When Zhou Hexuan went to the United States this time, he originally planned to take Zhang Leyi with him as a honeymoon after marriage.
Unexpectedly, just a few days before departure, Zhang Leyi felt unwell and was diagnosed by the doctor as pregnant.
In desperation, Zhou Hexuan had no choice but to take Sun Yongzhen south, leaving Sun Yonghao to look after his family in Tianjin.
At the end of September, Zhou Hexuan met Zhang Mouzhi in Shanghai, and then took a boat across the Pacific, passing Japan and Hawaii on the way, and his final destination was San Francisco.
Zhang Mouzhi sent someone to buy the ticket for the ship, which was a Japanese passenger ship.
But the most amazing thing is that the most popular language on the ship is neither Chinese nor Japanese, but general English. It seems that those who can speak a few words of Western dialect belong to the upper class.
The captain, first mate and other high-ranking people are all Japanese, while the waiters and servants on the ship are mostly from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangzhou provinces. They insist not on speaking Mandarin or northern dialect, so that sometimes northern tourists want to order a cup of coffee.
All need to speak English with these Chinese waiters.
Zhou Hexuan felt as if he was immediately in another world after boarding the ocean liner at the Shanghai pier.
"My dear son-in-law, are you really sure about going to the United States to work in finance this time?" Zhang Mou asked again after getting on the boat. He had asked this question countless times.
Zhou Hexuan smiled helplessly and said: "If you are not in the mood for me, don't do anything during your trip to the United States. Just treat it as an ocean trip."
"It depends on the situation." Zhang Mouzhi was completely unsure.
The father-in-law and his wife felt that the cabin was stuffy, so they went to the deck to breathe some air together.
They bought first-class tickets and stayed in the uppermost cabin. And the passengers relaxing on that deck were also successful people from China and abroad. The men were in suits and ties, and the women were dignified and fashionable.
Zhang Mouzhi found a small table and sat down, and greeted the Chinese waiter in English: "coee!"
When the waiter heard that it was in English, he immediately became respectful and replied in broken Chinese English: "please_ait."
Zhou Hexuan was lying on the deck railing, looking at the gradually disappearing coastline of China. He felt so bored. The thought of staying on the ship for months made Zhou Hexuan even more boring. He had often traveled around the world before, but he had never
I have been on a ship during the Republic of China, and the speed was appallingly slow.
Just as Zhou Hexuan was blindly looking at the scenery, there was a sudden commotion on the lower deck.
I saw a few Chinese men coming to the deck. The Chinese people along the way stood up and shook hands, chatting happily.
The person walking in the front, Zhou Hexuan has seen photos, is none other than Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang.
Mei Lanfang was invited by the U.S. Minister to China to take the troupe to perform in the United States. The famous photo of Mei Lanfang and Chaplin was taken during this performance.
Since they didn't live on the same floor, Zhou Hexuan didn't bother to go down to say hello. He ordered a cup of milk tea and sat on the deck leisurely basking in the sun.
"Mr. Zhou, long time no see!" A loud voice came from my ears.
Zhou Hexuan looked up and immediately stood up with a smile and greeted: "It turns out to be Mr. Antwerp and Mrs. Antwerp, hello!"
This Mr. Antwerp was actually the U.S. Minister to China, Ma Murray. When Zhou Hexuan got married in Shanghai, he also brought his wife to the wedding, and they had some slight friendship with each other.
"You should call me by my Chinese name Ma Mourui, I'm used to it." Ma Mourui said in fluent Chinese.
Ma Murui's wife Alice asked with a smile: "Is Mr. Zhou going to the United States?"
"Yes," Zhou Hexuan asked smoothly, "Where are you two?"
Mamuri shrugged and said, "I am leaving office and returning to China this time."
Ma Murray is considered an Asia expert. He served in the U.S. State Department more than 20 years ago, served as minister counselor to China more than 10 years ago, and then transferred to counselor at the embassy in Japan, and then returned to the United States to serve as director of the Far East Division of the State Department.
A few years ago, Ma Murray came to China again and served as the U.S. Consul General in Tianjin, and was later promoted to the U.S. Minister to China.
It was Ma Murui who was in charge of the negotiations for the United States to return China's tariff autonomy. Last year, he was invited by Chang Kaishen to go to the Northeast to contact Zhang Xueliang and expressed the United States' support for the change of the Northeast.
Don't think that this guy has his heart set on China. He is a hard-liner in the US diplomatic system and puts US interests first. He originally opposed the return of China's tariff rights, but the US Secretary of State ordered him to start negotiations.
By the way, this guy is also the special assistant to the former US Secretary of State.
"Will you resign and return to China?" Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "It seems that Mr. Ma Murui is going to be promoted."
Ma Mourui complained: "Damn Gao Sheng, I would rather stay in the Far East. Our new president is a guy who doesn't act according to common sense."
Well, it seems that Ma Murray is a member of the Democratic Party and cannot urinate in the same pot as Republican President Hoover.
Mrs. Ma Alice asked: "Mr. Zhou, when you go to the United States this time, are you going to any university for academic exchange?"
Zhou Hexuan did not hide anything and said truthfully: "I think the U.S. stock market is about to collapse, so I went short to make a few small bucks."
"Hahaha," Mamuri said as if he heard a big joke, "Mr. Zhou, maybe you can deposit 100 US dollars with me, so as not to lose all the money and have no money to buy a boat ticket back home."
Alas, every time you tell the truth, no one wants to believe it?
Zhou Hexuan shrugged: "We'll see, I'm not kidding."
Alice said: "Mr. Zhou, you are a famous litterateur, and I heard that you grew up in the United States. Have you ever thought about writing a novel about the United States?"
"That's a good idea." Zhou Hexuan smiled.
The journey at sea is long, and if you don't find something to do, it will drive you crazy.
Three years ago, the magazine "Overseas Students" published a special guide to studying abroad. The article specifically reminded: international students should bring musical instruments and books to pass the boring time on the ship.
When Zhou Hexuan went to the United States this time, he didn't bring anything with him except the passbook for his international account at Citibank.
Then just write a novel. It is estimated that by the time the ship docks in San Francisco, Zhou Hexuan will have finished writing his new novel and it will be ready for publication by an American publisher.
As for what book to write?
American readers don’t like things that are too literary, they must be commercial enough.
The original author of "Gone with the Wind" has probably completed the first draft, and this book cannot be copied.
Of course, this book will not be published for another seven years. If Zhou Hexuan had taken out the manuscript in advance, he could have cut it off, as long as he was not afraid of the original author coming to cause trouble.
After lying in the cabin and thinking for a long time, Zhou Hexuan felt that there was no need to copy any books, and he could just adapt "Titanic" into a novel. After all, he told Wanrong this story last time.
Zhou Hexuan suddenly had a bad idea and wanted to write "Titanic" into a science fiction story.
In other words, if there are no major changes to the plot of the movie, Rose will look like the old Rose decades later when she appears.
Well, tell a story that happened in the early 20th century from the perspective of a future character at the end of the 20th century. What is this if not science fiction?
