Chapter 22 Shi Potian, the good soldier Shuike in the bad world

This fairy tale tells us that in a complex world, being a smart person is undoubtedly a good thing; but in an overly complicated world, being a stupid person may not be a bad choice. Stupid people are an eternal theme in novels.Some great novels often take stupid people as protagonists, such as Pierre in the novel, Gargantua in the novel, Quasimodo in the more serious ones, Don Quixote in Don Quixote, etc. Stupid in varying degrees. Among Chinese novelists, Jin Yong is one of those who love "stupid people" the most and play the theme of "stupid people" best. Apart from the famous supporting roles such as Sha Gu, Jin Yong has three famous stupid protagonists, they are Guo Jing, Di Yun, and Shi Potian.The development directions of the three people are different: Guo Jing's stupidity is a bit innate, he has a strong sense of national responsibility and moral mission, and finally became a patriotic stupid person; Di Yun's stupidity is caused by the environment in which he grew up. The hatred is too heavy, the resentment is too deep, and finally he becomes a cynical fool.

Shi Potian in the movie is different from them all.His stupidity is entirely an acquired factor, caused by a lack of family education and a serious lack of social experience.He has no strong sense of moral mission, no hatred, no resentment, he always plays happily, and finally becomes the most enviable kind of stupid people - happy stupid people. The process of Shi Potian's entry into the rivers and lakes was very accidental.He was originally a little beggar, but one day he fled to a small town called Hou Jianji and felt hungry.So he picked up a sesame seed cake on the ground like he had done countless times in normal times.Unexpectedly, there is a big treasure hidden in the sesame seed cakes, which is called Xuan Tie Ling.It was because of this pick-up that Comrade Shi Potian officially stepped into the arena.

However, our Shi Potian never knew the existence of the word "jianghu".The place where he lived since he was a child is called Xiong'er Mountain. In his eyes, Jianghu is just a bigger Xiong'er Mountain-the basic skill of a stupid person is to be able to see very complicated things very simply. In the eyes of wise people, there are dangers and murderous opportunities everywhere in the world, and sometimes a wrong sentence may lead to death.But Comrade Shi Potian is not.He doesn't know what the rules of the world are, what is stop at a red light and go at a green light.He regarded the most insidious and terrifying places on the rivers and lakes as villages and fields, and went there foolishly and cheerfully.

For example, Motianya, that is the lair of the murderous Xie Yanke, it sounds like a place name in the movie, even a master like Bei Haishi would have to gather enough people to dare to touch it, but Shi Potian went there in a daze .For another example, Changle Gang, Lingxiao City, and Ding Busan's house either lived with murderous lunatics or insidious and cunning villains. They were all well-known criminal dens in the world, and he went there stupidly. The scariest thing is Knight Island.In the Jianghu at that time, when it came to going to Knights Island, it felt similar to taking Malaysia Airlines today. The martial arts masters would pee their pants when they heard it. Comrade Shi Potian also took the initiative to apply for a visa and went with his passport.

It's like in the zoo, you suddenly find that a guy has climbed into the lion and tiger mountain clumsily, and is still wandering around in it.You asked him anxiously outside the cage what he wanted to do, and he looked at you innocently: "Picking up hats..." Every time I read Shi Potian, I think of another famous fool in the history of literature—Shuaik, a good soldier of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.One of Schweik's characteristics is that he regards everything that others give him as kindness.Whether you praise him, treat him with courtesy, scold him, laugh at him, abuse him, or give him an enema, he doesn't think you have a bad heart.He respects every passer-by in his life and carries out their orders to the letter.He is like a happy dustpan, draining all other people's malice like water.

How like our Comrade Shi Potian.He frankly accepts everything arranged for him by others, from identity, name, to parents and wife.His name ranges from Dog Bastard, Shi Potian, to Shi Zhongyu, Shi Yiwan, and he accepts whatever names others give him; for a moment Mei Fanggu regards him as his son, and for a moment Min Rou regards him as a son, and he accepts them all. ; His wife is Ding Dang for a while, and Axiu for a while, and he doesn't resist, he is happy with any girl. He encountered countless bad people in the arena, but he always regarded them as good people and respected them wholeheartedly.Those heroes, monsters, witches, and little thieves in the Jianghu are all uncles, uncles, aunts, and brothers in his eyes.

For example, Xie Yanke, a thug who racked his brains to kill him, Shi Potian regarded him as a good person from beginning to end, and called him an "old man"; and Bei Haishi, a conspirator who always used him, but in Shi Potian's eyes He is a respectable "Mr. Bei"; another example is Zhang San and Li Si, who also had murderous intentions towards classmate Xiao Shi, but Shi Potian insisted on treating them as "big brother and second brother" and was ready to do anything for them at any time. Knife. I have always felt that in Jin Yong's novels, and are two opposite books, they are mirror images of each other.The rivers and lakes in these two books are very similar, they are full of monsters and monsters, but from Di Yun's eyes, the rivers and lakes are full of bad guys, his eyes are like a mirror; from Shi Potian's eyes , the rivers and lakes are full of good people, his eyes are like a kaleidoscope.

The author of The Good Soldier Shuike died young, we can't know Shuike's ending, but we know Shi Potian's ending - those who hate him and want to hurt him have very powerful force, but they In the end, there is no way to use the stone to break the sky.From Xie Yanke to Bei Haishi, they could only smile bitterly in the end, and reluctantly accepted Shi Potian's endless respect and friendship. There are many smart people here, like Shi Zhongyu, Liao Zili, Mi Hengye...these people did not live as well as Shi Potian in the end.They watched Shi Potian become the best master in the world, just like those cunning and vicious supporting characters in the movie, they always watched a fool named Hans marry the princess in the end.

I don't know in what mood Jin Yong wrote this book.Before this book, his last book was the peak of romanticism; the next book was the acme of satirical reality.Probably during the interval between writing these two books, the author wanted to relieve his mood, just like a tourist who suddenly visited a quiet lake on the way to climb two high mountains, leaving behind some simple and beautiful things, so there is This book is like a fairy tale. This fairy tale tells us that in a complex world, being a smart person is undoubtedly a good thing; but in an overly complicated world, being a stupid person may not be a bad choice.

Of course, I am not against everyone being smart.What I mean is - if your talent and personality are really not suitable for being a smart person, then don't force yourself to do it; it's better to be a stupid person like Shi Potian.Even if you don't have his internal strength and luck, at least you can... be cannon fodder, right?