Chapter 898

The movie was really good, but Pedro's gaze was drawn to a young man beside that Mr. Jack.

A very handsome young man.

He wasn't sure how old this young man was; Federal people are different from Lapa people.

Lapa people need to labor all day, exposed to wind, rain, and sun, and people age very quickly.

Federal people's ages all look younger than what they appear to be; it could be a few years, it could be ten-plus years, or even more.

He wasn't quite sure if that gentleman was only in his twenties as he appeared, or if he was older.

Mr. Jack was also chatting with him, and the principal beside them was also stretching his neck to look at that young man, his face full of ingratiating smiles.

This made Pedro feel some curiosity about who this young man was.

In Lapa, not just anyone can be a high school principal; this also means he at least has some connection with the ruling group, otherwise, it wouldn't be his turn to sit in this position.

He acted almost fawningly; this young man's identity must be extraordinary.

He observed for a while, confirmed his view, and soon put his attention back on the movie.

The movie soon came to an end, and people spontaneously stood up to applaud, applauding enthusiastically!

For the students of this high school today, this was absolutely unprecedented!

Seeing a movie for the first time, learning about the lifestyle of Federal people for the first time, and feeling the differences between societies in an intuitive way for the first time.

At this moment, they had too many things they wanted to pour out, and at the same time, because they watched this movie, they had more doubts.

The principal and Mr. Jack deferred to each other for a while, and then Mr. Jack took the initiative to walk to the podium.

There was a microphone and speakers here, but there was a bit of noise.

He tapped the microphone, and after confirming it was effective, he said with a smile, "Just now I chatted with the principal. After the movie ends, you must have many questions or emotions you want to vent, so we will have thirty minutes to chat."

"Actually, besides myself, there is another very special gentleman who also came to the scene today." He looked toward the audience.

Lan Si buttoned his clothes and walked up to the podium from the stairs on the side.

Mr. Jack came from the Federal Ministry of the Interior's General Administration for the Revitalization of Public Cultural and Educational Affairs. This is a department within the Federation regarding popularizing education, promoting culture, improving the educational level of the public, and being responsible for literacy.

They would provide funding to support the development of educational and cultural undertakings, including the Federal Arts Council, which is also a non-governmental department funded by them, and it has obtained many government "orders," having great influence and interference ability in the entire arts industry.

This time, the work of promoting Federal cultural exchange in Xiang Yalan was also specifically handed over to this General Administration for the Revitalization of Public Cultural and Educational Affairs to do, and they also brought some non-governmental organizations to visit Xiang Yalan.

For example, members of the "Federal Writers Association." The cabinet once formulated a "Tell My Story" writing plan; they hoped that more authors would stand up to write, and let every Federal citizen have at least two hours of reading time every month.

Although this kind of thing sounds like formalistic work, it can't be said that it had no effect at all.

The emergence of a batch of new authors soon caused a good response in society. Of course, there were also some people who took the Federal government's money to attack the Federal government; regardless, the Federal literary scene is now in a stage of letting a hundred flowers bloom.

Some people write "My Slave Owner Grandfather," and some people write "My Slave Grandfather"; anyway, there is everything.

These people, some authors willing to cooperate with the Federal government, and some new wave people following the trend, all became members of this Xiang Yalan cultural exchange trip.

Anyway, it's Federal government funding; Federal people like to eat and drink on public funds just the same, not to mention that they can come for tourism, and maybe they can even use public funds to help those girls who need help replenish their protein. Everyone who had the opportunity signed up enthusiastically.

Mr. Jack is an official of the General Administration for the Revitalization of Public Cultural and Educational Affairs, and also a member of some non-governmental associations. Originally, he was still considering how to turn the content of this post-movie symposium to his work tasks.

His main work is to carry out cultural propaganda in the few schools within Lapa territory.

Lan Si had nothing else to do recently, so he followed him over.

This place is about two hundred kilometers away from Zhuolan, which is not far. Except for the mud roads being slightly difficult to walk on, it wouldn't take a few hours to arrive.

He heard that several students from Jie De National University emerge from this school every year, and it is quite famous in this vicinity, including Zhuolan, so he specifically came over to take a look.

The proportion of students from private noble high schools in Zhuolan getting into university is high, but it has no meaning.

Lan Si's main propaganda is still to the commoners and the middle class. Among these people, the spread of all information about the Federation will be very fast!

The middle class is always the group with the most ideas.

After Lan Si walked onto the podium, Mr. Jack took the initiative to introduce, "Mr. Lan Si is the main initiator of this event, and also a sponsor of some rewards, including the expenses and quotas for going to the Federation as exchange students, all provided by Mr. Lan Si."

Lan Si smiled and nodded to everyone, and amidst the applause, he sat on the sofa to the side.

Afterward, he introduced some of the entourage, such as sociologists and the like.

After introducing these people, Mr. Jack himself sat on the sofa. "Our conversation is also part of cultural exchange, so if anyone wants to ask questions, you can raise your hands."

In Lapa, those who can attend high school are basically middle-class families; they can receive some information different from the ordinary class through other channels.

A student raised his hand, and Mr. Jack signaled for him to express his thoughts.

This student was dressed very cleanly; there is no such thing as a unified school uniform here, so everyone looks more individual.

It's just that those who are really dressed very well are still a very small minority.

"Mr. Jack, the movie is truly a great invention!"

"I am just sitting in the auditorium, and I can see things happening in the Federation thousands of kilometers away. This is simply incredible!"

"I noticed that the male and female protagonists in the movie just now mentioned 'freedom' many times, and slogans related to 'freedom' also appeared in some backgrounds."

"My question is, what exactly is freedom?"

This question made even Mr. Jack pause for a moment. This is actually a very broad question; what exactly is freedom?

Before he had thought of how to answer this question, Lan Si raised the microphone in his hand.

"Your observation is very careful!" He first praised the student, and the student's face also revealed some hard-to-hide smiles.

He bowed slightly. "Thank you."

Lan Si crossed his legs, looked at the student, and then looked at the other students who were looking at him.

"I think freedom is divided into three stages."

"The first stage, freedom of action."

"I want to do something, I don't want to do something; no one else, including myself, can force me to have to do it, or that I cannot do it."

Others nodded one after another, including the student who asked the question. This is a very simple understanding; to put it more bluntly, it is the most common control problem between parents and students.

"You can do this!"

"You cannot do this!"

These are all in life; Lan Si just mentioned it simply, and they immediately understood.

After they showed an expression of "understanding," Lan Si continued, "The second stage is freedom of thought."

"This is a very general explanation; it's more like..."

"People always tell you what you should do and what you shouldn't do. They don't directly and strongly demand that you do this or not do this."

"But they tell you that you shouldn't do it through the way of spreading ideas."

"I want to eat candy, but my mother tells me that eating candy will cause cavities, and I shouldn't do it."

"We are not discussing the matter itself, whether eating candy is good or bad, or whether it will cause cavities; we are only discussing the admonition and influence of the mother role on me."

"Under her influence, although I want to eat candy, I didn't eat it. This is spiritual unfreedom."

"I can eat it, but my spirit is restricted, imprisoned; even if the candy is in my hand, I eventually put it down."

"Spiritual freedom is the questioning of authority, the exploration of rules that people are accustomed to following."

"Will eating candy really cause cavities?"

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but why don't I try it? Breaking the shackles of the spirit is the second stage of freedom!"

Lan Si changed his sitting posture and handed the microphone to his other hand; honestly, this sofa was a bit hard on the butt. "The third stage of freedom is freedom of the soul."

"This is a broader explanation, more difficult to touch its core, because it is difficult for us to understand what freedom of the soul really is."

"I am trying to explain it."

"Freedom of the soul refers to 'I'."

"Sounds even more confusing?"

The students nodded one after another; in fact, they were already a bit confused at the second stage of freedom, let alone this third stage.

Lan Si smiled. "I used to be confused too, but I finally figured this out."

"This might be something you cannot interpret or understand in the short term, but I believe your lives are still long. On some day in the future, when you reach a certain stage of your life's path."

"When you recall what I said to you today, you will have a kind of enlightenment."

"What is 'I'?"

"This is a question no one can explain."

"'I' is not necessarily me, because 'I' could be the me in others' eyes, not the 'I' in my own eyes."

"Teachers hope you become students with excellent academic performance, your parents hope you can have dazzling performances in the future, and your friends hope you are model friends."

"Your family, your partners, your future children..."

"Everyone has an 'I' in their eyes; the 'I' in their eyes is not necessarily the real me!"

"Do you really like studying?"

"Are you really consistent with the external appearance you show in front of your elders?"

"I think, not necessarily!"

The entire auditorium was quiet, with only Lan Si's voice and the occasional noise from the speakers.

This is an important diplomatic activity, so there are also Federal reporters, reporters from some developed areas of Xiang Yalan, and cameramen on the scene; they faithfully recorded everything that happened here.

"I don't like reading, but in order not to make my father or mother sad, I can only pretend that I like reading; this is unfreedom."

"I don't like this child, but because he has a blood relationship with me, I must pretend that I like him very much and take on all the responsibilities; this is also not freedom."

"Freedom should be unconstrained, shapeless, rather than crawling into boxes made by others, becoming the 'I' in their eyes, rather than the real me."

"I said, freedom is a very complex and broad question; we cannot accurately explain it. This is just my explanation; perhaps in your place, freedom has other explanations."

"I am just telling you my perception of freedom."

"You yearn for everything in youth, so you go and embrace it; this is freedom!"

"You hate studying and are willing to bear the consequences, so throw away your stationery and books; this is also freedom!"

"Protecting is freedom, resisting is also freedom; doing anything you want to do, doing it from your heart, is freedom!"

As Lan Si's voice stopped, there was a brief silence in the auditorium, but soon applause rang out again.

That student asked with longing, "Mr. Lan Si, is there true freedom in this world?"

Lan Si smiled. "I don't know if there is, but we are all looking for it. I believe that one day we will find it!"

The applause was even louder.

Lan Si seemed to have said something, but also seemed to have said nothing, but those words of his planted a seed in people's hearts.

The questions from the students that followed were clearly much worse in level.

Things like the learning and living environment of Federal students, the admission rate of Federal universities, and whether they can find suitable jobs after graduating from university, and so on.

These questions were answered by Mr. Jack, not Lan Si.

Now some content is not suitable to be said too deeply all at once; this requires a period of brewing.

Half an hour passed quickly, and Lan Si, Mr. Jack, and other entourage members soon left amidst the send-off of teachers and students.

As Lapa people who have very few opportunities to come into contact with foreigners, this was an extremely rare experience for every teacher and student, enough for them to savor for a long time.

After Lan Si and the others left, both teachers and students returned to their classes, their minds filled with the images played not long ago and the words Lan Si said.

Many people started writing reviews of this movie with "Freedom" as the title.

The students might not have noticed anything yet, but Pedro always felt that in the process of writing, a kind of "offensive" feeling would constantly sprout.

He offended the President, offended Lapa's laws, and offended everything here!

Before, he didn't feel that he was unfree, but after watching this Federal movie, he felt that he didn't seem to be that free either.

This scene happened in many places, in the few factories in Lapa, and in places where crowds gathered on the roadside.

It's just that the content these people watched was different from what the teachers and students in the school saw.

For example, the workers in the factory watched the daily life and work of some Federal workers.

They learned some special terms from these movies, such as "two-day weekend."

Being able to rest for two days a week is simply incredible in Lapa!

Because Lapa has no rest days at all!

If there is work in the factory, all workers must keep working until it is finished.

It could be ten-plus days, it could be twenty or thirty days, and then they can rest before the next order arrives, and there is no pay for the rest.

But look at the Federation; no matter how busy the orders are, there are two days of rest every week, and such high wages.

People are watching, learning about the Federation. The more they understand the Federation one-sidedly through various propaganda means, the more they yearn and long for life in the Federation!

How can life in the Federation be so beautiful?

No exploitation, no oppression, equal pay for equal work, and there is time to rest, free food, and wages issued on time.

In fact, many Lapa people didn't feel how bitter their lives were before.

Although it was indeed very bitter, this bitterness was something everyone was experiencing, so there was no special feeling; instead, they felt that life might just be like this.

But now, after they saw this propaganda and saw this cultural exchange, life really started to become bitter.

At the end of November, early December, the "review" Pedro wrote won an award, ten dollars.

Even the principal envied him and patted his shoulder hard. "You kid really got lucky!"

Pedro was grinning with joy holding the ten dollars; he only wrote a review and got more than half a month's salary, which he also found very surprising.

The principal handed the money to him; it was a ten-dollar Federal Sol banknote, and he also handed him an envelope. "This is what Mr. Jack asked me to give to you."

"They have already seen the review you wrote and feel that you wrote it very well, and have a very profound understanding of the cultural differences between the two countries."

"Next week, there is a symposium or something like that in Zhuolan. They invite you to go over. They will reimburse your travel expenses, accommodation, and all expenses, and participate in discussions on how to continuously promote exchanges in various aspects between the two regions."

"Do you want to go?"

Actually, the principal's subtext was "You'd better not want to go, so I can go."

If it were before, he might have expressed that he didn't want to go, but Lan Si's words gave him some new ideas, and coupled with his recalling everything in the movie, he became more curious and longing for Federal society.

How did such a free and loose country develop into such a powerful country?

He wanted to know more!

"Thank you, I will be there on time!"

He pinched the envelope and tugged, using a little force, before pulling it out of the principal's hand.