Chapter 34: Xu's House and the Tennis Court Part 4
Sincerely, Mr. Yan Sang,
I've heard people say lately, "You look like what you eat." It doesn't quite ring true, but it's quite endearing. Eat potatoes like potatoes, eat eggs like eggs, eat bread like bread... When I see you, any person who looks like potatoes, eggs, bread, or cheese is a sure bet.
In this way, being a little fat doesn't matter.
My classmates at school have recently taken to telling ghost stories from the magazines. We often gather in groups of three or five to listen. Sometimes, if something sounds interesting, I'll tell them a few words with a deadpan expression. Sometimes, I'll scare everyone away, and for this, I've earned the nickname "Yuan Mei, the Mountain and Forest Daoist."
Therefore, the sinister Mr. Yan Sang probably cannot scare the Shanlindao Yuan Mei.
There is plenty of sunshine in Hong Kong in the autumn weather, but I dare not bask in the sun for too long, for fear that standing with you would make me look like the Black and White Impermanence, which would be too funny.
Wish you peace and tranquility
September 29, 1926
Chu Wang
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Recently, because of the strange stories published in several "Eastern Magazine" brought from Shanghai, the girls in the choir have become more united. After the service, they would go to the theater, bookstore or cafe in groups of three or five and tell each other ghost stories.
After listening to them for a while, she found them lackluster. To Chu Wang, who grew up in an era of information explosion, they were just corny, clichéd jokes. Occasionally, when she felt like it, she would roll up her sleeves and tell them a couple of old stories that she found quite interesting:
One story involved a woman who had died in a school dormitory. New students arrived and found the dormitory door blocked, so they peeped through the keyhole. They saw nothing but blood-red. Everyone was baffled. When they asked a senior student, they were told that the woman's pupils had been bloodshot due to a deep well of resentment before her death.
The second story involves a woman who lived alone and whose neighbor died in her home. On the day of her neighbor's death, she saw a stranger leaving the house, but thought nothing of it. Two days later, the police came to her house and asked, "Do you remember the suspicious man you saw that day?" The woman replied, "Not really." The police then left. Two days later, the murderer was arrested, and the newspaper published his face, which turned out to be the same one the police had questioned her about.
These two stories scared the girls so much that Chu Wang screamed in fear, and she became famous overnight. The girls said, "I never want to play with Chu Wang again. Thinking of her reminds me of those two stories." But a week later, they had completely forgotten what they had said. At the end of the week, they surrounded Chu Wang, saying they wanted to "buy her coffee" and "listen to her stories."
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many girls were planning to go to the shallows or a nearby island together. However, since most of them were well-off and had little experience with accommodations, they put the idea aside for now, but kept thinking about going somewhere nearby.
Miya and Zhenzhen, the two leaders of the group, had recently been sitting peacefully together because of Chu Wang. It was fine when they were bickering, but the most frightening thing was when they stood apart from each other without saying a word, and everyone could sense the inexplicable low pressure between them.
Normally, there is only Chu Wang between the two people.
One day, when the girls were discussing where to go, someone asked Chu Wang, "Does the knowledgeable and erudite Yuan Mei have any recommendations for a place?"
She thought for a moment and said, "Ye Wenyu did ask me to help him invite my sister to play tennis at his uncle's house."
Xue Zhenzhen glanced at her and said, "He invited your sister. What are we going to do? Are we going to be a cover for them?"
"Doesn't she dislike that Nanyang guy? Why is she willing to go?" someone asked.
Chu Wang smiled, "You still don't know my sister very well."
Miya smiled and said, "I guess if Miss Xue goes, Miss Lin will definitely go too."
Xue Zhenzhen sneered, "I won't mess up other people's good things."
Miya blinked and said gently, "How could we interrupt such a good thing? We are here to watch a good show, so how can we not go?"
Zhenzhen said, "If she really goes, I will definitely go and see if the talented young lady has a face as thick as the Yongle Encyclopedia."
No one could possibly understand the logical connection between Zhenzhen and Yunyan's invitation to play tennis, but the cause and effect relationship was very clear.
Chu Wang was quite serious and private. He had invited Yun Yan in the name of Ye Wenyu, but she had righteously rejected him in person. After the news spread that Xue Zhenzhen was going to play tennis, Yun Yan showed up at the bus stop to Tsuen Wan District on the appointed day, very punctually and conspicuously.
She never had any doubt that her sister would definitely play tennis.
Nine girls boarded the bus awkwardly, all wearing a variety of tennis skirts, white cotton socks, and canvas shoes. With winter approaching, they all wore jackets or windbreakers, which was quite eye-catching. But Yunyan was the most eye-catching: she was wearing a light cherry red mid-length dress, similar in style to a cheongsam, a navy blue sweater, and a pair of short-heeled black leather shoes. She held nothing but a complete copy of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Her appearance was truly elegant, like a lotus in pure water, a unique flower in its own right.
A girl asked her with a smile, "Miss Lin, are you going to the library in Tsuen Wan?"
Yunyan just smiled and didn't answer.
After a while, she got off the bus at Lianhua Road with the book in hand. The girl smiled again and asked, "Didn't I hear that you rejected Ye Wenyu's invitation to play tennis?"
"I'm not feeling well, but it would be rude to refuse repeated invitations. So even though I'm here, I can't play," she said with a pursed smile. "I'll just watch you guys play."
Zhenzhen glanced over and asked, "What is she up to today?"
Miya leaned over and sighed, "Great move."
Zhenzhen probably couldn't understand the mystery of it, but she was determined not to lower her pride to ask others for advice. She was confused for a long time, looking at Yunyan from time to time, but she still couldn't figure it out.
Chu Wang found it very funny.
Ye Wenyu heard that Chu Wang "wouldn't invite just Yun Yan," so he invited two of his friends from the tennis team. He assumed Chu Wang would only invite two or three more girls besides Yun Yan, but he didn't expect nine to show up. Each of these nine girls had their own unique talents, which delighted the other two tennis players.
Although Mrs. Xu enjoyed the hustle and bustle, she felt like an elder and worried that the young men and women would feel constrained by her presence. So, she only came out to greet them, instructed Wen Ma to prepare a large amount of snacks and fruit, and then went back to her room to lie down. Chu Wangxian had been chatting with Mrs. Xu in the front yard. When Xu Shaoqian returned, she had just been sent by Mrs. Xu to play tennis with her classmates. As she scurried out of Mrs. Xu's room, Xu Shaoqian intercepted her.
Xu Shaoqian used to keep the photo in his suit pocket, thinking that he would return it to Chu Wang when he ran into her one day. But today he was wearing a gray Chinese robe instead of a suit.
Seeing that he had been groping around on his robe for a while but couldn't find anything, Mrs. Xu smiled and said, "I've ironed that garment for you and put it away. Go in and look for it later."
Xu Shaoqian hummed and said to Chu Wang, "Go play first, I'll come back and give you the things later."
Chu Wang responded and was about to leave when he remembered something: "Professor Xu?"
"Um?"
"I'll stay here for a while and goof off for a bit, okay?"
Xu Shaoqian suddenly found it interesting, "You can still act wild?" Seeing Chu Wang's serious face, he waved his hand casually and agreed, "Go ahead, as long as it's not too excessive."
Chu Wang, clutching a bamboo basket of kumquats that Mrs. Xu had forced upon her, headed for the tennis court. While she was gone, the students had already gathered together, laughing and making noise, creating a lively atmosphere. The girls were beautiful, but beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
There was no trace of Ye Wenyu on the tennis court. She turned her eyes slightly and saw that the person sitting on the grass beside the court not far from her sister was Ye Wenyu.
Judging from Ye Wenyu's appearance, he seemed to have never touched the tennis racket while accompanying the "unwell" Yun Yan. Yun Yan could have used her brain a little to come up with a plan and quietly coaxed Ye Wenyu into distancing himself from the other girls, so that he would only praise her in public. It was a clever move.
Zhen Zhenxin's mind was not on tennis at all, and she had been losing for quite a while. Seeing Chu Wang coming, she angrily threw her tennis racket and said, "I'm tired of playing, Chu Wang, come and take over for me!"
Chu Wangchong Zhenzhen raised the basket of kumquats in his hand and said with a smile: "Let's eat some oranges first." As he spoke, he sat down next to Ye Wenyu and Yunyan who were chatting enthusiastically while holding the oranges.
As soon as they sat down, the two stopped talking and turned to look at Chu Wang. It was clear from their eyes that she was in the way, but Chu Wang pretended not to notice. Smiling, he pushed the orange basket toward them and said, "Eat some oranges to moisten your throat."
With other people around, the two of them naturally couldn't chat to their heart's content, so they stopped talking. Ye Wenyu asked Yun Yan, "Want some oranges?"
Yun Yan said coldly, "It's too cold. It will give me stomach upset."
Chu Wang peeled it and started eating it. "It's very sweet."
Ye Wenyu held the orange in his hand and said to Yun Yan, "I have a fever. I'll warm it up for you before you eat it."
Seeing this, Miya stopped playing and came over breathlessly with her racket in hand to sit next to Yunyan to eat the orange. Ye Wenyu's two friends almost had their eyes on Miya. When Miya arrived, everyone gathered to eat the orange. She ate two slices and saw Ye Wenyu holding an orange in his hand. She asked with a smile, "Why are you holding it? You are a man, but you can't eat a cold orange?"
Chu Wang smiled and said, "I covered it for my sister."
Miya also laughed: "Master Ye is really partial to Yun Yan."
Yun Yan looked annoyed: "Don't talk nonsense."
Miya asked Ye Wenyu: "I can't eat cold food either, can you give me some oranges?"
Ye Wenyu smiled and patted his friend from the tennis team, "Yonghua, Miya wants to eat warm oranges."
Miya smiled and said, "I only want to eat the one that Ye Wenyu covered for Lin Yunyan. Just tell me, will you give it to me?"
After being teased, Yun Yan felt embarrassed and could only blame Ye Wenyu: "I said I don't eat oranges, why did you take the initiative?"
Chu Wang took the opportunity to smooth things over and said, "Sister, I think Wen Yu treats you very well. Why do you always speak coldly to him?"
Yun Yan gave her a cold look and said, "Don't you know I'm engaged? If you want to be with him, go ahead and be with him."
Chu Wang didn't get angry either. He continued to smile and said, "Hey, didn't sister say that the marriage contract was unlikely to be successful? Sister has been studying the "Instructions for Women" since she was a child. Parents' orders, a marriage contract, how come you treat it like child's play to her?"
Yun Yan snorted coldly, "The marriage was decided years ago. Zheng Yimin will graduate in two years and go to the United States to study, and I will also be going to college. Not to mention the variables, by then, people's thoughts and opinions will be different. Father also said so."
Chu Wang nodded in sudden realization. "That means my sister considers herself a free person. Then why does she repeatedly send letters to the University of Hong Kong, yet refuses Mr. Ye's pursuit? What's the reason?"
Ye Wenyu's face flushed, and he asked Yunyan, "Did you deliver the letter?"
"You're talking nonsense!" Yun Yan said harshly, closing the book and about to leave, but Xue Zhenzhen stopped her with a smile.
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "Don't go, let's talk it out first."
Yun Yan sneered: "What does it have to do with you again!"
Zhenzhen said, "I asked Pei Zhenni that day. Pei Zhenni was the first to know Ye Wenyu. At that time, she came to ask you how to pursue Ye Wenyu. What did you say to her?"
Yun Yan turned his head away: "How should I know!"
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "Miss Lin Er, the most talented woman in Jiangnan, said, 'Then write him a poem. If you can't, I'll do it for you.' As a result, although the love poem was signed by Pei Zhenni, a few days later, the Hong Kong University Student Newspaper published the same poem, an exact copy, signed by Miss Lin Yunyan. She actually published a poem that was meant for someone else. Miss Lin Er's literary character is quite interesting."
Lin Yunyan glanced at Ye Wenyu with a guilty look on his face. Ye Wenyu said in a daze, "Is it... is it true, you..."
Chu Wang also smiled and said, "I thought Second Sister really liked Master Ye. You two are both free, so don't be suspicious of each other."
Ye Wenyu continued to stare blankly at Lin Yunyan, not knowing what he was thinking. Yunyan gritted his teeth and said, "I already have someone else I like!"
Chu Wang tilted his head, staring at his sister intently, smiled slightly, and asked gently, "Who is the person Second Sister likes? How come I don't know? If you don't tell me and we haven't met, then you'll just be fooling us. There's no such person, right?"
The author has something to say: I used to have a hard time accepting comments that criticized the heroine. When I first started writing, I always thought that pleasing everyone would be ideal, but that's impossible. It's hard to please everyone, and I've been reflecting on this for the past couple of days. I'm still too immature. It's time to learn to accept and listen to different voices. After all, sometimes, the criticism and controversy are a sign that the article is actually quite successful! ← Forgive my narcissism.
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I heard that this article might be blocked because it touches on sensitive political issues... Hmm, I'll check and think about how to adjust the content. Maybe I'll create a fictional pseudo-government, or... maybe just let the two fathers focus on being principals.
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I just finished my graduation thesis, and I started writing this post right after the defense. I consider myself a very cheerful and talkative person, but I've been cooped up at home for a month or two without going out. Suddenly, I was walking under the sun, and I was hiding from everyone I saw. I went to the supermarket to buy groceries, and I had to talk to the cashier. I opened my mouth, but was speechless for a long time, and found that my language system was almost completely broken... Since I'm also a science geek, I still have some knowledge that is very limited. Many cute people in the comment section actively corrected me, which really made me happy. I hope everyone will discuss it more in the future~
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Some people are asking why the heroine isn't allowed to study abroad. Firstly, with the advancements in medical and communication technology today, even if you're living a life of luxury abroad, you can still be incredibly lonely. If you get sick, having to go to the hospital alone—the distance and the mountains and rivers—is incredibly desolate. (Just imagine calling an ambulance, undergoing surgery, and lying in a hospital bed for ten days or even half a month. The signal is spotty, and the only people you can talk to are elderly patients, whose magical language and pronunciation you barely understand...) And let alone the past when transportation, medical care, and communication were less developed? Back then, there were wars and chaos. I really don't want the heroine to go through that hardship, and I don't think Si, who's also a bit childish, could take good care of her. Secondly, Hong Kong back then was much more interesting. I want her to go there even more! And there's her aunt in Hong Kong! Her aunt is about to come in handy!
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1927 isn't a particular year, but I remember mentioning before that many important changes in this story occurred in 1927...
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On the morning of the 30th, I had to start another two-day journey, so I tried to finish the two days' worth of drafts. Because I was looking for a bargain, I bought a flight to Chongqing and then dragged three suitcases, weighing a total of about 70kg, from the airport to the train station for my ride home. A friend asked, "Are you sure you can get 70kg into Chongqing Station?"
Is Chongqing Railway Station scary? Do I have to climb a very high mountain?
Need to find a Bang Bang Army?
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I'm also recommending a novel to the "uncle-loving" crowd. It's also a newcomer, and for various reasons, she couldn't sign a contract. Being outgoing and shameless, I took the initiative to approach the author. Now that she's gained a bit of popularity, I want to give her a push.
"His Morning Star" talks a little bit about sexual assault, coal boss x student girl
I really like the heroine's character. The author's writing is very good and the narrative is clear, which I can't compare to...
Copywriter:
When Sheng Feng first met Cheng Xiaoxing, he thought her name was unlucky.
The stars in the morning disappear as soon as the sun comes out.
Later he learned that Xiaoxing actually means Morning Star.
When Qiming comes out, the world will be bright.
She came covered in darkness and spread the morning light across the sky.
The thing that Sheng Feng is most proud of in his life is that the woman he loves has the hardest bones and the softest conscience.
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