Meng Shaoyuan basically belongs to the kind of guy who knows nothing about art.
But even so, he also knew the preciousness of "Ode to Become a Master".
A true national treasure.
Moreover, it was in You Yuecheng's hands.
Well, one question remains.
"Tork, why do you know Chinese? Why do you know 'Ode to the Master'?"
"During the Eight-Nation Allied Forces, my father was a major in the United Kingdom." Tok no longer concealed: "He brought many cultural relics, calligraphy and paintings back to China, and then he quickly chose to retire and began to concentrate on studying and collecting these calligraphy and paintings. Antiques, and he was convinced that there were more Chinese antiques, calligraphy and paintings floating around in Europe, so he began to concentrate on studying Chinese culture and history.”
Under such influence, Tuoke not only learned a lot of knowledge about Chinese antiques, calligraphy and painting, but also learned Chinese.
He chose the "Cambria Breaker" because he knew that this ship often went to China, which would give him more opportunities to contact China.
Captain Schiller suddenly understood when he heard this.
No wonder, every time he arrived at a Chinese port for repairs and supplies, Trafigura would always take a few days off and then come back with a lot of "junk" that was worthless in Captain Schiller's eyes.
Are those Chinese antiques?
"That day, the refugees got on the boat." Tok said it all: "When I was in charge of dispatching, I heard the conversation between You and his father. They were at the end of the refugee list, and they should think that I couldn't understand Chinese. I heard Daoyou's father said to him, 'You don't have to pay for anything, but you must hide the song of discipleship on your body, because it is more important than our lives.'"
Of course Tok knew what "Ode to the Master" was. When he heard the name, he was ecstatic. As long as I can get this priceless calligraphy, my many trips to China will be considered perfect.
So he devised this plan to wrongly accuse You Yuecheng, lock up the father and his son, expel them at a certain port, and then seize the opportunity to seize their luggage.
If you are more ruthless, you can follow the rules on the ship and throw him and his son directly into the Yangtze River.
Meng Shaoyuan suddenly asked: "Tuoke, those antiques you bought from China several times, after returning home, I'm afraid you will find that they are all fake, right?"
Tok was startled: "How did you know?"
Meng Shaoyuan smiled and did not answer.
Although this person has knowledge of Chinese cultural relics and antiques and understands Chinese, he is not very bright-minded. He designed such a scheme. If you look closely, you will find that it is full of flaws.
He probably hid the two bottles of wine because he was greedy.
How could such a brain not be deceived by those shrewd antique dealers?
But the unexpected gain this time was Su Yao.
Su Yao's reaction and judgment are really too fast.
With just a few words, he knew that You Yuecheng was wrongly accused.
Keep her by your side, it will be useful.
"Shame, this is the shame of the Cambria Breaker." Captain Schiller was very angry: "On my ship, my first mate actually committed such a despicable act. You have tarnished the reputation of the entire ship. Mr. You, I must apologize to you. Mr. Meng, I will give you a reasonable explanation on how to deal with Trafigura, please believe me."
"Increase the daily supply of food and fresh water for the people in the cabin, and replenish meat." Meng Shaoyuan would never let go of such an opportunity: "Also, leave Trafigura to me."
"Leave it to you?" Captain Schiller was startled.
"Yes, leave it to me." Meng Shaoyuan said lightly: "He has tarnished the reputation of the Chinese people, so will I keep him by my side to atone for his sins until his sins are atonement? This period will not exceed eight Year."
Tok has a bad heart.
Tok wants to hack "Ode to the Master".
However, he is a crew member, understands Chinese, and is British.
The most important thing is that his mind is not very bright.
All of this is worth taking advantage of.
Everyone in this world is valuable in Meng Shaoyuan's eyes.
What else? Deport Trafigura?
But this does no good to Meng Shaoyuan.
Master Meng will never do anything that is not beneficial.
Waste has its use value.
As for why eight years?
There is only one person in the whole world who knows it best, Master Meng.
"Tok!" Captain Schiller lowered his gaze on Tok: "Are you willing to accept it?"
"Yes." Tok answered with some difficulty, but at this level, what else could he do?
"Listen, Tok, this is your only chance to atone." Captain Schiller said sternly: "You must swear allegiance to Meng, and you must regard him as your only loyal object in the next eight years. If you let me Knowing that you continue to be unfaithful, I will announce your evil deeds to the Seamen's Union, so that you and your family will be ridiculed everywhere in the UK."
This is a very serious warning.
Tok lowered his head and said: "Yes, Mr. Meng, I swear allegiance to you. I will try my best to wash away my shame, but please protect my reputation no matter what."
These British people are really strange.
Meng Shaoyuan was still happy to accept it.
A small storm dissipated.
Although Meng Shaoyuan wanted to open his eyes as to what kind of treasure the so-called "Ode to Master" was, the You family and his son regarded this word as a treasure and would never show it to others easily.
My heart feels itchy and uncomfortable.
Forget it, forget it, don’t think about it.
"Su Yao."
"Mr. Meng."
"You are very smart."
For this girl, Meng Shaoyuan did not hesitate to praise: "I could see through it at a glance that this was a frame-up, and I decisively pointed out that Tuoke was the one who set up the trap. You are only sixteen years old this year, and you have a great future."
Sixteen? Sixteen is not too young to get married.
Su Yao, who was not timid in front of foreigners, blushed at this moment: "Mr. Meng has gone too far. Su Yao is just making random guesses."
"Don't mention Mr. Meng's, it's too strange." Meng Shaoyuan thought for a while: "Your parents are stranded in Nanjing. They originally thought that this ship would go to Wuhan, but in fact we went straight to Sichuan. When you get there, do you have any relatives you can rely on?"
When Su Yao mentioned her parents, her eyes turned red and she shook her head silently.
Sichuan is such a distant place, and she never thought she would go there.
And what about the parents? After my parents come out of Nanjing, what should I do if I go to Wuhan to look for them and they can’t find them?
"Don't worry. If your parents leave Nanjing safely, I will send someone to contact them and tell them that you are in Sichuan." At this point, Meng Shaoyuan could only comfort him like this, although he knew that the chance of Su Yao's parents leaving Nanjing alive was really too low. At a loss: "I will settle you down when you get to Sichuan. Since you have no relatives in Sichuan, I will be your relative."
"Thank you, Meng...Brother Shaoyuan."
Brother Shao Yuan?
Dear relatives, there is no need for brothers and sisters.
This is my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law, Chai Lie... and so on.
Stop it, stop it.
Meng Shaoyuan found out why his current thoughts were so dirty?
Why is it that when I see a beautiful woman, I just have such wild thoughts?
He is no longer a stallion.
Rogue, despicable, shameless!
Meng Shaoyuan blamed himself hard and kept telling himself to be a gentleman. He was a sixteen-year-old girl whose parents were unknown, so it was inappropriate for him to think wildly.
Although Su Yao looks pure and lovely, especially her eyes, she is particularly charming at a young age...
I bother! Why do you think of this again?
Meng Shaoyuan's contempt for himself in his heart was simply beyond reach!
…
Don't tell me, the more you don't think about many things, the more they will come to your door.
Just after returning to the cabin to rest, a crew member said that the You family and his son wanted to see him.
Meng Shaoyuan was already curious about the "Ode to Become a Master". When he heard it, how could he not see the truth?
You Yuecheng's father's name is You Honglu, and he looks like he was cut from the same mold as his son.
As soon as he came in, he thanked her profusely.
In short, topsy-turvy, if there was no Meng Shaoyuan this time, their father and son would have suffered unfair injustice.
You Honglu is also a successful businessman in Nanjing. His family used to run a pawn shop. Once this business is opened, it will definitely be a profitable business.
Meng Shaoyuan's connection was with this word: "Old You, I heard that the 'Ode to the Master' is extremely valuable. How could you have it? Don't worry, it's nothing else. I'm just curious. If you don't want to talk about it, forget it."
"How dare I hide anything in front of Chief Meng." You Honglu knew Meng Shaoyuan's identity. If he was dissatisfied, he might not be able to reap the consequences in Chongqing: "My You family has been running pawnshops for generations. In the sixth year of the Republic of China, an old man came to my pawn shop. He had a good life in the past, but now he can no longer survive.
The old gentleman brought a scroll with him, either with calligraphy or paintings. A family like this must have been a high-ranking person in the past, but later fell into ruin and had no skills. What should we do? I can only live by pawning. Therefore, the pawned items they took out were most likely good things. I chatted with him for a while and asked him to take out his things and take a look..."
As a result, You Honglu was shocked if he didn't look at it.
It turned out to be the "Ode to the Master" that had been missing for a long time!
How could You Honglu let this treasure go? With clever rhetoric, he allowed the old gentleman to pawn for a year. According to the pawn shop's rules, one year's interest would be deducted before the principal was given to him.
"I've been on tenterhooks this year." You Honglu looked a little worried now: "I'm afraid that the old man will suddenly get a sum of money at that time and come back to redeem it, which will simply kill me. Fortunately, a year later, after 10 o'clock in the morning, the old gentleman still did not show up."
The pawn shop is absolutely sure of the redemption time for this precious pawn. As time passes, even if you show up again with money, the dawn no longer belongs to you.
Therefore, "Ode to the Master" fell into the hands of You Honglu, and was regarded as a family heirloom by him, and he kept it secret and told no one.
If not for this escape, even his own son would have been kept in the dark!
(I would like to apologize to all readers. I checked carefully and found that the ship did go directly to Chongqing. The information I checked before was wrong. In 1933, a British cargo ship traveled from Shanghai to Chongqing. The crew’s diary misled me and I wrote: First to Chengdu and then to Chongqing, all previous chapters have been corrected.)
