Chapter 62 Patient 6
I received the reply after the English translation class exam.
The exam for this class involved oral interpretation. The teacher read a line from a classical Chinese text, and students would translate it, along with the context, on the spot. Chu Wang offered many hilarious responses, drawing laughter from the students. However, she was one of the many people contributing to the laughter in the exam, so her presence wasn't particularly noticeable.
After finishing such a ridiculous exam, Chu Wang read Yan Sang's letter again. The contrast between the two was too sharp, which once again consolidated the well-deserved lofty image of the Republic of China literati in his heart.
Yan Sang's reply was very concise: written in black pen at a stroke, it contained two eloquent and brilliant English translations - the first memorial to the throne of his expedition (出师书); aletter to the majesty (申情表).
Chu Wang skimmed through the two translations, feeling that every word was a gem. A second reading brought home the profound feeling that they were truly excellent pieces, combining the strengths of both a perfect IELTS essay and a college entrance exam essay. Furthermore, the handwriting was so neat and beautiful that Chu Wang wished he could frame them and treasure them forever.
Apart from these two translations, there were only a few more words, no reply letters, and no poems.
After confirming it, Chu Wang didn't know how to reply. Should he tell him about the funny story from the exam?
Maybe it would be better to tell him after he passes the exam.
After all the exams were over, Chu Wang immediately headed straight for the lab. Many of the computer technicians had already finished their work, collected their salaries, and left. After the final exams, most students chose to travel around Hong Kong, and the lab returned to its former quiet state.
Xu Shaoqian gave Liang Zhang the full responsibility of writing the first draft of the paper. When Chu Wang ran into the laboratory at the end of the corridor with his schoolbag, Liang Zhang was excitedly showing Xu Shaoqian the results of his hard work over Christmas and the first month of the New Year.
A full thirty pages of English text, not counting the table of contents and citations.
Chu Wang scratched his head.
Chadwick's article "The Existence of the Neutron" seemed to be less than a page?
So what did Liang Zhang write in the other twenty-nine pages?
Xu Shaoqian quickly flipped through the paper and frowned. Then he took out his pen and decisively crossed out any sentence he was dissatisfied with.
Every time Xu Shaoqian made a stroke, Liang Zhang would tremble, but Xu Shaoqian remained unmoved. Sometimes, he was so dissatisfied that he would only leave a sentence or two on some pages.
Liang Zhang sat upright beside Xu Shaoqian, his expression as tragic as if facing a formidable enemy and a nation about to be destroyed, and he questioned him, "Are you serious, Shaoqian? I wrote this with tears in my eyes, every word precious to me. I cherish every single one of these words as if they were my own! We've been together for so many years, and you brutally murdered your children! And so many at once! So many! In less than three pages! Oh my God!"
Xu Shaoqian rubbed his temples with his index finger, without even looking up, "The rest needs to be deleted."
“!!”
Xu Shaoqian frowned: "Too much nonsense. Why don't you use this to get a wife?"
"Where's the extra nonsense? Not at all!"
Xu Shaoqian handed the thirty-page manuscript to Chu Wang and said, "Come and take a look. Do you think it's full of nonsense?"
Chu Wang quickly flipped through the pages, finishing the battle in three minutes. He concluded, "A lot."
Xu Shaoqian clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Look, I'm very serious."
Chu Wang took the pen from Xu Shaoqian's side, deleted a few redundant adverbs, and handed it back to Xu Shaoqian. After reading it, Xu Shaoqian nodded and said, "It looks much better now."
Liang Zhang was furious, ruffling his messy hair with his ten fingers like a performance art: "You are committing a crime! A crime!"
Chu Wang suddenly had an idea and asked, "You haven't gotten married yet, aren't your family members worried about you?"
Xu Shaoqian laughed and said, "His family had long given up on this son. They all agreed that he probably had no interest in women."
As a veteran fujoshi, Chu Wang had a look of sudden enlightenment. Oh, so that's how it is.
Thinking deeper, she carefully explored Liang Zhang's attributes. "New Baji—always submissive," she concluded.
Later, she realized she had misunderstood Xu Shaoqian's intentions. Liang Zhang was deeply immersed in academics, and with a girlfriend named Physics, he had little time to return to Fujian to start a family. His family pressured him to marry for years, and after his mother threatened to hang herself and jump into the river several times, he finally gave in.
"Perhaps in the future, when the scientific community opens its doors to female physicists, he'll definitely have a lover willing to spend all day in the lab with her," Xu Shaoqian later said, half-jokingly and half-seriously. "I look forward to that day."
——
After clearing Liang Zhang, Chu Wang discovered some unknown stories from another person.
When mentioning Mr. Sommer, Mrs. Ge once asked Chu Wang curiously, "Why is he called Mr. Sommer? Isn't Sommer a name? What's his last name?"
Chu Wang had never been aware of the difference between English names and surnames before, so she had never doubted this point. It was only after Mrs. Ge asked about this that she began to have a vague suspicion in her heart.
Until one day, when Mr. Saumier was away inland for a week, an expedited letter arrived in Yau Ma Tei. The envelope was slightly damaged from water, and when it was handed to Mrs. Ruan, a photo slipped out.
The envelope was written in French: URGE! It must arrive quickly! Please remind the recipient to reply quickly!
Mrs. Ruan was anxious, but she couldn't make a decision for Mr. Saumur, so she had to come to Chu Wang and ask her for some advice.
Chu Wang took a look at the photo.
It was a black-and-white photograph. The subject looked no more than twenty years old, a handsome young man with blond hair and deep, blue eyes. He smiled naturally—a smile that was Mrs. Ge's standard, a noble smile.
On the back of the photo, two names were written in French in charcoal: Photograph to Franck Luca - York 1901, from Saumur Perri.
Chu Wang came to his senses. It turned out that Mr. Saumur's last name was not Luca because the person with the last name Luca was a man named Frank.
Is this the recipient of Mr. Saumur's letters to France?
Mrs. Ruan said apologetically, "When the letter arrived... I accidentally saw the content that was exposed in the corner. It only had one sentence, saying, 'The cemetery is being rebuilt, and many remains and ashes need to be relocated...'"
Chu Wang's heart trembled as he picked up the letter. The mailing address was from Los-Angoe, France.
Chu Wang looked at the photo again - a sunny and bright smile, but because it was a black and white photo, the smile was particularly lonely, as if the person was standing there alone, smiling lonely for many years.
She had seen many photos of this kind - in cemeteries, on tombstones, photos of the tomb owners.
Los Angoes, Los Angoes.
This is the town where the remains of British soldiers who died in France during World War I are placed.
Mrs. Ruan said a little uneasily, "I saw it by accident."
Chu Wang comforted Mrs. Ruan, gathered himself, and immediately stuffed the photo back into the envelope. He placed the letter on Mr. Saumier's desk. Then he looked through the recent visitors to Yau Ma Tei to see if there was anyone from Fujian, or perhaps with Fujian roots. As soon as he flipped through the address book, he saw someone at the end of the most recent page—a bride from Fujian who was about to marry in Hong Kong.
There are four phone numbers written down by Mr. Saumur in his notebook at the back.
Chu Wang hurriedly used the public telephone booth on the street to call and calmly told Mr. Saumur: There is a letter from France, which is being sent urgently. You may need to come back within this week.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Saumur said very calmly, "I will return to Hong Kong soon. And thank you."
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