Reborn and become a Great Scientist

Chapter 61 10
1923 3 Month 15 Day.

the sea.

South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd. Huangpu Wharf.

Mantie is another term that contains a history of humiliation.

Whether it was the eldest brother, the second brother, or the old lady of the Chen family, they all came to the pier today to see off their younger brother and son, Chen Muwu, who were about to study abroad in the West.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the steamship Anrui Helidu of the French Mercantile Shipping Company blew its flute on time and slowly left the pier.

People on the deck and in the pier acted in a strangely consistent manner at this moment. They all grabbed the hats or handkerchiefs that had been taken off their heads, and seized the time to wave goodbye to their relatives and friends who were about to say goodbye to them.

With the sound of the siren, my heart was broken, and I was traveling alone in the end of the world.

The ship moved slowly along the Huangpu River, sailed from Wusongkou into the Yangtze River, and then entered the sea from the Yangtze River.

Seeing the sea water in front of him getting bluer and bluer, Chen Muwu closed his eyes in despair, and silently said "let the storm come more violently".

Perhaps it was the kindness of the old dragon king at the bottom of the East China Sea. During the three-day voyage from Yahai to Hong Kong, the weather was calm.

Chen Muwu, who was ready to lay his body on the bed, found that he had nothing to do after lying down for a day, and occasionally got up and walked around on the deck to pass the boring time at sea.

This ship, An Rui He Lidu, sailed from Yokohama, Japan, to Marseilles, France, passing through the Strait of Malacca in Singapore, and the dividing line between Asia and Africa, the Suez Canal.

Every few days, the ship will stop at a port city along the way, where it will replenish the necessary coal, water and food on board.

Xigang is the first supply point that Chen Muwu passed by during this trip.

The ship will resupply here, and disembark and disembark passengers whose destination is Shih Port, and passengers departing from Shih Port to other places.

Chen Muwu also locked his cabin door and followed the flow of people to the land.

He first found a post and telecommunications office, and sent a telegram to Guhai's home to say he was safe, and then bought some local fresh fruits from a hawker, so that he could supplement vitamins at any time and prevent himself from scurvy.

Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, Penang, Colombo, Djibouti, Suez, Portset...

Except for leaving Colombo and heading to Djibouti, I sailed in the Indian Ocean for eight days and seven nights. The other voyages are basically every three to four days, and the ship will dock once for replenishment.

The above-mentioned places are either British colonies or French colonies. With the visa of the two countries, he can travel unimpeded all the way and go wherever he wants.

Every time the ship docks, Chen Muwu always repeats the previous steps over and over again, sending telegrams, buying fruits, and occasionally buying some local specialties, such as ivory cigarette holders from Sri Lanka and iron boxing gloves from Saigon (no) .

The price of a single word of a telegram to Haihai is getting higher and higher every time, and the distance from home is getting farther and farther.

During these days, Chen Muwu was sometimes fainted and sometimes visibly clear, whether he was awake or not, it all depended on the mood of Feng Bo in the sky and the Dragon King in the sea.

……

In order not to let the passengers feel bored during the one-month voyage, of course, there are many ways for the passengers to have fun on the huge ship.

After dinner every day, there will always be a special dining room cleaned up as a dance hall, and a jazz band temporarily formed by several crew members will perform in it unshakably.

When the weather is good, the deck will be full of people coming out of the dark cabins to bask in the sun.

Under the parasol, those who play Go on both sides of the board are basically me.

And four people gathered around a square table, talking and laughing, their voices were sometimes high-pitched and sometimes low-pitched. There was no doubt that they were Chen Muwu's compatriots playing mahjong.

Chen Muwu didn't go to the dance hall, nor did he participate in their entertainment.

He didn't even say hello to these compatriots during so many days of voyage, let alone get to know each other.

Although on the surface everyone is a dude, but in Chen Muwu's heart, he is not the same as them.

When the weather is calm, Chen Muwu will occasionally take out his stationery and scribble a few strokes on paper to prepare for his next thesis.

Chen Muwu left the Remington typewriter, which was not very convenient to carry, in the sea, mainly because he never thought that he could still be sober on the boat.

……

After exiting the Suez Canal from Potsetter, the sea voyage has come to an end.

After another three days and four nights sailing on the Mediterranean Sea, at 4:16 am on April [-], the steamer Anri Heridou finally arrived at the destination of the trip, the port of Marseille, France.

It took a total of 32 days from the departure from the sea to the arrival in Marseille.

As a first-class passenger, Chen Muwu enjoyed the privilege of disembarking first.

But Chen Muwu didn't have time to appreciate the beautiful scenery of southern France, because after passing the customs, he would immediately go to the Marseille station to catch a train, heading north all the way to Calais, a port city in northern France.

That night, Chen Muwu boarded the ferry that crossed the English Channel from Calais to Dover.

After reaching the other side, he took a red-eye train from Dover Station. Early the next morning, he finally arrived at Victoria Station in London, the capital of the United Kingdom.

As an outstanding foreigner, Chen Muwu could only line up with himself and the Malayans at the end of the line, and even the dark-skinned third brother could stand in front of him.

The customs officials who had just been friendly in front of their own countrymen immediately changed to another face when they saw that the rest of the team were all yellow-skinned Far Easterners: shoulders raised, corners of mouth drooped, an imperialist air, It radiates out from the counter.

Chen Muwu had both a certificate from the Ministry of Education and an invitation letter from Cambridge University, so he passed the customs easily without any trouble.

Passport verification is completed, followed by a physical examination.

The Spanish flu made people panic, fearing that travelers entering the UK would bring some diseases.

Especially for Chen Muwu and his black-haired and yellow-skinned East Asians, the doctor examined them very carefully.

An old man with white hair listened back and forth to Chen Muwu's chest and back with a stethoscope. While praising Chen Muwu for his good figure, which is strong enough, he advised him to eat more beef, so that his health would be better: this time In the European War, the British soldiers beat the Germans to death because they ate beef every day.

After the physical examination is not over, the suitcases have to be opened one by one to check whether there are any contraband.

A few catties of tea leaves and a few pieces of Su embroidery brought from Gianhai—these are gifts that Chen Muqiao forced him to bring to his teachers, a piece of shared ham, and an ivory cigarette holder bought from Colombo, just for these few things , Chen Muwu handed over more than a dozen pounds in taxes, equivalent to spending a typewriter. 【1】

After finishing all the above tasks, Chen Muwu finally walked out of the gate of Victoria Railway Station.

A smog with a very familiar smell rushed over.

*****
[1] Author's Note: The description of passing through the customs, especially the part where the doctor persuades Chen Muwu to eat beef, is borrowed from Mr. Lao She's novella "Two Horses".

(End of this chapter)