Malacors the Book

The author says: No. So, what is it then?

In the era I grew up, it was almost impossible to choose the path I wanted to take. The overall environment was like a giant current, not only for young people but also for adults and middle-aged people like my father. Everyone could only roll in the giant current, full of whirlpools. Being caught in the whirlpool, I eventually became a professional soldier. And to think that it was just a year ago that I promised Zhao Shuanghui to become an engineer to serve the country!

It is about natural disasters and man-made disasters.

We have a classmate whose surname is Ruan. He is small and skinny with droopy eyes. We don't know which class he belongs to, but he only shows up when it's time to eat steamed bun for lunch and dinner. Another time he always appears is when it rains. The heavier the rain, the louder his voice gets. He goes crazy running around the campus and shouts, "It's raining! It's raining!" People told me a story about our classmate Ruan. He is from Hubei, where the word "rain" is pronounced as "ru" in the local dialect. One day, a heavy rain caused flooding in his hometown along the Yangtze River. His house, village, and vast lands were submerged. He floated out and grabbed onto a tree branch, and held on until he was rescued. The trauma from that experience may take a long time to heal.

Are you referring to political topics like "White Terror"?

A Japanese writer once wrote a short story titled "The Midnight Knock," discussing the unpredictability of one's fate. During that time, Japan also faced threats of the so-called "White Terror," where left-wing individuals were heavily persecuted. Imagine — at midnight, someone suddenly knocks on the door. Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky was arrested by the police in a similar manner and narrowly escaped being executed. However, it doesn't always have to be so pessimistic: perhaps the person knocking is someone from your aunt's side, informing you that your lifelong spinster aunt has unfortunately passed away, and you are the designated sole heir to her inheritance.

Or, a story about a cat!

Once our family had a tomcat named "Pickup." Pickup was initially very likable — he would find his own litter box, play with fur balls, and learn hunting skills in the forest. But before long, his behavior changed: knocking over the cup of water, then loudly meowing on the other side of the litter box. When my daughter came home, her first reaction was: "Could it be that Pickup is blind!"

I took Pickup to the nearest pet hospital. It turns out cats and dogs need to fill out a medical history form even more detailed than humans — including a "breed" column. Pickup was a common tabby cat, so I filled in "Chinese cat." The vet crossed out "Chinese" and replaced it with "Mixed Breed," then asked what was wrong. "He's blind," I replied. The vet withdrew his hand and asked, puzzled, "How do you know he's blind? Can cats go blind?" In the end he said: "Take him back; I don't know if he's blind or not. Take him to see an eye specialist, or just take him to a psychiatrist." And so, we ended up with a blind cat in the household.