Plane Small Bookstore [System]

A bookstore opened deep in the cave!

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

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

They wear clothes that have been made smaller by adults, with withered hair, yellow and thin faces, and thin arms that seem to be broken if they are folded, but they have big heads that are out of proportion to their bodies.

Le Jing suddenly remembered the "little radish head" in the elementary school Chinese text that hadn't grown up in time.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, about the same age as these children.It's ridiculous how adults fight and end up with a kid footing the bill.

"Brother, brother." The little girl with a high nose and deep eyes looked at Le Jing timidly with a pair of clean green eyes, speaking blunt Chinese, her voice was full of deep desire, "Can you read here?"

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

Le Jing's heart suddenly felt sour and relieved.Even though they are in the last days, even if they are used to the darkness, these children have not just sunk down, they are still yearning for knowledge, they are still yearning for another destiny.

They will be the seeds of fire, the stars that adorn and illuminate the dark underground.As long as there are such children, the human race will never perish.

"Of course." Le Jing bent down and softened his voice, as if 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."

Immediately, those children's eyes were as bright as the scorching sun.Ji Xing jumped up excitedly: "Are you going to be our teacher?"

The ancients said that a teacher can preach and teach karma to solve doubts.Le Jing thinks he can't afford this important task.So he shook his head gently, and looked at Ji Xing seriously: "I'm not your teacher, I'm just someone who answers your doubts. What kind of path you will take and what kind of person you will become in the future will all be up to you." You decide for yourself."

Ji Xing nodded half understanding.For an eight-year-old, she is doing her best just to be alive, and the word "future" is too far away for her.But she felt that what the big brother said must be very important, and maybe she would be able to understand it when she grew up.

The commotion in the bookstore did not hide the attention of the adults.

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

The leader is an oriental man, with a pale face that has not seen the sun for a long time, looking at Le Jing with deep vigilance: "Who the hell are you? I don't remember when there was a bookstore here!"

Le Jing said lightly: "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 by that?"

Le Jing said softly: "You grew up in the sun, so even when the darkness comes, you have seen the sun. But they..." The young man looked sadly at those "little carrot heads" who were tall and low , the voice became deeper and deeper, "They were born in the darkness, so they think that the darkness is the whole world. They don't know how beautiful the world used to be."

The young man shifted his gaze, stared at the leader seriously, and questioned the leader's soul: "Do you think such a child can shoulder the future of mankind?"

The muscles on the leader's face trembled violently, but he couldn't give a definite answer.Le Jing's question was exactly what he was worried about.

Their children lived underground since they were young, and they thought that human beings should live underground.They have never seen the beautiful world on the ground, so they think that the whole world is as cold and dead as the underground.If you haven't seen the warmth of the sun, how can you understand the coldness of the dark?

So after their parents who have seen the sun have left, what should these children who have lived in darkness since childhood and lacked food and clothing do?Who will tell them what the world once looked like?Who will inherit the splendid civilization created by mankind?Who will help them cling to the thin hope in their hands and survive the long darkness before dawn?

People can't yearn for what they don't understand.

If things go on like this, they will get used to living in the safe and cold underground, and they will start to fear the dangerous world on the ground that is full of poisonous gas and barren.In the end, humans will completely degenerate into cave dwellers.They will hide under the ground like moles, and they will have 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.In the end, he stared at the eyes of the children eagerly looking at the books. This middle-aged man with gray hair on his temples finally made up his mind.He stared at Le Jing seriously, and asked cautiously: "Can I hand over 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 protect them with my life."

Thus, the leader finally showed his first gratified smile since meeting him.He knew that this young man was of unknown origin and was very suspicious.But he is willing to take a gamble. If he loses, it will be a matter of time for everyone to go to hell together. There is nothing to regret.But if he wins—

Then the child will have a promising future.

So Lejing's bookstore has completely become a school for all the children in this small human base.There are not many children in the school, only about 1, which is due to the small size of the base, but more because of the high mortality rate of children in this era.In ancient agricultural societies, about 3/20 of children could not live to be [-] years old.And the environment here is worse than in ancient times, so the high mortality rate of children can be imagined.

Behind every surviving child in the base, there were at least four or five corpses of children.Without the convenient conditions created by modern society, human beings are not even as strong as a mouse

Probably because they know that the opportunity to study is hard-won. These thirty or so children from different countries, different nationalities, with different skin colors, and speaking different languages ​​eagerly absorb the knowledge Lejing imparted to them, devouring every reading book.

Before the apocalypse, children study in order to go to a good university, find a good job in the future, and earn a lot of income. In the final analysis, they want to live a good life.

But now is the end of the world, most of the occupations in human society are useless here, the currency system has collapsed, and people are more inclined to barter for things.It can be said that reading is not likely to provide them with a better material life.

Reading may not do much, but it can help them survive the long cold night.Most importantly, they can read the beauty and hope from the book.

Halifax said in "Anthology": "Hope is a deceptive thing: especially when we are angry with disappointment; but in general, there is no fun without hope."

So humans always need hope.Only the illusory hope can bring mankind the motivation to endure disaster and struggle for a long time.

……

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

Le Jing was taken aback, and walked towards Li Lin while asking, "Why do you think so?"

"It says so in the book."

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

Before his death, a poor and sick rural teacher moved the aliens by teaching Newton's three laws to four rural children, causing the aliens to rule out the earth in the planet-removal operation, thereby saving the civilization of the earth and even the entire solar system science fiction story.

It took a lot of talking for Le Jing to dispel the hatred in Li Lin's eyes.

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

"Poetry?" Li Lin tilted her head in doubt, "What poetry?"

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

But this kind of beautiful mood is very long, like mountains and rivers, endless. ①"

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

Then the young man put the sci-fi magazine back on the bookshelf, smiled and took out a book of poetry and put it in her hand.

"Sci-fi stories are not suitable for you now." Le Jing said: "Read poetry, poetry will make your life better, and one day, you will understand my words."

For poetry immortalizes the best and most beautiful in the world; it is recognized and trusted.Poetry is the representation of man and nature. ②

……

Unknowingly, Le Jing has been here for a month.Over the past month, he has indeed, as he promised, told all the children everything he can say, and taught all the children all the books in his store.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.

Regarding Keynes' disapproving persuasion, the young man showed an extremely gentle smile on his pale face, and he told Keynes gently but firmly: "Because they are children, unlike me who has been stereotyped, they have infinite possibilities. There may be big people in the future who can change the world. So I should make way for them."

Wilde said: "Everyone is born a king, but most die in exile."

So he wants to protect them from dying in exile.Just like he promised the leader, he will protect them with his life, at least let them grow up safely.

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

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

The author has something to say:

①The original sentence is "Life is short, like a white horse passing by, fleeting.

But this kind of mood is very long, like mountains and rivers, endless. "It is the line of Lu Xiucai in "Wulin Biography", and a few words are added after the quotation here.

② Poetry can immortalize everything that is best and most beautiful in the world; it is recognized and trusted.Poetry is the representation of man and nature. ——[UK] Wordsworth: Preface to Lyrical Ballads