The Twelve Years: Song of the Unsung Friends

Before leaving, Fu Tongwen handed her a new sombrero.

But this hat is too formal with her skirt. Although Shen Xi thought so, looking at his dark brown tweed coat, he immediately decided that he still needed a wide-brimmed hat, just like that.

But his words, and the place where he went last, are really--

Great differences.

She thought it was a secluded place, but unexpectedly, it was a cinema full of gentlemen and ladies.

Standing in front of the large black-and-white poster in the theater, Shen Xi noticed that the premiere time above was three days ago, December 28, 1914. Still new film. I don't know where Fu Dongwen is this month, but he knows the release time of "Cinderella" here. Wanfeng mentioned in this story that she likes Cinderella's love very much, but only in the big theater that entertains gentlemen and ladies, she has no spare money to watch it.

"The poster is very special? Need to look at it for so long?" Fu Tongwen stood behind her and looked at the poster on the wall.

This is the first sentence he has said since leaving the apartment.

"I'm watching the premiere time," Shen Xi looked up at him, "You are not in New York, you still know the latest movie?"

"Ticket from a friend." Fu Tongwen bends his arm and gestures with his eyes. Shen Xi follows the appearance of the ladies around him and wraps his hand around his arm. It's just that the fingers are emptied and hung over his sleeves.

"Have you ever tried to hold a gentleman like this?" he asked in Chinese.

Shen Xi shook his head lightly. No one can try.

Fu Tongwen remained calm, raised her arm by an inch, letting her hand fall firmly into his arm.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The tension along the way is no less than the first time a corpse was opened...

Fortunately, it passed.

The two entered the venue late, but fortunately it was a box, which would not disturb irrelevant people.

In the quiet movie theater, the black and white pictures of silent films are laid out, and subtitles are inserted from time to time to explain the protagonist’s dialogue. Shen Xi couldn't fully enter the scene. In such a comparison, it is better to listen to the drama and sing well, at least there is fun.

The short heel of the high-heeled shoes sank into the carpet, limp, and she gently tapped the heel on the carpet to entertain herself.

Fu Tongwen smiled and asked her: "It looks like she is being tortured, isn't it?"

"Yes," she said boldly in Chinese since there was no one on the left or right. "It must be torture if it is fresh once," she pressed the temples on both ends of her forehead with two fingers, "all black and white shadows dangled in front of her eyes. Attention slowly dissipated."

However, although it is very bad, one thing is good.

The atmosphere between the two is much better.

When thinking about the evening, she still feels guilty: "If there is anything you haven't tried, I can take you there." It's a New Year gift for you.

Fu Tongwen pondered for a while: "You can buy me a piece of popcorn."

This is easy, but this kind of high-end place is not sold, probably... she thinks it should be available in the circus.

"Finally, you don't feel nervous about talking to me?" Fu Tongwen looked at her.

Shen Xi nodded, his face burnt by his sight.

"Since you are not nervous anymore, answer one of my questions, do you like this?" He scanned the court with his eyes.

Shen Xi understood. He was asking about movies: "We Chinese like to be lively. This is too boring. If..." She looked at the screen and whispered, "There will be movies with sound in the future, it will be much better."

"Sound movie?" Fu Tongwen laughed, "Very bold imagination."

Shen Xi thought for a while, and curious about his study abroad career: "You are in London, do you often see this too?"

Fu Tongwen shook his head: "I have watched opera twice. It was very boring there. Women appeared to show off jewelry, and men—"

The box door was opened. Walked in two tall men walked in.

Shen Xi was taken aback, but Fu Dongwen's smile became thicker: "This movie has fifty minutes, and Mr. Ulrich has missed half an hour."

Fu Dongwen said, got up and shook hands with the other party.

It turns out that the person he really wants to see tonight has just appeared.

There are two rows of seats in the box. Originally, Fu Dongwen and her sat in the front row with the best view. After the man came in, they sat side by side in the back row. Although the perspective is poor there, it is best for small talk. Shen Xi still sat in his original position and heard the box door being opened again. It was the doctor's voice: "The air here is too bad. I will ask the driver to wait outside and leave when you finish talking."

Without Fu Dongwen's response, Shen Xi guessed that he answered with gestures.

The box door is closed again.

Fu Tongwen and this guest began to talk in English proficiently.

"My sister said she doesn't like this. It seems that we have no fate to cooperate. You know, in China, this industry is usually controlled by people with a black background, which is very troublesome."

"Mr. Fu, this is just a small business. If you are interested, I can send you a movie theater. If you find it troublesome, you can forget my proposal for the movie theater." The other party responded with a smile, "You should be clear, what I want to do is opium."

A brief silence.

On the big screen, English subtitles appeared, and the prince said that he would hold a court ball. He wanted to find the person he liked.

Shen Xi could not even read the subtitles clearly, and his whole nerves were hanging on "opium."

"The World Anti-Smoking Conference* hasn't been in the past few years. I'm afraid this is not a good business." Fu Tongwen was practicing Tai Chi.

The other party laughed: "Mr. Fu, do you want me to show greater sincerity? Everyone knows that although your government is banning smoking, it cannot intervene in the concession. You see, the opium business in the concession is so hot, you The Chinese cannot do without this, believe me, this is a necessity."

This Mr. Ulrich wanted not only to show sincerity, but also to show contempt for the Chinese. Maybe he didn't mean it, but this kind of contempt envelops her words and sentences and impacts her.

She couldn't imagine what Fu Dongwen's expression was like, she intuitively felt that he would not be happy.

Fu Dongwen seemed to be careless, put his hand on the back of Shen Xi's chair, his fingers beat slightly, and inadvertently touched her back. Shen Xi wanted to turn his head subconsciously. He noticed it, and leaned forward, and the breath of words directly passed over her face: "Look, he has met Cinderella."

He was talking about movies.

It is also reminding her to focus on the movie and not to look back.

This is not difficult to understand.

Shen Xi hurriedly sat down, staring at the screen earnestly.

Fu Dongwen sat up straight and continued to chat with him about the opium business. Even Shen Xi could hear the impatience and tolerance in his tone, but this is a foreign country, not the city of Beijing, and no matter how temperament he is, he can only talk to the snake in a perfunctory manner.

In the black and white picture, the ball began, and the prince hugged his sweetheart, spinning and dancing...

Never for a moment, she would look forward to the finale as she does now, not to see the completion of love, but to make the pesky businessman disappear.

Finally, as the movie came to an end, the auditorium outside the box was lit.

Shen Xi didn't care how weird the applause was at this time, and clapped his hands deliberately. Mr. Ulrich held his cigar and gave a perfunctory high five.

Fu Tongwen said in English: "What a beautiful love story? Isn't it?"

Mr. Ulrich was not very interested: "I think so."

"It's nice to meet you." Fu Dongwen stood up from the seat.

Fu Dongwen stretched out his right hand and shook hands with the other party to bid farewell.

The meeting was not pleasant.

After the show, they left the cinema.

The driver said goodbye to the drivers waiting on the side of the road, said Happy New Year in English, and opened the door for them.

Two advertisements were temporarily placed at the entrance of the theater. When Shen Xi got into the car, he glanced at the slogan.

Fu Tongwen got into the car behind her, separated by two punches from her, and sat in the back row side by side, all in silence.

Shen Xi pretended to ask easily: "Guess, what impressed me the most when I watched this movie?"

Fu Dongwen tilted his eyes slightly, and also looked out the window.

"Three or two drops of the entrance, clean your mouth, keep your teeth strong forever, away from intolerable pain," she said with a smile in English, "is it all right?"

He often observes the various aspects of life, how can he not see her thoughts, because he is afraid that he is still unhappy about things that have just happened.

Fu Tongwen stretched her eyebrows, and said to her: "When I first came here, I didn't know half a sentence in English. How did you come here?"

"Back," Shen Xi was very happy, pulling his attention away, "If you see what you are memorizing, take the back of the dictionary, the back of the newspaper, and the back of the menu, just like evil."

Fu Dongwen smiled suddenly and knocked on the brim of her hat. The front brim of the wide-brimmed hat sank, completely blocking the light in front of her.

"Not too dumb."

Three o'clock in the morning.

Fu Dongwen turned on the lamp on the desk.

The light is not strong under the green lampshade. He dragged the seat to the window, opened the window, and went to blow the air.

"If you are like this, even ten doctors will not be able to save it." Tan Qingxiang forced a glass of water into his hand and went to close the window.

"I want cement factories, cotton yarn factories, and glass factories, but they also want to send opium from the world to China," Fu Dongwen raised his water glass and drank two throats. "No smoking is allowed throughout the country. However, there are more and more legally operated smoking restaurants in the concessions. What about their god? Where is their hell?"

Tan Qingxiang knew that Fu Dongwen hated opium and let him vent.

Suddenly there was a cracking sound, and the wall of the glass was crushed in Fu Dongwen's hand.

"I knew you couldn't look away, this evil fire finally came out." Tan Qingxiang didn't know whether to be lucky or to be angry. He also ignored the glass shards and hurriedly fetched the medicine box to treat his wounds.

Four o'clock in the morning.

She lit a candle in the kitchen and the electric light was broken. It is not a good sign to encounter such a thing in the New Year. Shen Xi originally wanted to brew a little milk powder to help sleep. When he found that the electric light was broken and smeared and found the milk powder jar, he decided to find the candle and study how to fix the electric light.

Halfway through the repair, I found that there was no way to continue. It is better to leave the technical expertise to those who do it.

So, in the light of the candle, she boiled hot water and was still cold while wearing her clothes, so she wrapped her two palms around the kettle and warmed the fire. When the fire boiled, she found a breakfast cup the size of a bowl and poured milk powder.

Unconsciously think of the conversation between him and that person in the box last night.

"Is it enough for the second cup?" A tired voice came from behind her. Fu Dongwen put his arm on the door frame, watching her empty the kitchen cabinet like a mouse.

Shen Xi was so frightened that the milk powder spilled all over the place...

Fu Tongwen sighed, "It seems that it is not enough."

"...I will give you mine?" Shen Xi pointed to his breakfast cup.

"No, who told me to show you an extremely boring movie tonight, it's revenge."

"No," Shen Ximing knew he was amusing, and explained, "It's not revenge—"

When Shen Xi saw the gauze in his hand, his voice stopped abruptly. Before he had time to ask, Fu Tongwen waved his hand: "Don't ask my hand, let's say something else."

She is inexplicably anxious, is the wound deep? how did it get here? Are you alright when you come back?

The words were forced to his throat, and he was not allowed to ask.

"The first time I went to London, people were greatly impacted." He suddenly felt emotional, and talked to her about distant events. From the time he and the fourth master came to London, he said many things.

At this time, with a hand injury, under the faint light of a candle, he looked like an ordinary foreign student who had been wandering in a foreign country for many years. If he was not the third master of the Fu family, maybe he was a university teacher who was employed by a university school, a four-foot desk, and a wicker chair after returning home. In the upper right corner of his desk, there must be a crystal ink bottle, one red and the other blue.

He was telling the past, she described it in her heart.

I was wondering how he would describe it if he went to learn.

Fu Dongwen seems to have many faces, good and evil, loyal and traitor, Ninety-nine percent of them are heard by Shen Xi from other people's words. But this day and night, she also saw him in person, everything was unexpected and imagined.

"I remember, you said in your letter that you are interested in cardiac surgery?"

This is just a few words in her hundreds of letters.

Shen Xi nodded and shook his head: "Six months ago, I had listened to the teacher's suggestion and selected an orthopedics instructor."

Fu Tongwen was surprised: "I am going to California this time to ask you about professional directions. My friend also suggested this."

What a coincidence.

"When I first arrived in the UK, Dong Chi was also like you when he studied medicine and became addicted to the devil." Fu Dongwen lifted the breakfast cup, lifted the cup lightly, and asked her, "If you ask for half a cup of milk powder to drink, I was very thirsty. ."

"You're all done."

"One person and half," Fu Tongwen smiled, took out another breakfast cup, half-divided, and handed it to her, "In medieval Europe, the status of surgery was extremely low, and it was about the same as a barber. At that time, the king's cronies were in charge of barbers all over the country. , And the Association of Surgery. This is what Dong Ming told me," he drank the milk in the cup, "he also likes surgery, but unfortunately the development of this discipline was not good in the years he went to school. Why did you choose orthopedics? "he asks.

"It will be more useful." After all, the problem faced by cardiac surgery is temporarily unsolvable. "If I were an American, I would choose cardiac surgery." To solve the problem, try to find a way to stop the heart from beating during the operation and no longer surge. Blood. But at this stage, this is a fantasy. She can choose to stay in the United States and continue in this direction, but when can she overcome it? No one dares to say.

Maybe ten years, twenty years, maybe a lifetime.

She wants to apply what she has learned and return to China as soon as possible. Those things that benefit mankind are reserved for those who want to stay in the United States more, such as Chen Linguan, whose ambition is the medical career of all mankind.

And her ambition is to learn from the West and strengthen China.

But Shen Xi didn't dare to tell Fu Dongwen that she was afraid that she would be too naive to say this.

But Fu Dongwen was waiting for her to explain...

"It's like," Shen Xi tried his words and whispered, "Our top priority is to build railways, not to buy luxury trains," Shen Xi finished, but he was afraid that the explanation would be unclear. Let me give you another example, "Or, we need to Let everyone have a full stomach instead of letting everyone learn to drink wine and vodka."

"The words don't convey the meaning," Fu Dongwen nodded with a smile, "but I understand."

Shen Xi pursed his lips and smiled, thanking him for expressing clearly.

Fu Tongwen went upstairs with the half glass of milk, separated from Shen Xi at the door of her room, and opened the door for her in a gentleman manner: "I wish you a good dream all night."

After Fu Dongwen finished speaking, he raised his breakfast cup again with a deep smile: "Good night, Miss Shen."

Subsequently, the door closed. Shen Xi clearly heard his heart beating, coincident with the moment the door closed, and with a click, the door was closed by him himself.

In his mind, there is stagnant light and shadow, and the picture of him toasting good night, long time not go.

*The National Anti-Smoking Conference: On February 1, 1909, the International Opium Committee meeting was held in Shanghai, China. 41 representatives from 13 countries gathered together to discuss the anti-smoking plan. The International Anti-drug Conference is the world's first international anti-drug conference, spawning the first international anti-drug convention-the "Hague Opium Convention", which is a milestone in the history of international anti-drugs. (This paragraph * comes from Baidu Encyclopedia)