Chapter 25 11. Opportunity

art, chance, singing, Gujing I decided to return to the human world and be a human again.I am no longer what I used to be. Although the appearance is the same and the body is still the same, what is left is only a wish to live in a sojourn body.I would like to turn my insignificant life into a faint light, and contribute to the hopeless, helpless, unfortunate people who seek relief. I started with the people around me first, but Neo, Tony and others didn't need my help, so I quit the group.And Lao Ma and other Chinese friends are doing well in their careers. What they need is the way to do business, not life advice.After looking forward and backward, it seems that I have no reason to stay in Shashi anymore.So, as fate would have it, I was back in São Paulo.

A peaceful state of mind, without desires and demands, and no longer picky about everything.As soon as I arrived in Shengshi, I found a large steerer-style apartment, and eight people lived in one room, all of whom were common people.With their advice, I searched for suitable job opportunities from newspaper advertisements. I chose two, one of which was not far from where I lived. It was a carpet factory recruiting draftsmen, which attracted me quite a lot.The other one is very special, the advertisement on the first half page of the newspaper is looking for creative people.Whether I'm creative or not, the ad itself was pretty creative, so I decided to give it a go.

It turned out that it was a job selling books, and I immediately quit.The host's eloquence is very good, he said: Please don't be prejudiced against salesmen, please tell me, who in this world is not a salesman?Everyone wants to attract the attention of others and to show their strengths.Isn't that right? I agree, what is the question selling?The relationship between people is for the benefit of both parties.But promoting certain commodities is only for self-interest.I offer my opinion. You are wrong, what we sell is knowledge, and knowledge is beneficial to the public.He said.

Yes, he's right, why should I presuppose?So I took the job.There were about a dozen people who came to apply at the same time as me, and they started training the next day. This company is called April Culture Publishing Company, which was established by the Brazilian government after the successful April Revolution in 1964. Its purpose is to improve the knowledge level of the Brazilian people.There is the latest second-generation phototypesetting equipment at that time, with a total of 5,000 employees, and more than 90 regular or irregular magazines, newspapers and various books are published every week.

We were in charge of promoting a variety of hardcover books, and their slogan was: Take the wine bottle out of the living room and replace it with a treasure trove of knowledge. There is a ten-story office building in the city center. The first floor is a travel agency, and many slogans are posted outside the door.Such as: certain A travels around Europe for free, or: certain B travels to Japan for a week, etc. How can there be such a business?I was puzzled after reading it, do travel agencies only serve these people? Once on the second floor, the mystery is revealed.The host told us that those lucky ones are salesmen just like us.As long as anyone's performance reaches a certain level, there will be various rewards, one of which is the free travel advertised downstairs.

On the front of the second floor, there is a tall wood-carved shelf, which is resplendently decorated, and there are Chinese-style double dragons holding pillars, which are mighty and vivid.A large copper gong with a diameter of about two meters is hung on the shelf, which looks very grand.The host proudly told us that it was a great honor to be able to strike that gong, because every time it was struck, the whole building would vibrate. Knock it for what?someone asked. Right and honor!You have to sell ten sets of books to knock one!said the host. Our classroom is on the second floor. The host said that these ten floors are all business departments, and the higher the floor, the higher the status.We can only enter the exclusive club upstairs after we sell the results.

As soon as I heard it, I knew that this kind of book must be extremely expensive, otherwise how could there be such a big show? Both sides of the aisle are covered with various good news, such as colored notes such as how many books a certain person sold in a day, with an attitude that selling books is as easy as selling newspapers.The more I look at it, the more I doubt it. It is so easy to be admitted, such good benefits, and so easy to sell grades. Isn't it gold everywhere?So, with all these successful salesmen, why is there a need for us?There must be fraud in it. Sure enough, after a day's class, I got the price list and realized that the secret lies in the price.A set of books is roughly equivalent to one or two months' salary of an ordinary worker, and the profit for each book sold is 50%!In other words, selling a set of books is equivalent to someone else's hard work for a month.

How could it possibly sell well?The host told us that the trick is the standard big trick! Sell ​​to your relatives, sell to your friends, sell to all your closest ones!You know, the person who trusts you the most is often the easiest to be fooled! So, I gave up my first choice and decided to paint carpets honestly.Since I didn't pick up the paintbrush often, and I didn't know if I was still competent, I practiced painting overnight. I practiced with still lifes first, and found that although the brushwork was jerky, the features were better grasped and I was quite confident.When I was painting, the Brazilians in the same dormitory flocked over and commented, each with their own opinions.

Can you draw something else?Suddenly someone asked. What are you drawing?I seldom made paintings in the past, and I was used to copying, so I never thought about this problem. Draw what comes to mind. I haven't tried it and am not confident.Suddenly, my heart lightened up. Even an ordinary Brazilian worker would ask this kind of question. What should I do if I encounter it when I apply for the job tomorrow? Anyway, it's a new beginning, why don't you try it first?I used to be too strong to do things that would embarrass myself.Now that even hippies have done it, they should be able to get rid of the shackles of vanity.

It is not difficult to draw, the difficulty lies in having a theme and then unfolding it step by step.I thought about it, people are often self-righteous, but in fact they are full of mistakes.If you take this as the theme and think about how to express it, it should be good.I know that my drawing skills are immature, my foundation is not enough, and I rely too much on vision, so I can't leave the entity.Now I have to fantasize out of thin air and have no material, so I have to be brave and go into battle shirtless! First of all, I don't seek perfection, as long as I can take the first step is enough.After thinking about it for a while, in terms of drawing people, it is not easy to draw facial details such as eyes, eyebrows and nose, let alone a good one.After pondering over and over again, I remembered the Indians in the cartoons, with a big eagle hooked nose which is very characteristic, and the long hair tied with a cloth belt, even the eyes can not be drawn.

According to the imaginary Indians, I drew some dynamic poses and modified them, which is quite like a cartoon.Then I considered how to express the aforementioned theme in the simplest way.After much deliberation, only the lines of the beach are easy to grasp, and the features of the coconut trees by the sea are also very concise.Thus, the comic background is finalized. Suppose an Indian, walking along the seashore on a hot day, soon felt very thirsty.He saw a tree full of strong coconuts, and tried to shake some coconuts to quench his thirst.While shaking, he suddenly saw some beautiful young girls nearby. He was so excited that he forgot where he was.In his fantasy, he went forward to peek at the girls, but unfortunately he was discovered. The girls picked up stones and chased after them angrily. The Indian's dream came true, but at this moment the coconut was shaken off by him, and it happened to fall on his head.He thought it was the girls who were chasing him, and he was so frightened that he ran away regardless of whether it was east, west, north or south. I drew this idea as a continuous short story, and I think it works well.The next day, I took this work with me to apply for a carpet painting job. It was a small, unremarkable factory. The boss was about fifty years old. He was very kind to me when he saw that I was Chinese.He said that he was a Jew, and the Jew only admired the Chinese, because we are both ancient civilizations, and we are both bullied by outsiders.The only difference is that we still have a country, while their Israel is still struggling today. He talked for a long time, and he almost regarded me as a good friend.Finally he remembered that I was here to apply for a job, and I showed him my work.After seeing it, he immediately said: You shouldn't be here!As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he realized that he was too enthusiastic, and hurriedly explained: I mean, of course I welcome your talent, let alone a Chinese?But painting a rug is too simple to require a high level of artistry. But in order to live, I need to work now.I said. I know, but you should go to April Culture Company, you can learn a lot there.There are the most amazing artists in the whole world, and the world of cartoon marketing they publish will only bury you here. Isn't April Company the company I applied to sell books?I told him the story of my last enlistment.He said: That's to make money from the rich. Rich people are a very strange group. They buy things just to show off how much money they have. The more expensive the better!We Jews know their psychology best, so we can survive.How about this, you work here first, and at the same time I will give you an address, which is the place where the company recruits employees in April.You try your luck, if you get admitted to April Company, you can leave at any time without hurting your feelings. With the mood of giving it a try, I went to the office and asked if they needed craftsmen.After all, my Brazilian language is not fluent enough, and I can't tell the difference between art work and art work, and I treat them as the same thing. The man gave me a form, which I filled out correctly.Then, he led me to a big classroom and gave me some questionnaires.I thought I was going to take a written test, and I thought it was probably hopeless.Unexpectedly, those were all intelligence tests, there were five or six types in total, all of them were graphics, and no words were used at all. After the exam, the man took me to another place that looked like a hospital, where there were many measuring instruments.A nurse came in shortly thereafter and gave me a lot of stability tests.The entire exam took almost a whole day, which fully proved their strict requirements and serious attitude. In the end, they told me to go home and wait, and said that if there is no news after ten days, it means that I have not been admitted. I'm confident in test scores, but not sure.The boss of the carpet factory listened to me and reassured me. He said that if you fail any subject, you will be exempted from the next subject. If you can take the test for one day, you will be admitted. I am working while waiting for news.Unfortunately, the boss guessed wrong. One month later, there was still no news. During the month of working in the carpet factory, I fully mastered the technique of drawing with graph paper.This provided a very beneficial experience for the Chinese computer work I was engaged in later, especially the design of the font library.Because I felt very peaceful in my heart and worked very happily, I got along well with the staff in the store early on, and gradually forgot about applying to April's company. One day, I suddenly received a notice from the April company, telling me to report to the head office in three days.The Jewish boss found out, and was happier than me. He blessed him again and again, and he didn't feel disobedient at all for my leaving his factory. The scale of the company in April is huge, and there are organizations with different functions in various places. The head office is in the suburbs of Beicheng, and there are transportation vehicles to pick it up every day.On the first day of reporting, I was overwhelmed by her magnificent momentum.It turns out that she is not just a company like a publishing house, she has her own printing factory, ink factory, paper factory, and even a variety of various large-scale related enterprises such as transportation companies and travel agencies. This is still limited by regulations. In order to avoid information monopoly, the government expressly stipulates that the April company is not allowed to operate newspapers, radio stations, and television projects.Even so, with its high turnover and abundant profits, it ranked 30th among the 100 largest companies in Brazil that year. When I arrived at the reception room, a very bright and generous reception lady told me everything in detail.At the end, she shook my hand and said: Welcome new partner, my name is Ava. My department is on the second floor, the name is the same as in English, it is PASTE UP, and it is pasted with paste when it is translated into Chinese!How is this going?I took the art test, but I ended up doing something to paste it with paste? Fortunately, I don't make any distinctions, and go with the situation, God wants me to come here, and I will. The head of the department was Miranda, about fifty years old, with a big beard, who looked a lot like Stalin.When he saw me, he looked at me warmly and smiled straight away. After looking at me for a long time, he didn't know whether I was sitting or standing. After a while, he asked: What are you doing here? I was at a loss as to what this department does.After his questioning, I was even more confused. Maybe I didn't understand the language and went to the wrong department. I thought it was for me to draw. ah?Then you are wrong, here is just PASTE UP, the painting is on the twelfth floor. So I picked up the materials on the table and prepared to go up to the twelfth floor. Miranda held out a finger humorously, shook it and said: No!no!When you apply, you apply for my department, and you cannot go to other places. I told them that I was applying for an art job.So, I took out the painting and showed it to him. ah!You got it wrong, you wanted to draw cartoons, didn't you? Yes.Finally clarified. So, don't you want to do our job? I don't care, anything is fine. Anything can be called? I will do whatever you give me. We don't paint here. Then I just don’t paint. real?How long are you going to do it? As long as you think I can do it, I'll keep doing it. interesting!He particularly elongated his voice, speaking each syllable separately. This riddle was not solved by Miranda until I expressed my desire to go back to China to study Chinese typewriters after working for more than a year. The reason is that the company has a complete personnel system, which is said to be the most scientific management method introduced from the United States.All applicants are required to take an intelligence and aptitude test. After the test, each candidate will get a score, and each department also has an upper and lower limit for admission scores. Because my points were far higher than the upper limit of his department, after passing the exam, the personnel department thought that I could not be hired.According to their judgment, people like me are often unable to give in, and it is impossible to stay here for a month. After Miranda knew about it, she became extremely interested in me.He has always disapproved of this rigid system, hoping to use me as a test to see how long I can do it.For this reason, he tried his best to the personnel department, and finally the labor decision-makers came forward to coordinate, so it dragged on for a month.Luckily I didn't let him down, and until I left, my attendance and hours were better than the average in their department. The work of this department is actually the completion of the draft, from layout editing, to content proofreading, text and graphic materials pasting, until the completion of the layout and delivery to printing. There are ten editorial staff, divided into two groups, our group has seven people, responsible for more than 50 kinds of publications every week; there is another group of three people downstairs, responsible for various books and weekly newspapers. On the first day, I was assigned only one newsletter, and within an hour I was done.Another job was added the next day.A month later, I was in charge of fifteen magazines by myself.Among them, the most skilled ones are astronomy and a book of organic chemistry, and some symbols and graphics must be carefully arranged.I have learned more work concepts from these jobs than I have learned from school textbooks. I got a stable job, bought a car, moved to an apartment near the company, and had a space for my own life.This is the first time in my life that I feel the warmth of home. Although the home is deserted and there is only one person, there are still things to do.I still maintain the lifestyle I had when I was a hippie. There is only one mattress in the room and some foam plastic as a sofa.And what I am busy with is to pick up some meaningful content from some old magazines collected by the company in April, and compile them into a collection by myself for self-study. However, time is still inexhaustible, and human troubles always come from time.Not enough time is certainly stressful and anxious, but too much time can also cause people to fidget and live like a year. I am well aware of the truth, people want to get married just to pass the excessive time.But when the novelty wears off and the two live together, time remains the same.At this time, not only is the time difficult to pass, but even freedom is lost.If there is a new member in the family, the little life is another kind of time consumer, and the person is tied up and cannot move.But under all the busy schedules, I can finally turn the anguish of time constraints into another kind of annoyance. For example, people sit with their legs crossed a lot, which I find to be evidence of a mutual bondage.Because the center of gravity of a person is on the thighs when sitting, the two legs can move left and right. Even if the two legs clearly belong to the same person, the pressure on the left and right legs will be different due to the difference in the distribution of the center of gravity.At this time, people can't stop wanting to move, but they can't get any satisfactory feeling.If the legs are crossed and neither leg can move, no matter how pressure is, whether it is comfortable or not, it cannot move anyway, and the legs will not move.Once you get used to it, when you sit down, your legs will naturally fold together. The same is true for starting a family. If a person does not try to tie himself up, he will be uncomfortable in the house. I don't want to be tied up, at least after the golden light, I have lost the longing I used to have.What's more, I have too much desire and too little time. I am always busy in various activities. I found a church with a choir, and of course they sang much worse than a conservatory.I became the licorice of the choir again, singing from tenor to baritone to mezzo-soprano to soprano.As a result, people from various amateur choirs continued to invite me to join.How could I bear to say no to the seven days of the week?There was even a choir that offered me the condition that I would choose the time for singing practice! Brazilians really love music, but for some reason, they just can't read music.The only explanation is that they regard chorus singing as a pastime, as a friendship, and they are unwilling to work hard.When practicing singing, of course there is no problem with old tunes.But in order to turn new pieces into old ones, members of the orchestra must first memorize the score, which takes a lot of effort from the orchestra conductor. There is a female colleague Fatima in the proofreading room. She is very beautiful, but she looks arrogant and rarely interacts with her colleagues.One day, she suddenly took the initiative to come to me and asked me to drink coffee.Although my popularity is good, my attitude towards her is the same as that of other colleagues, keeping a distance for safety. I accepted her invitation with trepidation, and she got straight to the point, and the first thing she said was to invite me to join their choir.The big stone in my heart was put down, but because the time was already full, I had to politely refuse. You can't refuse, because I asked, you are studying music! But I promise other choirs will come first! You call those choirs?She really put in some effort and actually recited all the groups I joined. Why not?I can't help but admire her. We are a professional choir, as famous as your Bahia idyll! This made me look at it with admiration. I was not able to participate in the pastoral choir back then, which has always been my heart disease.How could I easily let go of such a good opportunity today?However, I can't break my promise to other people, and I can't say: Your standards are not enough, I want to transfer to a professional choir! Fatima knew my situation, she said: You don't have to worry about other choirs, those conductors are students of Fermi.About you, they recommended it! Who is Fermi? You still study music?I don't even know him! I don't even know much about my classmates and teachers.I am telling the truth. Fermi is a giant in the music world, having previously conducted at the National Theatre. It should be easy to find someone, because all Brazilians can sing. We have always been short of bass, without bass, Fermi refused to conduct. This is true, boys like to sing high notes, and the choir has no bass, so there is no chord tension.In particular, Brazil has followed the European style and often sings without accompaniment. If there is no accompaniment and no bass, it cannot be called chorus.My timbre is not deep enough, but it has one advantage, that is, the volume is loud.Due to the relationship between Qi training, I once sang the long tone of eight measures of the slow board in one breath. Generally, the orchestra always uses two groups of people to take turns to sing. The one I am most embarrassed to quit is the choir that cooperated with me to change the time.Unexpectedly, it was the conductor who strongly recommended me. He was a member of the Fatima troupe and also sang bass.He even said that if Fermi is willing to come out, he will also decide to return to the team. I have forgotten the name of this choir, and even less remember the names of the members, because when we are together, we rarely call each person by their name, and only use the tone to represent a certain person.My name is LA under the middle C, and when they want to call me, they lower their voices and sing LA. The most interesting thing is that after a performance, everyone went to a bar to drink and have fun.We called FA MI DO LA back and forth as usual, but unexpectedly, a few notes happened to make up a popular song, and the audience sang it all at once.We laughed together, but the person who sang was inexplicable. Being with people with similar interests, that kind of joy can only be experienced personally, which cannot be expressed in words.At any moment, as long as someone plays a note, there are often singing voices to complement it.The trouble is that sometimes several people call out at the same time, and they happen to form a tonality, and some ignorant people will sing indiscriminately.Not sure how the birds call to each other, maybe it's so noisy all day long. Once, everyone booed and asked me to teach them how to cook Chinese food.I did my part, and in order to convince them, I decided to teach the theory first.They all like to eat Chinese food, and when You Qi heard that there was a theory, everyone gathered around. In fact, the theory is very simple. It is nothing more than using human senses to make proper adjustments with the nature of food with the four senses of sight, smell, taste, temperature, teeth, tongue and throat.People's sensory valves are often dulled by repeated stimuli, and blending is to make reasonable changes within the limits of various senses and food. Visually, in addition to the natural color of the food, we should also pay attention to the relationship between the added color and human psychology. For example, darker color means saltier, and lighter color means bland. In terms of smell, it should be known that plants have aromatic hydroxyls, and their fragrances are somewhat light and some are heavy. The light ones can be mixed, and the heavy ones should be avoided.To make the aroma rich, it is best to add an appropriate amount of seasoning wine, because when the wine is at about 70 degrees Celsius, the gas evaporates quickly, which is conducive to the feeling. In terms of taste, sweet taste is thick, but too much will make it greasy, salty taste should be the main factor, if too much, it will be bitter, other sour, spicy and numb tastes vary from person to person, and are stimulating factors.Because meat and vegetables have their own structural characteristics, some flavors can penetrate deep into the tissue, while others can only adhere to the surface.Therefore, it is advisable to determine the seasoning according to the situation, and at the same time, factors such as heat and cooking methods should also be considered. In terms of temperature perception, for hot food, it is better to eat with more fragrance, because the heat can make the fragrance radiate; for cold food, it is better to eat with heavy flavor, because the smell is not easy to feel when the temperature is low, and the food with fishy, ​​sweet and sour taste is the most suitable. As for the cooking method of food, it is nothing more than making it fully cooked, tasty, fully mixed and changing its nature.Cookers must first understand the various properties of food in order to obtain the desired results.The properties of food, such as soft, hard, slippery, crisp, tough, soft, crisp, and melting, are closely related to the above three senses. The above conditions are understood, and then the choice of processing method: frying, frying, roasting, roasting, deep-frying, braising, boiling, steaming, stewing, etc., each method will produce different effects, and it is also inseparable from the nature of the food. Finally, there are pre- and post-processing and heating. The preparation methods, soaking and heating times required for each food are different.It is necessary to be able to grasp factors such as shape, size, rottenness, and concentration to determine the ideal method. If you just talk but don't practice, it is impossible to master it properly, so I gave a general introduction and prepared to demonstrate it.When talking about the theory, the men listened with great interest, but the ladies were already eager to try it.As soon as he heard that he was going to do something, the men immediately ran away, showing their true colors. Because of the large number of people, I taught them to cook two dishes at the same time, one is spicy chicken and the other is borscht. These are ready-made ingredients I can find. I boiled a pot of water first, and then taught them how to chop vegetables. By the way, I prepared the seasoning and put it aside.Explained the process, and then divided into two groups, one for soup and one for stir-frying. At this time, the previously boiled water was about to boil, I put the frying pan on another stove, added vegetable oil, and prepared to let the stir-fried diced chicken be served first.Then I will teach the soup cook how to serve the dishes, so as to make an excellent, fragrant and full-flavored borscht. Fatima and two other sopranos were originally scheduled to fry chicken. Their address happened to be the tonic of a group of major chords, DO MI SOL. Because MI was right next to me, of course I called her first, so I Say: Now MI, SOL, DO, to Before finishing speaking, the male voices next door immediately sang Verdi's triumphal march along with the melody of MI SOL DO.In an instant, they all sang in harmony and were impassioned. The fire was still burning on the stove, and the oil was almost hot.But when the music sounded, some people here also had itchy throats and lost interest in cooking. One by one, they ran to the next door and started singing. I kept yelling, just like background singing, which added to the atmosphere of the music.The water on the left is boiling, and the lid of the pot seems to be inspired by the music, and it keeps lifting up.The hot oil in the pan on the right burst into flames immediately. It was nothing but commonplace in restaurant kitchens.But this is a house. There is no range hood in the kitchen of a foreign house, and the ceiling is very low. Once the flames rise up, the room will be full of smoke in an instant. While still yelling, I lowered my head, trying to find the stove switch, and was in a hurry.The vocalists next door knew that something was wrong when they saw the flames soaring into the sky.By the time the fire was extinguished, the roof was charred black. Our grand concert was held at the National Theater in Sao Paulo.The poster in front of the theater alone is several stories high.Because it was the first performance of Fermi's comeback, everyone was very nervous, fearing that something might go wrong. Fermi was only in his fifties, but he had gray hair.He and Wiedemann are two completely different types. His emotions are rich, and his way of interpretation is very dramatic.Once when practicing singing, in order to achieve a musical effect, he ordered all the furniture in the room to be moved out.After moving, everyone was so exhausted that he couldn't breathe, but he insisted on starting practice immediately. Fatima protested repeatedly, but Fermi remained unmoved and raised his baton.It turned out to be a small section, and I practiced for two hours.Everyone complained, but he ignored it until he was satisfied, and then said: You have to listen carefully, isn't it different? Fatima retorted bluntly: Our heartbeat was too fast because of moving things before, and now it's back to normal! Regardless of that, I just ask you, is it different? Of course it is different! Where is the difference? Everyone began to express their own opinions, and one thing is generally accepted, that is, the breath was uneven at the beginning, and it was difficult to sing very lightly.He kept shaking his head, no matter what the answer was, he always said no. Finally, when everyone was speechless, he said: I did it on purpose, why do I need to move things out?Can the concert venue be changed?Can't you sing if it doesn't change?Because you have just finished moving things and want to rest, but I don't allow it, so you feel uncomfortable, so you can't sing well.Why did you sing it in the end?It's because I know I can't escape and I have to sing, so my heart finally settles down.Of course I know that the more you sing, the more you feel annoyed, even more dissatisfied than moving things, isn't it? Every word Fermi said was in the bottom of my heart.Everyone had nothing to say, but Fermi went on to say: Only when people are truly immersed in music, can the heart be peaceful and the essence of music flow out.I just want you to experience it yourself, which can also be said to be a small test. Fortunately, you can still calm down within two hours, which shows that you really like music.Otherwise, facing a large group of wild cats named Chun, I wouldn't bother fooling around with you. After he finished speaking, Fatima stuck out her tongue and said: So you wanted to get rid of us, but you used such obscene means! Fermi suddenly raised his hands and said: In the eighth measure, the third and fourth hands immediately sink down.We instinctively sang that beautiful melody in unison and softly. How about it?I'm right!You know, music is everything and the true meaning of life! In order to make the music flow out, we practiced hard for half a year, and it really was completely different from what we felt at the Bahia Conservatory of Music.But I also paid a lot of price. In his program list, there are folk songs from all over the world.For this reason, I had to practice the pronunciation of various characters, and I had to swallow the characters alive without knowing the meaning at all. Our orchestra is divided into four parts, each with four members, a total of sixteen members.That performance lasted for three days, with one show per day, and each show was divided into two parts, each about an hour long. Due to Fermi's popularity, the tickets were sold out long ago, and each of us was issued a new uniform, which is very handsome and practical.Especially the black flared trousers, I don't know what kind of material they are made of, they are cool and airy in summer.Later, I wore it back to Taiwan from Brazil, and then to the United States, until it was so thin and transparent that the light could pass through it, and then it was honorably retired. St. Paul's Theater is in the center of the city, on the right side of the city hall.It was an eighteenth-century building with carved beams and painted buildings, antique and fragrant.The interior is truly resplendent, and all the chairs are made of mahogany inlaid with gold.When you step on the fluffy carpet with your feet, it's like walking on clouds. In order to understand the sound effects in the theater, we were divided into two groups. One group practiced singing on the stage, and the other group went to every corner to listen carefully.According to Fermi, the bass travels far and the treble fades quickly, so everyone has to feel it and adjust for themselves. The theater was originally designed for singing operas. The audience can accommodate more than a thousand people. Only the common seats at the back have four floors, and there are boxes on both sides.For the first time in my life, I was sitting in a box, and I was about to slowly enjoy the performance on the stage. Unexpectedly, Fermi had sharp eyes and shouted: Chinese!You are not an aristocrat, what are you doing?Go find the sound effects! His yell was clearly audible in the audience, but the wonderful thing was that there was no echo, and the fidelity was extremely high. It wasn't until our group auditioned that I realized that the feelings on and off the stage were completely different.The voice from the stage sounded normal off the stage, so I thought it was no different from the usual singing practice.When I got to the stage and sang, my voice disappeared without a trace, and I couldn't help but want to raise the volume. careful!careful!Leave your ears alone, or it will be a roar.After the audience came in for a while, those guys were like sound absorbers, and the sound was absorbed as soon as it went out, which was even worse than it is now.So pay attention, you sing as you usually practice, and don't be affected by the environment, otherwise it will not be music, but a cow cry. These teachings from him are valuable experiences. Although I don't have a deep relationship with music, I have learned a lot. This concert was very successful, I sang several places wrong, and the others were not much better.But newspaper critics all gave very high evaluation, Fermi was very excited and said that he would take us to perform in Europe. It's a pity that I didn't have this kind of luck. Not long after, I quit the choir because I decided to go back to China to study Chinese, and I was actually reprimanded by Fatima for a while. The period in the April company was equivalent to the stage of my personal self-adjustment. Because of my peace of mind, I didn’t ask for anything, so there was no trouble in the ancient well, and my life was very smooth. After my own problems were gone, I realized that everyone had problems, even Miranda was no exception.He likes to chat with me, because I know what he is thinking, and I can comfort him by insinuating. Miranda's problem is that he wants to climb the ranks. He is considered an old man in the company. He is currently the manager, responsible for all the business of the printing department, and has more than one hundred staff members under him.The problem he faces is not only to beware of others robbing this position, but also to deliberately climb up.I live in struggle all day long, full of troubles. I asked him: If you get promoted again, what position will you be in? Publishing Associate. Is that location safer? hehe!Are you kidding me!Of course, the higher you go, the harder you fight. So aren't you asking for trouble? However, the income will be more, who doesn't want to make more money! Then you think money can make you happy.I asked. Of course, don't you work for the money?He asked me back.Then he said: With money, you can enjoy life. Do you not understand or are you talking to me? What do you enjoy?Is it money or life?Or is it more of an annoyance?I will ask again. Of course it is life, but what to do?Waiting for others to drive yourself away? No, you just need to suggest to the company to automatically reduce salary and increase workload, and see who will come to grab it! He was a wise man and never mentioned these things to me again. Other colleagues also have problems, whether it is money or relationship.People always want to get more, but they don't know that if they get more points, they will give more points.It is always too little when you get it, but you are stingy when you give it. It just corresponds to what is said in the book "Dream of Red Mansions": there is more behind you and you forget to shrink your hands, and there is no way to turn back in front of you. There is a colleague who works very hard and often works overtime automatically.When I work overtime, I am often accompanied by a beautiful girl who envies other colleagues in the office. Because he wants to get married, he plans to earn more money so that he can buy a house.I remember one time he took me to see the house. It was a villa-type community with white walls and red roofs next to a small park near the company.房子建得精巧，多數是三房兩廳，最適合小家庭居住。 這裡已經住了不少同事，四月公司為了安定員工，早與建築公司談妥。買房有長期低利貸款，還有折扣優待，非常理想。我們看了都很滿意，他勸我也買一棟，我覺得自己方向未定，歸屬不知，買了恐怕成為負擔。他精挑細選，看中了一戶面對公園的二樓雙拼，興沖沖地準備在星期天與他的未婚妻一同來辦手續。 到了週一上班時，我看到他一副很懊惱的樣子，知道一定是買房子出了問題。 簽約了嗎？I asked him. How unreasonable!她不同意，她說離她上班的地方太遠！ 聖市範圍很大，有一千萬人口，我們公司在西北端，他未婚妻則在市中心工作，從這兒開車過去，要花一個多小時。 房子多得很，再另外找吧。我安慰他。 為什麼她這樣自私呢？只顧她自己？ 你要同情她，每天在路上浪費兩個小時，實在不值得。 誰叫她的工作那樣遠呢？如果離她近，我上班就遠了。 她是女孩子，你應該體諒她！ 她應該體諒我呀！我的工作比她辛苦。 為了愛情，犧牲一點吧。人的私心不去，還談什麼愛呢？我不便拆穿他。 為了愛情，她才應該犧牲！了不起我再找一個。 我不再勸他了，有什麼用呢？人如果沒有判斷力，讓他去磨練吧！ 自此以後，我再也沒見到他加班，自然也沒再見到那位美麗姑娘的倩影。 在工作上，由於我效率太高的結果，大家不再像從前那樣忙碌。奇怪的是有些同事過些時就失蹤了。這裡待遇極好，福利也不錯，是不是公司為了我又開除了別人？果真如此，那我又犯了老毛病了。 我去問米朗達，他嘆了口氣，說：他們都是自動辭職的，我們部門的流動性很大，近幾年市面上各種雜誌、書籍越來越多，剪貼技術的人才奇缺。當初之所以不敢用你，也是怕你學會了就跳巢，那我們又多了一個敵人。放心，不是你搶了他們的飯碗，而是你幫我們解決了不少問題。現在只因你不是巴西人，所以升職的事還在考慮，遲早不會虧待你的。 我倒不在乎工作職位，只要不是因為我，害得別人失業就夠了。不久，我被升為本組的小組長，統籌處理各種相應的工作。 我不敢再提高工作效率，但是又閒不下來。有天我們整理工作環境，發現有很多短小的鉛筆，已經無法使用，丟掉又太可惜。我靈機一動，便利用多餘的時間，用鉛筆的一端，做人像的微雕。 這一來，我成了搶手貨，每天都有人跑來向我要雕像。尤其是隔間校對部有好幾十個人，他們除了核心組員外，其餘大部分是兼差。有的是學校老師，有的還是自由作家或其他與文學有關的人仕。 從事文學工作者大半為女性，而且大都靈秀可愛，所以我特別喜歡與他們部門來往。有一次，他們有個聚會，與會者多半是些作家，我也在被邀之列。當然，我很識趣，身上帶了一把美工雕刀以及很多短鉛筆。 當他們在討論文學之時，我無緣置喙，便在一旁速雕。 後來，有人問到我對文學的看法如何。我當然喜歡，但是限於語彙，他們又老是咬文嚼字的，教我難以啟口。 我看過不少名著，但都是中文翻譯本，連原名都不知道，更何況巴西文？有人說，沒有關係，如果能用英語拼出來，他們或許能夠猜到。 於是一場異國的元宵燈謎開始了，我能說得出來的幾本，都不知如何啟口。突然間我想到，英國的偵探名著《福爾摩斯探案》應該很容易說，福爾摩斯必定是從FORMOST 直接音譯過來的。 因此，我說有部英國的偵探小說《福爾摩斯》，他們猜了半天，我則應用各種想得到的方式，把福、摩斯的排列組合，一一唸出，仍然沒有人知道。他們叫我用寫的，我卻根本不知道原文為何。 第一個燈謎失敗了，他們叫我再換一個，我想起大仲馬的《三劍客》（或稱《俠隱記》），大仲馬是法國人，其子小仲馬即《茶花女》的作者，父子二人皆屬於文學史上浪漫時代。即使我說不清楚，至少他們可以猜出來。看看每一個人的神色，我知道，為了表現對我雕像的感激，他們很希望能猜對一題。 大仲馬怎麼拼呢？大小尚可以解釋是父子二人，他們頗能領悟。大家互傳，法國的父子二人，總算猜對了一半，大家都很興奮。然後他們提了很多書名，很抱歉，我一個也聽不懂。我告訴他們，有部作品，是鬥劍的俠客，還表演了一下鬥劍的動作，然後說有三個。他們更是高興，三個那樣的玩意，然後呢？大家依然諱莫如深。 回國後我才注意到中文的各種譯名非常紊亂，《福爾摩斯》原名Sherlock Holmes，與福爾摩斯毫無關連。至於仲馬則為Dumas，這種笑話實在讓我自己都覺得丟人。 後來我到大陸工作，在教學時便引用這段往事，並強調凡是沒有把握的事，千萬不要妄求表現。同時我也抱怨，巴西那些作家連《三劍客》這種名著都猜不到，枉費我表演了半天。我的結論是，人應該多一點想像力。 那時有個美國學生萬華德也在深圳隨我學習，在聽了我以英語說的三劍客後，表情非常詫異，請我再說一遍。 我的英語本不強，單字尤其記得不多，對這個字卻是記憶猶深，便很有信心地說：Three Mosquitos！ 他聽了，失聲大笑，笑得人仰馬翻，笑到最後，居然跌落地上。 他一向對我尊敬無比，怎麼會突然變得這樣失態？人人驚愕之際，他也發覺了，只好必恭必敬地解釋道： 朱先生，Mosquito 是蚊子！ 三隻蚊子？那劍客呢？難道是我記錯了？ 劍客是Musketeer。