Annapolis had a cold winter, and the winter of 1893 was undoubtedly even colder, with the first snow falling in November, followed by a few days and nights of heavy snowfall!

For the next month, the snow continued to fall as if it had not stopped, and the snow became thicker and thicker. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Cold! It's as if living in snow and ice, and the whole world is frozen in ice. Everything in the world, with life and without life, has slowed down, has no room to move, is frozen.

The snow has frozen almost the whole world, but it has also brought new pleasures – people can be seen skating on the frozen river, enjoying the only pleasure of winter. There were even ice hockey games, especially between the University of Maryland and the Navy School, which were a big event in the city, but now the game is over. Only a few middle school competitions are still attracting attention and helping people pass the frozen time of winter.

In the city, pedestrians shuttle through the snow, coming and going. People are walking fast, and they want to leave right away and return to the warm place. But the footsteps are still walking slowly, after all, there are many people on the street, and although people are in a hurry with each other, they are always separated by snow, isolating the distance between the body and the mind. Maybe the snow is beautiful, some people stand in the snow, look up, don't care about the cold weather, maybe they think of something, maybe it's just beautiful.

On the snowy street, a girl wearing a woolen cloak walked cautiously in the snow.

She wasn't surprised or surprised by the snow and everything that came early, as if things outside had little to do with her, including the weather, or the people. She would just lie on the bed alone in the school dormitory, covered with a quilt. There's a book next to it, that's Charlotte? Jane Eyre by Brontë.

At night, she is still used to leaving half of the curtains open and occasionally looking at the sky outside. The starry sky, thinking about it, is not far from itself, just a piece of glass. Outside the glass is people's world, and inside the glass is her world. Her world is always so quiet and peaceful, and outside is a constantly changing crowd, a constantly changing world, lively and deserted. However, it has nothing to do with her, it doesn't belong to her.

her world. In a deserted dormitory. The bed was warm, like spring, and she was sometimes lost in her own thoughts, sometimes taking a few sips of tea, returning to the long-lost reality and looking at the outside world, a very peculiar feeling.

She occasionally goes out shopping alone and puts on a thick dress. Outside, I put on a cloak and walked alone in the wind and snow. Watching the snowflakes fall beside him, watching the snowflakes melt on his body, watching the snowflakes fall one by one, reaching out and touching them, it only makes it spend a few seconds in the palm of his hand.

Is there still warmth in her hands, or is it just not going to keep it? She didn't want to know. This should be the fate of snow. Do you have your own destiny, so what is your destiny?

Questions like these, in her slow walk, long streets, slowly. The trees on both sides are all snow-white, and they have completely melted into the snow. A series of footprints were left behind, and then they were submerged in snow again, and there was no trace of them.

The days passed like this, day by day, day by day. Will it be as expected?

Whenever this happens, Christie always thinks of the East face cadet he met at the ice hockey game between the University of Maryland and the Navy School that day, he is different from any American Christie knows, that kind of demeanor and gentlemanly air comes from the bones, and there is no such flamboyance in him, some are just humble and polite.

It was the first time the two men met, and then the other time they saw him at the Naval Academy, and he and his friends were standing far away in the corner of the ball, and no one took the initiative to invite them, and they didn't invite anyone else.

At first she thought he couldn't dance, but when she offered him an invitation, she realized that she was wrong when she danced to the music, and that night they danced in the spotlight of the ball, and it was her happiest night.

From that day on, she was looking forward to him being on her campus and inviting her out for a cup of coffee, which would make her happy all day, even if it was just a short walk by the frozen river.

That's kind of anticipation.

But the expectations were always disappointing - it had been a week and he hadn't been here at all. Could it be that he has forgotten himself? That night, however, she could clearly perceive the emotion in his gaze.

Eventually, Christie decided to take the initiative to find him herself. Whether she chooses right or wrong, in the face of a choice that she doesn't know whether it is happiness or pain, the American is straightforward or forward, forward. Since she was a little girl, she has been pursuing, always believing that the man who makes her heart will appear, and she believes that it is fate. Finally that he appeared, even though he was Chinese. Perhaps, they will not be blessed, but ...... Anyway, this is exactly what she needs, exactly what she is after.

"Don't you want me in?"

After the door opened, Christie stood quietly in the hallway, looking at the man in front of her. He was not wearing a navy uniform coat, just a navy sweater.

"Please come in, Miss Christie."

Christie's unexpected visit, Han Che can only describe it as surprise.

When Christie entered the house, he hurriedly poured tea for him, and just as he handed the cup away, a clear voice came into his ears, which only made him tremble.

"Han, I feel like I like you!"

Han Che, who didn't know how to answer, didn't dare to look her eyes, perhaps, because he didn't want to. Although the memory of the two contacts is very good, and even he is moved by the girl in front of him, not heartbeat, but in love with this girl whose personality is completely different from that of domestic women, but he knows that in the United States, a white country, it is impossible to be blessed with love between whites and yellow people.

"I don't think the people here will accept a beautiful girl like you to marry a Chinese!"

This is an unavoidable reality problem, calm, even in the most fanatical time, Han Che can stay calm, maybe. That's why he became a naval officer.

"Do you like me, then?"

A brave rhetorical question came out of Christie's mouth, and Han Che fell silent, perhaps in the war game, he could unceremoniously knock down his opponents one by one, and he could calmly command the "fleet" to launch a never-ending attack on the sea. But in the face of sudden love, he was at a loss and didn't know how to deal with it.

If the other party was not white, perhaps, he would accept this love, but the girl in front of him was a white person, and he knew what kind of uproar would be caused in the city if the news got out, and by that time. What will be the impact? If it affects everyone's students, and even the school's attitude towards Chinese students, it will be impossible to redeem it!

"I, I'm here to learn the Navy!"

The sky was getting darker, but the snow was still falling. Just like this world, what you see and what you don't see are changing all the time. It's all changing. People have changed, things have changed. The heart has changed. The bell rang on the wall, and the sound of a small bell echoed through the room.

Maybe it's the silence of the room that changes everything. The two of them had been sitting quietly here for hours, not very long, but it could be very long, very short. Fleetingly, but it seems to be struggling for tens of thousands of years. Is that what life is all about? However, whether it is or not, it has become a kind of sacrifice. The bell gradually faded into the room, and there was silence. Everything reverted to its original state of silence.

Han Che was in front of her. It is still like a layer of smoke, and what it touches will also exist in the illusion of the past. People always have to find a happiness of their own, and they always have to accept the pain of loss.

"Han, you're going to like me, it's time for me to go."

Christie looked up and said the second sentence, tears in her eyes.

After the girl left, Han Che stood at the door and looked out, looking at the girl's back, watching the snowflakes fall on the girl's shoulder, looking at the lonely figure, he only felt a tingling pain in his heart, and an urge surged in his heart to rush over and hold the girl in his arms, and then express his love with a passionate kiss.

At this moment, a choking cloud of smoke filled in front of him, and just as he wanted to turn his head, the next moment, a word reached his ears.

"Before defeating the white race in a dignified manner, the yellow race is not qualified to fall in love with the white race!"

Although fluent but a somewhat strange tone of Nanjing's official dialect sounded in his ears, there was no need to turn his head, Han Che also knew who was speaking, it was Akiyama Shinyuki, he had only come to Annapolis with this year's students a few months ago, although the relationship between the United States and the Northeast was far from close, but it did not prevent the Governor's Office from sending naval students to the United States.

Even now, under the premise that Britain agrees to accept Northeast Navy students, it still continues to send naval students to the United States, for the navy, what really attracts them is not its naval education that is not inferior to the United Kingdom, but more importantly, the four-year school system, which saves three years compared to the United Kingdom, which even attracts the Beiyang Navy.

The short-term study system is very important for a newly established navy, and even the Northeast now shortens the duration of the naval academy to two and a half years, and the best cadets can study abroad in the second year. The reason for the reduction of the school system is to train a group of naval officers as quickly as possible, solve some problems first, and then ...... to solve other problems.

"I understand!"

Akiyama Shinyuki's reminder made Han Che nod vigorously, yes, in this place where Chinese are generally discriminated against, the love between Chinese and Caucasian people will not only not be blessed, but may even affect their studies, in this regard, the United States, the so-called "free country" is even inferior to the United States, just as it legally discriminates against Chinese and Asians in the name of "freedom".

"I know what to do"

"One day, I think, they will be amazed at our strength, and we will use warships to win their respect!"

Only the guns of warships can win the respect of the great powers!

If you have learned anything in Annapolis, I am afraid that you understand this truth, only by defeating a Western power on the battlefield can you win the respect of the Western powers and thus obtain their equal treatment, otherwise the so-called "equality" is just empty talk.

Of course, the reason why Akiyama Shinyuki emphasized this point was not only because it was the only way to become a great power, but also because of one reason - Russia, and the future of Japan, which was the reason why he came to China, to defeat Russia in order to win the liberation of Japan, so he needed his colleagues and students to be hostile to Russia, and he needed them to maintain a desire to become a strong country, so that they could exert their strength at the right time to win the war.

"Okay, you understand, let's go, they can't wait!"

The students sent by the Beiyang Yamen, the group of students who came to Annapolis with Han Che two years ago, are about to embark on the road of internship on the ship -- unlike Han Che and others, they will serve on the ships of the British Royal Navy.

"Do you know why?"

Walking on the side of the road covered with snow, Mayuki Akiyama asked softly.

"Well, if the expectation is not bad, the Beiyang Yamen hopes that this group of officers can accept the new ships directly from Britain and Germany, so that the situation of the Fujian people controlling the Beiyang Fleet can be reversed."

Although he was far away in the United States, it didn't mean that Han Che didn't pay attention to the changes in the country, of course, more importantly, those classmates were willing to talk to him about these issues, such as how the people of Fujian Province overthrew Lord Ding in the fleet, and how to exclude dissidents and suppress them as northerners.

In short, in the eyes of those students, if the officers of Fujian Province are not removed, Beiyang will have no future, and for the Northeast, the discord within the Beiyang Fleet happens to be their opportunity, after all, compared to the Beiyang, the Northeast Navy is still too weak. It can even be said that it is not worth mentioning.

"Hey, so, we have to speed up the steps, if the internal problems of Beiyang are solved, I am afraid that it will be ...... in the future."

After a pause, Akiyama Shinyuki glanced at Han Che and only heard Han Che say.

"It's the same root, why is it too anxious to fry each other...... At that time, even if you don't want to, you can only fight it, but our navy, when will we be able to challenge Beiyang! ”

Facing the strong with the weak seems to be something that every naval officer must consider, because no one knows whether he will become a weak person on the fickle sea, after all, the strong also have times when they are alone. However, for a navy that is not strong or even just starting, wanting to challenge a stronger person who is more than ten times larger than themselves, of course, it can also be understood as ambition, and it will also be regarded as arrogance, although arrogant, it does not prevent them from thinking.

After all, there are too many careers, and dreams are always the first step in a long journey. (To be continued.) )