit like a knight." ”

George bernard shaw:???

"What? What does knighthood have to do with sci-fi? ”

Lu Shi laughed and said: "It's not okay~ Replace the sword in the knight's hand with a glowing lightsaber, and replace the knight's martial arts with the Force, Quantum, Aether or something." ”

The Force,

quantum

ether

George Bernard Shaw had never touched these three words, but he was shocked,

It's very high-end when you hear it.

He complained: "This ...... Is this possible? The highly developed science and technology of the skin-changing knights, the society has not changed, and it is still stuck in the feudal era, and the fascination with the nobility is really deep-rooted...... When you think about it, it doesn't seem like it's possible. ”

The corners of Lu Shi's mouth were hooked, and he didn't pick up the stubble.

George Bernard Shaw looked at him and said, "Lu, can that really be considered a science fiction work?" ”

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"Let's not talk about that, let's talk about it."

"Tsk......"

George Bernard Shaw stumbled slightly, then glanced at the title of "Star Wars" on the paper, and continued: "However, this kind of skin-changing sci-fi is not necessarily bad. ”

Lu Shi asked, "Why do you say that?" ”

George Bernard Shaw smiled: "What do you think, what is the purpose of Fan Wen?" It is to inspire later authors to enthusiastically enter the field of science fiction to create, and the content you write is too esoteric, and raising the bar is not necessarily a good thing. ”

Lu Shi nodded approvingly,

He wrote the word "hard science fiction" on a piece of paper and then drew a "×" next to it.

George Bernard Shaw asked, "How do you understand the word 'hard'?" ”

Lu Shi said: "To put it simply, the scientific foundation inside is very stable and crucial. Drain these scientific foundations, and the logic of that will not be smooth. ”

George Bernard Shaw nodded knowingly,

"Understood. If science fiction is too 'hard', it will become a 'textbook disguised'. ”

Wonderful parables,

Lu Shi couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

The other party's words reminded him of a famous hard science fiction book -

"Dragon Egg".

The book was called the "Neutron Star Textbook in Disguise", and its author was Robert Foward.

On the surface, this old brother is a writer,

But in fact, he is a cutting-edge scientist in deep space physics, working at the famous Hughes Research Laboratory (HRL) for many years, proposing the concept of space light sails, and making important contributions to gravitational wave detection.

When "Dragon Egg" was just written, it was shot by various publishing houses in turn.

Foward really had no way to do it, so he had to ask his writer friend Larry Niven to help him polish it, and it was published.

George Bernard Shaw said, "When I was writing, I noticed a problem. The more information I check, the more 'hard' the background support becomes, which often makes the work very 'hard' in literature, and readers will lose their teeth. ”

Lu Shi agreed,

"It's true that it's hard to weigh the two. The core motif and literary details complement each other, with stiff writing, stiff characters, and rigid narrative ......"

George Bernard Shaw grabbed his pipe and stretched,

"So now that I think about it, that kind of sci-fi knight may be very marketable, and the people of the lower riba ~ What Mr. Verne wrote, aren't they also science fiction and adventure complementing each other?"

Lu Shi thought so,

looked at the manuscript paper in front of him and muttered: "Trouble." ”

George Bernard Shaw said: "Another point is space. I don't think you should write long. ”

Lu Shi asked, "Why?" ”

George Bernard Shaw smiled,

"Lu, you have to have a reasonable understanding of your worth."

Land Hours: ???

I didn't understand what the other party meant.

George Bernard Shaw sighed: "You are now the most popular popular writer in the world, so to speak, and your pen name is a guarantee of sales." The Faculty of France's invitation, although very sincere, is not enough for you to take on a long job for a very small fee. ”

Lu Shi said: "There should be no need to worry about this. I don't think Mr. Verne, they are not like the people who asked me to work day jobs. ”

George Bernard Shaw thought about it and felt that this was reasonable,

"That's right."

However, Lu Shi still wrote a "long article" on paper, and then drew a "×".

George Bernard Shaw wondered, "Why?" ”

Lu Shi said: "There are no typewriters here, and handwritten long stories can exhaust people. ”

I didn't expect it to be this reason......

George Bernard Shaw was speechless for a while, and then said: "Then you can go back to London and write again~"

Lu Shi replied: "I'm afraid of trouble." ”

George Bernard Shaw is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

The heart said that this kid is really afraid of trouble.

He asked, "So you mean that you are going to complete this appointment during the exchange?" ”

Lu Shi nodded, lost in thought.

A science fiction can't be too soft or too hard, it has to be short and medium-sound, innovative,

In this way, a large number of them were screened out.

After much thought, he finally chose "The Country Teacher" and wrote the title.

George Bernard Shaw was puzzled,

The name doesn't seem to have anything to do with science fiction.

He opened his mouth to ask Lu Shi, but in the end he held back and didn't speak.

Lu Shi felt it and said: "Lao Xiao, have you ever heard of a sentence called 'Outside of Paris, it's all rural'." ”

This is obviously a somewhat discriminatory joke.

George Bernard Shaw nodded,

"I'm an Irishman living in London, can I not know?"

Lu Shi said "um",

"I decided to set the story in Nantes."

Nantes is the largest city in western France, located on the lower Loire River.

Of course, in the eyes of Parisians, it is no different from the countryside.

Lu Shi immersed himself in writing.

In the original work of "The Country Teacher", the story is set in a poor rural area in the northwest border of China.

In the first half, Li Baoku, a rural teacher, was seriously ill and knew that his time was short, so he wanted to teach his limited knowledge as soon as possible, and asked the children to memorize the three laws of mechanics by rote.

At this point, it has nothing to do with science fiction.

But in the second half, the perspective suddenly shifts to a distance of 50,000 light-years from the earth.

In the Milky Way, an interstellar war between carbon-based civilizations and silicon-based civilizations is coming to an end, and carbon-based civilizations have won the victory and will establish an isolation zone in the first spiral arm of the galaxy to destroy most of the stars in the isolation zone to prevent silicon-based civilizations from entering the central region of the galaxy.

Fleets of carbon-based civilizations have arrived in this area, and they will screen and test the evolution of civilizations here to avoid destroying carbon-based life forms with advanced intelligence.

The fleet discovered the earth, randomly selected the students of the small village,

The students shouted loudly and passed the test by shouting Newton's three laws, which the teacher taught before he died.

This is the end of the story.

What Lu Shi had to do was to change the background and sort out some concepts and words in the article that did not exist at the beginning of the 20th century.

For "Country Teacher", Lu Shi is very confident,

He writes like a fly.

George Bernard Shaw watched from the sidelines,

"Is this really a sci-fi?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"Well, it's not a sci-fi place yet. The transition of the front and back perspectives is also a technique of creation...... Hmmm......"

The pen in his hand stopped.

George Bernard Shaw was curious,

"What's wrong?"

Lu Shi didn't answer, but locked his eyes on the article, and suddenly said: "I decided not to change the background of the story...... I mean, I decided to move the story to China. From a creative point of view, writing like this is more impactful. ”

Of course, there is also more respect for the original work.

Because I haven't seen the rest of the content, George Bernard Shaw is a little confused.

He asked: "Lu, does the Qing government have schools to teach physics?" ”

Lu Shi said: "Yes, but it is a university. ”

He modified the previous part about Nantes and replaced it with a private school near the capital.

The teacher at the private school is a returning international student.

George Bernard Shaw watched from the side for a while, but he still didn't see anything about science fiction, and couldn't help yawning,

He lay down on the bed,

"Then you keep writing, I'll read it tomorrow."

Because he had been busy all day, holding meetings, giving speeches, eating, and watching plays, George Bernard Shaw deeply felt the lack of energy of middle-aged men.

As soon as his head touched the pillow, it was as if he had been wrapped in a large, invisible hand, and dragged him straight into a stupor.

Because of exhaustion, this sleep was completely dreamless.

When I woke up again, it was already dark,

The rising sun hangs in the sky.

The sun shone into the room, and George Bernard Shaw could even see the fine dust and fluff floating in the air.

He stretched and looked around,

I saw Lu Shi sitting there, his left hand on the table, his right hand supporting his chin, and he seemed to be still struggling with the movie called "Country Teacher".

George Bernard Shaw walked over,

"Lu?"

Lu Shi didn't react, but let out a slight snoring sound: "Zzzzz......"

George Bernard Shaw was a little funny,

He had long felt that Lu Shi's idea of completing the manuscript during the exchange was a bit too naïve.

After all, Lu Shi had never published a science fiction work before.

George Bernard Shaw stepped forward and went to bed when he was about to land,

Unexpectedly, as soon as he approached the desktop, he found that the manuscript on the desk had a large number of traces of alteration, apparently the original manuscript had been completed and left after proofreading.

George Bernard Shaw was inevitably surprised,

"Is this finished?"

He carefully lifted the elbow of Lu Shi's right hand and pulled out the manuscript from underneath.

The first thing that catches your eye is Lu Shi's neat English writing.

George Bernard Shaw couldn't help but nod slightly,

"Good word."

During this time, all I saw were the original manuscripts typed out by Lu Shi on a typewriter, and I hadn't seen Lu Shi's handwriting for a long time.

George Bernard Shaw began to read,

Minutes and seconds passed.

I don't know how long later, George Bernard Shaw put down the manuscript in his hand,

There was only one word in his mind at this time:

Ox X!

(End of chapter)