Family banquet
"It's clear that you have a very high aesthetic sense."
"I don't have a particularly rich aesthetic sense. I usually go to the reptile exhibit to learn. When I see a good landscape display, I take a picture and then find similar ones to match. I've basically made no mistakes. It's quite easy to follow the template."
"You can also grow moss. It's very easy to grow and doesn't die easily. Beginners can quickly get started, and it's also easy to keep alive. Square or round tanks both look nice. As long as there's light and water, it's fine. The tanks all have built-in holes, so you don't need to worry about them. Place it in the sun and spray it with water occasionally to keep it moist. If it's inconvenient to have a balcony, you can use a grow light, and it will work the same way. Even the kind of moss from the mountains and forests doesn't need much ventilation and it will thrive."
Mo Yang waved his hand, "I can't raise these things, I'm too busy usually."
Hearing him say it, everything seemed simple, but in practice, Mo Yang knew that novice players still had to put in a lot of hard work. After all, in the eyes of experienced players, everything was a natural process, while he even had to test the soil height and water temperature one by one to verify the specific feasible temperature.
“That’s true,” the person on the other end changed the subject again. “You know, moss is a plant that has survived from ancient times to the present. It existed in the era of dinosaurs. For soil, you can use some peat moss substrate, or for a more complicated method, a substrate of bluestone, peat moss, and some akadama soil. You can also use pure akadama soil with a thin layer of peat moss on top. The substrate doesn’t actually have a big impact on the cultivation of moss itself. Its most important function is to keep the humidity of the entire environment consistent. As for specific preferences, it depends on which substrate you find more convenient to grow it in.”
"The biggest advantage of Akadama soil is its water retention, and it is relatively clean. Some expert moss growers can grow it directly in a bottle as long as they put Akadama soil in it."
"In a night tank like this, with black beauty water lilies, the lighting is crucial. I spent a long time figuring out where to position it for the best look. Look, this angle," he said, pointing to the shimmering pebbles in the corner, "is just right. The whole tank is illuminated, and with this level of light, these high-quality pearls look beautiful."
"Look, this is a 40cm square tank, which is just right for growing water lilies. You haven't seen the water lilies bloom yet. I'll call you to come see them next time they bloom. They'll be absolutely stunning."
Mo Yang followed closely behind this person.
"Have you always been growing moss and underwater plants?" Not knowing the specific terminology, Mo Yang could only ask based on his intuition.
"Actually, no. Before, I would grow some soil-grown plants like a beginner plant enthusiast, such as Iron Cross Begonia, Trout Begonia, and Morris Begonia. At that time, I preferred begonias. Later, I got more involved in hydroponic landscaping and started to focus on growing landscaping plants. Of course, landscaping plants are also the most time-consuming. Sometimes, I can spend an entire afternoon here."
As he spoke, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Seriously, one of the most enjoyable things about growing landscape plants is that you can put all sorts of different ornaments in them, depending on your mood. So you see, different people have different ideas for designing their miniature landscapes. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone has their own preferences, which creates a unique style for each person. That's why I especially love following miniature landscape enthusiasts online. You can see their style from the plants they grow, which is really interesting. Occasionally, I can even learn from them and broaden my aesthetic perspective. I wouldn't dare say I've improved my aesthetic level, since I have someone in my family who knows more about plants. In terms of aesthetics, I'm not even in the top tier. I'm just a basic enthusiast."
"Looking at all these fish tanks of yours, I thought you were a fish enthusiast." Seeing the man suddenly become modest, Mo Yang couldn't help but loosen up the conversation a bit more.
"No, no, no, I don't keep fish in my fish tank."
The man spoke with great conviction.
Mo Yang felt like he had suddenly become a different person.
"Dinner's ready," someone knocked on the door as they were talking. "Don't keep talking about your terrariums. We don't even know if Professor Song likes them. Dinner's ready, we can eat now."
"Okay, okay." The person replied, not forgetting to continue recommending it to Mo Yang.
“Let me show you another one, this driftwood skeleton,” he said, taking out his phone and quickly finding a photo.
As he handed the phone to Mo Yang, he continued his explanation, “I was so shocked when I saw it. If this aquascape is something that was built by humans, it’s truly a masterpiece of nature. Look, doesn’t it look like it was formed by the weathering of a natural, original structure? In terms of faking it, I dare say this is number one. This one is in the style of a tropical rainforest. I was fortunate enough to go to the rainforest with a scientific expedition before, and I couldn’t get over that masterpiece of nature for a long time after I came back. I have to say, the power of nature is too strong, showing different landforms in exquisite detail. Less than three months after I came back, I figured out this rainforest terrarium. I spent a full six months just looking at it.” As he spoke, the intensity of his gaze made Mo Yang completely believe what he had just said.
"Is this rainforest terrarium not at home now?"
Mo Yang's question seemed to have been thrown to the bottom of the water, floating away without a trace. He received no response.
Seeing that the atmosphere had suddenly changed, Mo Yang changed the subject again.
"Where did you get these plants from?"
“I bought them all online. Like this small-leaved Pilea peperomioides and that Golden Sands plant, I pieced them together from different sellers, one by one, according to the rainforest structure.”
As I listened to him speak, a sense of accomplishment welled up within me.
During the conversation, Mo Yang felt as if he had actually entered this person's world.
"He gets really into talking about his aquatic plant landscaping techniques; he could talk about them for three days and three nights straight."
"Don't exaggerate so much." Seeing the man who had just been so boastful suddenly lower his tone in front of his wife, Mo Yang found it amusing.
I had an in-depth analysis of the progress of the current scientific research project with my sister-in-law. It was clear that she usually paid close attention to this area, and she could even talk about the cutting-edge information in great detail.
On a whim, he even opened a can of beer and drank it by himself.
Mo Yang declined several times, only drinking one glass of beer. He had to admit that his sister-in-law's cooking was really good. If you didn't know, you could easily tell that they had hired a top-notch chef to cook the whole meal without anyone suspecting anything.
We got so engrossed in our conversation that we forgot the time, and it was already dark when we left home.
This person insisted on personally escorting Mo Yang down, no matter how much he pleaded.
There's still some distance between my home and the entrance of the residential complex.
Mo Yang and the man walked slowly, chatting as they went.
"Your wife is not only accomplished in scientific research, but also has an excellent sense of aesthetics. The presentation and taste of the dishes on the table today show that she put a lot of thought into them. You've gone to so much trouble."
"If you find it to your liking, then it's not considered a waste of money. I wonder what your opinion is on the word 'power'?"
The sudden change in tone caught Mo Yang off guard.
Before I could even react, the other person continued talking.
"Have you ever thought about why power exists? A place needs order to be peaceful and prosperous. Since order is the guarantee of a place's safety, it must create certain constraints. Only when everyone is constrained within certain rules and cannot act arbitrarily does this order have meaning. To ensure the effective implementation of this order, there must be a governing body, and this body is what we call power itself. Power protects the interests of every citizen while also constraining each citizen. If there were no constraints, it would be like a primitive tribal society. At that time, there was no order, but even so, they evolved to have tribal chiefs who led the vast majority of people to obtain greater benefits while also ensuring the safety of the vast majority."
"Have you ever wondered why human evolution has developed to its current state? Scientists believe it was all inevitable. Experiments have shown that introducing different proportions of wolves and deer into a region will eventually lead to the same equilibrium. This means that regardless of the development and balance that has occurred, the current power structure is the optimal one achieved through equilibrium. For humanity to survive and develop, a stage inevitably arises where the strong become leaders, and the weak obey and follow the strong. Because once one side becomes weaker, it will inevitably be swallowed up by the stronger force, and everyone will perish. This has been true throughout history. Therefore, humanity reveres the strong and admires stronger leaders, because it concerns their own destiny."
"In contrast, do you think the current coexistence of countries is the result of a single power balancing each other? Professor, have you ever thought about how to ensure that when humanity embarks on the path of civilizational migration, disagreements will not arise during spacetime travel, ultimately leading to mutual destruction and the extinction of humanity?"
"The existence of power requires the coexistence of multiple forces to ensure its ultimate implementation. If any one force becomes dominant, conflicts of interest will arise, and the world will remain unbalanced. Only when a common interest group is profitable can it act as a check on the participating entities. Other forces dare not act recklessly because the various parties within that interest group are powerful enough to be difficult to defend. Such common interest groups also exist among different countries. Each force guards its own territory, and if one force is suppressed, it will be instantly swallowed up; hence, a mechanism of checks and balances is necessary. Even in space, countries will still exist as nations. Without the division of nations, the limited resources will still lead to competition among various groups, inevitably resulting in alliances and conflicts." Conflicts arise, leading to small groups and boundaries. Through continuous evolution, these can ultimately evolve into states, even if they aren't called states but have another name; they are essentially the same. Do you think what our eyes see is necessarily the truth? What is the pen you see if it's not called a pen? What is the state you see if it's not called a state? What is the boundary of power you see if it doesn't have a fixed boundary? What appear to be two states are actually constantly generating conflicts of interest, even involving the aggressive plundering of resources from each other. The state may have the name, but in reality, it has lost all its power. Therefore, don't do meaningless things or engage in meaningless conflicts. The outcome is already there; why repeat it to verify the correctness of history?
After the man finished speaking, the two of them walked to the entrance of the residential area.
The car door was opened, and Mo Yang stepped inside.
Watching the person's departing figure, Mo Yang was a little confused.
Why did he say these words to himself, and what is the profound meaning behind them?
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