Chapter 14 Academic Letters

During her confinement, Chu Wang was as happy and at ease as Alibaba guarding her treasure chest. She kept Ma Ling's letter under a soda bottle on the windowsill.

Before he knew it, the day to return the letter had arrived, but Chu Wang hadn't written a single word. It wasn't because he was lazy, it was because he really didn't have enough knowledge.

Lin Yunyan, on the other hand, had already written her reply. During these three days, Mrs. Qiao went to the third floor to see her many times. Every time, she was hunched over her desk, drawing, practicing calligraphy, reciting English, and stretching her legs, which made Mrs. Qiao very happy.

The little guy called his aunt obediently, but then turned his head away unhappily. It was obvious that he was still angry with his aunt about tearing up the photo before.

Mrs. Qiao sat beside her, took Yunyan's hand, and said with a pouty smile, "Are you still angry with your aunt?"

Yun Yan did not answer.

Mrs. Qiao asked Zhao Ma to bring the tofu buns to her desk. Yun Yan took a look and continued to read. Mrs. Qiao sighed, "Your stubborn temper is exactly like your father's."

Yunyan still didn't answer.

Mrs. Qiao cut the tofu buns into small pieces for her, saying, "Who does your aunt love the most? Yunyan, don't you know?"

Yun Yan pouted, "Doesn't aunt love third sister the most?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Auntie loves Third Sister the most. If you make a mistake, I'll let her be punished with you!" Mrs. Qiao couldn't help but be amused by her. "You didn't do well in this matter. Do you know why?"

"What's wrong with it?" Lin Yunyan lowered her head unhappily.

Mrs. Qiao said, "Daddy and Aunt love you the most, Yunyan, just know that in your heart. You have all the advantages. Besides having a good marriage, what else can Third Sister compare to you? You have to act superior and look down on her. You got angry with her in front of so many people the day before yesterday, and in the eyes of others, you, as the elder sister, were wrong, and Aunt couldn't defend you. Think about it, isn't that reasonable?"

Lin Yunyan felt that what Mrs. Qiao said made sense, but she was still a little unhappy, "Her marriage should have been mine..."

Mrs. Qiao had a slightly annoyed look on her face, and her knife and fork landed on the plate with a "clatter", which startled Yun Yan.

"What's yours and what's not?" Mrs. Qiao said sternly. "No one could have imagined this marriage would turn out like this. Your father promised it long ago. How could our family change our minds and go back on our word?"

Lin Yunyan was so frightened by her that her face turned pale and she dared not say a word.

"But you need to know that our family's refusal to change does not mean that the Si family will not change its mind. Over a long period of time, who knows if anything will go wrong in these six years? You just need to study hard every day and learn what your aunt teaches you. In a few years, you will be able to make great achievements. After six years, what will your sister look like? Will the kid from the Si family look down on her, or whether he will look down on other people? This is another matter of life and death." Mrs. Qiao tried to lower her voice, but her words were sonorous and powerful.

Lin Yunyan seemed to be infected by her and nodded heavily.

Mrs. Qiao's expression eased slightly at this point, and she brushed Lin Yunyan's hair behind her ears. "So, it's no big deal to compromise now. Go and apologize to Third Sister later, and let others see how you act as a sister. We must be careful in everything we do, and not give anyone a chance to criticize us."

Lin Yunyan finally smiled slightly and said softly, "Okay."

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Mrs. Qiao brought Yunyan over to apologize. Lin Chuwang was drinking shashi and hurriedly kicked the box under the bed and hid it.

Lin Yunyan apologized sincerely, and Lin Chuwang also said: I shouldn't have offended my sister, it was my fault first.

This matter seemed to have been resolved perfectly.

But for Lin Chuwang, who has been sharing a house with Lin Yunyan for decades since graduating from junior high school, she knows very well whether Lin Yunyan's apology is sincere or false.

In fact, an apology is a concession and compromise made after certain weighing and thinking.

There is a kind of person who is willing to give up his dignity in order to cherish you and not want to lose you.

And there are some people who, after making your life a mess, will lightly say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." This is simply to make it easier for them to ride on your head and do evil things in the future.

Lin Chuwang, who is well aware of this, can even write a paper with tears in his eyes and a clear reasoning: to what extent can a roommate be stupid enough to be unworthy of forgiveness.

It was only after Mrs. Qiao brought Yun Yan over to apologize that Lin Chuwang realized how bad the cards he had in his hand were.

She squinted her eyes and thought for a while, but she couldn't remember the year when the flag in Northeast China was changed and the Northern Expedition was successful.

She was not so saintly as to write a letter to her father telling him that if he could not suddenly change sides and join the Guangzhou government in the next two years, it would be best for him to give up politics early and concentrate on running the school, so as to avoid having his whole family become cannon fodder in the failed political struggle.

Whether the Si family would be reliable by then was another matter, but at least Si Yansang seemed to be able to stand on his own.

The only trump card in a bad hand, full of too many uncontrollable factors.

What can she do now with the skills she has?

Should I translate some books on the European Industrial Revolution, modern European history, or the little bit of American history before the Revolutionary Revolution?

Writing an academic paper? Giving a lecture at a university?

At least considering my current age and lack of diploma, it is not very realistic.

Going back to my old profession and pursuing biological imaging… was even more impossible. Not to mention that physics and chemistry were now the dominant industries, and biology could only serve as a minor deterrent in war, like a negative example… and computers hadn't been invented yet.

Study nuclear physics and fight for the future war against fascism?

Thinking of this, Lin Chuwang almost laughed at herself. In this era, her participation was just a grain of sand in the vast ocean, like a mayfly. This era was filled with so many talented and ambitious people, so many heroes and heroines, so many who fought bravely, helplessly. With her current knowledge, she couldn't and couldn't change the war. She could only follow and be dragged along, helplessly, like everyone else in this era.

Other time travelers envy those who travel through science and engineering, but for a time traveler of science and engineering, sometimes academic knowledge is quite useless, and it would be better to know more about history.

But the only thing to be thankful for was that at least she was safe before she was thrown out at the age of sixteen. During these six years, there were many resources that could be used.

If she learns everything like Lin Yunyan, in addition to the talents she possessed before her rebirth, can she also learn some unique special skills?

The page of the reply letter, which had been blank for three days and on which Lin Chuwang had no idea where to start, was spread out on the table. Lin Chuwang's index finger kept tapping it anxiously.

As long as she is not allowed to recite the Four Books and Five Classics, the Three Hundred Tang Poems, or write classical Chinese, it is acceptable for her to learn to split a durian with her bare hands or break a stone with her chest.

Let's decide what to learn later...

Lin Chuwang bit the pen cap, thinking: Isn't it just a reply? Then I'll do what I'm good at.

Thinking of this, she came up with a title and started writing quickly.

A letter to my father

Lin Chuwang1Lin Yunyan2Xue Zhenzhen3Aunt4Sister Ma Ling5

1. Father's third daughter 2. Father's second daughter 3. Uncle Qiao's third niece 4. Father's eldest sister 5. Father's eldest niece

Abstract: This article primarily describes Lin Chuwang's experiences and reflections during his several days in Hong Kong. This article briefly describes his experiences caring for his weeping second sister, Yunyan, on the journey from Shaoxing to Shanghai, and caring for his seasick second sister, his aunt, and the Shanghai girl Xue Zhenzhen on the ferry from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Furthermore, a brief overview of his daily needs after settling into the Qiao Mansion on Bojue Road is provided. Finally, a detailed account of his progress in learning ballet and English over the past month is provided. Finally, Lin Chuwang's reflections and insights on these three experiences are summarized at the end of the article.

Keywords: Earl Road, Qiao Mansion, ballet, English, my second sister is very seasick

(The main text of 10,000 words is omitted here.)

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Thanks to Lin Yunyan, Xue Zhenzhen, my aunt and Ma Lingjie for their many ideas for this article. They are listed as the second, third, fourth and fifth authors respectively according to their contribution.

Having been troubled by writing traditional Chinese characters for the entire night, Lin Chuwang fell asleep on the desk after finishing this neatly formatted, substantial and logically clear letter. Before her drool could flow onto the "letter", Die'er hurriedly carried her to the bed and rescued the letter.

The next morning, the house arrest was over. Lin Chuwang, half-closed his sleepy eyes, sat down at the dining table with Dier's help, and handed the reply to Mrs. Qiao fifteen minutes before the deadline.

The three maids ate in silence while Mrs. Qiao was reading the essays.

Mrs. Qiao: "Yunyan's handwriting is beautiful and pleasing to the eye. He has written over a thousand words, quoting from classics and writing with ease. His writing is brilliant and elegant. Your father would be very pleased if he saw it."

Lin Yunyan raised her eyebrows and continued to fiddle with her knife and fork while eating the fried eggs as usual.

Mrs. Qiao then commented, "Zhenzhen's cursive writing is indeed beautiful, but it's a bit too wild and uninhibited."

Zhenzhen didn't agree. She glanced at Lin Yunyan lightly and said provocatively, "Hairpin flower calligraphy is no longer fashionable. It's too petty."

Yun Yan was very angry, but he endured it and didn't lose his temper. He swallowed half of the egg yolk.

Mrs. Qiao flipped over Xue Zhenzhen's letter and went straight to the next composition, "Chu Wang's... Chu Wang's..."

She squinted her eyes, suspecting she had seen it wrongly: "What, what is this?"

Yun Yan very considerately leaned over to help his aunt read. As he read, he chuckled, "Why is it written horizontally? This typesetting doesn't look like a letter... Did Third Sister get confused after sleeping?"

Seeing Lin Yunyan mocking her sister, Xue Zhenzhen couldn't help but lean over and scan the page. A look of disdain appeared on her face. "Horizontal writing is more in line with people's visual habits than vertical writing—that's what my father said. Years ago, my father and his colleagues promoted horizontal writing in New Youth magazine. It's just that it hasn't spread beyond Peking, Shanghai, and Guangzhou."

Lin Yunyan was most angry that Xue Zhenzhen used Shanghai to pressure her into coming from a small place, so she retorted, "Then why don't you write horizontally?"

Xue Zhenzhen said lightly, "Whether to write horizontally or not depends entirely on my mood."

Lin Chuwang tried to hold back his laughter, and with a puff, he almost sprayed juice all over Xue Zhenzhen's face opposite him, and was glared at by Mrs. Qiao.

Lin Yunyan was ridiculed by Xue Zhenzhen early in the morning, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Qiao Maling also came closer to take a look out of curiosity. "When I was in church before, some students from the University of Hong Kong also promoted writing papers in this format in Latin."

Mrs. Qiao held the letterhead a little further away. She thought Lin Chuwang's handwriting was quite good and the layout was quite neat, so she rarely praised him, "The third girl is quite fashionable."

Qiao Maling also laughed and said, "I heard from Dier that Third Sister reads the newspaper every morning, without missing a day."

Lin Yunyan remained silent, gently raised her eyelashes and glanced at Lin Chuwang's letter from home.

From that day on, Lin Yunyan suddenly developed a good habit of reading the newspaper every day.

This made Xue Zhenzhen unable to help but complain, "It will take three or four years before the news of your marriage to Master Zheng is published. Why are you in such a hurry now?"

The author has something to say: Transition chapter.

I have a lot of storylines to cover, and I could have written them all in one go, around 5,000-10,000 words a day. However, I wanted to delve into historical sources and stay as close to history as possible. So, I was stuck at Chapter 15, and from there, I was stuck for six or seven days, cramming daily on the history of various countries from World War I to World War II. If there are any bugs, please feel free to point them out.

P.S.: The history is correct, but most of the characters are fictional. Just treat it as a parallel universe! I believe everyone can see the shadows of some famous figures.

PPS: The heroine's academic skills are useful, yes.

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I would like to talk about Lin's father and my aunt. They were born to the same parents and received the same education, so their personalities are somewhat similar, but they also have some differences.

Lin's father is an innovator, an entrepreneur, a politician, an ambitious man, but also a father. But his love is not so equal.

For Lin Zitong and Lin Yunyan, it was: fatherly love > marriage. He could consider Yunyan's future and marry her to the Zheng family, a family that might not bring glory to the family, but could provide a safe and happy life.

He personally nurtured Zi Tong, hoping that he would inherit his father's business in the future.

He had much less paternal love for Chu Wang. Furthermore, Chu Wang's status as a legitimate daughter could be exploited, and from the outset, he had intended to use her as a sacrifice for his family's advancement. Perhaps there was some paternal love, but it couldn't overcome his ambition.

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In fact, my aunt did not show much affection to the two girls from my brother's family or her husband's niece. She was just doing it because she was entrusted by others.

The reason she treated Yunyan so well was because Lin's father was an official with considerable power, and her husband was a businessman. In the era of opening five ports to Britain, her husband was still a trader between Britain, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, so she had to curry favor with Lin's father (see "Subordinates take care of their superior's daughter"), and thus treated Yunyan better.

Originally, she treated Chu Wang and Xue Zhenzhen almost equally, but because of Mr. Qiao's face, she might sometimes be nicer to Xue Zhenzhen. However, when Mr. Qiao was not around, her love for Xue Zhenzhen might be less than her fear of Lin Chuwang.

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So...there is really no love or hate without reason.

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These details are not included in the main text, as Lin Chuwang, a science and engineering student, is unable to consider the various benefits of political marriage and connections with officials and businessmen. However, she has her own way of thinking and will use alternative methods to understand her situation.

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Regarding Lin's father and Lin Chuwang's biological mother, there may be a special chapter to explain them in the future. It also has a prototype story, which may help you understand the reason.

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The male protagonist will never disappoint you, but he may not suit everyone's taste. He will not appear in the short term, and he will be sad, but he will be more sweet than sad.