On October 26, 1925, Lin Zixuan left France.

The cruise ship enters the Mediterranean Sea, passes through Port Said in the Suez Canal, enters the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and then passes through Djibouti in the African Triangle, crosses the Indian Ocean, crosses the Strait of Malacca, passes through Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong and other places, and finally arrives in Shanghai.

The journey takes about 40 days.

Most of the places passed through were French colonies overseas, and the passengers on the cruise ship were basically French.

They went on an adventure to the colonies, expecting to gain a great deal of wealth.

Every cruise ship from Europe to the Far East has a different route, and if you take a cruise ship from the UK, you will pass through the British colonies overseas.

Depending on the route, the date of the voyage is different, and the time of call at each place is also different.

Without encountering bad weather such as strong winds and waves, it takes about a month to get from the United States to Shanghai, a month and a half from the United Kingdom, and about 40 days from France to Shanghai.

Lin Zixuan lives in the second class, and the conditions are not bad.

He didn't speak French well, so he didn't want to communicate with the French, and spent most of his time in the cabin, reading and writing.

In fact, Britain and France are close neighbors, the two countries have had many wars, and they are very familiar with each other, and the French naturally understand English.

However, the French are very proud, and have always regarded French as a noble language, and look down on English-speaking countries, and generally do not use English unless necessary.

Lin Zixuan, who lives in the French Concession in Shanghai, has a deep understanding of this.

He was going to take advantage of this free time on the cruise ship to write some deposits.

In the past few days when he went abroad, "Jinghua Smoke and Clouds" has long been interrupted, and the fairy tales on "Fairy Tale King" have no manuscripts, so they can only translate some foreign fairy tales.

Lin Zixuan left an outline of the fairy tales, but it was not easy for the creative team to write these stories well. There is always a feeling of dog-tailed mink, and they are not very adapted to the writing style of later generations.

Fairy tales, in particular, require a lot of imagination.

According to the rules set by Lin Zixuan, every issue of "Fairy Tale King" must be read to children.

Let the child understand, like the fairy tale, and be interested in continuing to listen to it. is considered a success.

This rule made the editors of Vientiane Books' children's magazine complain, and in their eyes, children were the most difficult creatures to deal with.

The hypocrisy that children don't understand, laughing if they like it, and crying if they don't like it, can best reflect the quality of a story.

It is precisely because of the strict requirements that the magazine "Fairy Tale King" has been successful, and has even been exported to Hong Kong and Nanyang and other places.

Facts have proved that Lin Zixuan's "superficial" fairy tales are more popular with children than the kind of profound fairy tales written for adults. Although there are still some people who talk about education, most of the opponents have died down.

Lin Zixuan is still thinking about the cultural exchange between China and the West.

During his time in the UK, he interacted face-to-face with Western cultural elites and found that these people were generally interested in Chinese culture, but lacked a channel to understand them.

Chinese publishing houses translate a large number of foreign books every year, but rarely translate Chinese books into English.

There are many reasons for this, in this era, in the face of the Western powers. Chinese intellectuals are eager to learn from the advanced technology and culture of the West, and do not attach importance to their own culture.

He even put forward the slogan of completely repudiating traditional culture.

The Chinese themselves do not respect their own culture. How can it spread to the West.

Of course, there are also factors such as Chinese books that are difficult to translate and do not sell well in foreign countries.

Lin Zixuan felt that these were not problems, it was a big deal to lose money and make money.

After returning to China, he decided not only to continue to publish a series of new literature in Western countries, but also to select a number of representative works from traditional literature for translation.

And so it goes. Vientiane Bookstore is going to set up a compilation office to recruit talents who are proficient in foreign languages.

Chinese classics translated by foreigners are often not very reliable, and Chinese people know Chinese culture better.

In addition to writing, Lin Zixuan will also go for a walk on the deck and blow the sea breeze. Or take a walk ashore while the ship is docked and see the exotic scenery.

At one point, a cruise ship docked in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

When he got off the boat, he ran into a little French girl who was also in a hurry to get off the boat, and the two bumped into each other.

The little girl looked like she was eleven or twelve years old, with a lovely face, and she looked a little impatient, followed by a middle-aged woman.

In this way, Lin Zixuan met the little girl named Margaret Tauradio and her mother, Marie Tauradio.

They stayed with Margaret's two older brothers in the third class cabin of the cruise ship and headed for Saigon, Vietnam.

Vietnam during this period was a French colony, and a large number of French people lived there.

There are also rich and poor people in the French, and through chatting, Lin Zixuan knows that the life of the Marguerite family is not satisfactory.

Margaret was born in Jiading, Vietnam, to teachers to parents who died young, and the family relied on her mother to live.

In 1924, her mother spent all her savings to buy a piece of land in Cambodia, but she was deceived and the land was flooded by the sea for six months a year.

Her father had a small estate in his hometown in France, and this time the family lived in his hometown for a while, but life in France was just as bad, and they had to continue to live in Vietnam.

Since her parents were teachers, Margaret received a good education, knew French and English, and could communicate with Lin Zixuan.

The little girl was quite lively and talkative, or precocious, and after knowing that Lin Zixuan was a writer, she often came to Lin Zixuan's cabin to find books to read and chat.

She chatted about her gloomy life and hoped to grow up as soon as possible.

Perhaps because she lives in Vietnam, she is no stranger to Orientals, but she doesn't know Lin Zixuan's reputation in the literary world.

Margaret read the new Chinese literature series and novels such as "Lord of the Flies" that Lin Zixuan brought with her, and thought that Lin Zixuan's writing was not bad, and he would become a great writer in the future.

Lin Zixuan took out the gift he bought in Paris and picked out one and gave it to Margaret, which was praised by the little girl.

The two communicated without restraint.

Lin Zixuan understood that once the cruise ship arrived in Saigon, they might never have the opportunity to meet again in their lives.

It's so strange that people who don't know what they don't say to a close friend may confide in a stranger.

Because you know that strangers are just passing guests in your life, and close friends will always live by your side.

During this short journey, Lin Zixuan and Margaret talked about a lot of things, including life and ideals, and there were some things that he didn't think this little girl could understand.

At the port in Saigon, Lin Zixuan watched the little girl walk down the ramp of the cruise ship with her family.

At this time, Margaret suddenly turned around and ran to Lin Zixuan, hugged Lin Zixuan, and said goodbye in French in Lin Zixuan's ear: Goodbye, my love.

This move made Lin Zixuan cry and laugh.

Through these days of contact, he knew that Marguerite had a lively son, and that the little girl had a French romantic factor in her bones.

He watched Margaret disappear into the crowd and couldn't help but feel a sense of amazement.

Many years later, the little girl named Marguerite embarked on a literary path, and she gave herself a pen name called Marguerite Duras. (To be continued.) )