Chapter 297 Foreigners
In mid-to-late December, with the convening of the Third Plenary Session
of the 11th Central Committee in Beijing, the reform and opening up officially began. On December 28, the first Boya Cup Painting Competition, led by the Beijing Calligraphers and Painters Association, kicked off.
Shi Tingyu received an invitation letter from the organizer to participate in the competition.
This is the first time that the Boya Cup is held, and several heavyweight painters are needed to participate in the competition to raise the level.
Shi Tingyu has been very popular recently and is a good choice.
Shi Tingyu knows about the Boya Cup. In later generations, this award is on par with the National Art Exhibition and is considered the highest level of adult painting competition in the country.
Although it is the first session, it is of extraordinary significance, and Shi Tingyu gladly accepted the invitation.
The deadline for the competition is in March next year, so she still has time. During the Chinese
New Year this year, Lu Weiguo can take a leave to visit his family, and he can complete the entry during the holiday. The Chinese
New Year is on January 28th. Shi Tingyu thought that she would be busy as usual before the New Year. Unexpectedly, the camp welcomed a wave of special guests.
Some time ago, a US negotiation team came to Beijing for negotiations. Three days later, China and the United States issued a joint announcement on the establishment of diplomatic relations. The US journalists who came with the group were invited to visit the camp.
And the chosen place was the Jinling Military Region.
A group of foreigners with high noses, blue eyes and brown hair came to the camp on New Year's Day, saying that they wanted to feel the festive atmosphere.
The day before New Year's Day, the camp leader found Shi Tingyu through Lu Weiguo.
Let her help to receive these Americans and treat them well.
The camp also held an emergency meeting during this period, in order to let those foreigners see the mental outlook of the Chinese military, but not let them spy on too many details.
In a word, shock and vigilance.
The whole camp was in motion.
On New Year's Day, Shi Tingyu wore a camel-colored coat for the first time, and combed her hair into a neat ponytail, and followed Lu Weiguo to the camp. The
American press group had translators, but they were brought by the Americans. Even if the other party was a Chinese living in Beijing, the camp leaders did not trust them, but Shi Tingyu was one of their own. Shi
Tingyu had no choice but to go.
There were three people in the press group, two men and one woman.
Both men were tall, although not as tall as Lu Weiguo, they were not much different. One was called John and the other was called Allen. The woman was 1.7 meters tall, slightly plump, wearing glasses, with long brown curly hair, a very typical American woman image, named Irene.
Shi Tingyu looked at John and felt that he was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
Until he called out her English name Fiona with a look of surprise.
Some memories of the original body slowly emerged in Shi Tingyu's mind.
This John had interviewed her when the original owner held an exhibition, but he didn't expect that he still remembered her after so many years.
You know, many foreigners are face-blind when they see Chinese people.
John should be 40 years old this year. He likes China very much, so he often goes to some Chinese gathering places to collect folk songs. The original owner held an art exhibition at the age of 18, which was quite a sensation. John happened to interview her.
Seeing that Shi Tingyu seemed to remember him, John stepped forward and wanted to give Shi Tingyu a warm hug.
But he was intercepted by Lu Weiguo halfway.
John was stunned for a moment, then smiled and hugged the other party.
Lu Weiguo smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. John, I am Fiona's husband and a Chinese soldier."
John smiled and said hello to Lu Weiguo in poor Chinese.
At this time, Lu Weiguo gave up his seat to Shi Tingyu. Shi
Tingyu and John hugged each other.
The two exchanged greetings.
After the greetings, Shi Tingyu smiled and glanced at Lu Weiguo, her eyes full of warmth.
Others may not know and think that Lu Weiguo may not want her and John to hug each other, so he went forward to hug each other first, but it is not the case.
Nowadays, the separation of men and women is quite strict, and even if they are foreigners, people in China may not be able to accept it.
Lu Weiguo hugged the other party first, and then let Shi Tingyu go forward, which gave everyone the feeling that this was a unique way of greeting for foreigners.
After all, Shi Tingyu was not the only one who was hugged.
Allen and Irene were very surprised. After asking John, they learned that this beautiful Chinese woman in front of them had actually lived in the United States before, and was an accomplished painter. For a while, their attitude towards Shi Tingyu became much warmer.
January 1st is the day when China and the United States recognized each other and formally established diplomatic relations. These journalists would not choose this time to cause trouble.
They visited the kitchen team and the cafeteria, the training ground, and the amateur activities of the soldiers in the camp.
Allen is an active person. When he saw the training equipment on the training ground in the camp, he was excited and wanted to compete with the people in the army.
When people are excited, they speak faster. The translator who accompanied the group was a little hesitant for a while.
Seeing that the people in the camp did not respond, Allen looked at the translator with a puzzled look. The translator set his eyes on Shi Tingyu with hope in his eyes.
Shi Tingyu translated, "Mr. Allen is very interested in the training equipment here and wants to compete with the soldiers in our camp."
Everyone suddenly realized it, and finally Lu Weiguo looked around at the people present and stood up.
Those present were all big leaders or political cadres, so he was more suitable.
The result was obvious, Lu Weiguo won without any pressure, leaving the opponent far behind.
The leaders of the camp were all happy, their faces were flushed, and their fists swung slightly at their sides, which was great!
John smiled and gave Shi Tingyu a thumbs up and said, "Fiona, your husband is amazing."
Shi Tingyu accepted the compliment without any humility, "Of course."
Then she turned back and reported to the camp leader with a smile, "John said Weiguo is amazing."
The leader laughed and felt proud.
Because Shi Tingyu's speaking speed and accent were impeccable, the reporters gradually spoke faster and returned to the state of speaking in their country.
At this time, the translators they brought with them could not keep up.
Shi Tingyu was the one translating the whole time, and Lu Weiguo passed her a bottle of water when she stopped.
After a whole day, Shi Tingyu felt that her throat was about to smoke.
She was more tired than a day of classes.
When the reporters were leaving, John asked Shi Tingyu if she was still painting.
Shi Tingyu said of course.
John said he wanted to see her paintings again.
Allen and Irene were also very curious about this talented painter who graduated from Zhiyi, so they followed Shi Tingyu and Lu Weiguo to the family compound.
It was the first time for the people in the family compound to see foreigners, and everything they saw was new.
Foreigners' eyes are really scary, and their noses are too high. And the clothes look very foreign and pretty.
Well, even the slightly fat woman looks good in them.
Seeing Shi Tingyu chatting and laughing with them, everyone had a confused expression.
Teacher Shi is worthy of being Teacher Shi. They didn't understand a word of the long string of bird language he was talking.
If it were a few years ago, when they saw someone walking with a foreigner, they would definitely report it back, and every time they reported it, they would report it accurately.
But now the times are different. This morning, I heard the radio broadcast that China and the United States have established diplomatic relations. Some time ago, the country sent people to study abroad.
At this time, how can they think of anything else? There is only envy and admiration.