British writer

Night fell over Paris.

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

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

Two people enter the door,

After washing his hands, Bernard Shaw impatiently stuffed tobacco into his pipe, lit it and took two greedy puffs.

"Huh~"

He stretches.

Lu Shi said with a smile: "I never thought that you, a smoker, would be able to bear it all the way."

Shaw shrugged,

"After all, we are here for an exchange, and 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 uncertain,

"Not ready yet."

Just now, he agreed to the draft by Poincaré and others.

Bernard Shaw chuckled lightly,

"It's beyond my expectation that you are such a troublesome person, that you are willing to agree to the draft. However, thinking about it, the French Academy has given me enough face. If it were me, I would also agree. Maybe I can get a foreign academician of correspondence. Dangdang."

The affiliated institutes of the French Academy allow foreign academicians.

Lu Shi was curious,

"Is there any precedent?"

George Bernard Shaw recalled for a moment, and replied: "The College of Inscriptions and Fine Arts has it, but the Academy of Sciences doesn't seem to have it. 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 draft, he didn't think too much about it.

He decided to write an article purely because of Verne's passion for science fiction.

The question now is what to write.

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

Bernard Shaw came over curiously,

"What are you going to write?"

When Lu turned back,

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

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

Afterwards, 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 their dancing is very exciting."

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

Bernard Shaw smiled,

"Not a bad day. Besides, I heard that their performances are not the type that particularly attracts men... Hehehe..."

He showed a smile that a man could understand.

Lu Shi rolled his eyes, too lazy to complain about his shamelessness.

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

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Bernard Shaw: "Just call me 'Old Xiao', it sounds kind. Anyway, there are no outsiders around 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, raised his legs in a comfortable posture, and smoked with a pipe.

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

Lu Shi nodded,

"continue."

Bernard Shaw twirled the pipe with his fingers, but in the end a little spark came out, and he failed to play handsome.

He quickly wiped off the soot on his body, and continued: "In general, writers create to satisfy their desire for expression; in a small number of cases, it's like you are now, it's 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 are clouded, lost in memory,

After a while, he replied: "Yes. At that time, for Ellen, I had to create a female character... cough cough... I didn't say anything."

Obviously, what Bernard Shaw wanted to say was his old friend——

Ellen Terry.

Lu Shi couldn't help laughing,

"I'm not ashamed to be old."

Bernard Shaw was slightly embarrassed, and changed the topic: "This time the French Academy asked you to write a manuscript, in fact, it wanted a science fiction model essay. Therefore, when you write, you should consider this, and innovation is a must."

innovative.

Lu Shi chewed this word over and over in his mind.

He wrote "Star Wars" on a piece of paper, then drew an "X".

Bernard Shaw asked, "What is this?"

Lu Shi thought for a while and said, "It's a bit like a novel about knights."

Bernard Shaw:? ? ?

"What? What does chivalry have to do with science fiction?"

Lu Shi laughed loudly 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 original force, quantum, ether, etc."

force,

quantum,

ether,

George Bernard Shaw had never come into contact with these three words, but he was greatly shocked.

It sounds very high-end.

He complained: "This... is this possible? The novel of skin-changing knights with highly advanced technology, the society has not changed, and it is still in the feudal era. The obsession with the nobles is really deep-rooted... Thinking about it, it seems impossible."

The corners of Lu Shi's mouth curled up, but he didn't answer.

Bernard Shaw glanced at him and said, "Lu, is that really a science fiction work?"

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"Don't talk about this, let's continue talking."

"Tsk..."

Bernard Shaw was slightly speechless, then glanced 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?"

Bernard Shaw laughed 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. The content you write is too profound, and raising the threshold may not be a good thing."

Lu Shi nodded in agreement,

He wrote the words "hard science fiction" on a piece of paper and put 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 in the novel is very solid and crucial. If these scientific foundations are taken away, the logic of the novel will not be smooth."

Bernard Shaw nodded knowingly,

"Got it. If science fiction is too 'hard,' it becomes 'textbooks masquerading as fiction.'"

wonderful parable,

Lu Shi couldn't help laughing out loud.

The other party's words reminded him of a famous hard science fiction novel——

"Dragon Egg".

This book is called "Neutron Star Textbook Masquerading as Fiction", and its author is named Robert Forward.

On the surface, this old man is a writer,

But in fact, he is a cutting-edge scientist in deep space physics. He has worked in the famous Hughes Research Laboratory (HRL) for many years. He is the inventor of the space light sail concept and has made important contributions to the detection of gravitational waves.

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

Forward had no choice but to find a writer friend Larry Niven to help polish it before it was published.

Bernard Shaw said: "When I was writing, I discovered a problem. The more information I searched, the more 'hard' the background support would be, which would often make the work 'hard' in literature, and readers would lose their teeth. "

Lu Shi agrees,

"Indeed, it is difficult to balance the two. The core motif and literary details complement each other, blunt writing, rigid characters, and rigid narrative..."

Bernard Shaw held his pipe in his mouth, stretched himself,

"So now that I think about it, that kind of sci-fi novels about knights might be very marketable. People from Xialiba~ Don't the ones written by Mr. Verne also complement each other with sci-fi and adventure?"

Lu Shi deeply believed that,

Looking at the manuscript paper in front of him, he muttered, "Trouble."

George Bernard Shaw said: "There is another point, that is length. I don't think you should write long novels."

Lu Shi asked, "Why?"

Bernard Shaw smiled,

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

Lu Shi:? ? ?

Did not understand what the other party meant.

George Bernard Shaw sighed: "It can be said that you are the most popular writer of popular novels in the world now, and your pen name is the guarantee of sales. Although the invitation from the French Academy is very sincere, it is not enough for you Tiny pay for long work."

Lu Shi said: "There should be no need to worry about this. I don't think Mr. Verne and the others are like people who let me work for nothing."

George Bernard Shaw thought about it, and felt that his words made sense.

"indeed."

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

Bernard Shaw asked curiously, "Why?"

Lu Shi said: "There is no typewriter here, and writing long articles by hand can be exhausting."

Didn't expect this to be the reason...

Bernard Shaw was speechless for a while, and he said after a long time: "Then you can go back to London and write again~"

Lu Shi replied, "I'm afraid of trouble."

George Bernard Shaw's head is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

I said in my heart that this kid is really afraid of trouble.

He asked: "Then what do you mean, you plan to complete this draft appointment during the communication period?"

Lu Shi nodded and fell into deep thought.

A science fiction novel should not be too soft or too hard, it must be short and novel, innovative,

This screened out a large number.

After much thought, 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 didn't speak.

Lu Shi felt it, and said, "Old Xiao, have you ever heard a saying, 'Besides Paris, everything is in the countryside'."

This is obviously a ridicule with a bit of discrimination.

Bernard Shaw nodded,

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

Lu Shi let out a "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 buried himself in writing.

In the original work of "Country Teacher", the background of the story is a remote village in the northwestern border of China.

In the first half of the novel, Li Baoku, a rural teacher, is seriously ill. Knowing that his time is short, he wants to pass on his limited knowledge as soon as possible. He asks the children to memorize the three laws of mechanics by rote.

So far, it has nothing to do with science fiction.

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

In the Milky Way, an interstellar war between a carbon-based civilization and a silicon-based civilization is drawing to a close. The carbon-based civilization has won and will establish a barrier in the first spiral arm of the Milky Way, destroying most of the stars in the barrier to prevent Silicon-based civilization entered the central region of the Milky Way.

The fleet of carbon-based civilization has come to this area. They will screen and test the degree of civilization evolution here to avoid destroying carbon-based life with advanced intelligence.

The fleet discovered the earth, randomly selected students from small villages,

The students passed the test by shouting Newton's three laws taught by the teacher before his death.

That's the end of the story.

What Lu Shi has to do is to change the background and sort out some concepts and words in the article that did not exist in the early 20th century.

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

He writes like a fly.

Bernard Shaw looked on,

"Is this really a science fiction novel?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"Well, I haven't reached the place of sci-fi yet. The conversion of front and rear perspectives is also a creative technique... um..."

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 the perspective of creation, writing like this More impact."

Of course, it also respects the original work more.

Because he has not seen the content behind, Bernard Shaw is a little confused,

He asked, "Lu, did the Qing government have schools to teach physics?"

Lu Shi said, "Yes, but it's a university."

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

And the teacher of the private school is a returned overseas student.

George Bernard Shaw watched for a while, but still didn't see anything related to science fiction, so he couldn't help yawning,

He lay down on the bed,

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

Because he had been busy all day, he had meetings, speeches, meals, and dramas. 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 was wrapped in an invisible hand, and he was dragged straight into a coma.

Because of exhaustion, this sleep was completely dreamless.

When I woke up again, the sky was already dark,

The rising sun hangs in the sky.

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

He stretched himself, looked around,

I saw Lu Shi sitting there with his left hand resting on the table and his right hand propping his chin, as if he was still struggling with the novel called "Country Teacher".

Bernard Shaw walked over,

"land?"

Lu Shi didn't respond, instead he let out a slight snore: "Zzzzz..."

Bernard Shaw was a little funny,

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

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

Bernard Shaw stepped forward, ready to help Landing Shih sleep on the bed,

Unexpectedly, as soon as he got close to the table, he found that the manuscript on the table had already had a lot of traces of alterations. It was obvious that the original manuscript had been completed and left after proofreading.

Bernard Shaw was unavoidably surprised,

"Is this finished?"

He carefully raised the elbow of Lu Shi's right hand, and then pulled out the manuscript from below.

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

Bernard Shaw couldn't help but nodded slightly,

"Good word."

During this period of time, all I saw were the manuscripts that Lu Shi typed out with a typewriter, and I haven't seen Lu Shi's handwriting for a long time.

Bernard Shaw began to read the novel,

Time passed by every minute and every second.

After an unknown amount of time, Bernard Shaw put down the manuscript in his hand,

He only thought of one word at this moment:

Niu X!