For Old Zhang, who barely socialized, the loss of his personal emotions was something he deeply resisted. He did not want to focus solely on grand narratives.
He let out a soft breath. "Anything else unusual happen?"
Seeing how poor his spirits were, Wang Fumin told him another true piece of dark humor. "In a small country to the west, adult films have made a comeback to boost the economy. Some things, well, I don't really know what to say about them. Saying they're completely harmless to society's development doesn't seem right, but there's no need to claim they're terribly harmful, either."
"That's capital for you. Its greatest good is that it provides a buffer between people. Otherwise, a lot of forces would act directly on people. Its greatest evil is that it puts the cart before the horse. As long as there's profit in something, someone will do it."
"Does the Drifting Bottle still work? If it does, should I send you a copy? The girls these days seem prettier than the ones back in our day."
Zhang Ming gave another wry smile. An old man pushing a hundred and fifty, and he was still watching adult films. "Forget it. I'm afraid the bottle might never come back. I'll keep the Drifting Bottle as a memento for now and return it to you when I get back."
The artisans of Honggang Civilization had all said it would most likely fail to complete its next journey. Zhang Ming had no need to gamble on that.
"That's all I needed to hear." Wang Fumin nodded. He was actually rather worried, and only after a long silence did he say, "If anything comes up, come have a chat with me. I'm always here... Take care."
"Then we'll talk next time!"
Zhang Ming