Literary Master 1978

Amao owed Lin Chaoyang a favor without knowing why, and left happily, but Lin Chaoyang took the invitation letter to the director's office and explained the situation to Xie Daoyuan.

These days, diplomacy is no small matter. If Lin Chaoyang really wants to attend the Christmas dinner at the American Embassy, ​​he must report to the school.

When he returned home in the evening, Lin Chaoyang took the invitation letter from the American Embassy to Tao Yushu, who asked Lin Chaoyang what was going on with a surprised face.

Lin Chaoyang explained the situation to her again. The invitation letter from the embassy stated that he could bring a female companion, so he planned to take Tao Yushu to eat foreign food.

Tao Yushu was very happy after hearing this. Although she did not worship foreign things, she had a positive attitude towards going to the dinner to broaden her horizons.

And as Lin Chaoyang said, he could also have a Western meal. If he went to Xinqiao Restaurant or Lao Mo to eat a meal, it would cost at least 20 or 30 yuan.

The dinner at the embassy would not be worse than what they had in a Western restaurant, right?

Having decided to happily go for a meal, Tao Yushu turned to worry again, "What should I wear?"

Although she didn't want to admit it, at this time, Chinese people always feel inferior to foreigners. Tao Yushu was afraid that her clothes were not formal enough and would lose the image of Chinese people.

Compared to her entanglement in dressing, Lin Chaoyang was much simpler, wearing a Zhongshan suit and leather shoes.

Maybe it might be a bit rustic in the eyes of Americans, but that's their business. Lin Chaoyang felt that wearing this outfit made him look more energetic and formal.

"Hey, Chaoyang, can you use a knife and fork?" Tao Yushu suddenly remembered and asked.

"Left fork and right knife."

For some unspeakable psychology, Chinese people always overemphasize etiquette when eating Western food, but Lin Chaoyang didn't have this burden at all.

When they heard that Lin Chaoyang was invited to the American Embassy to attend the Christmas dinner, Lin Erchun and his wife looked stunned and confused.

Of course they knew "America", but "embassy" and "Christmas dinner" were too unfamiliar to them. The combination of these three terms made the two of them a little confused.

Lin Erchun just asked Lin Chaoyang worriedly, "You won't make a mistake, right?"

Lin Chaoyang said easily: "No, I have approved this from my superiors, and I'm just going to have a meal."

"That's good." Lin Erchun was relieved.

Zhang Guiqin, who was standing by, was very happy and asked, "Chaoyang, you are so famous now? The American embassy invited you to dinner?"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and explained, "Mom, the dinner is just like our rural banquet."

When he said that, Zhang Guiqin immediately understood and asked, "Do you have to bring a gift?"

"No, just go for a free meal and chat casually."

Zhang Guiqin said, "Free meal, what do they want?"

Her simple concept could not understand the American way of thinking and doing things. Lin Chaoyang could not explain to her what it meant to spread cultural influence. He could only say, "Christmas in the United States is equivalent to our Spring Festival. People are happy during the New Year, so they invite people to dinner."

"Oh, I understand." Zhang Guiqin said that she understood it completely this time.

The next day, as soon as Lin Chaoyang arrived at the library, Du Rong came to him and whispered, "Chaoyang, I heard that you are going to attend the banquet of the American embassy?"

It should be said that the library's information processing ability is fast enough. He just reported the situation to the director yesterday afternoon, and Du Rong came to ask this morning.

"Yeah."

"Hey!" Du Rong exclaimed in surprise after getting Lin Chaoyang's affirmative answer, "You are going to enter the international market!"

"What's the connection! The Americans in the embassy are celebrating Christmas, and they just invite some people to show their support and make it lively."

Du Rong didn't believe him, "Why didn't they invite others, but you?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at her speechlessly, not knowing how to explain for a while.

For a whole day, the fact that Lin Chaoyang was going to the embassy in the United States for dinner became a hot topic in the Yanda Library. From time to time, colleagues came to ask him a few questions, which made Lin Chaoyang very annoyed.

Another day passed, December 24th.

Because he had to attend the Christmas dinner in the evening, Lin Chaoyang changed his clothes at home in the morning.

In the evening, A Mao came to meet Lin Chaoyang. The embassy held a Christmas dinner and symbolically invited several American students who were studying in China, and A Mao was among them.

A Mao was wearing a black leather jacket. He looked at Lin Chaoyang's Zhongshan suit and said, "Cool!"

The two rode their bicycles all the way to the southeast. They first met Tao Yushu at the gate of Yanshi University, and then the three of them rode together towards the Yanjing Hotel.

The Yanjing Hotel on East Chang'an Street was brightly lit at night. In today's China, there should be no place with more cars than here.

Because it is an important place to receive foreign guests, there is never a shortage of cars at the entrance of the Yanjing Hotel.

Today is Christmas, and many foreign envoys, international students and business people have also come here to celebrate the holiday. The number of cars at the entrance is more than usual.

As soon as the three entered the lobby of the Yanjing Hotel, they felt a Christmas festive atmosphere.

Lin Chaoyang and his friends walked into the East Building of the Yanjing Hotel, which was specially built by Comrade Wu Hao in 1973 to receive foreign guests. All the decorative paintings in the building were created by famous painters such as Wu Zuoren, Li Keran, Huang Zhou and Wang Xuetao.

The hotel's lobby alone is more than 2,000 square meters. At this time, there are several tall Christmas trees in the hotel lobby, with gift boxes hanging on them. It can be seen that they are specially prepared for Christmas.

Almost most of the people in the lobby are foreigners, and many of them are dressed in formal clothes.

Lin Chaoyang was inevitably a little dazed. Is this still the Yanjing City in his impression?

Tao Yushu quietly asked Lin Chaoyang: "Why do I feel that all the foreigners in Yanjing are here today?"

"At least European and American countries should come here to celebrate the New Year!" Lin Chaoyang said.

Several people took the elevator according to the instructions and came to the door of the restaurant. There were people coming and going here. Several people were stopped by the security personnel at the door of the restaurant. Then they showed the invitation letter before they were allowed to enter the restaurant.

There are several restaurants in the East Building of Yanjing Hotel. Among them, the Golden Hall is used for state banquets, and the large restaurant is used for general foreign affairs reception.

The dinner held by the American Embassy was not held in these two restaurants, but in the hotel's lounge. For today's banquet, the original round table and dining chairs were removed and replaced with a long dining table that Westerners are accustomed to.

Just now, I saw no less than a hundred foreigners along the way. Lin Chaoyang thought that today's banquet should be a grand occasion with a large number of people.

Unexpectedly, there was only one table for them in the lounge. The length of the dining table was nearly ten meters, and almost each side could accommodate more than a dozen people. It seemed that this was just a small banquet of a small scale.

Under the introduction of A Mao, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu met Leonard Woodcock, the current American ambassador to China, and his wife Shanlun Woodcock.

Leonard Woodcock was the first ambassador after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Before him, the United States only had the Beijing Office in Yanjing, and the person in charge was the director of the Beijing Office.

The two sides had a brief conversation. Leonard Woodcock went to entertain other guests who had just arrived, while Shanlun Woodcock continued to chat with Lin Chaoyang and his wife.

Shanlun Woodcock was originally a medical nurse assigned by the Beijing Office. Leonard Woodcock met her when he first came to Yenching in 1977, and they soon fell in love and got married.

Shanlun Woodcock has worked in Yenching for more than eight years. She can be said to be half a China expert. She can not only speak Mandarin fluently, but also write and read Chinese characters effortlessly.

The reason why A Mao invited Lin Chaoyang to the dinner this time was mainly because she was very interested in Lin Chaoyang as a writer.

"Mr. Lin, I never thought I could meet you through A Mao. I especially like the "Lai Zi's Summer" you wrote. It's very well written."

"Thank you, Mrs. Woodcock."

Lin Chaoyang responded politely and complimented Shanlun Woodcock a few more times. It was only after chatting that I found out that she was not reading the Chinese version of "Lai Zi's Summer", but the English version of "Lai Zi's Summer" serialized in "Chinese Literature".

"It's a pity that this novel is only serialized in magazines. I really hope it can be published in English so that more readers in the English-speaking world can see this wonderful novel."

After a conversation, Lin Chaoyang could see that Shanlun Woodcock really liked "Lai Zi's Summer" and almost all the topics she talked to Lin Chaoyang revolved around this novel.

Until Leonard Woodcock asked her to greet other guests, she said hello to Lin Chaoyang and walked away.

"I didn't expect that you even have foreign readers."

Just now when Lin Chaoyang was communicating with Shanlun Woodcock, Tao Yushu had been listening quietly beside him. Seeing that Lin Chaoyang's work was actually loved by the lady of the envoy, she felt sincerely happy in her heart.

"It's just one more reader." Lin Chaoyang didn't think much of it.

Tao Yushu said, "You can't think like that. Since Mrs. Woodcock likes it, at least there must be many foreigners in Yanjing who like it. And there are foreign readers. If you accumulate a few readers for each of your works, you may become internationally famous in the future."

When she finished speaking, her eyes could not help but reveal a bit of longing.

While the couple was whispering, guests arrived one after another. Among these guests, there were not only Americans, but also a large number of Chinese, almost half each.

The American guests were mainly embassy staff, politicians and businessmen, and international students.

And the Chinese guests were mainly government diplomats and cultural figures.

At the beginning of the banquet, the Woodcocks sat at the first seats on both sides of the long table, and the other guests sat down in turn. The order was basically in the order of men and women, old and young, Chinese and foreign. Lin Chaoyang and his wife happened to sit together.

While everyone was greeting each other, the waiter had already started to serve appetizers.

French-style appetizers are usually simple cold dishes made of vegetables. The American embassy cannot be shabby when entertaining guests. The appetizer is French fried foie gras.

Just as the appetizer was served, Leonard Woodcock, who was sitting at the top, tapped the wine glass with a spoon, making a crisp sound.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to see you here tonight..."

As the host of today's dinner, Leonard Woodcock made a simple opening speech, and then everyone started eating.

Tao Yushu went to the few Western restaurants in Yanjing to eat Western food once or twice every year since she was a child. She was quite familiar with Western dining etiquette. She was a little worried that Lin Chaoyang would not be used to using knives and forks.

Unexpectedly, after the meal, he was very familiar with the knife and fork, and was more skilled than her.

The most important thing is that she has a relaxed attitude, unlike herself, who is always a little nervous in front of so many foreigners and her movements are tense.

"Sizzle!"

The knife cut through the steak, making a harsh sound when it collided with the plate. The people around her cast a concerned look at her, and Tao Yushu couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and her face was hot.

Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang put his already cut steak in front of her and exchanged it with her.

The two looked at each other, and Tao Yushu immediately felt a sense of peace and sweetness, and completely forgot the eyes of the people around her.