Like many colonial past events, Myanmar's old capital, Yangon, was once a very prosperous city in the past.
This is the center of Southeast Asia, located at the intersection of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
It borders Dongxia to the north, India to the west, the Chao Phraya River Delta that produces strategic materials such as rubber and grains to the east, and the bustling international shipping lanes to the south.
Beautiful treasures naturally attract robbers.
So, the colonists came.
European armies occupied the country, and the red-coated musketeers under Edward VII beat the last monarch of the Burmese feudal dynasty to the point of peeing in his ass to the passionate melody of "The Grenadier March" and fled to his homeland.
For Myanmar, this is the final end of a thousand-year feudal dynasty. For the Empire, which was at its peak of glory, this was just an ordinary victory.
Whether in India, the Qing Dynasty, Malaysia, from East Asia to the Middle East and then to Africa, they have repeated similar things countless times.
War, colonization, plunder...
Flying and domineering, it starts again and again.
“Rangoon is a city of fallen nobility.”
Chen Shenglin smiled: "I have heard similar comments to me from European partners or inspection groups countless times."
"A hundred years ago, if you looked at this city from a high altitude, the bright lights at night were no weaker than those of Shanghai, Tokyo, and Osaka. Compared with this place, the Lion City at that time was just a slum made up of sailors and porters. .”
Chen Shenglin said softly: "They always miss the Yangon in the diaries of the past colonists more."
To be honest.
The colonists did not plunder the place in an attempt to fish from the lake, but carried out chessboard-style grid urban planning and industrial transformation of Yangon, thus completely changing the city's appearance.
Not that the Europeans are well-intentioned.
It is the British's ambitious hope to build Yangon into the "New Port of Liverpool in East Asia."
As early as the Victorian era, in the design of the British House of Representatives, Myanmar would be connected with the Indian colonies in the Far East to hinder the expansion of the French in Indochina in the Asian territory.
They have transformed Yangon with the same investment in building a local city.
They brought imported religions and British life.
This is the first place in East Asia to have electricity, railways, cold beer and frozen steaks.
A large number of Europeans came to this land.
Somerset Maugham once settled here, and George Orwell wrote his practice work "The Burmese Years" while drinking beer while discussing the polo match at Eton School 12,000 miles away with colonial officials.
And in the French colony just a stone's throw away, the greatest female figure of the 20th century, Margaret Duras, had just been born.
Decades later, she would write the landmark works "The Lover" and "Hiroshima Mon Amour" based on her childhood experiences in Southeast Asia.
To this day, Yangon still retains the largest collection of British-style buildings in Southeast Asia.
St. Mary's Cathedral, Governor's Town Hall, High Court Building... In Yangon, Yangon No. 1 Middle School, which is as famous as Dulwich International School where Gu Weijing attended, was formerly a European-style missionary school.
"They say that under the glory of the British Empire, this city once gave birth to great writers such as Orwell and Maugham, and it is the most prosperous city in Southeast Asia."
Chen Shenglin whispered: "Then ask me. Mr. Chen, more than half a century after the British left, what do you have left in Yangon?"
"Could it be that the city's business card here has become heroin, methamphetamine in the Golden Triangle, corrupt and incompetent police bureaucrats, arrogant warlords and gangsters? Instead, the escort girls who provide erotic services are said to be cheap and high-quality, which is quite memorable."
Everyone was silent.
"What do you think?" Chen Shenglin turned around and asked.
Gu Weijing listened quietly.
He has never thought about what kind of city Yangon is from the perspective of such a big entrepreneur.
Your European business partners told you that after the colonists left, your city was useless, but your compatriots' girls were very beautiful, and they made people remember them when they slept.
Even if it was most likely an unintentional joke, it was actually quite humiliating to think about.
However, Gu Weijing did not answer the call.
They were asking about Kou Kou's father.
On such a serious topic, a middle school student like me has no room to interrupt.
"Well... Yangon does have a very glorious past."
When Father Koko heard "corrupt and incompetent police bureaucrats", he looked a little embarrassed.
At this time, he could only bite the bullet and said: "It is our incompetence and failure to manage this city well that has embarrassed Mr. Chen."
"Brilliant? I don't think so."
Mr. Chen smiled mockingly.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not targeting you, but you are really incompetent to manage the city like this." He glanced at Kou Kou's father.
The Inspector's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
I want to get angry...but I don't dare.
Given the business environment in Yangon, most businessmen would not be too fawning over an important military and police officer like him.
However, as the saying goes, money can make the world go round.
If you can reach Mr. Chen's level in business, your status will be reversed.
Chen Shenglin faced a Yangon police inspector and was not the mayor of Yangon, so he didn't need to care about the mood of Kou Kou's father.
When he was in a good mood, he would call him brother. When he was in a bad mood, he would tell his face that Myanmar’s official system was incompetent, and he could only pretend that he didn’t hear it.
"I just don't agree with this statement. The glory of the colonists, what can be compared with the glory of the colonies? Just like the steaks and beer specially provided to the British second-class civil servants, and the laborers who died beside the railway, What does it matter?"
Mr. Chen's tone was as deep as a philosopher's.
Things will never have only one bright side, and colonists are even less likely to be angels.
Behind the gleaming heads of the glorious Queen Victoria and the great Edward VII, Britain, France and Japan were playing the Great Game of East Asia. Millions of people were displaced, hundreds of thousands of local soldiers died in the war, and there were several times that number of workers. Died from the sweltering heat, mud and plague while transforming the primitive jungle.
Countless families are broken up and countless orphans wander the streets.
"Some sociologists like to call this situation a 5% developed society." Mr. Chen held out five fingers.
"I've never understood the thinking of these Europeans, just as I don't understand what's going on in the minds of those who think Mandela made a mess of South Africa."
"South Africa was indeed a developed country, but only 5% of the elite white people have the welfare and life of a developed society. Such development has nothing to do with the remaining ordinary people living in apartheid areas. Similarly, the prosperity of Yangon is nothing but colonial This is a fantasy like a castle in the air, and it has nothing to do with the land itself."
Chen Shenglin looked at Gu Weijing this time.
"Young man, have you seen the boats on the Yangon River?"
"Those sightseeing cruise ships?" Gu Weijing nodded.
Their home is on the banks of the Yangon River, and they are no strangers to the luxury passenger ships carrying various foreign sightseeing groups that come and go on the river every day.
"I once read an interesting saying that every large tourist cruise ship is like a microcosm of Yangon's past hundred years." Chen Shenglin clapped his hands lightly: "A dozen European tourists stood at the top of the tower of power. One hundred and fifty Ten local people are working hard at their feet. The whole purpose of labor is to provide the best service to the rights holders on the top deck."
"Very vivid."
Gu Weijing recalled the large tourist cruise ships he had seen.
These luxury liners charge high fees, and most of the tourists are wealthy people from Europe. They occupied the sun deck, enjoying champagne under the sun loungers and admiring the city views.
Hundreds of boatmen were spinning around like ants, providing them with all services from shining shoes to lifting the sliding pole after disembarking.
The rich only remember the scenery of the city, but no one will take a moment to pay attention to the feelings of these boatmen.
They are just worker ants that no one cares about.
"Xiao Gu, if you really want to paint a moving work, please compose it like this."
The entrepreneur stroked the drawing paper in front of Gu Weijing, "The almighty Virgin Mary may be omnipotent, but she has neither helped these children nor illuminated the city."
"Thank you Mr. Chen."
Gu Wei nodded sincerely and thanked him.
He tried to follow the collector's suggestion, moving the towering Madonna to the corner of the picture and redesigning the composition.
Just one stroke of pen.
Gu Weijing felt the difference.
The design of the picture is very bold, and the tilted triangle pattern also breaks through the rigid restrictions of traditional composition rules, but still ensures the basic stability of the picture.
more importantly.
Even though it was just a draft, Gu Weijing could clearly feel that the picture had become more vivid.
The expression style has changed from a rigid quasi-religious and moralistic painting to a more dynamic one.
Even Mr. Cao may not be able to describe this kind of rural composition idea and hearty inspiration analysis.
No matter how powerful an artist is, it is difficult for him to have such a profound insight into the urban temperament if he has never lived in this land.
Hegel once commented that the temperament of painting art is - "a spiritual portrayal of a city, reflecting the spiritual life that is freed from the shackles."
Gu Weijing once felt the old Paris from Ray Noir's "The Ball at the Moulin de la Pancake" and heard the ethereal hymns in the old church on thundery days from the female painter Carroll's pen.
This is the temperament of painting.
When great painters compose a picture, they always incorporate their own understanding.
Only by adapting measures to local conditions can we better obtain emotional sublimation.
Gu Weijing is still far from the level of a great painter, but Mr. Chen's understanding of Yangon is so superior that he fills in the gaps in his composition.
This is the advantage of going out to collect folk songs.
If he had been bored in the school studio, he would not have been able to understand the importance of empathy, nor would he have been able to meet interesting people like Mr. Chen.
When Gu Weijing redesigned the sketch, the collector never left.
The secretary gave a brief reminder of the schedule, Mr. Chen waved his hand, and no one said anything else.
Mr. Chen, the distinguished guest, had the leisure and elegance to look at paintings, and the others had no choice but to accompany him honestly.
Everyone has been quiet.
On the other hand, reporter Du Wen, as if he had seen a little mouse in a rice vat, excitedly wanted to chat with Chen Shenglin, but was quickly "invited" away by Kou Kou's men.
"Hey, is this uncle who washes the little girl's hair, Lieutenant Colonel Alai?"
Kou Kou's father suddenly said "Hey".
"Alai... Lieutenant Colonel?"
Gu Weijing was confused, and even the female dean on the side was a little shocked.
The janitor is indeed named Alai, and he has a very military look.
But a lieutenant colonel is already considered a senior officer in the army, not a few ranks behind a general.
Uncle Alai, was once a lieutenant colonel?
"This was a legendary figure in the past. He is one of the founders and instructors of the current VIP Security Force. If he had not been involved in factional struggles, he would have been a general by now. Even if he was transferred to the police, He will also be at the level of my superior. I heard that he was kicked out of the army, but I didn’t expect that he would be here guarding the gate now.”
Miss Kou Kou's "eighth mother-in-law" temperament is obviously hereditary.
Mr. Police Inspector, who has always been prim and serious, looked much more energetic when he mentioned high-level gossip. It's a pity that due to discipline, it's hard to spread the word blindly, so I can only look like he's hesitating to talk.
After a long time, he sighed: "It's a pity that the factions are fighting."
Gu Weijing, who didn't hear any breaking news, shook his head and continued painting.
The political situation in Myanmar is chaotic, and various factional struggles often occur.
The world of adults is much more complicated and cruel than that of children.
The former lieutenant colonel is now the cripple guarding the door. Similar things happen all the time.
Gu Weijing originally planned to come to the orphanage today because he wanted to interview and profile the caretaker, Uncle Alai.
That Quasimodo-like silent gatekeeper looks like a model with a story.
Unfortunately, he didn't come at the right time.
After arriving at the orphanage today, Gu Weijing learned from the director that the uncle had taken little Jasmine to Yangon General Hospital for medical treatment.
Jasmine has AIDS. In order to prevent the virus from eroding her immune system, the number of viral vectors in her blood needs to be reviewed regularly according to the course of treatment.
If you haven't come across it, then you haven't come across it. Anyway, there are plenty of opportunities.
Gu Weijing secretly wrote down the news and continued painting.
After a while, the new draft was completed.
"Even though it's just a draft, I still see the painting come alive."
Mr. Chen looked at Gu Weijing's draft, nodded and affirmed softly: "When this painting is completed in the future, it will definitely be a beautiful work."
He patted Gu Weijing's shoulder.
"Such spirited young painters are our hope for getting out of the colonial era. If you are willing, please give this painting to me after you finish it."
The collector stopped the secretary from asking the female dean for Gu Weijing's contact information. He personally took out a business card from his arms and handed it to Gu Weijing.
"You can just call my cell phone."
Gu Weijing took the business card with both hands.
This business card comes in a solid color.
Unlike the vivid descriptions in street stall literature that he imagined, the rich like to use gold foil and platinum to inlay gorgeous business cards.
Just a simple piece of paper.
There wasn't even a title on the piece of paper, just the name "Chen Shenglin" and a string of phone numbers.
It seems that the weight of this name alone is enough to explain everything.
Judging from the expressions of shock or astonishment on the faces of other onlookers, it can be seen that the weight of this business card is not as light as it seems.
Even Kou Kou's father was surprised.
(End of chapter)
