Chapter 18

"Damn, it's not first class." After experiencing the crampedness of the international flight, Shen Zhenghui began to complain, blaming himself for not paying enough attention to buying the ticket. If he had, wouldn't Wang Anran have been able to book a first-class seat for him?

He found his seat with regret, consoling himself with the thought that Japan wasn't too far away and the flight would be over soon.

"Ah!" When he sat down, he turned his head and saw the girl who had been behind him in the queue staring at him in amazement. She let out a sound when she noticed Shen Zhenghui looking at her, then covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Hello!" Shen Zhenghui gave a friendly smile.

"Hello!" The girl seemed a bit embarrassed and nodded, as if she were about to bow, clearly a Japanese person.

"Are you going back to Japan?" Shen Zhenghui asked casually. A long journey would be more pleasant if he could get along well with the girl next to him.

"Yes," she replied in somewhat broken Chinese. The flight attendant began checking the luggage and each passenger's seatbelt, speaking in Chinese, Japanese, and sometimes English. However, the English made Shen Zhenghui want to laugh.

The girl next to him seemed a bit nervous and reserved.

Shen Zhenghui became interested and introduced himself in Japanese, "My name is Shen Zhenghui. I'm traveling to Japan and working at the same time. May I know your name?"

"Sure." The girl was surprised by Shen Zhenghui's Japanese but quickly recovered with a polite smile.

The Japanese are very good at maintaining surface-level politeness, Shen Zhenghui thought.

"My name is Aizawa Tomoyo," the girl bowed slightly, "I came to China for travel and study, and now I'm returning to Japan."

"What are you studying in China, Tomoyo?" Shen Zhenghui continued.

"Mainly Chinese and acting," she replied.

"Oh, are you an actress?" Shen Zhenghui squinted his eyes and took the opportunity to examine the girl closely. Her skin showed no signs of heavy makeup, making her look pure and cute.

"Hi," Tomoyo seemed a bit embarrassed, "I've been a model and have always wanted to become an actress."

"You're so cute, you'll definitely succeed," Shen Zhenghui said.

Tomoyo blushed, "Thank you," she said softly, "But in Japan, it's very difficult." She sighed, "Maybe in the end, I'll have to do those kinds of films."

No way, Shen Zhenghui thought. Is this Japanese girl naive or are all Japanese girls this open? To talk about doing those kinds of films in front of a stranger? Shen Zhenghui felt his facial muscles twitching.

"Ah," Tomoyo seemed to realize what she had said and lowered her head, "Mr. Shen," she said softly, "Do Chinese people look down on women who do those kinds of films?"

For a moment, Shen Zhenghui didn't know how to respond. Conservative marriage values are the foundation of social stability, but on the other hand, millions of otakus in the future worship those film actresses as goddesses. In a sense, this is a reflection of the impact of capitalist society on traditional values.

Of course, traditional societies also had content that catered to men, but it wasn't presented in such a direct and explicit form. Capitalism has stripped away the veil that once concealed it, exposing men's desires through the naked bodies of women, making it a raw and direct expression of the heart.

More importantly, this explicit content is distributed through capitalist channels to everyone's reach. As long as you pay, or even without paying, you can satisfy certain desires. This once limited decadence has been transformed and spread to every corner of society. Globalization has expanded in both depth and breadth, and both good and bad things have grown within the capitalist system.

This made Shen Zhenghui think of Engels' words: "The materialist conception of history starts from the premise that production and the exchange of products, which accompany it, are the basis of all social institutions; in every historically developed society, the distribution of products and the accompanying division of society into classes or estates is determined by what is produced, how it is produced, and how the products are exchanged."

Therefore, the ultimate cause of all social changes and political transformations should not be sought in people's minds, in their increasing recognition of eternal truths and justice, but in changes in the mode of production and exchange; not in the philosophy of the age, but in its economy.

The growing awareness of the irrationality and injustice of existing social institutions, and the transformation of reason into absurdity and happiness into suffering, is a sign that changes have already occurred in the mode of production and exchange, and that the social institutions suitable for earlier economic conditions are no longer compatible with these changes.

At the same time, this indicates that the means to eliminate the discovered ills are also present in the changed production relations, in a more or less developed form. These means should not be invented in the mind but discovered in the existing material facts of production.

Therefore, the popularity of such films and actors is not a sign of moral decay but a result of the development of productive forces and production relations, leading to a new, mass-produced commodity and its consumption. This commodity and its consumption are still constrained by capitalist morals to avoid disrupting the entire social system. Socialist countries reject it not because of higher moral standards but because their modes of social reproduction are fundamentally different, and their tolerance levels vary. At least on the surface, socialist countries cannot tolerate it as a public social reproduction industry, as it would undermine the entire socialist reproduction system.

In this sense, Chinese people rely on the world's consumers of such content to survive.

Therefore, when evaluating such films and actors, Chinese people must understand that they are outside this system. They can praise, like, appreciate, criticize, oppose, or curse, but they must recognize that their country's entire system, from top to bottom, will not tolerate this industry in the social reproduction system, as it could mean the degradation or collapse of the entire social reproduction system.

So, Chinese people are true outsiders, independent of the entire production system. Their stance on such films and actors has no effect on them. Of course, in the future, there might be a breach, leading to a mess of ideas, but as long as the national social reproduction system remains unchanged, it will always be outside the system, unless individual consumption escapes the state's control.

Expressing all this in Japanese was difficult for Shen Zhenghui, but he tried, partly to practice his Japanese. Aizawa Tomoyo's cooperation was crucial; if another girl had heard Shen Zhenghui's rambling about Japanese films, she would have lost interest long ago. However, Aizawa Tomoyo's serious listening attitude inspired Shen Zhenghui's pedagogical nature, and he continued in broken Japanese, using Chinese for some words. They both made an effort, and finally, he finished his explanation.

"Mr. Shen is amazing!" Tomoyo patted her head, "It's so profound, I don't understand it."

"This is just for fun, don't take it to heart," Shen Zhenghui smiled, "I'm just explaining from an economic perspective why such films don't exist in socialist countries but do in capitalist countries. It's simpler to put it that way."

Aizawa Tomoyo looked admiring, "It really sounds impressive."

An old man who had been eavesdropping couldn't hold back and interjected, "I think you're wrong. As far as I know, in your country, Beijing, such places do exist, and those films are available."

Aizawa Tomoyo felt a bit uncomfortable and looked at Shen Zhenghui.

"But they are not legal."

"They exist, don't they? Your police department tolerates their existence and doesn't interfere. Isn't that the same as being legal?" The old man seemed pleased.

"Not being interfered with doesn't mean it's legal," Shen Zhenghui squinted and glanced at the gray-haired old man, "First, there is no law in China that says these things are legal, so they are clearly illegal. No one interfering is just a management issue. Perhaps the leadership feels that maintaining a certain level of existence is necessary, but if this thing develops to the point of being rampant and deludes itself into thinking it's legal, it only takes a unified decision from the leadership, or even just someone feeling that its development is inappropriate, not hiding in the dark but interfering with the normal order in the light, and it will be eliminated without any drastic action."

The old man gave him a look that said, "You're too young."

"So you're hoping for a fair and upright leader?"

"Not necessarily fair and upright, just someone with a clear mind who knows what to do when the time comes, that's enough."

The old man shook his head, "The industry is very deep, it won't be as easy as you say."

"For a government lacking in enforcement, it might be difficult, but," Shen Zhenghui spread his hands, "From an enforcement perspective, our government is sometimes reliable."

The old man was cultured and, though he didn't agree with Shen Zhenghui, didn't continue the argument. He closed his eyes and began to rest.

Shen Zhenghui and Aizawa Tomoyo chatted about some light topics. Shen Zhenghui was afraid that Aizawa Tomoyo would feel uncomfortable stopping the conversation due to Japanese politeness, so after a while, he suggested taking a break. Aizawa Tomoyo, still looking cute, agreed. Before that, she wrote down her contact information on a note and gave it to Shen Zhenghui, inviting him to visit her home in Saitama if he had the chance.

Shen Zhenghui couldn't be sure if this was just Japanese politeness, so he replied, "I don't have a fixed residence or contact in Japan, but if I have the chance, I will definitely contact you."

This was a way to gently discourage her from having high hopes, but Aizawa Tomoyo seemed happy to accept it.

The plane landed at Narita Airport. Shen Zhenghui got off, collected his luggage, and said goodbye to Aizawa Tomoyo at the exit. She was going to take the airport bus, while Shen Zhenghui had someone picking him up. They politely said goodbye, and Shen Zhenghui watched Aizawa Tomoyo's back for a few seconds, suddenly remembering that he knew her. The memory of his past life surfaced; in his previous life, she was a famous actress in those kinds of films.

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