Chapter 89: Night 5 of 13
The i-team at the research institute stayed off the ground for two weeks, and Chu Wang hadn't slept well in days. The construction of the graphite platform and the revision of the blueprints were carried out almost simultaneously. For several days in a row, he pulled all-nighters at the research institute. When he felt sleepy, he would recline in the stands, practically falling asleep as soon as he touched a chair. He couldn't get through half an hour without someone asking about errors in the blueprints... It was intermittent, and in ten days or so, he only returned to Fu Kaisen Road twice. He wasn't sure if he had slept a full thirty hours in total.
The only thing that made her uncomfortable was the sudden, unusual attention she'd received from Sakuma since the i-Team's nightly chat. She'd felt that gaze on her many times, whether she was poring over blueprints in the middle of the playground, passing each other in and out of the research institute. Turning back, she'd find Sakuma staring at her from afar. That look was indescribable, profound, a hint of covetousness, a touch of prying, nothing to do with admiration or adoration between a man and a woman.
Every time she met Sakuma's eyes, that look gave her goose bumps. Oppenheimer once said bluntly: "Mr. Major, I think your presence is disturbing the progress of our experiment."
Sakuma shamelessly said, "I'm just observing from a distance, how can that be considered interference?"
"I thought you should review the Joint Confidentiality Agreement before coming here."
He continued with a grin, "First, I don't understand your research. Second, I'm much more interested in your female scientist than in science itself. If she came to ask me to leave personally, I might consider it."
Fortunately, Xie Zeyi had specifically instructed Bian Jieming to pick him up and drop him off before leaving, and he spent most of the rest of his time with the rest of the institute. If Sakuma really wanted to act rashly, he wouldn't have found the opportunity.
After the boiler platform took shape, the experimental shed needed to be upgraded from a simple shed to a more stable structure. For this purpose, within a week, some low-priced Chinese laborers were brought in to the institute to build the experimental platform. A team of Japanese soldiers led by Sakuma and a British lieutenant served as supervisors. With more opportunities for interaction, she would occasionally be disturbed by Sakuma during breaks in her work.
Facing Bian Jieming's almost constant guard, Sakuma patted his supervisor's braid with his hand and smiled meaningfully: "It seems that our Captain Xie is very concerned about you. It's true that Shanghai is indeed not safe, especially for a beautiful, single Chinese lady."
He specifically emphasized the word "China," clearly hinting at something. A rather attractive Chinese woman had indeed met with an accident in Fengyuan Lane, but aside from the person involved, only he, his subordinates, and Chu Wang knew about it. He was the perpetrator, yet he brazenly boasted about his atrocities in front of witnesses, simply because he felt completely confident.
Ever since he'd boasted before the Japanese, everyone at the institute was on edge, and most hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in ages. Chu Wang, in particular, was so exhausted she had no time to bother paying him any attention, even ignoring Sakuma when he saw her. But whenever she had a moment's rest, Sakuma would almost always seize the opportunity to approach and start a conversation.
"How do you feel?" One day, two weeks after that night talk, Sakuma asked this question out of nowhere while sitting in the stands next to her.
She hadn't intended to respond to him, narrowing her eyes as she watched the progress of the spherical platform in the center of the field. In the stands behind her, several other teams had paused to chat, while British troops and other researchers patrolled the field. She was too tired to move, and yet, in the public eye, she felt safe. So she let him talk, pretending she couldn't hear.
Sakuma then added, "Did they show you His Majesty's telegram from last week?"
Chu Wang was startled and turned to stare at him.
Sakuma chuckled twice. "I heard there's a remarkable observatory on Victoria Peak. The British applied to build a long-wave radio station in the concession, but their attempt was unsuccessful. So your dear teacher personally took charge and converted the observatory into a military long-wave radio station." His brows furrowed, but he continued to smile as if reciting something from a newspaper. "'The electromagnetic waves sent from Victoria Peak have virtually no blind spots. In Hong Kong, a place where spies from many countries compete for food, it's considered a mortal enemy by spies from all over the world.'" He then clapped his hands and exclaimed, "How impressive!"
She couldn't help but shudder, "And then?"
"Don't you feel sorry?" Sakuma curled his lips in deep regret. "Even though you knew we were being hypocritical in our requests to you, you still had to fulfill your six-week promise. What a pity, great scientist, female scientist! I feel so bad for you. After reading that telegram, you must have wanted to tear us apart, right? But you had no choice but to endure it."
"I really should tear you apart with my bare hands." She gave him an extremely calm and bright smile, "and I have never doubted this."
Sakuma burst into laughter, drawing the attention of the passing porters and researchers. Even Bian Jieming, who had been guarding her from a distance, was startled and moved closer with several teams.
"I reserve the right to your fantasies, my dear Chinese female scientist," he said, his expression darkening again. "You know, I'm much more interested in you than in scientific experiments." Sakuma said, following her gaze to Bian Jieming. "That captain is really attentive to you. It seems he also knows how interested I am in you." He leaned over and asked, "Do you know why he's interested in you?"
She stared at the ground, narrowed her eyes, and smiled, "Oh. I don't want to know."
Undeterred, Sakuma bowed slightly and said, "I apologize for my disdain for you last week." He added, "A brilliant female scientist like you deserves more. You should be shining brightly! But look at yourself. What has your country given you? Asylum? Fame? None! How disappointing!"
She lowered her head and suddenly smiled without saying anything.
After expressing his regret, he continued to persuade her, "Our Emperor attaches great importance to science. The biology of the Japanese Empire is, to this day, the world leader. In fact, His Majesty himself is a unique and great biologist. If you are willing to give up your Chinese nationality, His Majesty will certainly receive you with the utmost courtesy."
Chu Wang raised his eyebrows, "Like what kind of courtesy?"
Seeing her interest, Sakuma said, "You will have your own dedicated research laboratory and dedicated assistants. If your research yields further results, His Majesty the Emperor will personally award you the Order of Culture. However, this requires you to renounce your Chinese citizenship and choose to become a Japanese citizen." He then added with a grin, "The easiest and quickest way is to marry a prominent Japanese husband."
When he said the last sentence, he opened his hands involuntarily to show that he was what he called a "prominent person".
Chu Wang laughed inwardly: Your Emperor, that perverted war criminal? I believed your lies!
Another time, after calculating the load-bearing capacity of a "boiler," she was distributing tasks. While the members of Team i were directing the construction workers to build a graphite table, she found a moment to retreat to the very edge of the group. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Sakuma suddenly and shamelessly asked, "Would our outstanding female scientist be interested in marrying a Japanese man?"
She didn't even look at him: "Not interested."
Sakuma was almost unbelievable about this: "But why? You don't know how many Chinese women want to marry me. Even after I did something rude to them, they knelt in front of me, crying, begging me to take them away..."
As he spoke, he mimicked a woman's graceful and charming manners, acting out the words with immense affection. After a moment, he burst into laughter again. "Of course, I'm just joking. Don't take it seriously. After all, in the eyes of Oriental women with a hostage complex, white men hold a captivating allure. They're tall, mighty, and strong, possessing extraordinary masculinity. They hold you firmly in their arms, kissing you again and again, making it impossible for you to break free, until you melt in their arms..."
As Sakuma spoke, his voice was as vivid as if he were holding an Oriental beauty in his arms. While several Japanese people laughed heartily, a French female researcher accidentally overheard and frowned, cursing, "What a pervert!"
He didn't get angry, but chuckled and turned to ask Chu Wang: "Is it that British officer with an oriental face who fascinates you so much?"
His words were frivolous, but they did not constitute any serious crime; the person he teased was only Chu Wang, and they only said a few words in total, so he did not cause any major trouble to others.
Chu Wang was so exhausted that he had no time to care about it and just pretended he didn't exist.
However, that day, the female researcher still pulled her away from him. The next day, the female researcher told her: Her friend in the monitoring room on the second floor told her that many Japanese soldiers had some mental problems. Especially those who were young but had high ranks. At such a young age, their hands were stained with countless blood, so it was hard for them not to be perverted.
Chu Wang discovered that Sakuma had a strange attachment to the Chinese, one that had nothing to do with being perverted. He wondered if it was just him, or if the Japanese military had been brainwashed by this kind of thinking since childhood. Many times, Sakuma would persistently express his bewilderment at one question: "Sometimes I don't know what you Chinese are thinking. Shouldn't Japan and China be good friends? Shouldn't the yellow race unite against the white race?"
She had heard that, even after World War I ended, Japan was already preparing for a second war against Europe and the United States. No matter how scarce rice became for the people, the Japanese Army always stockpiled it, and even dreamed of an East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere long ago.
Previously, such stories existed only as fantasy in history books, but now they were vividly embodied by a man named Sakuma. She had heard him preach more than once: "The Chinese should follow Japan's guidance and not be deceived by the British and Americans. The Japanese army is to deal with Russia, and the navy is to deal with the United States."
It sounds very pleasant at first, but if you look closely, you will find that it is full of deep-rooted contempt for China and the Chinese people. It seems that for Japan, conquering China does not require an army, but only requires encouraging the Chinese to surrender and become their slaves.
This can be seen in the Japanese army's attitude towards Shen Yueying. Her words and actions were full of a sense of superiority over the Chinese. They believed that the Chinese should obey and submit to the Japanese, and that resistance was not only useless but also incomprehensible.
He not only did not feel the slightest bit of shame about his non-commissioned officers sexually assaulting Chinese women, he even felt it was natural.
He said: "The country supports the army, and the army protects the country. As citizens of the country, enjoying the favorable conditions provided by the country, shouldn't we make some contributions to the country? We Japanese soldiers had comfort women who came to China to protect the safety of your concessions. Isn't it normal for some women to sacrifice a little bit of themselves?"
Although it was known from the beginning that Japan was a society of selfless dedication, this universal devotion sometimes contributed to the deformity of the entire military and even the nation. In certain special moments, such as wartime, this deformity would become even more apparent, almost becoming a deep-rooted perversion of the entire nation.
——
After more than two weeks of work, the graphite platform shell and the experimental shed were basically completed. She also had a day off and could go home to catch up on some sleep and recharge.
By early to mid-March, a drizzle would fall every now and then. Bian Jieming brought her home from the research institute. Even in broad daylight, the spring weather was drowsy. She locked the doors and windows and drew the curtains. After overwork for more than ten days, she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
She didn't know how long she had slept when a faint cool breeze blew into the room, carrying with it the scent of earth and flowers. She opened her eyes, half asleep, and saw that the locked window had been pushed open. The white gauze curtains fluttered in the wind, revealing a figure standing in front of the window.
When she looked over hazily, the man happened to be looking at her as well. He seemed a little uncertain and asked, "Did I disturb you?"
She shook her head.
"It's easy to get dimpled if you lock it for too long. Let it air out before closing it again."
She nodded. After a while, she asked in a low voice, "Why are you back?"
"Come back to see you. I'll be leaving again soon."
"Um."
After hearing no sound for a while, she hugged the quilt and fell asleep again. She dozed for an unknown amount of time, and when she opened her eyes, the man was still standing by the window.
She didn't know if she was dreaming, and asked uncertainly, "Mr. Xie?"
Xie Zeyi responded, "I'm here."
Even if it was a dream, she felt that the situation was a little strange, so she asked, "Do you have something important to say?"
He thought for a moment and said, "I have a letter for you."
"Um?"
"On a ship in the South China Sea, there was a young man named Si. I saw him with you. He asked if I could bring him a letter for you." He seemed unsure whether she was awake or asleep, and added, "The letter is on the table. Go and take a look when you have time."
Xie Zeyi spoke softly, and as he spoke, she gradually fell asleep again. She could only hear his voice vaguely, as if he was sighing softly in her ear: "Forget it. Have a good rest. I'm leaving now." (m.)138TXT
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