Night falls over Paris.
The moonlight floating on the Seine is like a hazy veil.
Lu Shi and Bernard Shaw walked back to the dormitory arranged for them by the French Academy.
The two of them entered the door,
After washing his hands, Bernard Shaw couldn't wait to stuff tobacco into his pipe, lit it and took two greedy puffs.
"Huh~"
He stretched.
Lu Shi laughed and said, "I didn't expect you, a chain smoker, to be able to endure it all the way."
George Bernard Shaw shrugged,
"After all, we are here for exchanges. We have to let the French see the gentlemanly demeanor of our British Empire."
As he spoke, he took another puff of cigarette, and then said: "What are you going to write?"
Lu Shi himself was a little unsure.
"Not ready yet."
Just now, he agreed to the manuscript request from Poincaré and others.
Bernard Shaw chuckled,
"For someone who is so afraid of trouble, it is indeed beyond my expectation that you are willing to agree to the manuscript. However, come to think of it, the French Academy has given you enough face. If it were me, I would agree. Maybe I can become a foreign corresponding academician. Dang Dang.”
The colleges under the French Academy allow foreign academicians.
Lu Shi was curious,
"Is there any precedent?"
George Bernard Shaw recalled for a moment and replied: "There is one in the School of Inscriptions and Letters, but it doesn't seem to be in the Academy. But judging from the regulations, foreigners are allowed."
There are foreign academicians,
Looking at this alone, the French Academy is more open than the Swedish Academy.
However, when Lu Shi agreed to the manuscript, he didn't think too much about it.
He decided to write an article purely because he was moved by Verne's enthusiasm for science fiction works.
The question now is, what to write.
Lu Shi walked to the table and picked up paper and pen.
Bernard Shaw came over curiously,
"What are you going to write?"
Lu Shi turned around,
"Old Xiao, it's hard for me to concentrate with you staring at me from behind."
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 below Montmartre to watch the performance. I heard that dancing is very exciting."
Lu Shi complained: "Then go and see it."
Bernard Shaw smiled and said,
"It's not bad. Moreover, I heard that their performance is not the type that particularly attracts men... hum hum hum…"
He showed a smile that every man understands.
Lu Shi rolled his eyes, too lazy to complain about this shameless old man.
He focused his attention on the manuscript paper and asked: "Mr. Superintendent, what do you think..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Bernard Shaw: "Just call me 'Old Xiao', it sounds friendly. Anyway, there are no outsiders here now, so there is no need to be so formal."
Lu Shi nodded,
"Old Xiao, how do you usually choose topics when you create?"
Bernard Shaw moved an armchair over, sat down, crossed his legs in a comfortable posture, and puffed away at his pipe.
After a long while, he said: "First, you have to look at the purpose of writing."
Lu Shi nodded,
"continue."
George Bernard Shaw turned his pipe around with his fingers, but it produced a few sparks and failed in his attempt to be cool.
He quickly dusted off the cigarette ashes on his body and continued: "Generally, writers create to satisfy their desire for expression; in a few cases, like you now, it is a propositional composition. Whether you can combine the two depends on your level."
Lu Shi asked: "Have you ever had any experience in writing essays?"
Bernard Shaw's eyes were dim and he fell into memories,
After a while, he replied: "Yes. At that time, for Ellen, I had to create a female character...ahem...I didn't say anything."
Obviously, what Bernard Shaw wanted to say was his old friend——
Ellen Terry.
Lu Shi couldn't help but laugh,
"I'm not shy."
Bernard Shaw was slightly embarrassed and changed the subject: "The French Academy is asking you to write this article because it actually wants a science fiction essay. Therefore, you should consider this when writing. Innovation is a must."
Innovative.
Lu Shi chewed the word over and over in his mind.
He wrote "Star Wars" on the paper and then drew an "X".
George Bernard Shaw asked, "What is this?"
Lu Shi thought for a while and said, "It's a bit like a knight."
Bernard Shaw:? ? ?
"What? What does knights have to do with science fiction?"
Lu Shi laughed loudly and said: "It doesn't matter, replace the sword in the knight's hand with a glowing lightsaber, and replace the knight's martial arts with the force, quantum, ether and so on."
force,
quantum,
ether,
Bernard Shaw had never been exposed to these three words, but he was greatly shocked.
It sounds very high-end upon hearing it.
He complained: "Is this... is this possible? The society of the highly developed skin-changing knight has not changed at all. It is still stuck in the feudal era. The fascination with the nobility is really deep-rooted... It seems impossible when you think about it."
Lu Shi raised the corners of his mouth but didn't answer.
George Bernard Shaw looked at him and said, "Lu, can that really be considered a science fiction work?"
Lu Shi waved his hand,
"Don't talk about this, let's continue talking."
"Tsk..."
George Bernard Shaw sighed slightly, then looked at the title of "Star Wars" on the paper, and continued: "However, this kind of skin-changing science fiction is not necessarily bad."
Lu Shi asked: "Why do you say that?"
George Bernard Shaw smiled and said: "Think about it, what is the purpose of the model essay? It is to inspire later authors to actively enter the field of science fiction and create. The content you wrote is too profound. Raising the threshold is not necessarily a good thing."
Lu Shi nodded in agreement,
He wrote the words "hard science fiction" on a piece of paper and then drew an "X" next to it.
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. If these scientific foundations are taken away, the logic will not flow smoothly."
Bernard Shaw nodded understandingly,
"I understand. If science fiction is too 'hard', it will become a 'textbook disguised'."
Wonderful metaphor,
Lu Shi couldn't help laughing after hearing this.
The other party's words reminded him of a famous hard science fiction book——
"Dragon Egg".
This book is called "The Disguised Neutron Star Textbook" and its author is Robert Forward.
On the surface, this guy is a writer.
But in fact, he is a cutting-edge scientist in deep space physics. He has worked at the famous Hughes Research Laboratory (HRL) all year round. He is the proposer of the concept of space light sails and has made important contributions to the detection of gravitational waves.
When "Dragon Egg" was first completed, it was shot dead by various publishing houses in turn.
Forward had no choice but to ask his friend Larry Niven, a writer, to help polish it before publishing it.
Bernard Shaw said: "When I was writing, I discovered a problem. The more information I looked up, the harder the background support became, which often made the work very 'hard' in terms of literature, and readers would lose their teeth. "
Lu Shi agreed,
"Indeed, it is difficult to balance the two. The core motif and literary details complement each other. Rigid writing, rigid characters, rigid narrative..."
George Bernard Shaw held his pipe in his mouth and stretched.
"So now that I think about it, there might be a market for sci-fi knights who change their skins. They are so low-key. Aren't the ones written by Mr. Verne also complementing each other with science fiction and adventure?"
Lu Shishen thought so.
Looking at the manuscript paper in front of him, he muttered: "Trouble."
George Bernard Shaw said: "Another thing is length. I don't think you should write long stories."
Lu Shi asked: "Why?"
Bernard Shaw smiled,
"Lu, you must have a reasonable understanding of your own worth."
Lu Shi:? ? ?
I didn't understand what the other party meant.
Bernard Shaw sighed and said: "It can be said that you are now the most popular popular writer in the world, and your pen name is a guarantee of sales. Although the invitation from the French Academy is very sincere, it is not enough for you to accept a very small price. to take on long-form work.”
Lu Shi said: "You shouldn't worry about this. I don't think Mr. Verne and the others are the ones who want me to work for nothing."
Bernard Shaw thought about it and felt that this was reasonable.
"indeed."
However, Lu Shi still wrote "long story" on the paper, and then drew an "X".
Bernard Shaw asked curiously: "Why?"
Lu Shi said: "There is no typewriter here, writing long articles by hand can be exhausting."
I didn't expect this to be the reason...
Bernard Shaw was speechless for a while, and then said after a long time: "Then you can write again after you return to London~"
Lu Shi replied: "I'm afraid of trouble."
Bernard Shaw's head was full of black lines,
￣□￣｜｜
I thought to myself that this boy was still afraid of trouble.
He asked: "So what do you mean, are you planning to complete this manuscript during the exchange period?"
Lu Shi nodded and fell into deep thought.
A science fiction piece should not be too soft or too hard. It should be short to medium-sized and innovative.
This screened out a large number of people.
After much deliberation, he finally chose "Country Teacher" and wrote the title.
Bernard Shaw was puzzled;
The name seems to have nothing to do with science fiction.
He opened his mouth to ask Lu Shi, but in the end he held back and did not speak.
Lu Shi felt it and said, "Old Xiao, have you ever heard of a saying, 'Besides Paris, everything is rural'?"
This is obviously a bit of a discriminatory joke.
Bernard Shaw nodded,
"As an Irishman living in London, how can I not know this?"
Lu Shi said "hmm",
"I decided to set the story in Nantes."
Nantes is the largest city in western France, located on the lower reaches of the Loire River.
Of course, in the eyes of Parisians, it is no different from the countryside.
Lu Shi concentrated on writing.
In the original work of "Country Teacher", the background of the story is a remote rural area in the northwest border of China.
In the first half of the film, rural teacher Li Baoku was seriously ill. Knowing that he did not have much time left, he wanted to impart his limited knowledge to others as soon as possible, requiring the children to memorize the three laws of mechanics as well as rote memorization.
So far, 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 civilization and silicon-based civilization is coming to an end. The carbon-based civilization has won and will establish an isolation zone in the first spiral arm of the Milky Way and destroy most of the stars in the isolation zone to prevent it. Silicon-based civilization enters the central region of the Milky Way.
The fleet of carbon-based civilization has arrived in this area. They will screen and test the degree of evolution of civilization here to avoid destroying carbon-based life with advanced intelligence.
The fleet discovered the earth and randomly selected students from a small village.
The students passed the test by shouting Newton's three laws that the teacher taught before he died.
The story ends here.
What Lu Shi had to do was to change the background and organize some concepts and words in the article that did not exist in the early 20th century.
Lu Shi was very confident about "Country Teacher".
His writing was flying.
Bernard Shaw looked on,
"Is this really science fiction?"
Lu Shi nodded,
"Well, we haven't reached the sci-fi level yet. Changing the front and rear perspectives is also a creative technique...well..."
The pen in his hand stopped.
George Bernard Shaw was curious,
"What's wrong?"
Lu Shi did not 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 background of the story to China. From a creative perspective, I wrote like this More impactful.”
Of course, it also respects the original work more.
Because he had not seen the following content, Bernard Shaw was a little confused.
He asked: "Lu, did the Qing government have schools teaching physics?"
Lu Shi said, "Yes, but that's a university."
He modified the previous part about Nantes and replaced it with a private school near the capital.
The teacher of the private school is an overseas student who has returned to China.
Bernard Shaw watched for a while, but still didn't see anything about science fiction, and couldn't help but yawn.
He lay down on the bed,
"Then keep writing. I'll read it tomorrow."
Because he had been busy all day long, including meetings, speeches, meals, and watching plays, Bernard Shaw deeply felt that middle-aged men were lacking in energy.
As soon as his head hit the pillow, it was as if he was wrapped by an invisible hand and dragged straight into sleep.
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 tiny dust and fluff floating in the air.
He stretched and looked around,
I saw Lu Shi sitting there, with his left hand on the table and his right hand supporting his chin, as if he was still fighting with the movie called "Country Teacher".
Bernard Shaw walked over,
"land?"
Lu Shi did not respond, but snored slightly: "Zzzzz..."
Bernard Shaw is a little funny,
He had long felt that Lu Shi's idea of completing the contracted manuscript during the exchange period was a bit too naive.
After all, Lu Shi had never published a science fiction work before.
Bernard Shaw stepped forward and was about to help Lu Shi go to bed to sleep.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he got close to the table, he discovered that the manuscript on the table already had a lot of marks of alteration, which were obviously left after the original manuscript had been completed and proofread.
Bernard Shaw was inevitably surprised.
"Is it finished?"
He carefully lifted the elbow of Lu Shi's right hand and pulled out the manuscript from underneath.
The first thing that caught my eye was Lu Shi's neat English writing.
Bernard Shaw couldn't help but nodded slightly,
"Good words."
During this period, all I saw were the manuscripts typed by Lu Shi on a typewriter. It had been a long time since I'd seen Lu Shi's handwriting.
Bernard Shaw began to read,
Time passes minute by minute.
After an unknown amount of time, George Bernard Shaw put down the manuscript in his hand.
He only had one word in his mind at this time:
Awesome!
(End of chapter)
