British writer

"! @* # ￥%..."

Kao Wen obviously didn't expect Lu Shi to be so harsh, and was stunned to spit out gibberish.

Here the quarrel caused a commotion,

Not far away, the staff of the library cast their gazes, staring at the three East Asians Lu Shi, Gu Hongming, and Natsume Soseki with curiosity.

someone came over

It was an elderly white man in a well-made shirt,

But because he had to work, his sleeves were rolled up, revealing his arms covered with brown body hair.

He asked in a low voice: "Shadney, I just asked you to do a simple favor, you are fine, why did you have an argument with the visitor?"

Cowen quickly explained: "Sir Oz, it's not what you think."

He recounted what happened just now, without embellishment,

Later, he said indignantly: "What's wrong with what I said? The British Museum can better protect cultural relics! Besides, these cultural relics are the wealth of all mankind, and should not be narrowed into a certain kind of nationalism."

Judging by Kaowen's appearance, he seems to be convinced of his point of view.

Gu Hongming snorted coldly,

"ridiculous."

Sir Oz gave Cowen a hard look, and signaled Cowen to shut up quickly.

Then, he turned to Gu Hongming,

"Professor Lu, I'm sorry."

This oolong had an unexpected effect,

There is silence in the air,

"..."

"..."

"..."

The originally tense atmosphere turned into an indescribably strange one.

Lu Shi coughed lightly,

"I'm a visiting professor of London Political Economy, Lu Shi."

Sir Oz's eyes almost popped out of their sockets,

He withdrew his hand in embarrassment, wiped the sweat on his palm, then stretched it out again to Lu Shi, and said, "Professor Lu, my humble servant, Razwan Oz, is in charge of the preparations for the British Library in London. I was really rude just now."

Reach out and don't hit the smiling face,

Lu Shi nodded and shook hands with the other party.

Oz said: "Cultural relics need to be maintained and protected by people, and people cannot transcend their environment, no matter how hard the person tries."

Lu Shi frowned tightly, his lips moved.

Seeing that he was about to refute, Ozzy said first: "It is true that the culprit of some things is the British Empire, and I have objections to some of its actions. But my personal ability is small, and I can only do it within my own authority. act."

This kind of speech can be said to be very classic.

Lu Shi didn't even bother to refute.

Oz saluted and said: "Professor Lu, I will send someone to keep those two volumes of "Yongle Canon" safe now. We will not talk about state affairs today, but only about cultural relics, literature, history, and archaeology."

This is just to stop people's mouths.

Lu Shi raised his eyebrows,

"Okay. But, you'd better put away the "Yongle Dadian" first."

Oz saluted again,

"Yes, yes, let's do business first."

After speaking, he pulled Cowen aside.

Watching their backs disappear, Gu Hongming whispered: "Bandits!"

Before, he might have been convinced by Cowen's "cultural relics are the wealth of all mankind", but after getting in touch with Lu Shi, coupled with what he saw, heard, and thought during this period of time, his mentality changed.

Lu Shi nodded,

"It's robber logic indeed."

...

On the other side, Oz pulled Cowen into the shadows between two rows of bookshelves.

He scolded in a low voice: "What's wrong with you!?"

Cowen's face is black,

In terms of position, he and Oz are actually on the same level.

But Ozzy has a title and is an old senior, so he can shout and shout at young people in a majestic manner.

But in the battle of ideas, Kaowen will not back down,

He said, "Am I wrong?"

Oz snorted coldly,

"Does it matter if there are any mistakes? Have you forgotten Lu Shi's identity? Besides being a political and economic guest in London, he is also a satirist! At the same time, his novels are very popular, and his plays are also very popular in London. Such a person , can you provoke me?"

Cowen couldn't figure it out.

"We are the British Museum, are we afraid of him?"

Of course not.

For two centuries, Britain has been open to "robbery", otherwise there would be no privateers, let alone the East India Company,

In the name of the Queen, robbery is justified and legal.

Oz is helpless,

"Could we not make trouble? Have you forgotten Victor Hugo?"

"this……"

Cowen was speechless.

Any imperialist would get dizzy at the thought of Hugo,

After the British and French allied forces invaded China, Butler originally wanted to take advantage of Hugo's prominent reputation and let Hugo praise the victory of the expedition to China.

But Hugo didn't give face at all, and wrote the famous "Letter to Captain Butler Regarding the Expedition of the British and French Allied Forces to China", publicly reprimanding the French government for being like a bandit, turning black and white, not ashamed, but proud.

This incident caused a very huge response.

Of course, a literati and an open letter can't decide anything,

But the pressure of public opinion is still great.

Cowen muttered: "He can compare with Hugo..."

Ozzy gave him a sideways glance,

"Don't you know how much influence "Yes! The Prime Minister" has had on the cabinet? And, think about it, who greeted him when he came to borrow books, the Earl of Kimberly, the Duke of Devonshire... we Just be honest and don't get angry."

Cowen has been persuaded,

But he still couldn't help complaining about Ozzy,

Oz admired Lu Shi so much, but when he met him, he mistook the old man next to him for Lu Shi. It was funny to think about it.

Cowen asked curiously: "Sir, what you just said is your true point of view?"

Oz was puzzled,

"What point of view? What sentence are you referring to?"

Cowen said: "That's the sentence, you also object to Daying's so-and-so..."

Oz nodded.

"Well, it is indeed my true opinion. Moreover, frankly speaking, what I just said is somewhat hurtful. If you read Chinese classics, you will understand that they are a unified country, and they cannot understand that the people and the government can treat this matter separately. kind of idea."

The corners of Kaowen's mouth twitched, thinking that they couldn't be separated,

He directly pointed out the other party's mistake: "Sir, don't forget, how did you get those Chinese classics."

Ozzy didn't pick up.

This silence represented Ozzy's attitude.

Cowen refuted the other party, feeling a little relieved, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Unexpectedly, Ozzy spoke up,

"Then you just said, 'cultural relics are the wealth of all mankind, and should not be narrowed down to a certain kind of nationalism', do you actually know that you are hypocritical?"

This time it's Kaowen's turn not to take over.

Oz said: "Shadney, people have selfishness, I am eager to study those classics, so..."

Before he finished speaking, a voice sounded behind him:

"Sir Oz."

"Scary!!!!!!" ×2

Both Ozzy and Cowen were taken aback.

The two turned their heads,

Lu Shi was standing there leaning on the bookshelf, looking at them with a smile on his lips.

"Goo..."

Oz swallowed and said, "Professor Lu?"

Lu Shi smiled and said, "It's almost the end of today, I'll come back tomorrow."

Ozzy nodded again and again, then winked at Cowen,

Kao Wen immediately took a step forward,

"Professor Lu, I'll take you and your companions out."

Lu Shi said "um", followed the other person to the other side of the bookshelf,

After walking a few steps, he came back as if remembering something, and said to Ozzy, "Sir, you just said you wanted to put away the "Yongle Canon", why didn't you act? Don't forget~"

Oz was worried about what would happen to Lu Shi just now, but fortunately it was just a small matter,

He couldn't help but let out a long breath, and quickly promised: "I'll do it now! I'll do it now!"

After speaking, he ran to greet the staff.

Lu Shi watched him leave, so he followed Kao Wen to find Gu Hongming and Natsume Soseki and went out.

Along the way, the literature test was good, and I stopped talking about what I had and what I didn’t. Instead, I introduced some collections of the British Museum, and tried my best to avoid Chinese cultural relics.

Just walked near the door like this, but it was all right.

sunset,

The clouds all over the sky were stained with a thick blush.

At this time, a staff member ran over in small steps,

He reported to Cowen in a low voice: "Sir, a captain came outside and wanted us to help evaluate the value of a jade pendant. We offered a price of 25 pounds. He is not satisfied and insists on not negotiating with you."

Cowen was a little confused.

"Jade pendant? We don't care about jade pendant..."

The staff said: "The jade pendant was tied to the painting, and the staff in the lobby didn't figure it out, so it was directly distributed here."

Cowen was a little impatient,

"It's really... you can't work with this group of people who don't understand anything."

Complaints like this are commonplace among the staff.

He lowered his head and acted as if he hadn't heard anything.

Seeing that no one responded to his venting, Cowen inevitably felt bored, so he said: "Well, you go and tell that big soldier that we don't understand jade valuation, and 25 pounds is a very high price. If he is not satisfied, let him He went to another department to try."

After finishing speaking, I added another sentence,

"Or, it's not impossible to change to another museum."

The staff turned and left after being ordered.

When Cowen turned to Lu,

"Professor Lu, I made you laugh. The current British Museum does not have employees who can match every position."

Lu Shi nodded, looked around,

Already on the square in front of the main building of the museum, the majestic Queen Victoria statue stands quietly, overlooking the people coming and going on the lawn.

Lu Shi said, "Come here, let's go out by ourselves."

Cowen wiped the sweat from his brow,

"Finally..."

Lu Shi chuckled and said, "What is it?"

Cowen waved his hands again and again,

"No, no, no. Professor Lu will come again tomorrow, right? After you arrive, just ask the guard to find me."

That's what I said, but I thought in my heart that I must ask for sick leave tomorrow.

The young visiting professor of London Political Economics in front of him is too difficult to deal with. Let old man Oz do it himself.

Lu Shi was like a mirror in his heart, he didn't expose the other party,

"Since that's the case, I'll trouble you tomorrow."

Cowen hurriedly said goodbye, and then left in a hurry.

The three of Lu Shi walked towards the gate.

Looking at the sun that was about to set, Gu Hongming sighed, and said, "I never expected to encounter such a thing today. The British Museum is really... really..."

Couldn't find a suitable description for a while.

Lu Shi said, "I understand."

Gu Hongming looked at him,

"I haven't said anything yet, you understand?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"The British Museum is really uncomfortable. Generally speaking, the first function of the museum is education and research, but the current British Museum is not the case. It is more inclined to display the national power of the United Kingdom."

Gu Hongming admired him very much.

The feeling that he couldn't figure it out, or he didn't know how to express it, Lu Shi could explain it clearly in a few words.

Natsume Soseki on the side said: "I feel that the quality of the exhibition here is average."

Gu Hongming echoed: "That's right, I see that many exhibits are not even labeled properly, which is outrageous."

They complained a lot.

come to the door,

Lu Shi stretched his waist against the setting sun, and said lazily: "For ordinary tourists, the British Museum is indeed a very contradictory place. First of all, it is very crowded here."

Gu Hongming:? ? ?

Natsume Soseki:? ? ?

Both of them looked dumbfounded, thinking they had heard wrong.

Unexpectedly, Lu Shi repeated: "This place is very crowded. Because London is the place with the most international students, and the British Museum is next to University College London, there are huge crowds of people all day long. Anyway, seeing so many people makes me feel dizzy. "

Gu Hongming smiled wryly,

He didn't expect that Lu Shi was talking about this topic seriously.

Lu Shi said again: "Besides, I'm not a masochist, why would I want to come here to see the history of the country being taken away?"

Natsume Soseki nodded,

"That's right, this place is indeed filled with the glory and might of the empire on which the sun never sets."

Britain has always enjoyed privileges in Japan,

It was not until 1894, when the "Japan-British Treaty of Commerce and Navigation" was signed, that the unequal treaties and extraterritorial powers of Western powers towards Japan came to an end.

Of course, this end is only in name.

Natsume Soseki also has a love-hate relationship with Britain.

The three chatted and walked out the door.

When passing by the gatehouse, they saw a soldier in his early forties arguing with the guard, his face was red and his neck was thick, as if he had been wronged.

The doorman, however, looked calm, and only said one sentence over and over again: "Please go back."

The soldiers were furious,

"Such a good jade pendant only gave me 25 pounds!? Isn't this a joke!?"

Gu Hongming stopped,

Only people in the East understand and love jade, so they are inevitably curious.

He lowered his voice and said to Lu Shi: "It should be the captain that Mr. Cowen just mentioned."

All three looked at the things in the captain's hand,

It was a scroll,

A simple jade buckle is attached to the scroll.

Gu Hongming couldn't stand it anymore, and reminded the other party: "That is a jade buckle, not a jade pendant."

The soldier was still arguing with the guard at first, but when he heard this sentence, he subconsciously cast his gaze at Gu Hongming,

He asked, "Chinese?"

Gu Hongming nodded, pointed to the painting scroll in the other party's hand, and said kindly: "Do you need my help?"

This is said with sincerity.

Unexpectedly, the soldier refused,

"No need! I can handle it myself!"

Gu Hongming couldn't help frowning, and said: "Westerners like gems, Easterners like jade, why don't you find a professional..."

Before he finished speaking, he felt that Lu Shi was pulling his sleeve.

When he looked at Lu, he asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Lu Shi nodded in the direction of the soldier,

"Don't you feel that he was a little nervous when he heard that we are Chinese? I'm afraid that the things in his hand came from the wrong way, and that's why he has a guilty conscience."

Gu Hongming suddenly realized,

"So that's how it is."

he shook his head,

"Forget it, let him go."

After speaking, he turned and prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, the soldier seemed to be persuaded by the sentence "Westerners like gems, and Easterners like jade". After hesitating for a moment, he even chased up and stopped the three of them, saying, "Old man, I was the one who spoke a little aggressively just now. Apologize."

The soldiers handed out what they had in their hands,

"Please help me appreciate it."

He is indeed a guilty conscience,

But compared to being suspected by the Chinese, he is more worried that the things in his hands will not be sold at a good price.

Why would he join the army if it wasn't for money?