Dimensional Bookstore

A bookstore has opened deep in the cave!

The news quickly spread among the children at the gathering place.

So the day after Ji Xing left, many children suddenly appeared in Lejing's bookstore.

They wear clothes that have been made smaller by adults. They have withered hair, sallow complexions and thin muscles. Their arms are so thin that they can be broken at a single break, but they have big heads that are out of proportion to their bodies.

Le Jing suddenly remembered the "little carrot head" in the primary school Chinese text who didn't have time to grow up. They are all children who live in the dark underground and have never seen the stars.

"Little Carrot Head" was only 9 years old when he died, which was about the same age as these children. It's ridiculous that a fight between adults ends up with a child footing the bill.

"Brother, brother." The little girl with a tall nose and deep eyes looked at Le Jing timidly with a pair of clean green eyes. She spoke in blunt Chinese, her voice full of deep longing, "Can we read here?"

Le Jing lowered his head and met countless pairs of big, eager eyes. The clear eyes were filled with the desire for knowledge.

Le Jing's heart suddenly felt a little sour and relieved. Even though they are in the end of the world, even though they have become accustomed to the darkness, these children have not sunk in. They are still thirsting for knowledge and another destiny.

They will be the fire, the stars that embellish and illuminate the dark underground. As long as there are such children, humanity will never perish.

"Of course." Le Jing bent down and softened his voice, as if he was afraid of scaring these timid children, "You can come here at any time. If you don't mind, I can teach you how to read."

Suddenly, the children's eyes were as bright as the blazing sun. Ji Xing jumped up even more excitedly: "Do you want to be our teacher?"

The ancients said that a teacher is someone who preaches, teaches and resolves doubts. Lejing felt he could not shoulder this important task. So he shook his head gently and looked at Ji Xing seriously: "I'm not your teacher, I'm just a person who answers your questions. What kind of path you want to take in the future and what kind of person you will become will all be decided by you. You decide for yourself.”

Ji Xing nodded in understanding. For the eight-year-old, she was trying her best just to stay alive, and the word "future" was too far away for her. But she felt that what this big brother said must be very important, and maybe she would understand it when she grows up.

The commotion in the bookstore was not hidden from the attention of adults.

So the leader of the base came to the door with a group of men.

The leader is an Oriental, with a pale complexion that has not been exposed to sunlight for a long time. He looks at Le Jing with deep vigilance: "Who are you? I don't remember when there was a bookstore here!"

Le Jing said calmly: "It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is what kind of person your children will become."

The leader looked at him suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

Le Jing said softly: "You grew up under the sun, so even if darkness falls, you have seen the sunshine. But they..." The young man looked at those "little carrot heads" who were high and low sadly. , the voice became deeper and deeper, "They were born in darkness, so they thought that darkness was the whole world. They didn't know how beautiful this world used to be."

The young man shifted his gaze, looked at the leader seriously, and asked a question that directly touched the leader's soul: "Do you think such a child can shoulder the future of mankind?"

The muscles on the leader's face were shaking violently but he could not give a definite answer. Le Jing's question was exactly what he was worried about.

Their children have lived underground since they were young, and they think humans should live underground. They have never seen the beautiful world above the ground, so they think the whole world is as cold and dead as the underground. If you have never seen the warmth of the sun, how can you understand the coldness of the darkness?

So after their parents who have seen the sunshine have passed away, what should these children who have lived in darkness since childhood and lacked food and clothing do? Who will tell them what this world once was? Who will inherit the brilliant civilization once created by mankind? Who will help them hold on to the thin hope in their hands and survive the long darkness before dawn?

People cannot aspire to something they do not understand.

Over time, they will become accustomed to living in the safe and cold underground, and begin to fear the dangerous world above the ground that is full of poisonous gas and desolate land. Eventually, humans will completely degenerate into cave-dwelling creatures. They will hide underground like moles. They will have a pair of eyes that cannot see light and can only see in the dark.

The leader's eyes lingered on the densely packed books in the room for a long time. Finally, he stared at the eyes of the children looking longingly at the books, and this middle-aged man with slightly white hair at the temples finally made up his mind. He stared at Le Jing seriously and asked cautiously: "Can I leave the children to you?"

"Of course." Le Jing replied firmly: "I may not be a good teacher, but I promise that I will tell them everything I know and will use my life to protect them."

As a result, the leader finally showed his first happy smile since meeting him. He knew that this young man had unknown origins and was very suspicious. But he was willing to take a gamble. If he lost, it would be a matter of time before everyone went to hell together. There was nothing to regret. But if he wins -

Then this child will have a promising future.

So Lejing's bookstore completely became a school for all the children in this small human base. There are not many children in the school, only about thirty. This is partly due to the small size of the base, but mostly due to the high mortality rate among children in this era. In ancient agricultural societies, about 1/3 of children did not live to be 20 years old. The environment here is even worse than in ancient times, so the high mortality rate of children can be imagined.

Behind every surviving child at the base, there were at least four or five corpses. Without the convenient conditions created by modern society, humans would not even have the tenacity of a mouse.

Probably because they know that the opportunity to study is hard to come by, these thirty children from different countries, different ethnic groups, with different skin colors, and speaking different languages ​​eagerly absorbed the knowledge taught to them by Le Jing, devouring every piece of reading. book.

Before the end of the world, children studied to go to a good university, find a good job in the future, and earn a good income. In the final analysis, they just wanted to live well.

But now is the end of the world. Most professions in human society are of no use here. The monetary system has collapsed, and people are more inclined to exchange things for things. It can be said that reading cannot provide them with a better material life.

Reading may not have much effect, but it can help them get through the long cold nights. The most important thing is that they can read beauty and hope from the book.

Halifax said in "Collected Works": "Hope is a coaxing thing: especially when we are angry because of disappointment; but in general, there is no fun without hope."

So humans always need hope. Ethereal hope can give mankind the motivation to endure disasters and persist in struggle.

…

"Teacher, do you think it was aliens who hit the earth with that star?" A 13-year-old girl named Li Lin raised her head and asked Le Jing while she was reading, her big clear eyes full of curiosity and... …hatred.

Le Jing was startled and asked as he walked towards Li Lin, "Why do you think so?"

"That's what the book says."

Le Jing took the book from Li Lin and found that it was a magazine. Li Lin was reading a short science fiction story "Country Teacher" by Liu Cixin included in the magazine.

Before his death, a poor and sick rural teacher taught Newton's three laws to four rural children and moved the aliens. The aliens eliminated the earth in the star removal operation, thereby saving the earth's civilization and even the entire solar system. science fiction story.

Le Jing spent a lot of time talking to get rid of the hatred in Li Lin's eyes.

Then he said: "Probably because I am a liberal arts student, so if I were that rural teacher, if I knew that the earth might be destroyed by aliens in the next moment, then I would not teach the children Newton's three laws. I will read poems to them.”

"Poem?" Li Lin tilted her head in confusion, "What poem?"

"Any beautiful poem." The young man smiled and rubbed the top of her soft, yellow hair, his eyes long and warm, "Life is short, fleeting like a fleeting moment.

But this beautiful mood is very long, like mountains and rivers, endless. ①”

This sentence is too profound for Li Lin. She shook her head in confusion: "I don't understand what you mean."

Then the young man put the science fiction magazine back on the bookshelf, smiled and took out a poetry book and put it into her hand.

"Science fiction stories are not suitable for you now." Le Jing said: "Read poetry. Poetry will make your life better. One day, you will understand what I say."

Because poetry can make the best and most beautiful things in the world immortal; it can be recognized and trusted. Poetry is the representation of man and nature. ②

…

Unknowingly, Le Jing has been here for a month. In the past month, he has indeed taught all the children everything he knew and talked about as he promised. All the books in his store have been taught to all the children. Not only that, he also distributed the food hoarded in the store to these hungry children. For this reason, he even started to go on a diet, and he was willing to do so.

In response to Keynes' disapproving advice, the young man's pale face showed a gentle smile. He told Keynes gently but firmly: "Because they are children, and they are different from me who has been stereotyped. They have unlimited possibilities. Among them, There may be big people who can change the world in the future, so I should make way for them.”

Oscar Wilde said: “Every man is born a king, but most die in exile.”

So he wanted to protect them from dying in exile. Just like he promised the leader, he would protect them with his life, at least so that they could grow up safely.

This is his responsibility as an adult to the next generation.

This is the instinct of dedication to future generations that has been engraved in human genes since ancient times.

The author has something to say:

①The original sentence is “Life is short, fleeting like a fleeting moment.

But this mood is very long, like mountains and rivers, endless. " is a line spoken by Lu Xiucai in "Wulin Gaiden". It is quoted here with a few words added.

②Poetry can make the best and most beautiful things in the world immortal; it can be recognized and trusted. Poetry is the representation of man and nature. ——[British] Wordsworth: "Preface to Lyrical Ballads"