Chapter 33: Xu's House and the Tennis Court Part 3
After the official admission letter for the preparatory course of the Department of Physics of the University of Hong Kong was sent, "Hong Kong Girls' School" was no longer on Chu Wang's schedule, but it didn't necessarily make things easier. He went to Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok four times a week and to Yau Ma Tei three times. On weekends, he was sometimes dragged to the choir under the coercion and inducement of Xie Miya. Mr. Saumier was well-known in Hong Kong, and more and more wealthy ladies came to him to make dresses. The orders were already booked until the end of the year. Mr. Saumier was a different kind of stubborn. He refused to hire any more helpers no matter what, as if he believed that those recruited from outside were far inferior to those carefully trained. Chu Wang listened tremblingly, and therefore, he could not help but squeeze out time to go to Yau Ma Tei twice more occasionally.
Thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Xu and Mr. Saumier, Chu Wang's assets gradually increased after a period of hard work, and he had unknowingly saved nearly two hundred yuan. Silver was heavy and felt more secure than the paper money of later generations.
Nowadays, a Ford costs 8,000 yuan, and a house in the French Concession costs 2,000 yuan...
Thinking of this, she called Xu Shaoqian the next day. If for no other reason, she just wanted to ask when she could officially enroll.
Today it was a receptionist who seemed to be attracted by the childish voice, so she smiled gently and answered the phone for her.
After the call was connected, she just said "Hello" and Xu Shaoqian smiled in the same way as if he had discussed it with the operator.
"Is it so funny that I'm making a phone call?" Chu Wang was quite helpless.
"...Not really. Sometimes, I'm a little worried that you can't quite reach the receiver of a pay phone."
“…”
"Tomorrow afternoon at 3:00, if you're free, could you please come to Lotus Venue 3? Your first year will be all compulsory courses. I've found all the textbooks for you. A week before Christmas, you'll take the exams with the other freshmen. If you pass, you'll be admitted directly to the second year. However, three of the midterm courses have already been tested, so next year you'll have three more classes than everyone else. It'll be a little harder. Is that okay?"
"...If I have time, I can."
"Well, I don't think you're in any great trouble. My wife also happens to be missing you, so I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."
——
The next day, the letter from England arrived.
There was no direct bus to Lianhua Road. While changing buses in Yau Ma Tei, she suddenly had an idea and glanced at the mailbox outside the tailor shop, and saw the letter with a full postmark.
Before the car arrived, she brought a chair and sat next to Mrs. Ruan to read the letter.
Mrs. Ruan smiled knowingly. "Young love is truly enviable."
Chu Wang stuck out his tongue and read the letter in the sun with his back against Mrs. Ruan.
I hope you will give me your valuable advice.
I have just recited the Chinese letter and everything is fine.
After arriving in England, my daily life was completely restricted. The food was good, consisting of nothing but ham, cheese, potatoes, eggs, and bread, as if I were feeding a bunch of students like animals. I was so worried I'd become bloated and useless that I recently joined the cadets at the military academy, which was incredibly difficult. Interestingly, this private school insisted on calling itself a public school, as if it were antagonizing someone.
It rained frequently, and once the sky darkened, it wouldn't brighten for months. Even on such days, it wasn't as bone-chillingly cold as it had been in Berlin. Confined within the high walls of the castle, unable to leave for months, I'd become a bit gloomy person. I hope I don't scare you.
The letter had been written long ago, but because I was not free, more than four months had passed before I sent it.
It will probably be several months before I write to you again.
Please don't blame me for being in a hurry.
Yan Sang
28.04
London in the 15th year of the Republic of China
Chu Wang was just smiling after reading the letter when suddenly Mrs. Ruan screamed and slapped her, "The car is here!"
She hurriedly shoved the letter into her bag, clutching the bouquet of Phalaenopsis orchids she'd bought to celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Xu's housewarming, and hurriedly ran across the street to hop on a bus bound for Tsuen Wan. She'd intended to write back on the bus, but because she was clutching the flowers, she held the pink ticket in her mouth and groped in her pockets. But she realized, in her haste to leave, she'd forgotten her pen. Dejectedly, she leaned her head against the window, watching the bus chug along the undulating asphalt road, occasionally revealing a glimpse of red and yellow mountain ridges—scenes she'd grown tired of seeing on a daily basis.
At the tail end of summer, the tropical sun was still warm. The car's damping wasn't great, and the rumbling sound of the mountain road caused Chu Wang to fall into a deep sleep. If she hadn't had a passenger getting off at Lianhua Road, she might have overslept.
Hearing the ringing bell, she suddenly looked up and saw the car parked in front of No. 3 Lianhua Road. She hurriedly got up and got out of the car, holding the flowers, but saw a very familiar person. The person was standing in the shade of the trees far away, staring at her intently. When he came closer, she confirmed that it was Ye Wenyu.
When she recognized the person, Ye Wenyu also had a look of sudden realization on his face. He smiled and said, "When I got on the car just now, I thought you looked familiar. When you sat down, the bouquet of flowers completely blocked your view, so I didn't dare to come up and say hello."
Chu Wang also smiled and said, "It's such an honor. I thought that except for my sister, no one in the world could make Master Ye remember his face."
"Hey, you..." Ye Wenyu was a little embarrassed by what she said, and then he caught up with her.
"What's wrong with me?"
Chu Wang, holding the flowers, turned to the right and heard Mr. Xu in the yard say, "Why are you here together?"
Ye Wenyu was tall and long-legged. He entered the yard a few steps ahead of Chu Wang and said with a smile, "We just happened to meet on the bus... Uncle, your new student has a pretty good mouth."
Chu Wang held the flowers and bowed to Mr. Xu, asking, "Professor Xu, where is your wife?"
Ye Wenyu said, "Look, I haven't even become a formal student yet, but the master's wife has called me first."
In the yard, a row of various wooden and bamboo tables and chairs were drying in the sun. Xu Shaoqian was spraying something on each of them with a spray bottle. He looked into the main room and said, "She's in the house..."
Seeing Chu Wang walking over with the flowers in his arms, Xu Shaoqian smiled and said, "Come over here first. The smell in the house isn't very good. Stay in the yard for a while. Wait until she finishes her cigarette."
After hearing Xu Shaoqian's words, she hurriedly retreated. Suddenly, she saw a figure reclining on the smoking kang in the corner, shrouded in mist. It was none other than Mrs. Xu. Chu Wang couldn't help but feel fortunate that during his first visit to the Xu residence, he hadn't said, "Smoking isn't such a big deal," or "Maybe I'll take a puff in a few years." It turned out this wasn't that kind of tobacco, it was actually opium.
Although she had been to coffee shops with tobacco leaves painted on their signs before and had seen friends eat marijuana cakes, she had never tried it herself. She also knew that marijuana was not on the same level as opium in terms of both addictiveness and hallucination, so she was still a little shocked to see Mrs. Xu smoking in person.
Ye Wenyu and Xu Shaoqian were used to it and were chatting in the sun.
Ye Wenyu asked, "Why isn't Wenjun here?"
"I'm not used to living in the old house, so I don't want to come here."
"I think this yard is very interesting. It's a bit old, but the old Chinese things are still very exquisite and sophisticated." Ye Wenyu said he liked it, but he kept mentioning "Chinese" as a barrier. He looked at the flowers and trees in the yard and asked curiously, "Uncle, what did you spray on these chairs?"
"Insecticide. These old wooden things are infested with bugs when they get damp."
"Did you buy it from a foreign company?"
"Made in the lab," Xu Shaoqian looked up and saw Chu Wang standing under the eaves holding a Phalaenopsis orchid that was half her height and smiling. He said to her, "What are you standing there for? Come over and bask in the sun. It's so comfortable."
Ye Wenyu said: "These girls from Jiangnan are most afraid of the sun and the dark."
"Oh? How tanned can you get in just a short while?"
"I'm afraid the flowers will wilt in the sun, so I'll wait for my master's wife to come out first." Chu Wang said with a smile.
"It's the same if you give the flower to me, why does it have to be given to Master's wife?" Xu Shaoqian asked.
"It's different." Chu Wang shook his head and refused to give him the flowers no matter what.
Xu Shaoqian smiled, squinting his eyes in the sun and said, "It's as if I'm going to eat the flowers."
At this time, Mrs. Xu in the house said in a hoarse voice: "The flowers outside your house used to grow very well... Don't think I don't know, you've lived there for two years, and the weeds have grown three or five feet tall, and the flowers have disappeared. Didn't you eat them?" She coughed twice and spat into the spittoon twice. Seeing Chu Wang trying to come in with the flowers, she hurriedly said: "Girl, don't come in yet. Wait until the smell in the room dissipates... Mother Wen, help me out!"
Wen Ma brought her some tea and helped her rinse her mouth, then helped her to a chair under the eaves to recline. Then she waved to Chu Wang and said with a smile, "Wen Ma, find the white porcelain vase we had when we moved, put the flowers in it, and put it on the windowsill in my room. Come here, girl, and talk to me for a while."
Chu Wang handed the flowers to Wen Ma and sat on the chair next to Mrs. Xu.
Mrs. Xu asked, "Did you come here by car with Wenyu just now?"
"We just met in the car, it was just a coincidence."
Mrs. Xu uttered an "oh," and said, "We've had the tennis court in the backyard cleaned up. It's brand new. I asked you to come play tennis this morning, but you kept putting it off. Wenjun isn't very active, so I asked Wenyu to come play tennis with you more often." She smiled, took Chu Wang's hand, and blinked, saying, "Wenjun and I both know that you've become the master's new student, and your younger brother is studying with the same English teacher as Wenjun."
Chu Wang was stunned for a moment and said, "Thank you...Thank you, Mrs. Xu."
Mrs. Xu said, "My courtyard has just been renovated, and Master doesn't come back to live here very often, so it's a little less lively. If you'd like, you could bring your classmates over to play tennis from time to time, that would be nice too."
Chu Wang nodded and said, "I will definitely come here often."
Mrs. Xu smiled and said, "Shall I ask Wenyu to accompany you to see the tennis court?" Without waiting for Chu Wang to speak, she called Wenyu and said, "You can accompany Miss Lin to the backyard for a walk."
Ye Wenyu agreed. Chu Wang was extremely reluctant, but Mrs. Xu was so kind that he had no choice but to follow Ye Wenyu to the backyard.
After strolling to a place where Mrs. Xu and Mr. Xu could not see them, the two stopped and looked at each other without saying a word. There was silence for a long time, which was very awkward.
Chu Wang was the first to break the silence: "Mrs. Xu, are you trying to match people up?"
"I suppose so. My aunt is fond of matchmaking for young people."
She looked up at the sky and said, "Remember to explain this to Mrs. Xu later."
"How can I explain this to you?" Ye Wenyu looked at the tennis court and smiled, "Why don't you just follow my aunt's wishes and play tennis with her, then she'll understand."
Chu Wang couldn't help laughing and said, "You just want me to call my sister out so you can have a chance to play tennis with her? You have a good plan."
Ye Wenyu chuckled and scratched his hair.
Chu Wang suddenly remembered something and asked, "My sister has already been engaged. You must be aware of this, right?"
Ye Wenyu was stunned for a moment, "I know."
"Then you're still pursuing her?"
"She said that this marriage was just a cover, and it probably wouldn't happen in the end... That's why I..."
Chu Wang frowned and asked, "Did she tell you that?"
Ye Wenyu nodded.
"Exactly?"
"Almost exactly? She spoke in a very tactful and roundabout way, and I could only understand about 80% or 90% of it. Maybe that's what she meant?"
Chu Wang chuckled and said, "Since you have so many opportunities to talk to her, it shouldn't be difficult for her to play tennis with you. Why do you have to ask me for help?"
"She...she doesn't pay much attention to me." Ye Wenyu hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to say it or not. After a while, he finally said, "She said she has someone else she loves."
Chu Wang said, "Then you must be heartbroken."
"I couldn't find any information anywhere, so I thought maybe this person was just a cover." Ye Wenyu sighed, "Do you know who he is?"
"I don't know."
"Will you invite her to play tennis for me?"
Chu Wang looked up at Ye Wenyu. He smiled at her ingratiatingly like a large livestock dog, almost wagging his tail for mercy.
She nodded and said, "Okay, I'll invite her for you, but I won't invite only her."
The two stood in the backyard and talked for a while, just for show, then returned to the front yard, chatting and laughing. Xu Shaoqian had already put away the tables and chairs and was in the yard, holding a bottle of homemade insecticide and trying to show off to Mrs. Xu. Seeing the two of them coming, he asked Chu Wang to wait a moment and went back to the house to bring out a stack of books.
She flipped through the books: basic physics, basic arithmetic, basic circuits, basic acoustics...all of them were basic books.
Mrs. Xu strongly rebuked her, "Why don't you wait until after dinner to bring it out? It's like you're trying to drive us away."
Chu Wang held the book in his arms and said with a smile, "The rules at home are strict. Unless otherwise stated, you must return home on time for dinner."
"Then why don't you call your family?" Mrs. Xu thought for a moment, then said with regret, "Alas, the call hasn't come through yet."
Xu Shaoqian smiled and said, "Then we can eat it another day."
Mrs. Xu glared at him and then went to Ye Wenyu: "Then you two will go back together?"
Ye Wenyu said: "I will stay and have dinner with my uncle and aunt."
Chu Wang couldn't help laughing.
Mrs. Xu gritted her teeth and said, "Then you have to send him to the station too."
Ye Wenyu responded and looked towards Chu Wang. Chu Wang, who was trying so hard to hold back her laughter that it hurt inside, exchanged a glance with him, thanked Professor Xu and Mrs. Xu, and walked out with Ye Wenyu. She took off her backpack and carefully took out the letter. After putting the stack of books in, she placed the letter on the outside, not noticing that a photo had fallen out of the envelope.
Mrs. Xu's eyesight wasn't very good, so she only looked at the boy and girl from behind and asked, "They're quite a good match, aren't they?"
A bus came like a gust of wind. Xu Shaoqian called her, but neither of them heard it.
"...This forgetful girl."
He bent down to pick up the photo, and although unconsciously, he suddenly saw the short poem written in English on the back of the photo.
It's a love poem.
On the other side, a young man and his friends were in the middle of the spacious cafeteria, each holding a huge hamburger, ready to eat with bright smiles on their faces.
He held the photo in his hand. Across from him, Ye Wenyu was walking back from the bus stop with his hands in his pockets. Recalling Mrs. Xu's words, Mr. Xu smiled and shook his head: "Maybe they are not a good match."
The author has something to say: There are still two chapters left until 1927! Two chapters! Even if I say two chapters, I will still write about the crucial year of 1927. (Gnashing teeth face)
——
Thanks to [The Last Thorn Birds] for the correction: the London accent should be Oxford accent, and "The Phantom of the Opera" is a musical, not an opera, and it was not released in 1924.
Go back and change bubsp;--
There is a chapter between silence and explosion. I am worried that you will be unhappy for a day, so I am giving you a preview in advance.
Chu Wang didn't say anything on the surface, but he was thinking about it in his heart
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