British writer

the next day.

Lu Shi got up early as usual, ate something casually, and then continued to grind the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

On the other hand, Natsume Soseki didn't work hard on "I Am a Cat".

He yawned and stretched,

"Ha~~~"

My generation also followed "Ha~~~".

One person and one cat act in exactly the same way.

Lu Shi said, "Why don't you continue writing books?"

Natsume Soseki said helplessly: "I don't know why. Ever since Mr. Wood read my novel last time, my heart has always been restless: sometimes I feel that I am good at it, as if I can publish it; sometimes I feel that I am not good at it. Afraid of being seen as a joke."

This kind of mentality, many online writers have experienced it before putting it on the shelves,

Simply put, it's just two words——

impetuous.

Lu Shi pouted,

"Then you go out and walk the cat. Walking around, you should calm down."

Natsume Soseki glanced at me and said, "Forget it, I'm afraid of being scratched by it."

As he spoke, he picked up the newspaper on the side and began to read,

"I might as well read your book reviews again. I feel that I read them often and I can learn a lot of writing skills."

He read the "On Narrative Tricks and Reasoning Works" no less than ten times, and the blank space of the entire page was filled with various notes.

This is not enough, you have to use a notebook to add notes.

Lu Shi said, "What? Are you interested in writing mystery novels?"

Natsume Soseki writes mystery novels, which is very exciting to think about.

But that's not necessarily impossible.

Japan is the origin of Bengepai,

Matsumoto Seicho, Yokomizo Masashi, and Edogawa Ranpo, these three "peaks of Japanese reasoning literature" will stand for decades after the 1920s.

Natsume Soseki waved his hand,

"Forget it, I can't write that kind of thing. The requirements for knowledge are too much and too complicated."

As a pure liberal arts student, I really can't handle reasoning works.

However, many of the contents described in "A Brief Discussion on Narrative Tricks and Reasoning Works" are common, and any novelist who takes the essence is enough to improve the ability to conceive works.

Natsume Soseki studied a few more passages carefully,

Afterwards, he asked: "You just write out what you have kept at the bottom of the box without reservation, are you not afraid...not afraid...um..."

Lu Shi reminded: "You want to say 'teach the apprentice, starve the master'?"

Natsume Soseki nodded,

"Yes, it's 'teach the apprentice, starve the master'. This sentence should be considered a consensus in China, right?"

Lu Shi shook his head,

"Certainly not a consensus. It only applies to certain professions."

He was silent for a moment, and said: "Besides, I didn't think too much when I wrote the book review, I just wrote whatever came to mind."

Natsume Soseki was speechless,

"You can write such an article 'whatever comes to your mind'?"

Lu Shi had no choice but to repeat: "I really didn't think that much."

This is the truth.

As a professional translator, he has been exposed to a lot of works,

If you read a lot, you will naturally have your own understanding, and being able to publish it in the newspaper can be regarded as fulfilling your wish in a certain sense.

Natsume Soseki was already familiar with Lu Shi's writing ability, so he didn't ask any more questions, put "On Narrative Conspiracy and Reasoning Works" aside, and picked up "The Times" instead,

As a result, he sat up straight after reading only a few pages,

"What's this!?"

Lu Shi asked, "What's wrong?"

Natsume Soseki's dumbfounded expression took a while to close his mouth,

He waved to Lu Shi,

"Look! Here's an open letter from Cambridge University!"

Lu Shi leaned over,

The two read the letter together.

——

Professor Lu Fuqi of the London School of Economics and Political Science:

I recently read "A Brief Talk on Narrative Conspiracy and Reasoning Works", and the strange text has the ability to turn gold into gold, which is really rare in the world.

From my point of view, sleepless nights benefit a lot.

...

Lu Shi scratched his head, feeling like he had heard this "sleepless night and benefited a lot" somewhere, or it had been sensed by heaven and man somewhere.

Natsume Soseki didn't have any special ideas about these two words,

"Look, Lu! Cambridge University invited you to give a speech at their school! So, that bet..."

Lu Shi nodded,

"That's right, they conceded defeat, and I won."

The room fell into silence,

"..."

"..."

"..."

We were a little nervous by the sudden weird atmosphere, and couldn't help but "meow~".

Lu Shi squatted down and patted my head.

Only then did I relax my body, lying on my back with my belly exposed.

While rua cat, Lu Shi said, "I didn't expect, I didn't expect that Cambridge University is so sincere."

His eyes stopped at the signing of the open letter,

There is not "Cambridge University", but a series of names,

Spencer Cavendish,

Montague Rhodes James,

John William Strutter,

...

From the supervisor to the vice president, to the dean of the college, and finally to the professors of each college, a total of more than 20 people signed,

In other words, this is a joint letter.

Looking at the names, Lu Shi couldn't help swallowing,

"Goo..."

Natsume Soseki asked, "What?"

Lu Shi said, "Do you know who these people are?"

Natsume Soseki didn't take over,

However, judging by his appearance, it doesn't seem like he knows it.

Lu Shi continued: "Let's just talk about this Strutt, who can be said to be a leading figure in the physics world."

Natsume Soseki was shocked,

"You even know that?"

Lu Shi will have an impression of Strutt because Strutt will win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904,

As for the other science experts, unless they have appeared in some popular science works, otherwise, he is so familiar with the names that he doesn't even know which field of research he is engaged in.

Natsume Soseki said, "How are you going to deal with it?"

Lu Shi pondered,

a long time,

"I think I should go."

This is a rational decision.

The two parties made a private bet in the dark room, and Cambridge University was willing to admit defeat and fulfill the bet. It was open-minded enough.

And Lu Shi had no loss, so of course he could borrow the donkey down the slope.

Natsume Soseki frowned and asked, "Is the pressure a little too much?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"There must be a lot of pressure. The students of Cambridge University, no matter which college they are in, must be top academics. If I talk back and forth during the speech, I will definitely show my timidity."

Natsume Soseki shook his head again and again,

"I'm not talking about the speech. You must have no problem with the speech."

As he spoke, he waved the newspaper in his hand,

"I mean this."

Lu Shi understood,

Roommate refers to the pressure of public opinion,

The open invitation to be published in the newspaper will indeed cause this kind of trouble.

Lu Shi said: "I don't think Cambridge University is putting pressure on it. Look at the wording of this article, it is very sincere."

On this point, Natsume Soseki also agrees,

After reading this public joint invitation letter, I feel that the British are so gentlemanly.

But the problem is,

"Stress is stress."

Natsume was still worried.

Lu Shi smiled,

"The pressure from Cambridge University is even greater than mine. They are all so low profile. If I really refuse, where will the old faces of these people who signed it be put? Moreover, this open letter is also a kind of protection for me."

Lu Shi said this because he knew some examples.

Cai Yuanpei, for example, fled Peking University because of the persecution by the Beiyang government.

Peking teachers and students published an open letter in the newspaper, sincerely wanting to invite President Cai back.

Cai Yuanpei was repaired with a "golden body" because of his publication in the newspaper and the incident became a big deal.

(In the end he still didn't go back, because in the eyes of the Beiyang government, obstructing public opinion has never been a problem.)

Natsume Soseki asked, "Have you thought about it?"

Lu Shi let out a "hmm\

,""Is it better to settle enemies than to end them~ The question now is how should I respond."

The flowery sedan chair is carried by everyone,

Since Cambridge University gave enough face, Lu Shi naturally had to respond.

Natsume Soseki said, "Why don't you reply a letter too?"

This is indeed a solution.

Lu Shi picked up a pen and immersed himself in writing, while muttering: "I have read your school's open letter today, I can't sleep at night, and I have benefited a lot..."

Natsume Soseki was stunned,

"What's 'sleepless nights, great benefits'?"

Lu Shi was stunned, and while scratching out the line, he said, "I don't know what's going on, it's like being cursed by someone, and I can't help but write this sentence."

He shook his head, cleared the strange thoughts from his mind, and continued to write back.

...

Palace of Westminster,

Inside Wodehouse's office.

smoke lingers,

Churchill and Wodehouse sat across the desk,

With a cigar in each of the two big smoking guns, they crossed their legs and enjoyed the post-session time of the parliament.

Wodehouse said: "Winston, why don't you read the papers?"

"Huh~"

Churchill exhaled,

He said, "Just after the meeting, can't you give me a break?"

Wodehouse rants: "Rest with my cigar..."

He puts an accent on the word "mine".

Churchill chuckled, pursed his lips, and held his cigar firmly in his mouth. Then he picked up a copy of "The Times", lay back in the armchair, and quickly browsed today's headlines.

As a result, after two minutes,

With a light "click", the cigar in Churchill's mouth fell to the ground.

Wodehouse dissatisfied: "My carpet!"

Churchill was still reading the newspaper, as if he hadn't heard it.

Wodehouse raised his voice and said: "Hey! Winston! Won't you pick up your cigar soon? I don't want a burnt hole in the rug!"

Only then did Churchill come back to his senses,

"Sir, take a look at this article... no, this open letter."

Wodehouse didn't understand why the other party was flustered,

He walked around the desk first, picked up the cigar that had fallen on the floor, and then turned his eyes to the newspaper.

did not expect,

Click——×2

Both cigars in his hand dropped.

Wodehouse said incoherently: "What is this... this... um... it... is it..."

He couldn't seem to take his eyes off the Cambridge Open Letter,

Because it was too shocking, it was temporarily unable to organize effective language.

Churchill had returned to normal, bent down and picked up two cigars, extinguished one of them, put it in the small wooden box that he carried, and put the other in his mouth.

"I don't know what happened," he said.

Wodehouse asked: "Aren't you well acquainted with the Cambridge gang?"

Churchill smiled and spread his hands,

"Excuse me, I studied at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and my father is an Oxford graduate."

Wodehouse gave Churchill an annoyed look.

Now, Churchill is still a member of the Conservative Party, and he is very close to the current Prime Minister Cecil and his political successor Balfour.

Both are from Cambridge.

Not to mention that Cavendish, the Chancellor of Cambridge, is a bigwig of the Conservative Party.

Wodehouse asked: "You really haven't heard anything?"

Churchill nodded solemnly,

"No."

"Well……"

Wodehouse was lost in thought.

Churchill took the time to arrange his clothes, and said at the same time: "Of course, it may also be because I am too close to you, and I was excluded from the inner circle by my colleagues in the Conservative Party."

These words made Wodehouse couldn't help rolling his eyes again,

"You think I believe it?"

Churchill is a "social butterfly", so it shouldn't be impossible for him to inquire about such a big matter.

Wodehouse glanced at the signatures of the open letter and found that, except for Cavendish, almost everyone else had academic backgrounds rather than political backgrounds.

He said in a deep voice, "Could it be that this letter is really just a simple invitation?"

This seems to be a question, but it is actually a soliloquy.

Politicians are like this, they like to associate everything in a complicated direction.

Churchill took over the words: "I think so. When the Duke of Devonshire invited people to join him, he should have deliberately avoided those graduates with political backgrounds."

As he spoke, he pulled out a copy of the Manchester Guardian,

"Reminiscent of Professor James publicly criticizing Professor Lu's "Roman Holiday" before, Professor Lu also responded. I have reason to believe that Professor Lu and Cambridge University have made any promises, even bets."

This speculation is very reasonable.

Wodehouse was shocked,

"You mean, Cambridge surrendered?"

Churchill just smiled,

Although there is no positive answer, this attitude is tantamount to acquiescence.

Wodehouse didn't know how to evaluate his mood at this time, except for one word:

"Fxxk!"

He couldn't understand, how could there be such an awesome person,

What's more, it's a Chinese.

Immediately afterwards, he thought of another question:

"Fxxk! Isn't Cambridge poaching the corner of our University of London Union? Is Cavendish trying to find a draw?"

Churchill shook his head,

"Even poaching will not succeed. Professor Lu has a poll project in LSE, and you invested in it. They took your money, and took away the students who worked from LSE, but if you have a bit of professional ethics , it is impossible to abandon you.”

Wodehouse was relieved now,

Undoubtedly, Lu Shi is a moral person.

But what Churchill said later made Wodehouse's heart hang up just now,

Churchill said: "However, it is not a day or two that your internal management of the University of London Union is chaotic. It is said that the London Political Economy, where Professor Lu is a guest, has not yet issued a serious undergraduate degree. Maybe people think 'good birds choose trees nest'."

Wodehouse wondered, "What does 'good birds choose trees for their nests' mean?"

Churchill said: "The Chinese proverbs I just learned recently seem quite reasonable."

Wodehouse always found this proverb strange,

But he didn't understand Chinese, so naturally he couldn't ask, so he changed the subject and asked, "Do you really think Professor Lu will go to Cambridge?"

Churchill shrugged,

"Who knows?"

Wodehouse hurriedly asked Ce: "What can you do?"

Churchill thought for a while, and said, "Professor Lu seems to be a person who values ​​affection. You can ask the students to stay for a while~ For example, on the day of the speech, you pull a train of students over to cheer. I think it is a good way."

Wodehouse clapped his hands,

"Okay! That's it! Take the train to Cambridge to listen to the lecture!"

Churchill: "..."

He just said that casually, but he didn't expect the other party to really believe it.

Wouldn't it be considered bad luck for UCL students to go to Cambridge University to listen to lectures?