I really don't want to be a novelist

Chapter 120 Ants, pigs, and caged birds
Huating Publishing House, the editor-in-chief's office gradually became quiet.

It's just that there is still a little noisy movement outside the office, and many editors are busy with their work.

Editor-in-Chief Qian sat in front of the computer, put his hand on the mouse, and moved it slowly,
Re-read the book "The Caged Bird" from the beginning,
The beginning of the story is a two-line narration, one end is the main character Wu Muzheng who is tossing and turning for the second day associate professor appointment ceremony,

On the other side are the astronomical monitoring stations in various places, which have detected electromagnetic wave signals implying a certain pattern from outside the sky. The researchers, monitors and related personnel of each astronomical monitoring station also had a sleepless night.

In the end, a huge data volume of 0.7PB was received.

On the second day, when the protagonist Wu Mu was a little excited to participate in the appointment of an associate professor in the History Department of Capital University, he became a relatively young associate professor at Capital University.

The selected cryptographers, linguists, and mathematicians are already working on the decoding and translation of the data received from the electromagnetic wave signal from the telephone.

And because this huge data contains the "Dictionary" of "Outer Space Civilization", the entire decoding and translation work is carried out very quickly.

On the third day.

Because Wu Mu, who was used to getting drunk at the celebration banquet the day before, was still sleeping in the dormitory provided by the school for the teachers,

The countries that have initially completed the decoding and translation of signal data and obtained some information decided to hold a high-level meeting.

So two parallel lines intersect.

People from the country came to invite Wu Mu, a historian and associate professor of the History Department of Capital University, to attend the meeting.

And the content of the subsequent meeting,
It also explained why Wu Mu was able to attend this meeting that seemed to have nothing to do with him.

One is because the self-proclaimed 'observer', who sent electromagnetic wave signals, was tentatively referred to as 'observer civilization' left two problems,

The second question is barely related to Wu Mu, a historian.

The second is because his late mentor was the most authoritative and top-notch historian in this country, and he was the most frequently mentioned by his teacher, the best student.

During the meeting, the three parts contained in the 0.7PB data sent by the observer civilization were revealed,
At the same time, it was decided to form a relevant team to master the controllable nuclear fusion technology gifted by the Observer civilization as soon as possible.

Issue relevant policies and form a team to conduct research on the first question raised by the observer civilization,
The second question can only be left to historians, anthropologists, sociologists and even philosophers like Wu Mu to think about.

then,

The whole world has turned upside down.

The breakthrough of controllable nuclear fusion technology, the arrival of the era of large-scale construction, human exploration of the outer space,
Even the substantial encouragement of basic theoretical research... has brought a trend of thought for the development of science and technology and a trend of thought for external development to the entire society.

when we got here,
The author re-separated the original two intersecting lines to write,
On the one hand, the great development of society,

On the one hand, the protagonist Wu Mu is still teaching and researching history in the university as before, but the affairs around him are constantly changing.

So I wrote the special feeling of separation but full of connection between Wu Mu and the whole social change.

At the same time... It also made Wu Mu feel that he was out of touch with society, and even a little confused about his own value.

This confusion lasted until several years later.

In the book, countries rely on the controllable nuclear fusion technology donated by the observer civilization,
A large number of fusion reactors have been built in various places, providing abundant and even extremely rich energy to the entire society,
Stimulated by these cheap and almost unlimited energy sources in a short period of time, the productivity of human society has been greatly improved under the trend of thought of great development of science and technology, great construction and great development in the whole society.

The jump in productivity in turn has further stimulated the trend of thinking of great technological development, great construction, and great development.

The whole society is ushering in great changes,
People installed a small controllable fusion reactor into the spacecraft to replace the traditional chemical energy and achieve a stable round-trip between heaven and earth

Establish permanent bases and large-scale scientific research devices on the moon.

At the same time, in the theory of controllable nuclear fusion technology, some novel technical directions have brought new ideas and inspiration to many scholars, and many theories and technologies in basic fields and even application fields have been born.

And on the other side,
It is Wu Mu, who seldom thinks about the civilization of observers anymore, facing the confusion that the historical research he is currently engaged in may seem meaningless.

After teaching a class with only a few students again,

I walked out of the university with a feeling of confusion.

……

Editor-in-Chief Qian also saw this before.

He asked Ji Zhuo to review the manuscript once, but he never urged him again.

After watching the previous plots that almost scratched the itch, he was really afraid that rushing would affect the quality.

Seeing this, Editor-in-Chief Qian, who was already not watching quickly, slowed down a bit, savoring the next plot carefully.

……

"...Our country's aerospace department will plan to launch the third launch mission to Mars this year on Sunday this week. This launch will carry the No. 01 and No. 02 Mars semi-permanent survival base jointly developed by the Aerospace Corporation and other departments and units. Module No. 01 and No. 02 of the Mars Base Module will be deployed at predetermined positions on the surface of Mars according to the plan, forming a living space of more than [-] square meters connected with each other...

This will remain on Mars as a part of my country's Mars scientific research station for a long time to show... At the same time, in the fourth, fifth and sixth Mars launch missions of this year, small-scale controllable fusion will be carried to the Mars scientific research station respectively. Reactors, living and scientific research supplies, and the first batch of personnel stationed at the Mars scientific research station..."

The huge screen at the intersection broadcast the latest news, Wu Mu looked up,
Only then did I suddenly realize that I had come to a bustling intersection after walking all the way.

The people at the intersection were bustling, and most of them had smiles on their faces.

The jump in productivity has benefited everyone. Even if most of it is spent on foreign exploration and technological development, the remaining ones are enough to make people's lives better than before.

"...Now this is good, good...we're going to go to Mars."

An old man passing by stopped at the intersection, smiled and raised his head to look at the news on the big screen at the intersection, and said.

Wu Mu turned his head to look, paused, and took a few steps closer to the old man.

"...Master, how do you feel about your life now?"

"...Are you a reporter or a member of the government? Let me tell you, life is good now, getting better every day."

"...You know, a few days ago, I heard that the pension has increased a lot. Hey, now the price is not long and the salary is rising. When have you seen such a good day?"

"According to the words of that great man abroad, we are productive and rich, right?"

The uncle smiled and responded to Wu Mu's words.

"Master, do you still understand this?"

"You underestimate people, don't you? I also read a lot of philosophy books when I was young."

"...Hey, you said... It is said on the Internet that there are aliens. We are going to go to Mars. Are we going to see aliens?"

The uncle became a little interested and couldn't help asking.

Wu Mu smiled, but didn't answer.

That's still a long way off.

Seeing that Wu Mu didn't seem to want to talk anymore, the uncle sighed with emotion about the changes now, and continued walking forward.

Wu Mu turned his head again, looking at the bustling intersection, the smiles on most people's faces,
You can also see that many people are holding books in their hands. In order to make the whole society adapt to the changes of the times, the country has also launched a lot of measures for continuing education, and there are direct subsidies for this part...

It seems that the whole society is doing well, and everyone thinks it's doing well.

But why do I still feel a little confused...even faintly uneasy.

If there is no problem in society, then it is my problem... Wu Mu has already doubted himself in his confusion.

Confused again, I raised my head and looked further away,

There is a park after crossing the intersection.
Wu Mu just passed the intersection and walked into the park in a daze.

There are many people in the park,
Wu Mu followed the more secluded trails, some of them went further and further away,
It wasn't until Dao's figure appeared on the side of the road ahead that Wu Mu had no choice but to slow down and prepare to bypass.

It was a little boy squatting on the side of the road, maybe seven or eight years old, watching the adults in the pavilion a little far away.

This little boy is squatting here playing something,
Wu Mu turned his head and took a look.

There is a small forest in the park next to the path, and the boy is squatting under a tree by the side of the road, holding a sugar painting that may have melted,

Just hold the bamboo stick on the sugar painting, hold the sugar that is about to melt on the sugar painting, and draw words on the mud floor.

A group of ants under the tree crawled onto the ground where the words written in sugar water were, and used their bodies to help the child write the black character 'king' on the ground.

The boy was playing happily, and the group of ants may also be happy because they found the sugar,
It's just that Wu Mu looked at the ants crawling back and forth along the traces of sugar water on the ground, and felt inexplicably cruel.

This group of ants may be looking for a way back and a way out, but the whole way has been fixed on the word 'King'.

ants,
Do you know what your own greatest value is at this moment?

At this moment,
An ant somehow,
Breaking away from the character 'King' drawn by the boy, it crawled to the side, and brought some other ants to the side as well.

Seeing that the words he 'written' were missing a bit, the boy who was having fun was naturally unwilling.

I stretched out my hand to fiddle with the ant crawling away, but my hand seemed to be a little too hard,

The ant was poked a few times by the sugar painting the boy was holding, and then died, embedded in the mud.

The boy turned his head again and continued to play with himself,
Wu Mu stood behind the boy and watched in silence for a long time.

Without saying a word, he left again.

……

"call……"

Seeing this, Editor-in-Chief Qian actually felt his scalp tingling,

Especially when I saw the child in the article accidentally killed the out-of-control ant.

Editor-in-Chief Qian felt that he couldn't tell what it was like.

Taking a long breath, Editor-in-Chief Qian continued to slide the mouse down, looking down.

……

The plot goes further down,
The protagonist who left the park went straight to a vegetable market that was about to be demolished and rebuilt.

There is a shop selling chicken, duck and pork in the vegetable market. A pig cart is parked in front of the shop.
The clerk and the boss in the shop are unloading the goods, dragging the pigs that are still alive to a fixed place next to the shop door to kill.
The pig struggled desperately, but naturally it was powerless to resist.
The last knife pierced the pig's heart.

Wu Mu witnessed the whole process at the door of this pork shop.

Pig, do you know your own greatest value?

On the other side of the vegetable market,
It's a small flower and bird market.
After leaving the pork shop, Wu Mu went there,
Finally, it stopped at the door of a flower and bird shop.

There are several birdcages hanging on the shelf at the door,

There is a bird with the brightest color and the most beautiful feathers in the birdcage outside.
The bird was standing on the shelf in the cage, turning its head back and forth from time to time, and after a while it would flop down.

Then peck in the small bowl where the bird food was placed.

Bird, do you know what your greatest value is?

At last,
Because Wu Mu stayed here for too long, the owner of the flower and bird shop came out.

Wu Mu bought the bird.

"...Brother, isn't this bird beautiful? Want to see it?"

"It's pretty."

"But it won't shed hair."

"No, if this bird loses too many feathers and it doesn't look good, you can bring it back to me, and I'll pay you back, and I'll just stew it and eat it!"

"...Well, how much is it?"

In the end, Wu Mu picked up the bird and went back to Capital University,

Walking in the university, I met some familiar professors and teachers along the way,

And someone asked him,
What is the name of this bird?

Wu Mu said,
It's called Xiaoshui.

Some people say that the name is quite interesting,
Wu Mu just smiled.

hung the bird by the window of the room assigned by the professor,

Wu Mu went to the School of Physics again and found a professor of physics whom he had met before.

to the physics professor's office,
Only to find that the physics professor was packing his things,

After saying hello, I naturally asked the professor where he was going.

The professor laughed at himself and told him that he was studying controllable nuclear fusion, and now it is useless.

I asked the college for a month's leave, ready to go out for a walk, come back and come back to think about a new research topic.

Wu Mu asked him,
Now that the controllable nuclear fusion technology is so developed, how can he not be needed when it is so hot?
The professor laughed at himself, because controllable nuclear fusion is mature enough, so he is not needed.

The controllable nuclear fusion technology presented by the observer civilization is a complete route, all the way to the miniaturization of controllable nuclear fusion.

And his research route and this route are basically two directions, unlike some professors and physicists who are compatible, naturally lose the value of continuing research.

Finally, the physics professor went on a trip to relax,
Wu Mu returned to the dormitory arranged by the school for the professors.

Sitting on the bay window in the living room, looking out the window, the bird with bright feathers in the birdcage hanging by the window would sing from time to time.

In the evening, Wu Mu didn't even eat dinner, just sat there, looking out the window for a long time,

in the middle of the night,
For the first time, he reported some research ideas on the second question of 'Observer Civilization'.

In this reported report,
Contains a story rich in historical charm.

"...In ancient times, there was a tortoise in Chu, who lived in the mud and lived for a thousand years. When a hunter saw the beautiful patterns on the shell of the tortoise, he hacked the tortoise to death and took away the shell."

"...Then, what is the greatest value of the tortoise?"

If there is an observer outside the cage, then for the observer,
Is the greatest value the bird's 'excellent predation ability'?

Or his pretty feathers.

Observers have been observing human civilization outside the curtain,

That proves that the greatest value of human civilization is inherent...always there.

Like the feathers of a bird in a cage, ever since its wings plump, it has been beautiful,

Rather than a little bit of predation ability that sprouts when they grow up.

After Wu Mu submitted a simple report,
He gently moved the birdcage with his hand, looking at the beautiful bird in the cage,
The bottom of my heart is full of despair.

To the observer, what is always inherent in the human civilization is the human civilization itself.

And human civilization itself.

Technology is only the way civilization develops...and the unique culture and experience of human civilization is civilization itself.

It's like...beautiful feathers and patterns on the turtle's shell...

……

Seeing this, Editor-in-Chief Qian felt his scalp tingling,

Can't wait to keep reading.

According to the expectation of this plot, it is time to reveal the answer to the greatest value of human civilization, right?

Unexpectedly, the plot changed again here.

Some more twists and turns...

(End of this chapter)