The ocean is a vast, mysterious and beautiful world.
Like the universe, it has been a puzzle that has been difficult for mankind to understand since ancient times, with a myriad of strange creatures, an unpredictable boundless darkness, and the deepest part that modern science still cannot explore...
No one knows the truth about the deepest part of the ocean, which has always attracted humans to explore.
The rapid development of modern society has made diving a sport, and more and more people who are eager to get close to the sea can devote themselves to this sport.
However, despite the sport's maturity, the dangers have never disappeared.
Every year, about 2 in 10,000 people die from diving accidents, and even experienced divers can't guarantee that they will be able to successfully land every time.
In 2017, there was such a diving tragedy in Tangshan, Hebei Province, China, where two divers went underwater and disappeared.
This incident aroused widespread concern in society at that time.
Because one of the missing people is xu Haiyan, a once-famous prodigy and science champion, she has an infinitely bright future.
The prodigy Xueba gave up the guarantee and was admitted to Peking University with his ability
In 1978, Xu Haiyan was born in Yongchuan, Chongqing, into a family of scholars.
Her parents are engaged in education, perhaps since childhood, Xu Haiyan has begun to show "talent"
She followed her parents around to class and studied, and when she was just in elementary school, she could recognize more than two thousand words.
Not only that, Xu Haiyan was also able to write her own articles.
At the age of six or seven, because she likes "succulents", she wrote several popular science and introductions to succulents, and even made her own plant specimens to explain to her classmates.
When Xu Haiyan held up a specimen to introduce which part of the plant could be medicated and which part was poisonous, the students listened very fascinated, and from time to time they would ask questions, as if they had already regarded Xu Haiyan as a small teacher, letting her move in the community for a while.
In the eyes of the teacher, Xu Haiyan is a genius.
The knowledge of the first grade was difficult for her, and even if she had not learned the questions, she could easily answer them, and the teacher even gave her a "privilege": she could study courses outside the first grade.
Therefore, in the classroom, when the students are learning the lower grade textbooks, Xu Haiyan often takes the sixth grade textbook to study carefully.
Occasionally the teacher asked her questions, and she could easily answer the questions correctly at a glance.
Since then, Xu Haiyan has become a prominent figure in the eyes of her classmates, and everyone calls her a prodigy.
Because of her talent, Xu Haiyan was allowed to skip grades in the fourth grade.
Xu Haiyan had a smooth sailing in her studies, until her third year of high school, Xu Haiyan became a little anxious, and her smile became less.
When her classmates, who often played with her, met in the cafeteria, they asked her why she didn't seem to be in good shape.
Xu Haiyan laughed bitterly and pulled the hair behind her head: "You see my white hair, the pressure is too much." ”
Xu Haiyan's pressure does not come from her studies, but from her high requirements for herself.
In fact, she has long been granted a place to guarantee Peking University, but she gave up the guarantee and hoped to enter Peking University through her own strength.
This is the trouble of the prodigy.
In 1995, Xu Haiyan finally lived up to her expectations and was admitted to the School of Life Sciences of Peking University as she wished, with the outstanding results of the Yongchuan County Science Department.
During her time at the school, she worked hard to study academically and seriously studied the topics, which was appreciated by teachers and classmates, and obtained the opportunity to study at Columbia University with her outstanding ability.
She used her achievements to defend the name of prodigy and school bully.
Career love double harvest, become the god of science fiction circles
Over the years, after graduating from Columbia University, Xu Haiyan chose to continue to study for graduate school and read a doctorate all the way.
And love also came unexpectedly at this time.
One day, in the communal kitchen of the school dormitory, Xu Haiyan met his true son, Minke, and the two quickly fell in love at first sight.
Because of the same interests and hobbies, the two talk continuously, and there are endless days of conversation every day, which is the best couple in the eyes of others.
Near the year of graduation, they chose to get married and walked into the marriage hall together with the blessing of alumni.
After graduation, Xu Haiyan did not choose a job, but went to Rockefeller University for another year of postdoctoral studies.
She then went to Singapore to meet her husband, and by this time Minke had become a professor at a university in Singapore.
Xu Haiyan, who has just entered Singapore, is busy with her family, and the arrival of her children has caught this knowledgeable woman with a high degree by surprise.
In Xu Haiyan's words, it is more difficult to see children than scientific research.
Housewives are not easy to do, cooking every day, watching children, changing diapers life makes Xu Haiyan feel numb, she feels that her dreams and abilities are being flattened out little by little.
At one point, she even had a big fight with her husband over whether the stem of the cauliflower could be eaten.
After calming down, she felt afraid of her hysterical self, and she was afraid that she would be trapped in such a life for the rest of her life.
So, Xu Haiyan began to find ways to distract herself.
Because she likes to read science fiction books, she registered an account on social platforms - "Denovo", on which she published some knowledge about science fiction.
In 2007, Xu Haiyan participated in the International Science Fiction Convention held in Chengdu as a volunteer.
During this period, she used her proficient English and rich background knowledge of science fiction to do simultaneous interpretation at the venue, and served as a portable translator for internationally renowned science fiction writers.
Efficient and accurate translations have won her the favor of many writers.
After the conference, Xu Haiyan's wonderful performance was widely reported by the media, and then various science fiction magazines and media asked her for a manuscript, and she began to walk the rivers and lakes under the name of Denovo.
With excellent writing skills, Xu Haiyan began to try to translate some foreign science fiction works.
In 2013, after several months of busy schedules, Xu Haiyan finally completed the translation of her first book, Neuromancer.
This science fiction novel by William Gibson is the first to win both the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the Philip F. Kennedy Award. The K. Dick Prize is the work of the three major science fiction awards, and the cyberpunk culture of modern people is also proposed by this novel.
At first, Xu Haiyan only regarded this incident as a pastime in life.
What she did not expect, however, was that the translation was so successful that the publisher decided to publish the version she had translated.
At the same time, the name "Denovo" was also completely launched, she became the "big god" of the science fiction circle, and also held a signing party after the book was published, gaining a large number of fans.
Since then, Xu Haiyan has opened her own column to publish her own articles and translations of other books on time.
The success of her work gave Xu Haiyan great comfort, and she became the spirited, cheerful and smiling Kochi woman again.
An invitation allowed her to discover a new world
If life continues like this, after many years, we may usher in a master of science fiction translation, but an accident will make her die young.
Because she works from home, Xu Haiyan often works day and night, often putting her children to sleep and writing articles, sometimes writing until dawn.
Minke, who is worried about his wife's body, advises Xu Haiyan not to be too desperate, and if he feels that watching the child is too stuffy, he can go outside and walk around.
Just at this time, Xu Haiyan received an invitation from a friend to invite her to go to the diving club to experience, thinking that she had not tried anything new, Xu Haiyan quickly agreed.
After arriving at the club, Xu Haiyan entered the water under the guidance of the coach, and with just one glance, she completely fell.
It's such a beautiful world.
Creatures of different colors swam past her, some stopping in front of her for a moment out of curiosity.
Whenever this happened, Xu Haiyan couldn't help but hold her breath, not wanting to disturb these cute creatures.
She swam in the water, played with the fish, felt her heart calm down with it, and for a short time she forgot about the troubles of the world.
At the moment of landing, Xu Haiyan excitedly told the coach that she wanted to sign up.
Afterwards, when a friend asked about the feeling of being underwater for the first time, Xu Haiyan's face appeared yearning: "I saw all kinds of unknown creatures, and I saw vigorous vitality and prosperity. ”
The sea, the schools of fish, the corals... These beautiful landscapes that had never been seen before occupied every inch of Xu Haiyan's mind, and she was eager to soak in the water every day.
After diving dozens of times in the sea, Xu Haiyan accepted the invitation of several veteran diving enthusiasts to go with them to Cologne, Germany, to see the shipwrecks on the seabed.
After that, Xu Haiyan began to take diving certificates, from T1, T2, all the way to C1, C2, from open water to enclosed space, and eventually she became the first Chinese female diver of the Global Underwater Exploration Association.
Prior to this, there were only seven Chinese licensed by the Global Underwater Exploration Association.
Bali, Mexico, philippines... Xu Haiyan's figure slowly spread around the world, she explored different seas and found different beauty.
"One of the most beautiful moments of diving in a closed space is when all the lights are turned off and plunged into the primordial, eternal, pure darkness. There is no glitz, no earthly noise, not even all-encompassing light, pervasive sounds, only absolute darkness and tranquility. ”
This is the text written in Xu Haiyan's column.
After falling in love with diving, she deliberately opened a new column, named "Beyond the World", dedicated to her observations at the bottom of the sea.
Many people do not understand Xu Haiyan's behavior, throwing down their families for the sake of that cold water, is it really worth it?
Through Xu Haiyan's writings, people can see her enthusiasm, which is not a whim, but another side that would rather give her life to reach.
However, the accident finally came.
An accident that left her young
On September 6, 2017, when Pan Jiakou in Tangshan, Hebei Province, descended the Great Wall, Xu Haiyan and his friend Sun Hao went diving together, but this time, they never came ashore again.
After receiving a call from the family for help, the police searched for thirteen days in the sea area before salvaging the bodies of the two men.
According to the police, when the two were found, their hands were tightly clasped in front of their chests.
According to real-time surveying and mapping, the water depth of the Great Wall under the Mouth of Panjiakou is only 40 meters, and the water conditions are clear, which is only a dime compared to the sea area where Xu Haiyan has been involved.
Xu Haiyan and Sun Hao theoretically had a maximum diving depth of 75 meters, and they had also dived to a depth of 60 meters many times before the incident.
Therefore, the depth of 40 meters at the site of the accident was simply not enough to cause an accident, let alone the death of two experienced professional divers.
Xu Haiyan's accident caused a large-scale discussion among netizens after being reported, especially when the media announced that she was denovo, which caused an uproar.
People feel sorry and wonder, what caused the tragedy to happen?
At first, everyone thought that the underwater cage had entangled the two.
Indeed, many years ago, fish farming in cages in this area of water used to be a source of income for the locals, and there were many cages under the water, but later the relevant departments removed many cages in order to protect the water quality, but there are still residues.
Some have speculated whether it was the underwater cage that entangled the two people.
However, after investigation, although there are many underwater cages, there are no traces of cage entanglement on the remains of Xu Haiyan and Sun Hao.
The cage entanglement theory is self-defeating, and people turn their attention to the electric shock theory.
It turned out that after the locals were forbidden to raise fish in cages, they found a way to make a living from electric fish.
Although the state explicitly prohibits it, in some remote places, there are still many fishermen with a fluke mentality who will use electric fish boats and electric fish.
According to the investigation, a GUE beacon and an electric fishing boat were found in a local family, which corroborated the speculation that Xu Haiyan and the two people may have been electrocuted.
A GUE beacon is a beacon released when a deep-water diver returns to shallow water.
Since returning from deep water to shallow water, divers need to stay in the water for a period of time to decompress.
In order to avoid accidental danger to divers from passing boats, divers will release GUE beacons to float to the surface, and nearby boats will understand that there are divers underwater.
Generally speaking, releasing a GUE beacon means that the diver has been out of the deep water area and out of danger, and only needs to wait for a while to get ashore.
But local electric fishing boats and fishermen may not know what the GUE beacon means.
If they had come to this area while Xu Haiyan and the two were waiting to reduce the pressure and started the electric fish work, a terrible tragedy would have happened.
This claim is supported by many diving enthusiasts, but to this day, we still do not know the real cause of the tragedy.
The only thing we know is that Xu Haiyan, a child prodigy, died young because of a diving accident.
In the eyes of many people, it is extremely unnecessary for Xu Haiyan to abandon his life, carry out diving without practical significance, and die because of it.
However, everyone has their own aspirations, and Xu Haiyan herself has already realized.
Before each launch, she would write a suicide note beforehand, and for this interest, she would gamble her life every time.
Everyone has their own cherished things, perhaps in Xu Haiyan's view, the beauty and mystery of the depths of the water are worth her life to pursue, even if it costs a high price.
Although such behavior is not worth emulating, such a spirit is worth learning.