Chapter 8 Class Eight

He's a big guy, he knows that better than anyone.He is the branch manager of one of the most important British commercial houses in China, and the status of this branch is also very important.It took him a lot of effort to climb to where he is today.Looking back at when I first came to China 30 years ago, I was just a young boy with no experience in the world, and I couldn't help smiling. He recalled that the well-to-do family he was born in was a red cottage in the long row of red houses in Bath. Although he tried to decorate the home with elegance and dignity, it still had a shabby air.In front of him, this majestic stone building has spacious balconies and rooms. It is not only the office of the foreign company, but also his residence.Looking at the mansion and thinking about the little house, he felt satisfied and self-satisfied.

Life in the red house is a distant past.At that time, when he came home from school every day (he was studying at St. Paul's Secondary School), he sat down to dinner with his parents and two sisters.There was a piece of cold meat on the table, and some bread and butter, and a good deal of milk in the tea, and the family feasted and drank.But now, his style of eating is indeed not what it used to be. He often dresses up and sits neatly.Whether he was eating alone or had company, he always had three footmen waiting on him at the table.His housekeeper knew his tastes perfectly, and he himself didn't have to worry about household chores at all.At every supper, servants brought him soup, fish, roasts, sweets, and savory treats.He likes the food very much.Why, he thought, should fewer dishes be served when eating dinner alone than when entertaining guests?It doesn't make sense to do that.

Indeed, he had made such a fortune that now he had no desire to go home.He hadn't been back to England for ten years; instead of going back to England on vacation, he went to Japan or Vancouver, where he was sure to meet some friends from the coast of China.But in his hometown, he has no acquaintances.His two sisters are married locally, and both her husband and son are employees of the company.He had little connection with them, and they bored him.Every Christmas, he always gave them a bolt of beautiful silk, some exquisite embroidery or a box of tea as a token of brotherhood. He is not a miser.As long as his mother was alive, he had been sending her a subsidy.However, when he retires, he doesn't want to go back to England.Because he has seen many people return home after retirement, and the results often end in disappointment.He decided to buy a house near the Shanghai Racecourse. At that time, he would play bridge, ride horses, and play golf, hoping to spend his old age comfortably in this way.Of course, it was too early to think about retirement, he still had a few more years to go.In another five or six years, Higgins will retire and return to his hometown. At that time, he will be the supervisor of the Shanghai head office.

For now, he's happy with where he is, and he can save some money, which isn't possible in Shanghai, and besides, he's doing pretty well.Compared with Shanghai, this place has another advantage: he is the most prominent figure in the local social circles, and when he speaks, people will obey him. Even the consul is cautious about him and accommodates one or two things.Once a consul got into an argument with him, and it turned out not to be his luck.Thinking of this, Taipan raised his chin defiantly. He laughed and felt good.At this time, Taipan had just attended a grand luncheon held by HSBC and was walking back to his office.This banquet, they entertained very thoughtfully, the food was first-class, and there were all kinds of wine.He had two cocktails, then some white wine, and finally, two glasses of red wine and some good old brandy.

He felt very comfortable.Whenever he felt that he had done something great, he always took a walk.The servant who carried the sedan chair for him followed him a few steps behind him, just in case he wanted to sit still.But he likes to stretch his legs and liven up his blood.Lately, he's been exercising too little.As he was too fat to ride a horse, his opportunities for exercise were less; but even if he was too fat to ride, it would do to have a few horses.As he walked in the fragrant air, he couldn't help thinking of the spring games. He has a promising pair of horses ready for their first races.He saw that there was a boy in the office who was a good jockey (he had to be careful not to be poached, old Mr. Higgin of Shanghai Ocean Bank was going to pay a lot of money to get him there.), he Just work hard and win two or three games.Satisfied with the thought that he had the best stall in town, he waddled along with his broad chest puffed out like a dove.It's a sunny day, ah, what a joy to be alive!

When he reached the cemetery, he stopped.The cemetery is very tidy.Its existence shows that the property of their overseas Chinese group is rich.Every time he passed the cemetery, there was always a sense of pride in his heart.He is glad that he is British.Because when the cemetery was first built, this piece of land was bought cheaply. As the city became more and more prosperous, it was now very valuable.Some people advocate moving the tomb to another place, selling the land to build a house, and profiting from it, but the overseas Chinese group does not agree with this.The Taipan couldn't help feeling at ease when he thought that the deceased members of the overseas Chinese group were resting in the most valuable place on the island.This shows that they value some things more than money.To hell with money!When it comes to the crucial point (this is a catchphrase Taipan likes to say), what is money?

At this time, he thought he should go inside and inspect it.He looked at the graves. They were neatly kept and the paths were free of weeds.It looks a little prosperous.He walked around looking at some names on the tombstone.In one place, the names of three people are engraved together on the tombstone. They are Mary.Captain, First Mate and Second Mate of the Baxter Merchant Marine.They died together in a typhoon in 1908.He still remembers it vividly.There is another place where a group of two missionaries and their wives and children were buried. They were killed during the Boxer riots.How terrible the scene was.Not that he thought highly of missionaries, but, damn it!Let the Chinese kill them is always bad taste.

Then he saw a cross with a name he knew well.Edward.Merloch was originally a promising young man, but he couldn't get past drinking, and drank until he died.Poor fellow, he was only twenty-five when he died!The Taipan knew that many people also fell into this problem. There were a few clean crosses with the names and ages of some twenty-five or six-year-old youths engraved on them.Everyone's situation is the same, they all come to China and they have never seen so much money in the past.They are all good people, and they all wanted to drink like everyone else, but in the end their bodies couldn't bear it, and they were buried in the cemetery here.Along the coast of China, if you want to be a hero when drinking, you have to have a sound mind and a strong body.Of course, this is a sad past.But when the taipan thought of how many young people around him were drinking in competitions and sent to hell, he couldn't help smiling.Moreover, he thought that the death of one person would be of great benefit to his future future. He was a colleague in the industry, with a higher status than him, and he was also a smart young man.If the guy was still alive, maybe he wouldn't be a Taipan by now.Indeed, God's will is unpredictable, and it is really unpredictable.

Alas, here lies the petite Mrs. Turner Violet.Tyner.How lovely she was, he had an affair with her.He was making a fortune when she died.He looked at her age engraved on the tombstone.If she lived, she would be a young lady by now. A feeling of elation passed over him as he thought of the dead.He beat them and they died while he lived, he was stronger than them all!Glancing across the crowded graves in front of him, he smiled contemptuously.He rubbed his hands, complacent. No one ever looked down on me.he muttered to himself. For those who died, he had a kind of contempt, but no malice.As he continued to walk forward, he suddenly saw two coolies digging graves.He was taken aback, for he had never heard of any death in his circle.

Hey, who are you digging for?he shouted. The coolies didn't even look at him. They stood in the grave and continued digging, keeping their bodies low, throwing thick chunks of dirt to the ground with their shovels. Although he has lived in China for a long time, he still does not understand Chinese.In his day, people didn't think it was necessary to learn the damned language.So he asked these coolies in English whose grave they were digging.But they couldn't understand, so they answered in Chinese.He was so angry that he called a fool and walked away. He knew that Mrs. Bloom's child was sick, perhaps dead.But if he was dead, he must have heard about it.Besides, it wasn't a child's grave, it was a grown man's, a big grown man's.This is incredible.He regretted that he shouldn't have come to the cemetery, so he hurried out and got into the sedan chair.The cheerfulness had evaporated, and a sullen look appeared on his face.Once back in the office, he called for his assistant:

Hey Peter, do you know who died? But Peter knew nothing about it.Taipan was even more puzzled.He called a local boy and told him to go to the cemetery to ask about the condition of the coolies.The fellow came back and said the coolie had gone and there was no one to ask. Taipan was secretly annoyed; no matter what happened, he didn't want to be kept in the dark.He thought his closest valet should know that this man always knew everything.He summoned him, but the servant hadn't heard of anyone dying in the overseas Chinese group recently. I also know that no one is dead, Dapan said angrily, but why dig that grave? He sent the footman to the caretaker of the cemetery to find out why a grave had to be dug if no one died. Let me have a whiskey and soda before you go.He added as the footman came out of the room. He didn't know why he felt strangely uncomfortable when he saw the tomb.But he tried not to think about it.After drinking the whiskey he felt better and finished his work.He went upstairs and flipped through the weekly Punch. 】.In a few minutes he was going to the nightclub and played a game or two of bridge before dinner.But he was anxious to hear news of the manservant so that he would be relieved, so he waited for his return.After a while, the servant came back and brought the administrator with him. What are you digging a grave for?He asked the administrator directly, no one died! I didn't let anyone dig it!said the man. What exactly do you mean by that?This afternoon, two coolies were digging a grave. The two Chinese looked at each other.Then the valet said they had been together in the cemetery just now, and there were no new graves there. Taipan managed to restrain himself from saying the following: Humph, hell, I can see it with my own eyes!The words were almost on the tip of his tongue. But he didn't say it after all.He suppressed these words, his face flushed.The two Chinese stared at him blankly, and for a moment he couldn't even breathe. Forget it, let's go!he said angrily. But as soon as they were gone, he growled for the valet to come back, and begged him in a frenzy for some whiskey.He wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.His hands trembled as he raised the glass to his lips.They could say whatever they wanted, but he had actually seen the tomb.Well, he even heard the heavy sound of the coolie shoveling the soil with one spade at a time. How is this going?He felt his heart pounding.He was almost overwhelmed, but he did his best to pull himself together.Everything is so inexplicable that if there is no tomb, it must be an illusion.The best way for him now is to go to the club, and if he meets a doctor, he can ask him to examine him. In the club, everyone looks exactly the same as before.For some reason he wished they were different than usual.If someone is different than usual, this can give him a little comfort. These men lived together for many years and lived a rigid and orderly life, each developing innocuous eccentricities, such as one who often hummed a ditty while he played bridge, and another who insisted on drinking beer through a straw.This kind of eccentricity, which used to irritate Daban, now gave him a certain sense of security.He needed it because he couldn't get over the strange sights he saw.He played bridge badly, his partner complained endlessly, and Taipan himself lost his temper.He felt that people were looking at him strangely, and he didn't understand what unusual things they saw in him. He suddenly felt that he couldn't stay in the club any longer.On going out he saw the doctor reading The Times in the reading-room, but he did not have the courage to speak to him.He wanted to see for himself whether the tomb was really there, so he got into his sedan chair and asked the bearer to carry him to the cemetery.You don't get visions twice in a row, do you?In addition, he was going to ask the administrator to go and see it. If there was no tomb, he would never see it again; if the tomb really existed, then he would beat the administrator severely. But the administrator is nowhere to be found.He went out, taking the key with him.Seeing that he could not enter the cemetery, the Taipan suddenly felt limp and weak all over.He returned to the sedan chair and asked the bearer to carry him home.He had to lie down for half an hour before dinner, feeling exhausted. At dinner he ordered a glass of champagne, which made him feel better.Then the footman was sent to bring the best brandy.After he drank two cups, he felt better again.To hell with phantoms!He went to the billiard room and played a few tricks.His eyesight is so good that nothing can go wrong with his body!After he went to bed, he fell into a deep sleep at once. But suddenly he woke up.He dreamed of the hollowed-out grave and the coolies digging it at their leisure.He was sure he saw them.At this time, he heard the sound of the watchman beeping while watching the night.The sound was so piercing in the dead of night that it made his hair stand on end.A wave of fear came over him.He felt that the twists and turns of the city, big and small, made his heart shudder; the flying dragons and phoenixes on the roof of the temple, and the spirits and monsters in the hall made him shudder. He hated the pungent stench here, and hated the people here.The coolies in blue blouses, the ragged beggars, the smiling, charming, mysterious and cunning businessmen and officials in black cloth coats all seemed to be threatening to rush at him.He hated the country.What was he doing here in the first place?He was terrified now.He must leave.Can't stay here for another year, not even a month!What is the position of the Shanghai head office? Oh my God!How nice it would be, cried he, to get back to England in safety! He really wants to go back home.If he had to die, he wanted to die in England too.He couldn't stand the thought of being buried with these yellow people.He wanted to be buried in his hometown, not in the grave he had seen that day.He'll never rest there, ever.The most important thing is to seize the opportunity and leave as soon as possible.It doesn't matter what other people think.Others can think whatever they like. He got out of bed and wrote to the chairman of the company, saying that he found himself seriously ill and was in critical condition and had to ask someone else to take over.He couldn't stay any longer unless it was absolutely necessary.He has to go home right away. The next morning, the letter was seen clutched in Taipan's hand, and he fell on the floor between the chair and the desk, completely dead.