Shaw was truly struck.
He believed that there were indeed geniuses in this world, just like himself. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school and became a copyist in a real estate company. It wasn't until he encountered Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt" that he felt "in a moment, the magic of this great poet opened my eyes." From then on, Shaw's playwriting career took off. This experience was already very close to the configuration of the protagonist in a power fantasy novel.
But Lu Shi...
Lu Shi was the real protagonist of the power fantasy!
As a Chinese exchange student, without any resources, he wrote suspense novels that surpassed the Sherlock Holmes series, and authored humanities and social science works that established him as a founding figure in the field. Now, Lu Shi once again proved his skill in political satire.
It was truly beyond belief!
Shaw whispered, "Mr. Lu's words just now were the sharpest and most humorous satire I've ever encountered."
The jokes Lu Shi made were from "Yes, Prime Minister,"
which is a typical political satire play renowned worldwide and there was a famous saying in the 21st century, "half of the British drama rules the world," which refers to it.
"Yes, Prime Minister" has many classic scenes, such as the four-stage governance theory:
Phase One: We declare that nothing has happened; Phase Two: Maybe something has happened, but we should wait and see; Phase Three: Maybe we should take action, but we can't do anything; Phase Four: Maybe we could have done something, but now it's too late.
...Well, it's very real.
Lu Shi said, "Mr. Shaw, I was just telling a joke. I don't understand playwriting."
Shaw nodded,
indeed, Lu Shi was just telling a joke,
but the problem was, Shaw had written so many satirical plays, yet he had never written jokes of the same caliber.
Furthermore, none of the playwrights in Britain, dead or alive, had written jokes of that level.
Shaw pondered for a moment, then said, "There's a saying in China... Let me think... It seems to be something like 'All under heaven share the same fate.'"
Lu Shi was speechless.
"All under heaven share the same fate; Cao Zijian alone received eight measures, I got one measure, and from ancient times to the present, we have shared one measure. You can understand 'measure' as the length unit 'meter' and 'measures' as fractions of a meter."
Shaw nodded.
"Yes, that's it. Mr. Lu, you're Cao Zijian."
Lu Shi felt embarrassed.
Being called the founding figure of new historiography yesterday was embarrassing enough, and now, he was being compared to "Cao Zijian."
He hurriedly said, "Mr. Shaw, you're exaggerating."
This kind of denial was rather weak.
In Shaw's eyes, Lu Shi was being modest.
He said, "Mr. Lu, if you're not that talented, then what are we playwrights? You casually said something sharp and humorous, while I've never had such a sharp pen. You shouldn't be so modest."
Shaw's eyes sparkled with sincerity.
Lu Shi scratched his head.
Were all literary giants this serious?
He glanced around for a moment, then focused on the stage.
At this moment, "The Fan of Lady Windermere" had progressed to the halfway point,
In order to prevent Lady Windermere from being embarrassed, Lady Erlynne came out to admit that the fan was hers, allowing her daughter to leave discreetly.
The actress playing Lady Windermere was reciting her lines with exaggerated emotion:
"Oh, my dear..."
Lu Shi's eyes lit up, and he said, "Exactly! Seriousness!"
Shaw was puzzled.
"Seriousness?"
Lu Shi assumed the air of an enlightened sage and pointed to the stage with his finger.
He said, "Who talks like that in real life, with such exaggerated intonation?"
As he spoke, Lu Shi even gave an example:
"Oh, my old buddy, I swear by the Virgin Mary, this feeling is simply awful. Believe me, it would be such a joy to wait for those who really understand this matter to come and tell us the answer. Nothing could make me happier than that."
"Pfft~"
Shaw burst into laughter.
Although Lu Shi's improvised lines were somewhat exaggerated, it was undeniable that there were indeed such problems in current British playwriting.
However, this still didn't answer Shaw's question.
He continued, "Mr. Lu, I know this issue, which is why I advocate for new dramas rather than what Wilde calls 'art for art's sake.' But in reality, neither Wilde nor I have your level of sharp satire."
Lu Shi was speechless.
Were all literary giants this serious?
He could only continue to bluff.
Lu Shi said, "Mr. Shaw, what do you think are the characteristics of political satire dramas?"
Shaw pondered for a while before saying, "I think they should present the true face of politics through the plot in a relatively serious manner..."
Shaw lowered his head, as if he had remembered something.
Lu Shi looked like a child being taught, gently coaxing him, "Mr. Shaw, you're almost there."
Encouraged, Shaw's eyes brightened,
"Presenting the true face of politics through the plot is not difficult, and this type of drama is very appealing. But its problem is also very obvious. It's more accurate to say that it's not political satire, but rather a normal drama with political elements."
Shaw stared at Lu Shi intently.
"Mr. Lu, you must think so too!"
Lu Shi suddenly realized,
"So that's what I think... Ahem... What I mean is, yes, that's what I think."
Shaw nodded and continued, "So, dramas written in that way, political satire is just a decoration, and the core is actually the struggle between people."
Lu Shi couldn't help but sigh,
Literary giants were indeed literary giants,
What Shaw said was very close to the form of some modern political dramas,
such as the first two seasons of the highly rated "House of Cards" (the latter completely fell apart),
and the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful "Ming Dynasty 1566",
The appeal of these TV dramas was not only the political theme, but also the struggle between people.
Lu Shi agreed, "Mr. Shaw, dramas written in that way make it difficult to sharply deconstruct a specific topic, which is inherently contradictory to satire."
Shaw asked, "So what approach should be used?"
Lu Shi first thought of "Yes, Prime Minister," so he answered, "Serial dramas."
After speaking, he realized that there was no concept of serial dramas in 1900, so he explained, "Simply put, each episode of a serial drama is a self-contained, finely crafted structure, a unit, but each unit is closely connected and interlinked."
Shaw looked at Lu Shi, his eyes gleaming.
Lu Shi felt uneasy under his gaze.
"What... What's wrong?"
Shaw smiled,
"Mr. Lu, you still say you don't understand playwriting?"
Lu Shi couldn't help but feel embarrassed,
"Mr. Shaw, I'm already busy enough. Do you really want me to..."
Shaw sighed regretfully,
"Mr. Lu is going to give guest lectures at the London School of Economics, with tight schedules and heavy tasks. I wouldn't propose such an untimely request."