British writer

Paris,

Railway station, station square.

Dirty dirty——

One could clearly hear the train whistle fading away.

The sun shines through the thick clouds on the roof of the train station, forming a golden halo, and the snowflakes fall in the breeze, adding a bit of romance and mystery.

Three East Asians came out carrying luggage.

The leader was Gu Hongming, whom he had not seen for a long time.

He turned around and frowned,

"He Qing, please move more quickly."

"Ah...here he comes."

The person who answered was a man in his early thirties, wearing a long robe and a pair of glasses. He was not tall and had a low voice. He was gentle, elegant and polite.

This person is none other than Cai Yuanpei, also known as Heqing.

He followed at a trot.

"Tsk..."

Gu Hongming was slightly speechless.

He always has an awkward feeling towards Cai Yuanpei, and the reason is nothing more than two words -

Kang Dang.

The old gentleman looked down on Kang Youwei, so naturally he looked down on his lackeys.

Another point is that this Cai Yuanpei likes to get close to each other and build relationships. He just puts his hot face on his cold butt.

It's so slippery and slippery that it's hard not to give people the feeling of seeking something from themselves.

But Gu Hongming couldn’t help it.

Don’t reach out to hit the smiling person.

On the contrary, another young man who came with him, named Jiang Guoliang, often contradicted Gu Hongming, giving people a sense of integrity.

Cai Yuanpei waved to Jiang Guoliang,

"Guanyun, come quickly!"

Jiang Guoliang sighed,

"I really don't understand why I came to France. Wouldn't it be better to go directly to London?"

As he said this, he did not forget to give Gu Hongming a sideways look and complained: "Why do you want to 'go on the study tour again'? It's a pure waste of money."

Although the voice was lowered, it could still be heard clearly.

Gu Hongming: "..."

I thought to myself,

The young man really doesn't give me any face.

He said haha,

"Okay, let's go and check out the University of Paris. I'm very good at French, so daily communication is no problem."

Jiang Guoliang curled his lips, slightly unhappy.

Old Man Gu is so good at pretending that he always shows off by saying that he is proficient in English, French, German, Latin, Greek, Malaysian, Russian and other languages.

Cai Yuanpei noticed his friend's attitude and reminded him: "Watch the clouds!"

Jiang Guoliang was helpless,

"knew."

In fact, scholars in the Qing court generally did not recognize Gu Hongming's academic ability.

The so-called saying "You can go to China without seeing the Three Great Halls, but you must see Gu Hongming" is just deception and bullying of foreigners who don't know how to do it.

Cai Yuanpei was baptized by stereotyped writing and became a Jinshi at the age of 25. He also thought the same thing.

But he didn't show it openly.

He said: "Sir, didn't you graduate from Edinburgh?"

Gu Hongming smiled proudly,

"Edinburgh? I'm more than that."

He waved to stop the carriage,

The carriage slowly turned around,

Jiang Guoliang was ready to move the luggage up.

But Gu Hongming stopped him and handed the driver three francs.

"I said when I was in Calais, in Europe, you don't need to do this kind of service yourself, but you have to spend money to buy it. Do you understand?"

"Tsk..."

Jiang Guoliang was speechless,

He turned his face and pretended not to hear.

Cai Yuanpei glared at his friend and changed the topic when he saw that the driver over there was busy.

"Sir, I haven't finished what I just said~"

Gu Hongming smiled,

"I studied at the University of Leipzig, and after graduation, I went to Paris to study French. At that time, Mr. Brown contacted the University of Paris for me and asked me to study some law and political science."

His expression was full of nostalgia,

"I was only 22 years old at the time. It was a great time."

Cai Yuanpei asked as if coaxing an elder: "Why do you say that?"

Gu Hongming sighed,

"I knew how to read at that time. I read the entire semester's lecture notes and reference books at the University of Paris at a very fast speed. Unlike now, my memory is like... Sigh... At that time, I had studied science, literature, philosophy , and is familiar with the languages ​​​​of various countries.”

Started pretending to be X again.

Jiang Guoliang really couldn't stand listening, so he changed the subject and said, "Since you learn quickly, what do you do in your spare time?"

Gu Hongming replied: "I take time out to teach my landlord Greek every day. In fact, how do I know how to teach? Apart from the Greek alphabet, I can only teach my landlord to recite a few lines from "Ilion", "Faust", and Shakespeare's Drama. My landlord made rapid progress in Greek, and many people were astonished when they saw the method I taught.”

Jiang Guoliang: "..."

"Ilion" is "Iliad", Greek;

"Faust", German;

Shakespeare's plays, English.

Therefore, translation must be involved.

Old man Gu really lives his life and shows off endlessly.

Cai Yuanpei noticed Hua Dian on the side and asked curiously: "Sir, is that landlord... a man...?"

"Ah this..."

Gu Hongming was embarrassed.

Cai Yuanpei also turned his face away,

"the weather is nice today."

It’s snowing and the weather is nice!

In fact, he regretted it after asking.

Fortunately, the coachman had finished moving his luggage at this time and asked curiously: "Are you Chinese?"

Although Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Guoliang know very little about French at the moment, they still understand the word "China".

The three of them couldn't help but look at each other.

Along the way, they were mistaken for Japanese several times.

The only time they were recognized correctly was when a Yankee got drunk on a cruise ship and said "Chinaman, pig tail, stupid pig" under the influence of alcohol, which made the three of them angry for a while.

Gu Hongming said in surprise: "Why do you think we are Chinese?"

The driver scratched his head,

"Ah... I was just guessing."

This reason is not enough.

Gu Hongming asked: "Randomly? There must be a reason."

The driver said "Uh..." for a while.

Looking at that look, it seemed that even he was a little confused.

He reacted for a while, then suddenly slapped his forehead and said with a look of realization: "I know! Recently, I kept hearing those passengers in the car talking about a Chinese writer whose pen name is 'Lu', so I..."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Hongming's eyes widened and he took a step forward.

"Lu Shi has released another new work?"

The driver was startled,

"Ah... yes... there is a new book out."

Gu Hongming muttered: "I knew it."

The purpose of the three people's trip to Europe was to meet Lu Shi.

The last work they read before setting off was "The Nature of Japanese Civilization", but looking at it now, in less than two months, there must be another new work.

Cai Yuanpei ranked first in the imperial examination that year, and his score was among the top 34 in the palace examination, which is equivalent to the 37th place in the national unified examination.

This also led to him appearing to be smooth and sophisticated, but in reality he was very high-spirited.

But compared with Lu Shi...

He couldn't help but reveal a wry smile,

"What a monster."

Jiang Guoliang on the side did not hear clearly.

"What?"

Cai Yuanpei shook his head, looked at Gu Hongming, and asked: "Sir, should we go to the bookstore first? You are good at French, you can translate it for us."

Gu Hongming nodded,

"good."

He asked the coachman for the address of a nearby newspaper store.

The coachman looked Gu Hongming up and down for a while and said, "You can name Lu by his real name. Do you think you know him? How about you go to the Collège de France to try your luck? He lives there now."

Gu Hongming was a little surprised and murmured to himself: "It's really hard to find anything without wearing iron shoes. It took no effort to get it."

After hearing what he said, Jiang Guoliang asked: "Mr. Lu is in Paris?"

Gu Hongming said "hmm\

,""Yes, he currently lives at the Collège de France."

Jiang Guoliang:? ? ?

"He lives at the Collège de France? Isn't that a research institution?"

Gu Hongming shrugged in a very Western style,

"People have this level."

Jiang Guoliang did not refute.

Lu Shi could actually ask Gu Hongming to stop pretending, which shows that his level is indeed very high.

Cai Yuanpei said: "Let's go to the bookstore first."

Chinese people value etiquette,

Normally, when you meet the master, you need to write a greeting note.

Even if you don’t have the conditions in a foreign country, you should at least read other people’s works and do your homework.

The three of them asked the coachman to take them to the largest bookstore nearby.

Just like libraries in universities, bookstores are cultural symbols of a city.

The atmosphere in the store is very peaceful, with only the occasional sound of books turning and whispers of conversation.

Between the rows of bookshelves, the fragrance of ink fills the air.

Gu Hongming lowered his voice,

"Generally speaking, books written by foreigners will be placed..."

"hiss……"

He suddenly narrowed his eyes and took a breath of cold air.

Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Guoliang followed Gu Hongming's gaze and then showed shocked expressions.

"That is……"

The three of them saw Lu Shi's huge photo!

Next to the photo, various books are stacked together to form several pyramids.

The cover of the book is carefully designed and is bilingual in English and French.

"No Survivor", "Roger's Mystery", "The Lord of the Rings" Part Two, "Guns, Germs and Steel", "Fifteen Years of Wanli", "The Nature of Japanese Civilization", "The Way of the Morning", " hunting"……

All are Lu Shi's works.

"Gu..."

Cai Yuanpei couldn't help but swallowed.

"Is this how books are sold in Europe?"

Gu Hongming shook his head,

"Of course not! Only the best-selling authors get this treatment!"

Cai Yuanpei: "..."

Jiang Guoliang: "..."

The two of them couldn't say a word for a long time.

Judging from the margins, the novels sold extremely well, while the academic works were far behind, but the sales were passable.

They gathered around the pile of books,

I saw it written on the covers of all the books:

Author: Lu;

Translation: Lu.

The outrageous mother opened the door for the outrageous——

It’s so outrageous!

Cai Yuanpei glanced at "Chao Wen Dao" and "Hunting" and said, "These two should be Mr. Lu's new works."

Gu Hongming took one copy of all the books.

"French version, valuable for collection."

They settled the bill, got in the carriage and went straight to the Collège de France.

Da da da--

Every step the horse takes is imprinted on the snow, splashing up pieces of mist, leaving a series of clear hoof prints.

In the car, Gu Hongming was reading a book and translating.

But soon, the destination was reached.

The coachman knocked on the door and urged: "You three, we are here."

Gu Hongming opened the door, stuffed another banknote to the other party, and at the same time asked: "Let us borrow the carriage for a while. If possible, can you light a firewood for us? It's a bit cold to study here."

Driver:? ? ?

"Brother... uncle, what else do you want to do?"

Gu Hongming was embarrassed,

"forget it."

He closed the car door with a bang.

At this time, they had finished reading three articles in the short story collection "Chao Wen Dao".

Cai Yuanpei touched his chin and expressed his opinion in a deep voice: "I didn't expect that novels could be written like this..."Animal Farm" is really the most amazing novel I have ever read in my life."

Jiang Guoliang pondered,

"Gods and Ghosts? How does it compare to "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio"?"

Cai Yuanpei said: "How can it be compared? What is the content of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio"? Good and evil are rewarded, love between men and women, landscape knowledge... Most of them focus on individuals. And "Animal Farm" as a fable, alludes But... hum..."

It is inconvenient to say what follows.

Gu Hongming chuckled lightly,

"Allusions to Tsarist Russia."

"Huh?"×2

Both Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Guoliang thought they heard wrongly.

Gu Hongming shook the book in his hand and said: "The novel has a postscript written by a writer named Verne. He told the whole story in it."

After finishing speaking, he told the story about the sealing of books in Russia.

Then he couldn't help but laugh,

"Tsar Nicholas is really cute. This book is obviously hinting that I will..."

Before the words fell,

"Ahem!"

Jiang Guoliang on the side cleared his throat pretentiously.

However, Gu Hongming had long been disappointed with the Qing court and sighed indifferently: "Okay, okay, I won't say anything anymore."

The three of them started watching "Hunting" again,

As a result, only about a quarter of the way through, they could not help but feel chills running down their spines.

Cai Yuanpei muttered: "The winter in Paris is too cold..."

Gu Hongming took over the conversation,

"So, just now I asked the coachman to help light a firewood, but he didn't agree."

That's right,

But they all know very well that this chill has nothing to do with the temperature.

The real reason is that the content of "Hunting" reveals a sense of chilling and oppression, as if a huge stone is pressing on the chest, making readers unable to breathe.

"No more reading!"

Gu Hongming closed the book,

"As I read this book, my heart was gripping, and it was really uncomfortable."

Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Guoliang nodded,

They all wanted to open Lu Shi's head and see what was inside that could come up with such a theme.

The three of them got off the carriage and walked into the Collège de France.

The snow is falling a little less,

Snowflakes are falling in a flurry,

Not far away, the busts of celebrities in the central square were lightly covered with white, which actually made their facial features appear more three-dimensional.

A clerk came forward,

"You are?"

At this time, it is time for the most famous person to appear.

Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Guoliang each took a step back.

Gu Hongming was very satisfied with their self-consciousness. He straightened his body proudly and said, "I am Gu Hongming."

The words fell,

"..."

"..."

"..."

The place was eerily quiet.

The clerk looked at Gu Hongming with confusion.

The latter's face seemed to be a little red, but thinking that the two juniors did not understand French, he tried to remain unmoved and said calmly: "I, Gu Hongming, came to the Collège de France this time to pay a visit to Professor Lu Shilu .”

The clerk sighed,

"Didn't you tell Professor Lu earlier? He has been giving lectures at the University of Paris in the past few days."

After saying that, he waved his hands and prepared to go back to the stove.

Gu Hongming quickly stopped him: "I, Gu Hongming, just heard you say..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the other party.

"Are you not good at French? In our grammar, you don't need to introduce yourself every time."

"..."

"..."

"..."

There was another eerie silence.

Gu Hongming coughed lightly,

"Well, I just heard you say that Professor Lu has been giving lectures recently. Has it been going on for a few days?"

The clerk nodded,

"Well, it's been three days. You can either go find him, or you can wait here. He will probably come back at night."

After saying that, he left.

Gu Hongming turned around,

"Mr. Lu is giving a lecture at the University of Paris now. We can go there now."

Jiang Guoliang nodded,

"In the end, I still want to go to the University of Paris."

The two looked at Cai Yuanpei.

Unexpectedly, Cai Yuanpei's attention was not on the conversation at all. Instead, he was staring at a statue in the central garden with a puzzled expression.

"Isn't that...I feel like it's very similar to the photos I saw in the library."

Follow his gaze.

That's the easternmost side of the garden, where a bust stands.

Snowflakes fell on the top of the bust, like a white wig.

Gu Hongming narrowed his eyes,

"That is... Lu Shi?"

They leaned in subconsciously.

Jiang Guoliang bent down and brushed off the floating snow on the base of the stone tablet with his hands.

I saw the words of Kong Sheng written on it:

"Knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing, that is knowing."

The three of them were confused.

Cai Yuanpei asked softly: "What font is this? Is it cursive?"

Jiang Guoliang, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but venomously said: "The cursive characters are not up to standard, and it is difficult for gods to recognize them. Cursive scripts are regular, and each stroke has a different cursive method in different characters. If you look at these characters again, is there any order?" To know, not to know, to not know, is to know. There are five "knowings" in total, which one of them is the same?"

Cai Yuanpei was silent after a word.

After a long time, he said: "Perhaps Mr. Lu is developing a new font, which is still unknown."

Jiang Guoliang rolled his eyes,

"Do you believe this?"

He shook his head and continued to wipe the inscription.

A short poem in French appeared below.

Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Guoliang looked at Gu Hongming at the same time, waiting for the translation.

Gu Hongming then translated:

——

Your eyes can deceive you;

Your feelings can deceive you;

Your experience will deceive you;

But math doesn’t,

No, it just won’t!

——

After reading this poem, the three of them were silent.

suddenly,

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Jiang Guoliang laughed wildly and said: "Professor Lu is really a wonderful person. Isn't the connotation of this poem just 'knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing, it is knowing'? He is indeed a best-selling writer in France, and he is also a philosopher. "

Because the laughter was so loud that the clerk from before came back again.

Seeing that the three of them were still there, he urged: "Why haven't you left yet? It's such a cold weather... um..."

He paused,

"Are you looking at Professor Lu's calligraphy?"

Gu Hongming nodded repeatedly,

"That's right! I'm just paying homage to Mo Bao."

With that said, he pulled Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Guoliang away.

Unexpectedly, the clerk said: "Then you should go to the University of Paris to have a look. Professor Lu cooperated with people in the legal, media, and publishing circles in Paris and funded the renovation of the campus and dormitories of the Sorbonne. He also gave The school building was named 'Mingfa Building'."

When the three of them heard this, they were all shocked.

There are actually experts! ?

They couldn't wait to say goodbye to the clerk, then called a carriage and went straight to the University of Paris.

As soon as you enter the campus, you will notice that the school's administrative building, library, canteen, and laboratories are very new, while the school buildings and dormitories are quite old.

The largest building is the school building.

They walked over quickly,

I saw that the building had not been renovated yet, but the new nameplate had already been put up.

There are three Chinese characters written on it -

Mingfa Building.

Jiang Guoliang couldn't help but comment: "This character is really shockingly bad. The strokes are of different thicknesses, like squirming caterpillars, lacking smoothness and strength. The structure of the characters is even more random graffiti, improper proportions, and random placement of radicals. Like mathematical symbols…”

Before he finished his evaluation, Cai Yuanpei next to him began to pull his sleeves.

"Guanyun, stop talking."

Jiang Guoliang was upright and awe-inspiring,

"Don't stop me! Today, even if Mr. Lu is here, I will tell the truth! His writing is sloppy and confusing at the beginning and end of his writing. Some strokes are top-heavy, and some strokes are too lengthy and lack standard... …”

Cai Yuanpei’s head is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

"Watch the clouds!"

Jiang Guoliang remained unmoved.

"The most terrible thing is that 'Mingfa Building' has only three characters, but the arrangement of the characters is unorganized, like a duck walking on the paper, with no order. The characters are written..."

Cai Yuanpei finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"Stop talking! Don't even look at who's coming!"

"ah?"

Jiang Guoliang was still a little confused.

"No matter who comes today, they can't change the words on this painting...well..."

He paused.

I saw a young Chinese man walking quickly out of Mingfa Building.

Who else could it be if it wasn't Lu Shi?

Beside him were several Frenchmen,

Poincaré, Dumas, Herzer, Clemenceau...

They whispered something to each other.

So, Jiang Guoliang instantly changed his tone and said loudly in Chinese: "No matter who comes today, they can't change that this calligraphy is... good calligraphy! Really good calligraphy!"