Chapter 466: Iron Wall
When Lin Anan and her comrades came back, Lin's mother greeted them politely, "You're back? Dinner will be ready soon."
"Mom, this is my colleague, Li Ran."
The sun fell on Li Ran's straight shoulders, and her short hair was blown slightly by the wind. "Hello, Auntie."
"Hey, Comrade Xiao Li, please come in. You can eat after washing your hands."
Zhao Xiangjun was sitting in the corridor holding Zhuangzhuang. When she saw Lin Anan coming back, she hurried to greet her.
"Translator Lin, is this your baby? His eyes are so bright and he looks smart." Li Ran squatted down and smiled with his eyes curved.
"Yes, his nickname is Zhuangzhuang."
“How cute.”
Mother Lin brought the food to the table.
After everyone sat down, a full bowl of rice was served to each person.
"Comrade Xiao Li has been to Heihe? My mother-in-law used to be there when she went to the Northeast."
Li Ran's eyes lit up, and he even forgot to put down his hand that was picking up the food: "Really? My grandma also went there, and she always told me stories about Old Black River!"
Lin Anan looked at Li Ran and his mother chatting enthusiastically, and her eyes were curved with smiles.
"There will be a mock Q&A session for us this afternoon by an expert, which will be quite a challenge."
"Come on!" Li Ran rolled up his sleeves, revealing the muscular lines on his forearms. "When I was at the grassroots level, our company commander made me curse at the Russian broadcast on the radio every day, just to practice my reaction speed."
Mother Lin was amused by her, "It's really interesting."
After dinner, Li Ran rushed to wash the dishes while Lin Anan coaxed Zhuangzhuang to take a nap.
The sunlight moved to the grape trellis in the yard, and the small grapes swayed gently in the wind.
"After this central meeting is over, I will try to stay in the military region. Auntie's cooking is so delicious. I will come here often to eat. Auntie, please don't despise me."
"Hahahaha...Okay! As long as I'm here, I'll do everything for you."
Lin's mother loves this the most. She just loves to tinker with food. Even in the most difficult times, she would find ways to make things more delicious, not to mention that life is better now.
As a cook, I just love to see people enjoying their meal.
The fact that Li Ran can eat three bowls of rice in one meal is enough to show that she really likes it.
The two rested for a while and prepared to return to the military area.
Li Ran silently put the money and tickets on the dining table, then rode his bicycle away with Lin Anan.
In the afternoon.
The two entered the operations room of the Intelligence Analysis Department to conduct simulated question-and-answer training.
Mr. Tan came in person and brought with him a retired translator.
"This is Comrade Qiu Yongsheng, the most experienced translator in our military region. He is proficient in eight languages and has accompanied senior leaders of the Central Committee on visits to other countries many times..."
When they heard that he had accompanied Premier Zhou on many visits to other countries, not only Li Ran, but also Lin Anan's eyes lit up.
This central meeting concerns military supplies in the Northwest, so it is extraordinary.
The sandstorm from the northwest was hitting the window frames, but it did not affect the solemnity of the room at all.
Old man Qiu Yongsheng sat at the head of the long table, with several medals pinned on his grizzled military uniform and the translation badge on his cuff polished to a shine, yet still straight.
He looked at the translation manuscripts spread out by Lin Anan and Li Ran, and gently stroked the paper with his wrinkled hands. He suddenly spoke in fluent Russian: "Suppose you are now facing a Soviet representative, and he raised the 'dispute over navigation rights in historical waters', how would you respond?"
Li Ran stood up suddenly, his back straight: "First, we should clarify the translation of 'historical waters', and secondly, we need to emphasize that 'sovereignty is not negotiable'..."
She spoke very quickly, and her Russian accent had the unique toughness of the northern border.
Mr. Qiu nodded and asked in English: "The US representative called a certain region an independent economy. How do we correct this?"
Lin Anan took over the conversation, and said in a clear voice: "It is necessary to point out immediately that the translation of 'independent economic entity' is wrong. The correct translation is 'a certain region is an inalienable part of China'. The English should be 'XX region is an inalienable part of China'. At the same time, quote the original text of UN Resolution 2758."
She paused and added, "You also need to follow the standard gesture of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the five fingers of your right hand together pointing to the corresponding area on the map."
A series of tricky questions were thrown out, and the two answered fluently.
Coincidentally, Mr. Qiu also knows the language that Lin Anan knows.
When testing her, Mr. Qiu felt quite comfortable, saying, "Young people are to be feared."
Mr. Tan nodded repeatedly.
After the first test was over, Mr. Qiu smiled, and the wrinkles on his face relaxed like the Haloxylon ammodendron flowers blooming in the Gobi Desert in the northwest.
"Okay, okay..." He picked up the enamel cup on the table and took a sip of tea. The words "Serve the People" on the cup were already mottled.
"I remember when I was visiting with Premier Zhou, there was a time when the other party's translator deliberately confused 'historical ownership' and 'current jurisdiction' on the issue of borders. At that time, I took the original French copy of the Sino-French Treaty on Vietnam and translated it with them for three hours..."
The old man's voice was hoarse with age, but every word was clear.
"Mr. Qiu, if we encounter a country that plays word games, how can we better deal with it?"
This is the disadvantage of mastering multiple languages, and it is also the focus that Lin Anan has always focused on.
Mr. Qiu put down his teacup, his eyes suddenly sharpened: "Humph, their usual trick is nothing more than tampering with words like 'demilitarized zone' and 'buffer zone'. For example, they replaced 'demilitarized zone' with 'peaceful cooperation area'. It sounds mild, but it actually weakens sovereignty!"
He pointed at Lin Anan's translation and said, "Look at Ning Jian's Southeast Asian intelligence report. What did he translate 'strategic depth' into? The annotations at the back are not correct. They imply 'negotiable'!"
Lin Anan and Li Ran took a breath of cold air at the same time.
Old ginger is still spicy!
Mr. Qiu saw the drawbacks at a glance.
They only noticed that Ning Jian's translation was wrong, but did not delve into the subtle traps between different languages.
The two of them immediately looked at it again carefully.
It’s true!
Li Ran clenched his fists in anger, and the muscles in his forearms were tense. "You're playing word games and even touching on national sovereignty!"
Looking at her youthful and energetic appearance, Mr. Qiu laughed again: "When we were arguing with Soviet experts about the ownership of Zhenbao Island, the translator on the other side also played the same trick."
He stood up, walked to the map, and drew a circle on the China-Vietnam border with a red pen. "Remember, translation is not a simple language conversion, but building a defense line with vocabulary.
Look at the word "boundary marker", in Russian it's граничныйстолб, every letter must be nailed on the border like a nail!"
Lin Anan looked at the old man's firm strokes on the map, and suddenly felt that what he saw in front of him was not a retired veteran, but an iron wall that supported his country!
"Premier Zhou taught us that translation must have the 'three iron spirits' - iron tongue, iron pen, and iron fist! An iron tongue can distinguish right from wrong, an iron pen can correct errors, and an iron fist can guard the country's borders!"
Lin Anan and Li Ran were so excited that they stood at attention and saluted: "Please rest assured, Mr. Qiu, we will definitely hold the translation line!"
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