Genius Club Chapter 8: Going to the Moon (1/5)

Genius Club Chapter 8: Going to the Moon (1/5)

Zheng Zheng misses the moon? !

Lin Xian looked at the old man with gray hair tied up in a neat ponytail in front of him. He was over a hundred years old but was in good spirits and was very fluent in both actions and speech.

Zheng Xiangyue.

In the reality of 2024, I had just been separated from her for less than two days.

At that time, she was just a heartbreakingly petite girl, lonely and weak, and pitied by everyone.

She is always covered with electromagnetic sheets and connected to various wires, so free movement is a problem.

And now, facing this old lady in front of me.

It was really difficult for Lin Xian to connect the two "Zheng Xiangyue" together.

but

The small plastic-wrapped piece of paper he is holding in his hand is the ironclad proof of Zheng Xiangyue's identity.

Because this small piece of paper was written down stroke by stroke by the teenage Zheng Xiangyue while Lin Xian witnessed it.

It must be because he seldom writes, which makes his strokes crooked, but it makes Lin Xian's memory more profound.

At first, Zheng Xiangyue only wrote the first two things;

Later, under the indoctrination of my own Chicken Soup for the Soul, I added a third item

Be a kind and loving person.

Just like what she is doing now, a person returns from advanced Mars to backward Earth to help humans on earth move towards modern life, learn farming and iron smelting, form villages, and thrive.

Although this doesn't seem like a great thing.

But in this special era and special earth, Zheng Xiangyue descended from Mars to bring people knowledge and hope. This gift is no different than a fairy descending to earth.

Inexplicable.

Lin Xian remembered what he once said to Zheng Xiangyue:

"Be a kind person, be a loving person, lend a helping hand to those in need, and show love to those who long for care."

"If you have the ability, you will show your ambition to serve the motherland. If you are not able, then go back to the East China Sea to build your hometown."

"In short, if you can continue this kindness and love, that is the best reward for me, your brother, and everyone in the world who has helped you."

did not expect.

I was really struck by what I said casually.

Zheng Xiangyue successfully lived into the future, cured her congenital heart disease, and really returned to Donghai to "build her hometown"!

In fact, Lin Xian understood.

Zheng Xiangyue definitely didn't remember what she said. She even admitted that the amnesia caused by hibernation made her forget everything. Even if she stood face to face with herself, she didn't know who she was.

The reason why the current old woman Zheng Xiangyue looked at her in such shock was entirely because the name Lin Xian happened to appear on the small piece of paper.

She must have been looking for this name for a long time.

She must really want to find this person who can be written on her wish list and find out what happened back then, or she really wants to express her gratitude to this former brother Lin Xian as written on her wish list.

At this moment.

Lin Xian suddenly understood why Uncle Wei Shengjin reminded him many times not to call him by name, just call him by his name.

I couldn't understand this necessity before, and even thought it was impolite.

But now he finally understands why no one on Mars calls people by seniority.

Because it’s so embarrassing!

Like now.

How should he call Zheng Xiangyue?

Is it still the same as a few days ago, touching someone's gray-haired head and gently calling her "little sister"?

Or should I ask this centenarian old man, who is about the same age as my grandmother’s grandmother, to call me brother Lin Xian?

Although this feeling cannot be said to be terrifying, it is indeed very uncomfortable.

Besides, we can't just discuss things differently. If he calls her grandma and she calls him brother, it will be even more confusing.

Think about it.

It was Uncle Wei Shengjin who suggested that since everyone's age and seniority have been messed up during the hibernation era, except for direct family relationships, just calling people by their first names can solve all embarrassments.

Lin Xian is sincerely happy to see Zheng Xiangyue living in good health for more than a hundred years and realizing her own values ​​and dreams.

I am happy for Zheng Xiangyue, and I am also happy for my kind deeds.

all the time

Although Lin Xian didn't want to admit it.

But his actions in rewriting the future seem to always shoot himself in the foot and make many things go badly.

But Zheng Xiangyue appeared in the fifth dream.

Like a bright moonlight, it illuminates the backward earth and also illuminates his hazy dreams.

Lin Xian was curious.

Has Zheng Xiangyue’s dream come true?

Has she been to the moon?

So he opened his mouth and asked:

"Then you" "Zheng, Zheng Xiangyue!!!"

As a result, before Lin Xian could say anything, he was directly interrupted by the shouting Uncle Wei Shengjin.

Uncle Wei Shengjin was very excited.

Almost jumped up.

He stared at the village chief's grandma in front of him with his mouth open, his voice trembling:

"Yueyue girl Zheng Xiangyue! It turns out you are still alive! Oh, no, no, I'm sorry. I was just shocked, my god, I really didn't expect to see the characters in the textbook on the earth--\u003e\u003e

! "

A character in a textbook?

Lin Xian looked at Wei Shengjin in confusion:

"What does it mean?"

Wei Shengjin swallowed, stabilized his emotions and said:

"The article "Moon Girl" is a text in the middle school textbook. I was only a teenager when I hibernated, and I had just started middle school. After waking up from hibernation, I forgot everything, my brain was blank, and I knew nothing except that I did not lose my language function. Because in the brain structure, language and memory are not managed by the same area, and language ability does not disappear with long-term hibernation."

"Sorry, I got off track. This is the sequelae of being a teacher. I always want to explain it in a divergent way. Later, after I received common sense education and history education, I continued to study in a middle school on Mars. The most famous text in the textbook at that time was "Moon Girl."

"This text tells the story of SpaceT and a little girl's agreement spanning hundreds of years. To fulfill the promise, Jask himself accompanied the little girl to travel to the moon. OK. This is really a very romantic text. Although there is definitely some publicity for SpaceT in it, in order to enhance the company's image and influence. But this is a fact after all, the moon girl Zheng Xiangyue really exists. "

"Once this article was published, it caused a sensation on Mars, and the reputation of SpaceT and Jask was pushed to the highest level. The name of the moon girl Zheng Xiangyue became a household name on Mars. Naturally, this article was also selected into the middle school text, and it was required to recite the whole article back then!"

Lin Xian was interested for a while:

"Can you recite the whole article on the spot? I really want to hear it. "

Wei Shengjin waved his hand and laughed twice:

"I definitely can't recite it now, but when my son and grandson were in school, I helped them with their homework. In their middle school textbooks, the moon The girl still requires to recite the whole text. "

"You have to know that I woke up from hibernation in 2574. At that time, Zheng Xiangyue had already returned from the moon for decades. My grandson is still studying this text in middle school. It is an exaggeration to say that it is the most famous literary work on Mars."

"I can't recite it for you, but I still remember the content. It mainly praises Zheng Xiangyue's spirit of perseverance, persistence, fighting against illness, optimism, and bold pursuit of dreams; then it praises SpaceT and Jask's quality of keeping their promises; it reflects the relationship between people"

"Teacher Wei, your occupational disease as a teacher has come back again." Lin Xian narrowed his eyes, interrupted Wei Shengjin, and urged:

"Now don't do any reading comprehension and language appreciation, just tell me What is the content of the text. "

"Ahem, sorry."

Wei Shengjin coughed twice:

"The main reason is that this text is well-known on Mars, and the content rarely needs to be repeated. In fact, this text is not long. It starts from Zheng Xiangyue waking up from hibernation. After experiencing common sense education and historical education, SpaceT's Jask personally came to Zheng Xiangyue and asked her if she still wanted to go to the moon?"

"Then, SpaceT fulfilled its promise to go to the moon for this little girl who spanned hundreds of years. It's a long distance from Mars to the moon, but the busy Jask still took out half a year to accompany Zheng Xiangyue on a trip to the moon. "

"But in order to protect Zheng Xiangyue's privacy, why she went to the moon and what she did on the moon were not written in the text. In the future, everyone was very curious about these reasons, and many historians studied them, but they didn't find out the reason. "

"At that time, many people thought that the moon girl Zheng Xiangyue would become famous overnight, become a star or a celebrity; or use her popularity to enter politics; she was born with advantages that many people have worked hard for a lifetime. However, the moon girl is more low-key than everyone imagined. She never shows up and never uses her fame. "

"Everyone only knows that she works at SpaceT. No one knows where she went, when she retired, and what state she was in later. The reason why I was so excited just now was that I didn’t expect that the former moon girl would come to Earth! And become the village head grandmother! "

After listening to the excited Wei Shengjin’s retelling, Zheng Xiangyue, who had become an old grandmother, smiled kindly and looked at Lin Xian: "Mr. Lin Xian, do you still remember me? "

Lin Xian raised his head.

Zheng Xiangyue's way of addressing herself changed, and became respectful.

Because she knew very well that when she was a teenager, she wrote down that she would repay Brother Lin Xian well, which naturally meant that Brother Lin Xian had helped her a lot and they were very close.

It was just the sequelae of the hibernation chamber that made her forget everything.

Lin Xian thought about it.

Nodded gently:

"I remember you."

He smiled:

"But you should not remember me, right?"

Zheng Xiangyue's expression was very complicated.

Somewhat confused, some moved, and some at a loss:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin Xian. How I wish I could remember you, but unfortunately I have thought about you for a lifetime and recalled you for a hundred years, but I can't remember anything about you. "

"Not just you"

As she said, Zheng Xiangyue stretched out her wrinkled fingers, tapped the plastic paper in Lin Xian's hand, and pointed to the place where the first wish was written:

"I don't even remember anything about my brother. There is a photo on his casket, but I looked at it for a long time and couldn't remember anything. It was like a stranger, a complete stranger.

Lin Xian looked at the lonely grandma Zheng Xiangyue

Reflecting the dim lard light in the room, I still couldn't help but overlap the shadow of the little girl on the hospital bed covered with wires and electromagnetic sheets.

It seems as if she is still sitting on the bed on the 17th floor of Tunghai University Affiliated Hospital,

Still relying on --\u003e\u003e

That big Rhine cat doll,

Lower your head,

Holding Zheng Chengha’s urn,

Wipe, wipe, wipe until spotless.

Time passes slowly.

Now Lin Xian is still living in the past, but hundreds of years have passed by Zheng Xiangyue.

This moment was completely unlucky.

Lin Xian didn't know what to say.

"so"

He swallowed and spat:

"Did you bury your brother's urn on the moon?"

Grandma Zheng Xiangyue smiled softly and began to tell the story of the past.

"When I woke up from the hibernation cabin, it was 2523, exactly 101 years ago from now. At that time, my mind was blank. I didn't know anything, where I was, or who I was."

"Later, after a series of education, I realized that I had slept in a hibernation cabin on Earth before, but when Mr. Jask started the Mars immigration plan, he seemed to have known in advance that a super disaster would occur on Earth in 2400, including I am included in the hibernation cabin of many people, transported to the distant Mars, and will continue to hibernate there. "

"The super disaster in 2400 destroyed everything on the earth and made the natural environment uninhabitable. Therefore, I escaped a disaster on Mars. When I woke up from the hibernation cabin in 2523, my congenital heart The disease has been completely cured, and I am in great health and full of vitality. At this time, Mr. Jask appeared and gave me four items that I had left behind."

"A Rhine Cat doll that has been completely deformed, cracked, faded, and re-sewn; an urn; a plastic-sealed scrap of notebook paper; and a similarly plastic-sealed ticket to the moon."

"He apologized to me and said that after 600 years of preservation, the Rhine Cat doll has been completely broken and irreparable. He also found many professional restorers to barely restore it to this state. Although it is ugly, he thinks it can be restored as much as possible. It’s better to keep as much of the original look as possible. He smiled and called the cat the cat of Theseus.”

"At the time I didn't know what the Cat of Theseus meant, but later I realized it was just a cold joke by Mr. Jask."

Zheng Xiangyue stood up again with her old body, came to the wooden bed in the stone brick house, and carefully took out a mended doll from the cabinet.

That is a Rhine cat doll that cannot be called a Rhine cat.

It has long lost its original appearance.

It's more like a pirated product put together.

cat of theseus

What an apt metaphor.

In fact, in the original philosophical question, the original name was "The Ship of Theseus", also known as the Paradox of Theseus.

In the first century AD, the philosopher Plutarch asked a question:

Suppose, there is a ship that can sail the sea for hundreds of years.

Thanks to constant repairs and replacement parts, whenever a board rots, it's replaced.

And so on, until all the functional parts are no longer the original ones, and every piece of wood is brand new.

So, the question arises, is the resulting ship, all new parts and wood, still the original Ship of Theseus?

Or is it a completely different ship? If it's not the original ship, then at what point does it stop being the original ship?

Just like the patchwork and replacement Rhine Cat doll in front of me.

Even Zheng Xiangyue, who had become an old woman, still seemed to cherish this "slightly ugly" Rhine cat. She did not hand it to Lin Xian to look at, but just placed it in the corner next to the bed for Lin Xian to watch from a distance.

It seems

Zheng Xiangyue had long forgotten that this Rhine cat doll was actually given to her by Lin Xian.

Lin Xian carefully observed the Rhine cat under the dim lard light.

Compared with the Rhine Cat doll that I gave her originally, it can be said that it is completely wrong. It is estimated that there is no piece of cloth or cotton thread from 600 years ago.

First is the size aspect.

The doll he gave to Zheng Xiangyue was an oversized doll. Zheng Xiangyue couldn't hold it at first, but Zheng Chenghe helped her carry it to the bed.

Later, Zheng Chenghe was gone, and Zheng Xiangyue's strength became stronger and stronger, and she was naturally able to hold the oversized Rhine cat.

But the "Cat of Theseus" in front of me is obviously much smaller, only about the size of two basketballs.

Then there's the styling aspect.

Compared with what it was like 600 years ago, it can only be said that it has nothing to do with it.

But it’s not Jask’s fault.

No doll or toy can survive hundreds of years unharmed.

It will definitely break.

And it's not bad in the traditional sense, it's completely bad. All threads will fall apart, all fabrics will age, change color, become as brittle as seaweed, and turn to gray when touched, not to mention the cotton inside. Hundreds of years later, It must have turned into a puddle of mud long ago.

So it’s pretty good that it can be restored like this.

"That's strange to say."

Zheng Xiangyue looked at the dolls placed beside the bed and said with a smile:

"Mr. Jask said that he originally wanted to buy an identical new one, or even make a new one for me. But no matter how he searched, he could not find the original style, let alone the same style doll, pictures, photos I’ve searched all over the posters, but I can’t find this one.”

As Lin Xian listened to Zheng Xiangyue's story, Jask's frowning face appeared in his mind.

I definitely can’t find this one.

Only two samples of this Rhine Cat doll were produced, and they were shelved and scrapped due to various reasons.

--\u003e\u003e

The only two samples, one was given to Chu Anqing in a lottery at the MX celebration banquet; the other was taken from the company warehouse as a gift to Zheng Xiangyue on her birthday.

If there is no product sold and promoted on the market, then of course the picture style cannot be found.

"Then, Mr. Jask asked me if I wanted to cash in this ticket to the moon. He could take off a flight for me at any time."

"I was quite confused at the time. I didn't really want to go to the moon, and I didn't know why I had this ticket. Until I saw this little piece of paper, it said what I must do after waking up from hibernation! "

"The first thing I saw above was that I wanted to bury my brother on the moon. Of course I didn't remember that I had a brother, but the moment I saw the urn, I understood that the so-called brother should be Refer to this."

"When I looked at the urn, I felt very scary and strange, and I didn't even dare to approach it. It wasn't until two years later, as a middle school student, that I took the ferry ticket to Mr. Jask and said I wanted to I want to go to the moon and see if I can regain my past memories.”

"Mr. Jask readily agreed and said that the flight had been prepared for me. Then I carried my brother's urn and the small piece of plastic-wrapped paper to the moon. After arriving at the moon, I wore a space suit and walked on the lunar surface. I dug a hole and buried my brother’s urn in it.”

"The moment I finished this thing, I didn't feel any satisfaction or emotion. It was like I was doing something mechanically that had nothing to do with me. At that moment, I really realized how important things like memory are. precious."

"For us, memory is not just a piece of information, a sentence, or an image. The reason why memory is different from a movie clip is that memory contains emotions."

"As recorded on this small piece of paper, I have an older brother. I know his name is Zheng Chenghe through the name on the urn. I also know that my wish is to bury him on the moon. But then what? What does this mean? I have no idea and no emotion at all.”

"The moment I got my wish, I stood on the moon, looked at the dark universe, and looked at the huge earth in front of me that seemed to be pressing down on me. I was really lonely and wanted to go back to Mars. At least there is my home on Mars. , there are my classmates.”

"I picked up the small piece of paper with three wishes written on it, and told Mr. Jask that the first wish has been fulfilled. The second wish is to repay brother Lin Xian well. But who is brother Lin Xian? You Do you know Brother Lin Xian?”

"Mr. Jask didn't speak. From the look on his face, he should know who Brother Lin Xian is, but he seemed unwilling to tell me. I continued to ask him, can I still see Brother Lin Xian?"

"Mr. Jask still didn't speak, just kept silent and turned to look at the blue earth. I think this should be acquiescence. There is a high probability that brother Lin Xian, like my brother Zheng Chenghe, has passed away long ago, right? "

“I remember the scene at that time very clearly.”

Zheng Xiangyue closed her eyes and seemed to go back to the scene 100 years ago when she and Jask stood on the moon and looked at the earth.

She said softly:

"Mr. Jask told me that if the person you want to see is hidden in your heart, then you have already met him. Besides, the second wish on the note is just to repay Lin Xian well, and you don't have to meet to repay. Why not start with the second wish? Three wishes to start working on?”

"He said that maybe the second wish and the third wish are connected together. As long as you are a kind person and do loving things, that is the best reward for Lin Xian."

Having said this, Zheng Xiangyue smiled, opened her eyes and looked at Lin Xian:

"This is the beginning of my second life."

"After returning to Mars, I started studying hard and then worked at SpaceT. I spent my whole life looking for things I could do, but found that I was not that powerful, that I didn't have that much talent, and that I didn't have that much to offer the world. It won’t make much of a contribution.”

"I have to say that my life on Mars is very happy. I got married and gave birth to children. I have two children, brother and sister, and they have a very good relationship. My son gave me two granddaughters; my daughter gave birth to another one. My grandson and I have enjoyed family happiness for a long time after my retirement.”

"Now, before I came to Earth, both my son and daughter have passed away. Of the three grandchildren, there is only one grandson left, and his health is not very good. It seems that children born and raised on Mars generally have a short life span. Human beings have been hibernating for so long. The old hibernating humans I know generally live to be over 100 years old.”

When Uncle Wei Shengjin heard this, he nodded in approval.

And indeed it is.

The average life span of humans who hibernate on Earth and wake up on Mars is more than 100 years old. Scientists speculate that this situation should be related to the gravity environment and embryonic development, but the specific reasons are not known.

Zheng Xiangyue looked at the small piece of plastic-wrapped paper in her hand and continued:

"Later, when I was nearly 100 years old, I often looked at this small piece of paper like this. I felt that as Zheng Xiangyue, I had not fulfilled my childhood wishes. She wrote three wishes for me. I was just confused. I finished the first one and had no clue about the other two.”

"As people get older, they naturally worry about gains and losses. I have no memory of living on the earth before, but I miss the earth more and more. I know that the earth is very backward and life is very hard, but I often think about what kind of people can Is he a kind and caring person?”

"If the earth is really my hometown, shouldn't I go back and build it with knowledge and love?"

"So, I came to the earth and never wanted to go back. I just want to give more kindness and love here and make the earth a better place. This is worthy of being a teenager. Zheng Xiangyue wrote down such a great dream one stroke at a time, I can't let her down."

Zheng Xiangyue, who is over 100 years old, shook his head and smiled happily.

She placed the small piece of plastic paper on the table.

--\u003e\u003e

He looked up at Lin Xian again:

"I like the Earth very much because the moon here is really beautiful. This is a beauty you will never see on Mars."

moon?

Suddenly, Lin Xian recalled the big black hand on the moon that ran through the North and South Poles.

Can such a moon be called beautiful?

Could it be that

He immediately got up, went outside the stone brick house, and looked up at the stars.

I saw.

Directly above, among the stars in the dark night, a dazzling and bright full moon hangs in the sky!

Bright and clear.

fair and clear.

Round as a jade plate.

It was an unprecedentedly beautiful moon in several future dreams.

Lin Xian felt inexplicably relieved.

This is true.

This is the real moon.

Behind him, two old men, Wei Shengjin and Zheng Xiangyue, also walked out of the house and stood beside Lin Xian, looking at the full moon in the sky.

"I also like Earth's moon."

Wei Shengjin sighed:

"Although Mars also has two satellites, Phobos and Deimos, they are too small and cannot reflect sunlight, so you will never see beautiful scenery like the moon on Mars."

"In the two months since I came to Earth, I have watched the moon for a long time every night. It is really beautiful and intoxicating."

Lin Xian chuckled lightly and looked back at Zheng Xiangyue:

"Actually, even if you don't come to Earth, the humans on Earth will always be grateful to you. They received your kindness and love hundreds of years ago."

The elderly Zheng Xiangyue did not understand what Lin Xian said and asked in confusion:

"Why do you say that? I haven't done anything or contributed anything to the earth."

"No"

Lin Xian raised his head again, bathed in the white moonlight, with the bright moon hanging upside down in his eyes:

"This clean moonlight is the best gift you can give to the earth."