Ba Jin once said this: "I admire the talents of these people, one is Cao Yu, the other is Shen Congwen, and the other is Xiao Qian. I feel ashamed to be inferior to them, and my talent is several times worse."
In terms of fame, Xiao Qian at this time was far inferior to Cao Yu and Shen Congwen, and he had not yet become the only Chinese reporter on the European battlefield of World War II.
On the day of departure, Xiao Qian blocked Zhou Hexuan at the entrance of the embassy: "Mr. Zhou, I am Xiao Qian!"
"It's Bingqian, when did you come to the UK?" Zhou Hexuan asked with a smile. Of course he knew Xiao Qian, because Xiao Qian was still the editor-in-chief of the supplement of "Ta Kung Pao" last year, and Zhou Hexuan met him several times when he inspected the newspaper office.
"I came to England at the end of last year." Xiao Qian replied with some embarrassment.
Xiao Qian's embarrassment was not only that he left his motherland when the country was in crisis, but also that he had an extramarital affair as the reason for his departure. He fell in love with a female pianist and could not choose between his wife and his lover, so he simply left without choosing either. (My wife went to Yan'an after the divorce).
It can be seen that Xiao Qian is very indecisive when it comes to emotional issues, which has led to the failure of several marriages in a row. He will marry a British mixed-race girl in a few years, but the woman cheated on her with the midwife just after giving birth. This is not the end of the story. , Xiao Qian’s third wife was a scheming bitch. She married him because of his fame. After marriage, she found that fame didn’t work and ran away.
Zhou Hexuan asked: "What kind of job do you do in the UK?"
Xiao Qiandao: "Working as a teaching assistant at the Institute of Oriental Studies, University of London."
"Have you ever thought about becoming a special overseas correspondent for Ta Kung Pao, specializing in reporting on the war in Europe?" Zhou Hexuan extended the invitation.
Xiao Qian smiled and said: "Of course I do. By the way, I came to Mr. Zhou this time to ask you to give a lecture at the Oriental College of the University of London. I have just opened a short-term training course at the Oriental College to support the British in supporting China's Anti-Japanese War. Provide Chinese tutoring lessons to young people and introduce them to knowledge about China’s geography and history.”
"That's a good thing. Are those British young people willing to help China fight the war?" Zhou Hexuan asked.
Xiao Qian said: "They are all members of the British Friendship Association. They sympathize with China's experience. Most of them are willing to help China with propaganda and fundraising for the war of resistance. A few have plans to go directly to the Chinese battlefield. Mr. Zhou's recent street speech has made people They were so moved that they wanted to listen to your lecture in person and tell you some knowledge about China."
The British Quakers are a sectarian organization that was conservative and radical when it was first established. It criticized the Church of England and the Puritan Church everywhere. With the development of hundreds of years, the Quakers have become more and more tolerant, and even allow believers of any denomination to join the church. meeting.
This sect believes that everyone is born with a "spirit", which is a spiritual seed sown by God. People can use the "seed" to understand the truth and gain wisdom and happiness. In general, it can be summarized as human nature is good. It is exactly the opposite of the traditional Christian theory of "original sin." They also believe that the Bible is not God's complete revelation to mankind. As long as one relies on "seeds of spiritual light", one can approach God and understand the true meaning of life, which is a bit like the Buddhist epiphany.
Why is it mentioned in this book?
Because this sect adheres to the principle of "love and tolerance" and strongly opposes violence, from the American Civil War to the two world wars, there are Quaker church members who directly or indirectly participated in the war. They often stand on the side of "justice". Including the Chinese anti-Japanese battlefield, there are also Quaker members present.
When Xiao Qian's training class at the Oriental College ends, these British Quaker members will go to Yunnan. There were only 4 people at the beginning, and it grew to 40 people in half a year, and there are also people from China, the United States, Canada, India and New Zealanders joined, and by the time the Anti-Japanese War was won, there were hundreds of people.
They did not directly participate in the war, but were responsible for material transportation, car repair, medical assistance, wartime services, etc. Some of them will rest forever on Chinese soil.
By the way, there are two founders of the "British Quaker Ambulance Corps" that assists China. One of them is the head of the Cadbury family. He even sent his own son to the battlefield in China. It is the Cadbury that produces chocolate and chewing gum. There is no need to deliberately buy their products, because after entering the 21st century, the Cadbury family has lost control of the company.
Since they are international friends, Zhou Hexuan naturally would not refuse. He smiled and said: "When I come back from Oxford, I will give lectures at the Oriental College."
"That's great, I believe they will be very happy," Xiao Qian suddenly asked, "Mr. Zhou, can I follow you to Oxford?"
"Why are you following me?" Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
Xiao Qian said: "I usually write some articles and submit them to British newspapers. British readers are very curious about Mr. Zhou, so I want to follow you and write a reportage called "Mr. Zhou in Britain". Don't you Would you mind?"
"It's up to you, but you have to pay for the ticket yourself," Zhou Hexuan joked.
The two cars drove to the entrance of the embassy. Ma Jue rolled down the window and said, "Sir, you're ready to go."
One car was donated to the embassy by Zhou Hexuan, and the other was borrowed by Guo Taiqi. With the three bodyguards, two cars were needed to complete the trip.
On the way to the train station, the bumps along the way were full of bomb craters. Only the holes in the middle of the road would be filled immediately. Ma Jue suddenly pointed to the side of the road and said, "Sir, look! The British are so interesting. They actually plant trees around the bomb craters." Full of flowers.”
Zhou Hexuan turned around and saw a big hole on the roadside, surrounded by newly planted flowers.
Xiao Qian explained: "Planting flowers is to remind passers-by that there is a big hole and prevent them from accidentally falling into the hole."
Due to Germany's repeated bombing of London, the urban area has turned into a lunar surface. There are so many craters that it is impossible to fill them all in a short time, and often one crater is left unfilled and another one appears. In comparison, planting around the bomb craters On the contrary, it is much more relaxing to spend time, and I have to say that the British are still very interesting.
Xiao Qian continued to talk about the interesting anecdotes he saw in London: "Last week, German planes dropped leaflets urging surrender for three days in a row. How do you think the British handled it?"
"Burn it?" Ma Jue asked.
Xiao Qian laughed and said: "The London Red Cross collected leaflets and took them to the city to sell them for a penny each. The British actually queued up to buy them and regarded the surrender leaflets as a joke, and all the money from selling the leaflets was donated to the army. .”
Ma Jue was overjoyed: "This is a good idea."
Zhou Hexuan was quite emotional when he heard this, because the Japanese army often airdropped leaflets in Chongqing, and most of those leaflets were destroyed by the government, as if they were afraid that the people would actually surrender if they picked up the leaflets.
Although London and Chongqing both suffered heavy bombings, the civil atmosphere was significantly different. There was more despair and numbness in Chongqing.
Numbness is most obvious among civil servants. Zhou Hexuan even saw with his own eyes that the corpse removal team dug out the dead people from the rubble, dragged them around like corpses, and even threw them casually on the roadside without knowing their importance. But others were not aware of this. Although he couldn't bear it, he turned a blind eye because seriously injured people were equal to death and there were not so many medicines to treat him.
Regardless of whether it can be saved or not, it reflects a disrespect for life and lacks the most basic humane care.
Maybe some people are dying and can survive without medication. The rough work of the corpse removal team can directly move a living person to death!
Xiao Qian continued: "The British have become friendlier after the bombing. I have a neighbor who used to have a straight face and seemed to look down on the Chinese, but now he says good morning to me every time I go out. .When I go to a restaurant to eat, the British waiter will often say: Sir, please enjoy your food, the Germans cannot steal our food."
Zhou Hexuan said: "When war comes, it will always bring cohesion. Human beings are social animals. They may have their own plans at ordinary times, but they will still choose to unite at critical moments. It's like a group of people who have small conflicts going on an outing. Halfway through, If you suddenly encounter a wild beast, those people will definitely choose to cooperate to drive the wild beast away. This has nothing to do with the quality of the people, it is just human nature."
Xiao Qian said: "But I do feel that the quality of British people is generally higher than that of Chinese people."
"The warehouses are full of etiquette. It's just that Britain is richer and the people can fill their bellies," Zhou Hexuan said, thinking of the corpse removal team in Chongqing, and added, "Of course, culture and education also have a great influence."
