Chapter 11 eleven

In the afternoon of the next day, I really knocked on Aurelia's door on time and brought a big paper bag. The door opened, and a white-haired woman in her fifties appeared in front of me. I guessed at a glance that she was Aurelia's mother. The old lady had heard her daughter talk about me about a long time ago, with a smile all over her face, she said kindly: Is it Mr. Lin?Please come in and sit down!She's still upstairs, let me get her down! We just walked into the guest room when there was a rush of stairs, and Aurelia flew down like a black butterfly. I looked at her, her oval face was freshly covered with a thin layer of powder, exuding a very fresh radiance.Her blond curls, which seemed to have been freshly lathered, were neatly and beautifully combed.She wore a black pleated skirt underneath, a black long-sleeved sweater on her upper body, and a purple-red fleece shirt with an open collar.In this black attire, I found her beauty that I hadn't glimpsed before: a solemn and noble beauty!It can't be said that there is no demeanor.In terms of her solemnity, I vaguely seem to see the epitome of the heroic appearance of Empress Catherine in the old Russian era.

I tried my best to calm myself down, handed the big paper bag to her, and said with a smile: According to our oriental habits, or Chinese habits, when a person meets a new friend and visits her home for the first time, he must bring some gifts, which is considered polite.So I bring a little something to your mother today.According to what you Westerners are used to, this may not be very appropriate.But today, I hope you will temporarily follow our oriental rules and take this little thing away, so that I can be a guest at your home happily and freely.Otherwise, I'd be embarrassed. When I finished reciting this set of diplomatic words (I have already recited this set of words several times at home), the old woman couldn't help laughing, she grabbed my arm like a loving mother, and shook my head. Shaking said:

I often hear people say that the Chinese are the most polite and polite nation, and all Chinese are experts in politeness, and today I got a proof.We couldn't accept Mr. Lin's gift, but since you insisted that we abide by the habits of the Orientals for the time being, we had no choice but to obey.However, next time you come, please do not use this oriental habit again. When the old lady finished speaking, we all laughed. The conversation begins with the laughter.Everything is full of joy and liveliness. At this time, the first Five-Year Plan had not yet been completed, and the local people's life was not very affluent, and their daily food was quite poor.Better food is sold to foreign travelers at high prices in exchange for US dollars, which is not easy for locals to get.Knowing this situation, I specially bought some more delicate foods, such as butter, sausage, ham, sardines, chocolate candies, etc., to give them.Needless to say, it's been a long time since they've had such goodies.Therefore, when the old lady opened my big paper bag and found so many delicacies, even though she had to suppress her joy due to politeness and upbringing, she still showed a little bit of it inadvertently.Aurelia didn't say anything, she just kept peeking at me, as if she had something on her mind.

My gift this time is mainly to please Aurelia's mother.Although I hate the philistine style, social experience tells me: If you want to win the favor of your daughter, you must first win the favor of your mother, otherwise, she will stand between you and her like a mountain.I don't have the qualifications of a Yugong, and I don't want to be an old Yugong, so I have to temporarily convert to materialism.The latter's solid argument is that five pounds of ham is far more important to old ladies than a month's greetings or morals.Now, from her countenance, I see the repulsion and loveliness of this argument.

The old woman looked me over from head to toe, smiled and said: Mr. Lin, your body is really big, just like a Russian soldier.I have never seen such a strong oriental as you. Aurelia told her: I came here with Ma Zhanshan, a famous Chinese anti-Japanese general. We used to fight the Japanese army in the northeast for a long time, and we were very brave and good at fighting.I am also a brave general among the brave generals, and I have made a lot of military exploits. The old lady had heard about the arrival of General Ma Zhanshan and his entourage in Tomsk. At this moment, she felt honored to be able to see a Chinese soldier with her own eyes.When she learned that my rank was colonel, she was more attentive to me.

It's amazing to be a colonel at such a young age. She said happily, and went to the kitchen to make coffee for me, asking her daughter to accompany me. I smiled at Aurelia: I thank you very much!You have done for me with your mother what the best advertiser can do.How would you like me to express my thanks? She didn't speak, just smiled. Sorry, if you don't answer, I will answer for you.You (referring to me) must continue to visit us in the future, and often visit us to express your thanks!Do you agree with this answer? She didn't speak, but still smiled. On this day, I had a great time at her house and was very satisfied.I'm not stupid, I see it clearly: her mother has a crush on me.She quite appreciated my civility, and thought me a well-educated gentleman and officer.In fact, this is my momentary inspiration and courtesy.God knows what a half-civilized person I am!What I hate most in my life is the hypocrisy of the English gentleman.

Leaving Aurelia's house, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep that night. I began to seriously consider the question before me. If Aurelia and I were really acting, the play would have come to an end with the current scene. If she and I are not acting, what will happen if our relationship continues to develop?What is the future of our relationship? I have already clearly seen that this girl really has a good impression of me, as long as I make good use of this good impression, let it develop freely, and sooner or later I can win all her affection.But so what if you win?So what if you can't win?What about our future prospects?

At this time, my mood was a bit contradictory.Intellectually, I would very much like our adventure to be terminated as soon as possible, with no unpleasantness for either party, at most a little displeasure.And this feeling of dismay can prevent this joke from becoming real. However, emotionally, I can't bear to let go resolutely. To be honest, I can't escape the magic of this girl!As long as I'm still in Tomsk, as long as she doesn't understand that she hates me, I can't leave her forever, separate her. Man is a poor animal. Unless he can train himself to be a stone, he cannot be a prisoner of his emotions.

According to my current situation, my situation is terrible loneliness and distress.In Tomsk, although there are nearly 20,000 companions, there is not a single friend who can talk to me, let alone a person who really understands me.I, a desperado who lost my motherland, left home when I was seven or eight years old.For more than 20 years, a heart has been rolling among thorns and being stabbed bloody.Almost never a loved one's fingers touched it, and never a maiden's lips actually kissed it.I am so alone, so desolate.I need friendship and warmth so badly, especially that of a girl.

As for the future prospects of this friendship and warmth, at present, I can't think much about it at all.The future is a vague word, I can know tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, but I can't predict next year, later, or ten years later.Our war of resistance in the Northeast has failed, and China itself is in dire straits. How can we spare any energy to help South Korea recover?The prospect of the entire nation is uncertain, so what eternal and happy future does an individual have?However, this does not prevent me from pursuing the shorter gleams of happiness.A person cannot think too much, too far, he must live in the naked reality.When the real rhododendrons bloom all over the spring field, we should appreciate and be intoxicated in its color and fragrance.

In my vision, Aurelia is just such a rhododendron. In this icy and snowy land in the foreign land of Tomsk, even if it’s just to relieve my loneliness and adjust my boring life, I still want to hold on to Aurelia’s friendship and enjoy it as much as possible. Yes, I must never give up Aurelia's friendship, I must never give up! This thought is the conclusion of my sleepless night. With this conclusion, I continued to hunt Aurelia's friendship, chasing it like a deer or a rabbit, trying to capture it.I'm sorry to use such an indecent verb as hunting.But I was so new to the place, and my personal situation was so embarrassing, that I had to deal with reality without a little tact.Besides, it's not surprising that men and women sometimes use scheming with each other. For more than two weeks after this, I tried to use every opportunity to meet her, at her home, at school, and in cafes.On average, once every two days.However, although I tried my best to increase our contact opportunities, I also tried to appear relaxed and natural, so that she would not feel that I was pestering her for no reason. I have read Red and Black, and I admire the art of Stendhal, a master.But I don't quite agree with the protagonist Julien's love style.But in many love occasions in society, Julien's style is a reality.Whether you like it or not, men and women do exhibit this style sometimes.A few years ago, I met several women in China, and they wanted to conquer me with this style, so I had to run away. Now, because I am at an absolute disadvantage in reality, I want to make a quick decision, and get all of O's early. Emotions, sometimes, I have to think that I am a bit despicable, more or less, playing with Julien's tricks, because I have a potential opponent, Vasily.God knows, I haven't seen him until now. I think: A good rider who is good at controlling a horse will use various methods to restrain it.Make it lean, docile, and submissive, but don't make it feel like you're restraining it.Until the end, Ma willingly accepted his restraint. Women are sometimes a bit like horses. If a man wants to be a good lover, he must first learn to be a good rider. However, all this is just an episode of love, but it should not be the main theme. Aurelia is indeed a lovely girl.She has many girls' strengths but none of their weaknesses.What delights me the most about her (it can be said that what fascinates me the most) is not her beauty, but her wisdom and emotion. In some ways, she is exactly like a nun in a Spanish monastery in the Middle Ages, extremely pure and quiet.She happily sits next to you quietly, listening to you quietly, without interjecting a word or opening a mouth, as gentle as a little Persian cat. In some places, she is like an ancient Greek philosopher, sensitively observing everything, capturing everything, and then asking questions about them one by one, and then answering them.When I touched on some philosophical issues, her understanding was amazing.There was not a single word I said that was not thoroughly chewed by her. (I will get more confirmation on this later.) She is a student of literature, and her main character is also literary. To put it simply, she is a lover of beauty and an appreciator. There are no images in the field of art, and she cannot appreciate and enjoy them. The attraction of her beauty to me is temporary, but the attraction of her intelligence and feelings is permanent and irremovable. I am very familiar with the local environment in Tomsk.In this kind of space, there is such a soul that is not in harmony with the soil and scenery, such a delicate flower that cannot be more delicate, I naturally gradually became curious, and after continuous observation, I finally discovered her secret . One day, when her mother was not at home, I went to her house to play, looked at some photos of Polish landscapes on the four walls of the living room, and then looked at the photos of the great Polish writer Sinkwij and a Chinese soldier in the uniform of the Polish Defense Forces. (she told me it was her deceased father), I suddenly turned my head and asked her: Miss Aurelia, please forgive me for asking a very presumptuous question.I guess you are not Russian! What country do you think I am from?she asked with a smile. I thought you were Polish. How do you see it?she asked deliberately. My reasons are many.In order to collect these reasons, I made a lot of effort to observe.Now, this portrait finally solved the mystery for me.I ask you: are you Polish? She nodded, looking slightly miserable. Why didn't you tell me earlier? I'm afraid you misunderstand. What misunderstanding? The Polish nation has always been despised by others. What reason do people have to despise the Polish nation?Isn't it an independent and free country now? But Poland has been partitioned three times in the past, and for a long time she was the slave of others! You may not believe it, but among the women in the world, I admire Polish women the most, and this is definitely not a direct compliment to your face. Why?she asked with a smile. This is because in nearly a hundred years, Poland has produced one of the greatest women! who? Marie Curie! She did not speak, and a pious radiance radiated from her face.After a while, she sighed softly and said: Madame Curie was indeed an extraordinary woman! ． At this time, I was moved by an indescribable emotion, and I said excitedly: Madame Curie was not only unusual, she was simply indescribably great, sublime.Not only in modern women, but also in men, I seldom see such a great and noble soul.Maybe because she is Polish, the French government deliberately gave her all kinds of neglect and belittling, but as long as there are human beings on the earth, Madame Curie's greatness will coexist with mountains and rivers. I told her: why I especially admire Madame Curie. The great scientist Einstein once said these two sentences.He said: Among all the celebrities, Marie Curie is the only one whose reputation has not been ruined!Although these two sentences are very simple, they can express the great personality of Mrs. Curie to the point.Just think about it, in history, among the so-called celebrities and heroes throughout the ages, who is more or less unaffected by fame, and who can be as unaffected by fame as Madame Curie?Madame Curie not only hated fame, but hated it and shunned it. When the first Nobel Prize was awarded to the Curies, on the day of accepting the certificate and the prize, Madame Curie wrote a letter to her brother, which said: Half of the Nobel Prize has been donated to us, I don't know the exact amount, but I think it's about 70,000 francs, which is certainly a large sum for us.I don't know when the money will be received, but perhaps it will be when we go to Stohholm.We still have to give a lecture there six months after December 10th. We are entangled in letters, and visits from photographers and journalists, and if there is a place to drill, we would like to find a little peace in it.The US side gave us a suggestion, asking us to go there and give a systematic speech to report on our research work.They asked how much we were paid.Whatever the terms, we had to decline, and we did everything we could to avoid the feast of honor that was thrown for us, and when we declined, they knew there was nothing to be done. I kiss you dearly and beg you not to forget me. The letter is so lovely and she shows the depth of a great soul. When they received the Nobel Prize, except for keeping a part of their own necessary expenses, the rest helped others.They sent 20,000 Austrian coins to a friend to help him start a nursing home.They gave gifts to many Polish students, Marie Curie's childhood friends, laboratory assistants, etc.They help with a girl's tuition.There is an old French lady who once taught French to Marie Curie in Poland. She has been living in Poland. Her biggest dream in life is to see her hometown, France, once again.Marie Curie remitted a sum of money for her travel expenses and paid for her round-trip expenses, which made her realize this dream. There is no end to the greatness of Madame Curie. Poland has such a great woman, which is enough to be proud of the whole world! You just said that other nations would despise Poland, who would dare to despise Poland? After listening to my words, she was very excited and moved. She looked at me with fiery eyes and said in a low voice: I never imagined that you knew so much about Madame Curie that you even memorized her letters. At this point, she stopped talking and swallowed several words that she didn't say, and only stared at me with eyes full of affection. I smiled lightly and said: As for Madame Curie, I have read all the biographies and zero articles I could find, and some of them are very moving, I have memorized them all. I know very little about the radium invented by Madame Curie, but about The man who invented radium, I know as much as I can.You know the greatest event in Madame Curie's life, right? She nodded. This kind of thing, no matter how many times people repeat it, they will never get tired of it. I will repeat another anecdote about Madame Curie After telling the story of Madame Curie, we all fell into silence for a while, and no one wanted to say anything more. I broke the silence with the following words. Among modern scientists, there are very few who worked as hard as Madame Curie and accomplished an invention in spite of all difficulties.After such indescribable hardships and all kinds of hardships, after completing a great invention, he was able to disclose his invention immediately without any compensation. This is a unique example in modern history! After a pause, I continued: When Madame Curie completed this great invention and showed her great spirit, her motherland, Poland, was still under the iron heels of Germany, Russia, and Austria, and Madame Curie was an out-and-out subjugated slave and a desperado.This is really a great irony for those powerful countries. She held her breath and listened to me. Strange to say, the two great men in modern times were both subjugated slaves who lost their motherland.These two great men, one is a man: he is Gandhi; the other is a woman: she is Madame Curie! According to my deduction, if we really want to find a saint, we can only find it among the subjugated slaves.In a powerful country, it is relatively difficult to find! She took a breath and said enthusiastically: Your observation makes sense. She pondered for two minutes, her long eyebrows furrowed curiously. I'm curious, why do you especially admire Madame Curie? I bowed my head sadly. Because I myself am a man without a country. You she looked at me in surprise. I smiled wryly: China is just my second homeland.My first motherland is on the east bank of the Yalu River.Have you ever heard that there is a nation that likes to wear white clothes most in the world? South Korea?Are you Korean? I nodded: Before World War I, there were two tragic nations in the world: one was Korea in the east, and the other was Poland in the west.In many cases, they suffer alike.In history books, we can see the heroic stories of Polish revolutionaries who resisted the rulers, and Polish women especially showed superhuman bravery.In history books, we can also see the stories of bloodshed and revenge of Korean revolutionaries. Many Koreans used their own blood to insult the Japanese rulers, making them always splattered with blood on their faces and smelling of blood, and they will never look ugly. clean! I still remember the sound of chains and whips in Poland under the Tsar.The Nicholas dynasty did not allow Poles to learn Polish script.In Eastern Poland, only one script is allowed: Russian! It was late at night, and everything was dead. Mother Poland heard the sound of the leather boots of the old Russian patrolman getting louder and farther away, and gradually disappeared. She walked gently to the bed and gently woke up Poland's child and her child. In the dim light, on cold winter nights, a Polish mother taught her children how to spell the Polish alphabet one by one.The child was cold and tired, and his two small eyes seemed to be half-open, but he was still concentrating on his studies.It is not these letters that give him magic power, but his mother's face!This face touched him indescribably. Finally, he found tears dripping down his mother's face. The child couldn't bear it anymore, he hugged his mother and cried. This is the heart of Mother Poland!bloody heart! Today, Poland flies the flag of freedom.Polish mothers no longer have to lift their babies out of bed in tears in the middle of the night! However, Poland's brother South Korea is still trembling under the Japanese bayonet today, and the tragedy of the Polish mother is everywhere.On the east bank of the Yalu River, in my beautiful motherland, there is no sunshine, no freedom, no warmth, no laughter, and no spring. People hide in their caves like wounded wild animals.Outside the cave, there are many hunters' muzzles. In my motherland, there are no such words as laughter and happiness in the dictionary.If anyone can laugh, it is the exact opposite of laughter in a free country.Why do people laugh in Korea?Because he suffered so deeply and was helpless, he invented a smile!They couldn't live a day without laughing! Ah Poland, Poland, this word represents a very mysterious and complicated meaning to me. Every time I see this word or read this word, I think of a revived Warsaw, a reborn Warsaw, a reborn nation, everything is full of Light up, freedom.However, after reading this word and thinking about the meaning it represents, the pain hugged me like an arm, and I thought of my motherland full of darkness and massacres, my old mother with white hair, every day Standing on a tall building at dusk watching me, waiting for the return of her son, At this point, tears filled my face and I couldn't say any more. Aurelia could no longer restrain herself.She held my hands tightly, weeping and trembling all over. We shed tears and stared at each other intently.Watching, our souls truly hugged each other for the first time.