At the beginning of the reception, Chinese and foreign guests walked around with wine glasses. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Barrett, who initiated the reception, walked to the center of the crowd and raised his glass and said, "On behalf of the President and the people of the United States, I would like to extend peaceful greetings to all kinds of consular officials and friends of China. Cheers to world peace! ”

"For world peace!" The foreigners raised their glasses and shouted in unison.

Zhou Hexuan showed a sarcastic smile on his face, picked up the cup and barely took a sip.

This group of foreigners who are forgetful of their righteousness are also worthy of saying the word "peace"?

Perhaps, the peace they speak of is only for their own citizens. Didn't Barrett come to Tianjin with 4000 Marines to protect the American diaspora?

Chinese politicians and businessmen have been circling behind foreigners' buttocks. On the contrary, those foreigners often come to talk to Zhou Hexuan, among whom the number of Americans is the largest.

Tianjin did not have an American concession, there used to be, but it was later handed over to the British concession for management, so Zhou Hexuan rarely had contact with the Yankees in Tianjin.

The American devils at today's reception were all gathered from all over the north. They registered at the consulate that in case of a riot in the Northern Expeditionary Army, they would immediately take a warship and leave.

"Mr. Zhou, will there really be an economic crisis in the United States next year?"

"I guess so."

"No, no, no, I don't think so, or let's make a bet."

"Mr. Zhou, do you have any new works recently?"

"I just wrote a book about anthropology."

"Oh my God, I didn't expect you to study anthropology as well."

"Mr. Zhou......"

For more than ten minutes, Zhou Hexuan was pestered by the Yankees, answering various questions to satisfy their curiosity.

It wasn't until the live dance music sounded that Zhou Hexuan was finally relieved. Who knew that he was just about to dance with Zhang Leyi, when a Frenchman appeared again.

This person was short in stature and had curly hair, so he stopped Zhou Hexuan and said, "Mr. Zhou, I am Le Goff, a reporter for the French newspaper Le Figaro, can I take up a little of your time?" ”

"Of course," Zhou Hexuan asked, "Le Figaro also has a correspondent in China?" ”

Le Goff explained with a smile: "I am a special correspondent with the army. ”

This time, France also sent troops to Tianjin, and last year's Nanjing incident really frightened the foreigners, and well-informed newspapers from various countries naturally followed suit, and maybe they could even get scoops.

As for Le Figaro, it is one of the oldest newspapers in France.

It is a culturally rich newspaper that originated from the French playwright Beaumarcharies' famous play "The Marriage of Figaro", from which the newspaper's motto was derived: "If criticism is not free, praise is meaningless." ”

Yes, Le Figaro pursues freedom of speech.

A few decades ago, Le Figaro's sister newspaper was also closed down by Napoleon III for publishing articles protecting the interests of the poor. In the future, during World War II, Le Figaro would also be closed for refusing to cooperate with the German occupation forces.

Le Figaro was particularly fond of interviewing literati, writers and poets.

Le Goff and Zhou Hexuan found a corner to sit down, and Zhang Leyi stood by with a smile on her face, she liked to see her man being sought after by foreigners.

Le Goff took out a small notebook from his pocket and said, "Mr. Zhou, when I chatted with the Americans yesterday, they held you in high esteem. Your historiographical book, The Rise of Great Powers, is now causing a stir among the American elite. ”

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "It's not a sensation, otherwise it will sell more than tens of thousands of copies in the United States." ”

"There are also occasional fragments of 'The Rise of Great Powers' in France, when will the book be published in France?" ”

"I can't say for sure, it depends on whether there are French publishers to cooperate." Zhou Hexuan said.

Le Goff asked: "As far as I know, you are also a poet and a novelist. Who is your favorite European author? ”

"Romain Rolland." Zhou Hexuan said.

Le Goff asked: "Why?" ”

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "I like his famous saying: recognize the world, and then love it." For me, it's about recognizing the country and loving it. ”

"Are you a patriot?" Le Goff asked.

"I guess so." Zhou Hexuan said.

Le Goff said: "The data in "The Rise of Great Powers" is very detailed, how did you collect these historical materials? Can you tell us about your experience? ”

"Of course......" Zhou Hexuan began to repeat his story again, what was a small family that was broken and died, was taken to North America by American missionaries, and then relied on the pit to be abducted, and traveled to all over the world when he grew up.

After 20 minutes of talking, Zhou Hexuan finally finished telling his story.

Legoff's mouth opened into an "O" shape and exclaimed, "Oh, your life is truly a legend, it's unbelievable." It's a pity that I don't know Chinese, otherwise, I would have read your novels. ”

Zhou Hexuan smiled: "The novel is too long, you can write down a few of my poems." ”

"In French?" Le Goff asked.

"Of course, please give me your notebook." Zhou Hexuan said.

Zhou Hexuan used Le Goff's reporter's notebook to translate French poems from "Generation" and "Answer", and then smiled: "Sorry, my French writing is not very good, and the translation may not be very harmonious." ”

"The night gave me black eyes, but I used them to find the light."

"Meanness is the pass of the mean, and nobility is the epitaph of the noble......"

Le Goff buried his head in reading, suddenly raised his head, and looked at Zhou Hexuan with reverence: "Mr. Zhou, you are not only a poet, but also a thinker and philosopher. ”

Zhou Hexuan shrugged: "It's over." ”

"If possible, I would like to bring all your works back to France and have them translated by French scholars who are fluent in Chinese," Le Goff said. I know several publishers who all have their own professional translators. ”

"Of course, thank you so much." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Early the next morning, Le Goff went to the "Ta Kung Pao" office and asked Zhou Hexuan for a manuscript.

"The Rise of Great Powers" and "The Goddess" have already been published, and you can send the books directly. Zhou Hexuan used Liao Yaquan as free labor, and asked her to copy "Dog Official" and "Guns, Bacteria and Steel", as well as poems that she had "created" before, and even copied a copy of "I Have a Dream".

Poor this female spy, who has been lying on the table for more than a month, is so tired that she just wants to sleep when she goes home every day, and she has no interest in spying on intelligence.

Le Goff, who did not return to France until the summer, threw all of Zhou's series of works to publishers, and sure enough, two of them were interested in it and organized a staff to translate them. But when it is actually published, it will have to be next year.