Reborn and become a Great Scientist

Chapter 268 07 Light and Darkness on the Fourth Road

Persuading his family to leave Wuhai and live in Europe has always been the top priority for Chen Muwu after returning to Wuhai.

But it would be a bit unfair to say that Chen Muwu stayed at home for so many days just to be busy with such a thing.

When he was in retreat, he was always busy writing.

In ancient Chinese traditional novels, after a master reaches a certain level of seclusion, he always looks for a chance before leaving the seclusion.

The invitation to the engagement party that Chen Muwu received that day was his opportunity to leave the country.

It's not that the two people who got engaged are very popular with Chen Muwu, but he calculated the time. The Crown Prince of Sweden should have almost finished his trip in Beijing and came to Jihai, so he had to show up in advance. Lay the groundwork for what’s to come.

The name written on the invitation was that the man was Xu Zhangyi.

Of course, this person also has another alias, called Xu Zhimo.

Xu Zhimo and Chen Muwu met at Bei University in 1923, and then met once again at Cambridge University last year.

Xu Zhimo, who was visiting his ex-wife and children in Europe at the time, was summoned by his new bride, Lu Xiaoman, and hurriedly returned to China from Europe.

Some people say it was because Lu Xiaoman sent a telegram to Xu Zhimo, saying that he was lonely and bored and missed him very much.

Some people also say that the reason why Xu Zhimo suddenly went abroad in 1925 was not to see his second son who had just been born and died, but because Lu Xiaoman had not divorced her husband Wang Geng at that time, and Xu Zhimo had already divorced this married woman. The woman hooked up together.

Although the couple's relationship breaks down, no one wants to have a cuckold appear on their head out of thin air without a divorce.

So Wang Geng issued a death threat to Xu Zhimo, and the latter fled to Europe to avoid trouble.

The reason why he suddenly returned from Europe was because he received the news that Lu Xiaoman had completed his divorce.

Before going abroad, Xu Zhimo had resigned from his position as professor at Beida University.

After returning from Europe, he has joined Guanghua University in Sihai and also teaches English at Soochow University.

Because he was also an editor at the "Morning News Supplement" in Beijing, Xu Zhimo had been traveling back and forth between Beijing and Shanghai.

In addition to Wang Geng, Xu Zhimo's father was also opposed to the marriage between Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman.

First, he thought that Lu Xiaoman was acting inappropriately.

As a social butterfly, she often goes to dance halls, banquets and other social venues, and her behavior is very frivolous.

The second is that Xu Zhimo's divorce from Zhang Youyi, whose parents ordered a matchmaker, seems to be a big rebellion among traditional families.

And then marrying a married woman is really a disgrace to the Xu family.

No wonder, Xu Zhimo is the only son in the family and the eldest son and grandson. Now that he is old, he will definitely not be able to practice trumpet anymore.

So after all kinds of hard work, Xu Zhimo's father's mind began to waver, and he felt that he would agree to the marriage between him and Lu Xiaoman.

But Xu Zhimo's father also made a request, that is, someone with sufficient status must be hired to be the matchmaker and witness for the two of them.

Confucius said: "When three people walk, there must be my teacher." Xu Zhimo can be said to be a model of practicing this sentence.

In the West, he has always regarded himself as Russell's student.

In the East, his teacher was one of the most influential figures in the late Qing Dynasty, Liang Qichao.

Although it was because the girl he liked was chased away by someone else's son that he fell in love with someone else.

However, the relationship between Xu Zhimo and Liang Qichao has always been good. They always adhere to the rites of disciples and serve as teachers.

Historically, the betrothed person of Xu Zhimo's second marriage was the owner of the ice drinking room.

But what was very unexpected was that Liang Qichao scolded Xu and Lu from head to toe at their engagement party.

He scolded Xu Zhimo for being "impetuous", "achieving nothing", "unprofessional" and "a failure in life". He scolded Lu Xiaoman and told her to "abide by women's ethics" and "review her own personality and behavior" in the future.

After scolding these two people separately, it was not over yet. Liang Qichao's wedding ceremony speech was also full of all kinds of irony, ruthlessly exposing the background of this passionate couple.

Chen Muwu knows this past event very well. Now that the opportunity to have fun is right in front of him, how could he not be on the front line of eating melons?

So, Chen Muwu, who had been staying at home for a long time and finally got out of the house, went to the location on the invitation at the time specified on the invitation, Xinghua Building located on Fourth Avenue in the public concession.

Just after entering this restaurant, Chen Muwu began to notice something was wrong.

The old Xu family was also considered a wealthy family in Jianghai. At that time, in the Qing Dynasty, when the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway was being built from Wuhai to Ganzhou, the old Xu family forced this straight line to be connected to the railway in front of their home. The railway turned a corner at Kip Shek.

It stands to reason that if the only son of such a wealthy family holds an engagement banquet, even though it is his second wedding, he should have reserved the Xinghua Building long ago.

But when he was standing at the door of Xinghua Building, Chen Muwu saw a steady stream of guests coming in and out, and the waiters were constantly standing at the door to attract customers.

There was no groomsmen to welcome guests at the door, and there was no red decoration at all, let alone the joy of marriage.

Did I go wrong or did I remember the wrong time?
Uneasy, Chen Muwu took out the invitation from his suit pocket and checked it carefully. After seeing that it was completely correct, he walked in with great suspicion.

Maybe because the Xu family doesn't want to show their faces in the lobby, maybe they all reserved private rooms on the second floor?
Chen Muwu could only comfort himself in his heart.

Then his fantasy was shattered again. As soon as he walked into the lobby, he heard someone calling his name.

If it wasn’t Xu Zhimo, who could it be?

Xu Zhimo used his so-called "engagement banquet invitation" to easily defraud Chen Muwu, who had been in seclusion for a long time, from his home.

He had no idea that Chen Muwu came here because he wanted to see the great fun he had at the engagement party.

In Xu Zhimo's heart, Chen Muwu is definitely one of his best friends.

Even if he was in seclusion at home without seeing anyone, Chen Muwu would be embarrassed not to come when he heard the news of his engagement.

So the two people, each with misunderstandings in their hearts, met at the dining table of Xinghualou.

Xu Zhimo invited Chen Muwu to dinner this time not just to prove to the whole world that you can't invite this great physicist, but I can.

In fact, he also wanted something from Chen Muwu.

Xu's father asked Xu Zhimo to find someone with a high enough status to be the matchmaker and witness for his second marriage, in order to use other people's reputations to help support his scandalous wedding.

The witness of the marriage has been confirmed to be Liang Qichao, but the matchmaker has not been finalized yet.In the original history, it is said that the matchmaker Xu Zhimo found this time was Dr. Hu Shihu, Professor Hu, the most famous among the younger generation in the country.

After all, he was able to reach No. 12 among the twelve most famous people in the country through public auditions, and he was also the youngest among them.

But there seems to be some doubt as to whether this matter is true or false.

Because after all, Hu Shi did go abroad to the United States in 1926, this was already a certainty.

How could a person who had gone abroad long ago be a matchmaker for Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman, and how could he appear at their engagement banquet and wedding?
But it doesn't matter whether this matter is true or false now, because Xu Zhimo has already chosen a better candidate for the matchmaker.

Perhaps two years ago, Hu Shi was indeed the most famous among young scholars nationwide.

Although the fledgling Chen Muwu was already chatting and laughing with Einstein in Wuhai, he could also go north to give lectures at Beizhou University.

But it was Hu Shi who invited Chen Muwu to give lectures.

But as Chen Muwu won the Olympic swimming gold medal and the Nobel Prize in Physics, he made great achievements in physics and other fields.

The key is that he is still very young. Although Hu Shi is also called a middle-aged man, he was born in 1891 and is 11 years older than Chen Muwu.

In China today, Chen Muwu is the No. 1 academic young talent in the country.

He can even remove the word "academic" and become the representative of all young people in China.

If there was a United Nations at this time, then Chen Muwu would probably go to the United Nations every now and then to give a speech, such as "Me and My Physicist Friends."

It's just a pity that Chen Muwu doesn't smoke, let alone the reformers and conservatives, Ruike 5 and Furong King.

I don’t know if the fact that he doesn’t smoke, is highly educated, and is good at reading will have any impact on his speech at the United Nations.

Then why did Xu Zhimo find Hu Shi to be his matchmaker?
He directly targeted Chen Muwu, who had just returned to China.

Xu Zhimo even thought that this was God's will. Why did Chen Muwu return to China just when he was about to get married?

That's how they met in Xinghua Tower that day.

Xu Zhimo asked Chen Muwu to be his matchmaker, and he felt that Chen Muwu would agree without even thinking.

Then Xu Zhimo heard a negative answer.

At first, Chen Muwu really wanted to watch Liang Qichao angrily rebuke Xu Zhimo for fun. Even if Xu Zhimo invited him to be a matchmaker this time, he didn't think it mattered.

However, Xu Zhimo should not tell Lu Xiaoman that he had lived in Bei Jing since he was a child. He did not intend to let his bride and teacher Liang Qichao go to Beihai, so he decided to hold the engagement party in Beihai Park.

It was for his own reasons that Chen Muwu gave up such an important thing as using the particle accelerator he developed at Cambridge University to conduct the world's first artificially accelerated particle experiment.

He was scrambling for every second now. How could he have any spare time? He would waste nearly a week on a round trip to Beijing just for the sake of fun.

If others really arrive in Beijing, it will not be as simple as attending an engagement banquet.

Not long ago, people from three universities who invited him to give lectures had already rushed to the platform of Tianli Station.

If he goes to Beijing, it will be like a big fat sheep entering a pack of wolves. How easy will it be to leave?
Chen Muwu is not willing to tell his true purpose yet. He only said that the Crown Prince of Sweden is about to end his visit to Beijing and will come to Bihai soon.

We must make adequate preparations here for the upcoming Swedish royal family, and we must not lose the face of China.

Xu Zhimo, who was rejected, looked disappointed, and Chen Muwu, who had invited Chen Muwu for nothing, had no choice but to draw a cake for him and said that he would definitely attend the wedding in October.

After all, he wanted to get rid of the embarrassment in front of him, and what Chen Muwu said was not a lie.

He will definitely attend a wedding in October this year, but it won't be in Sihai, but in Paris.

Even so, Xu Zhimo still failed to adjust his lost mood.

Because he was engaged to the person he loved the most, his best friend couldn't be there.

He may still feel that he has found true love, but it is this true love that spends money lavishly and empties Xu Zhimo's wallet.

This forced him to travel around the country giving speeches, just to earn more money to support his family.

In the end, Xu Zhimo boarded the plane and ended up flying in the sky like a crane.

Chinese people have always been very particular about persuading peace but not separation, and now Xu and Lu are passionately in love.

If Chen Muwu advised him not to get married, he couldn't read the air.

I can only wait until Xu Zhimo's wallet is emptied by this wealthy Lu lady who spends money like water, and then I will offer him an olive branch to teach in Stockholm.

There must have been no flights from China to Sweden at that time. Xu Zhimo could only take a train or a ship, so as not to encounter another human tragedy like a plane crash.

After finishing the meal at Xinghualou that day, Chen Muwu was completely out of seclusion.

The first thing he did after leaving the customs was not to visit the dignitaries who had handed over their business cards, nor was he to go to the Shenbao Pavilion on Fourth Avenue with the Xinghualou Restaurant to contact the reporter Zhao Junhao in the pavilion to accept him. ’s exclusive interview.

Chen Muwu, who was carrying his briefcase, did not choose to go home. Instead, he continued walking along the Fourth Avenue, passing through the "Declaration" Museum, and did not stop until he reached the intersection of the Fourth Avenue of Helin Road.

This four-horse road in the public concession is a very magical road.

Around Huileli, which is its favorite, close to Nazang Road, is the famous Changsantangzi in Baihai, where you can witness the licentious side of Baihai where the orioles sing and dance, and there is feasting and feasting.

But at the other end of the Fourth Avenue, there is the most developed book and newspaper publishing industry in the whole of Taiwan and even in China. The density of newspapers and book companies is very high, which is very rare in this era.

This is the ocean of knowledge.

There was a plaque hanging directly above the door of the shop where Chen Muwu stopped.

On the plaque are written five large gilt characters from right to left, "Commercial Press".

When Chen Muwu stayed in seclusion at home for so many days, he didn't always persuade the old lady to move to Europe.

He also started writing something at the same time. As soon as he finished writing part of it, he caught up with Xu Zhimo to treat him.

So Chen Muwu took his manuscript to the Commercial Press near Xinghua Building.

It's just that what he is publishing this time is not a novel, and the purpose of coming to his door is not to earn a few royalties.

(End of this chapter)