The world outside is turbulent, but it has nothing to do with Cheng Xiaoyu who is in prison. For him, life is as ordinary as boiled water. It is not similar to the prison movies he has watched. There are no prisoners bullying him, and there are no prisoners.

He wanted to communicate with him, but the only greeting he heard was that a few times, people who passed by him while walking around smiled and said to him: "Hey! I have listened to the songs you wrote..."

"There is nothing else besides this..."

Of course, Cheng Xiaoyu has also seen other people being bullied, and thought that the reason why he was ignored must be because of his special status. He does not have a strong sense of justice to interfere with other people's behavior. He knows that every place has its own problems.

Rules, and his life consists of writing scripts, reading books, sleeping... Cheng Xiaoyu himself does not feel bored, but feels that such a life is very empty...

Because Yijuan Jingmei guaranteed the ticket, Cheng Xiaoyu gave up the appeal and asked Aunt Zhou and the others to wait peacefully for Yijuan Jingmei to start operations. Xia Shamo and Xu Qinning's visas expired and they have returned to China and will not come back until next month.

While having lunch that day, Cheng Xiaoyu was stopped by a prison guard and took him to the warden's office.

It was Cheng Xiaoyu's first time here. Sitting behind the table was an old man with white hair, who looked very kind.

There was a newspaper spread on the desk, and there were many neon delicacies on it: grilled fish, tempura, chicken nuggets... There was also a small bottle of sake next to it, and the white-haired old man stood up.

He smiled and said: "Cheng Xiaoyu-san, my name is Yamada Yuuji, and I am the warden of this prison..."

Cheng Xiaoyu bowed slightly and said: "Hello Yamada-san, what's the matter with you calling me here?"

Yamada Yuuji smiled and waved for Cheng Xiaoyu to come over. His wrinkled face was like a blooming chrysanthemum. He said gently: "Sit down, you sit down first... Let's chat while we eat..."

....”

Cheng Xiaoyu walked into the desk, pulled out his chair, and sat down silently. The bowls and chopsticks had been placed in front of him for a long time. Yamada Yuji looked at Cheng Xiaoyu and said, "You're welcome... I should have talked to you a long time ago."

We were chatting, but I didn’t expect this day to come so quickly... My granddaughter is your fan, and she pesters me for your autograph every day..."

Cheng Xiaoyu didn't notice what the warden said: "This day has come so fast." He just said absently: "Then I'm welcome." He picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of tempura in the bowl and said: "Sign.

It's just a small thing, I've been taken care of for so many days..."

Yamada Yuuji also said while picking up vegetables: "I can't say taking care of you. You shouldn't have been bullied here these days, or have any dissatisfaction with our work, right?"

Cheng Xiaoyu shook his head and said: "Of course not. To be honest, it's pretty good. I've never been so pure... and I don't have to think about what I should do..."

After hearing Cheng Xiaoyu's answer, Yamada Yuji asked with satisfaction: "Are you satisfied with the food and so on?"

Cheng Xiaoyu smiled and nodded: "I'm very satisfied, especially the pickled radish here, which is crispy and sweet, and tastes better than the ones outside. It goes very well with rice..."

Yamada Yuji laughed "haha" and said: "Cheng Xiaoyu-san, you really know your stuff. We grow and pickle the pickled radish here ourselves. We can't eat it outside. Traditional food like pickled radish is far away from us."

In our food life, our tastes are becoming more and more distant. Some people think that

Because it is just nostalgia for the natural taste, there are also many young people who don’t know the original taste of pickled radish. In addition, things with heavy salt content are becoming less and less popular. Although the pickled radish outside has less salt than before, it has added

Tianwei, because less salt is added and for long-term storage

, replaced by preservatives. I like the taste to be sweeter than the natural taste of radish, so I add artificial sweeteners... In order to make the color more beautiful, I add food coloring... Industrialization has caused things outside to lose their original taste.

, but some things are still natural and pure

It’s so good. Don’t underestimate the pickled radish we have here. It tastes very crisp. This is a homemade pickle made by our guards and inmates who live together. It is divided into “two-okamian” and “chiseled”. Two-okamian

Still pickling in the old wooden barrels makes it more delicious..."

Cheng Xiaoyu didn't expect that the warden would talk so much about food and tell you some truths. He listened with great interest. Many of the stories were obtained from birth experiments. Waiting for the warden

After speaking, he smiled and said: "No wonder the food in prison is so good...it turns out you are a craftsman..."

Warden Yuji Yamada shook his head and said: "Food is very important to human beings, and resentment caused by food is very scary, especially in prisons. You must carefully recommend the food, taste, and temperature.

You have to be very careful when you wait..."

Listening to Yamada Yuji's words, he actually felt that the warden was more like an old farmer growing vegetables than a warden. When Yamada Yuji finished his long speech about how important food is to the prison,

After that, he picked up the jug and poured Cheng Xiaoyu a glass of sake. Cheng Xiaoyu hesitated and said, "Isn't it a rule that you are not allowed to drink?"

Yamada Yuuji smiled and said: "You don't care anymore...The emperor's pardon order for you has been issued. You just need to get it stamped by the cabinet, and you can go out tomorrow..."

When Cheng Xiaoyu heard Yamada Yuji's words, there was no fluctuation in his heart. This was something that was expected. For him, as a human being, it is impossible for anyone to break away from the order constructed by imagination and society. Every time we think that we have broken

The high walls of the prison, the road to freedom, are actually just reaching another larger prison, slightly expanding the scope of activities.

Nietzsche said: "Our eyes are our prisons, and wherever our eyes go are the walls of our prisons."

Cheng Xiaoyu understood when he lost his freedom... Social order, morality, marriage, religion, and nationality are actually 'prisons', prisons created by people. There are countless such prisons. If you break one of them, you will find something else.

Another prison... they don't imprison the body, they imprison the mind.

Cheng Xiaoyu, whose thoughts were racing, didn't pay much attention to what Yuuji Yamada said later. He just agreed that when Yuuji Yamada went out, he would give a thumbs up to the Tokyo Prison and say a few good words in front of the media... Yuuji Yamada asked.

Cheng Xiaoyu asked for an autograph, took a photo with him, and then personally escorted Cheng Xiaoyu to the door... Before leaving, he told Cheng Xiaoyu to calmly wait for the amnesty order to be released tomorrow...

Cheng Xiaoyu nodded and thanked, and then left, without much surprise on his expression... When he turned around and walked a few steps, his keen ears heard Yamada Yuuji whispering that he was really a weirdo...

.

Cheng Xiaoyu returned to the prison cell and found that he could not notify anyone to pick him up. Xia Shamo and Xu Qinning had to return to China to renew their visas, and it would take about a week before they came. The timing of this amnesty was really stuck.

...He has not yet thought that Ijuin Shizumi did it on purpose...

The news that he was pardoned was also temporarily blocked. Few people knew that on the night when he was freed, Cheng Xiaoyu actually suffered from insomnia... Unable to fall asleep for a long time, he watched "Ulysses" all night long.

", while reading, compare Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" and Joyce's "Ulysses", which is known as the greatest novel of the 20th century.

He feels that both novels are facing the accidental fragments that are constantly coming at all times. These things flash through the human mind at one moment and disappear completely the next second. In Joyce's case, this is just the wandering mind, but

It was an ordinary day with nothing happening, but in Tolstoy's writing it led to Anna's sudden suicide tragedy.

For Cheng Xiaoyu, contact with literature and world literature is nothing more than escaping from the prison of national vanity, the prison of philistinism, the prison of compulsive localism, the prison of stupid school education, the prison of imperfect destiny and bad luck.

.

Literature is a passport that allows him to enter a broader life, that is, a passport that allows him to have spiritual freedom.

In these short few months, he had read countless books, and his mind was filled with all kinds of intense or indifferent thoughts. Although he had not yet been able to sort it all out in peace, he felt that he was regaining the

The direction of life and the courage to move forward...

The next day, under the supervision of prison guards, Cheng Xiaoyu put back on the suit that Xu Qinning had customized for him. When he walked out of the prison, he saw the blazing sunshine baking on the concrete floor and the steam rising from the high walls.

The wire fence was full of dragonflies, and he realized that it was already summer. He took off his black suit and rolled up his shirt sleeves, feeling that it was not so hot anymore...

After passing through the heavy protection and arriving at a huge iron door, the prison guard opened a crack in the door and said to Cheng Xiaoyu, "I wish you good luck."

Cheng Xiaoyu thanked him, walked out of the iron gate, and embraced his new freedom again. Not far away was Ijuin Jingmei's orange Porsche 911. The glass opened, and an arm as white as a lotus root was stretched out...

..

Cheng Xiaoyu saw Yijuan Jingmei sitting in the cab wearing sunglasses, her red lips as eye-catching as flames. He didn't expect that she would dare to pick him up in person at this time. He walked quickly towards 911, completely unaware that there was a person not far away.

Someone was holding a camera in a black Crown car, secretly taking photos of him...
Chapter completed!