March 15, 1923.
Bai Hai.
South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd. Huangpu Pier.
Manchuria is another term that contains a history of humiliation.
Whether it was the eldest brother, the second brother, or the old lady of the Chen family, they all came to the dock today to say goodbye to their younger brother and son, Chen Muwu, who were about to study abroad in the West.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the French Merchant Mail Company's steamer Enrehoridou blew its flute on time and slowly left the dock.
People on the deck and in the pier acted in a surprisingly consistent manner at this moment. They grabbed the hats or handkerchiefs taken off their heads and took the time to wave goodbye to their relatives and friends who were about to part with them.
The siren sounded and my heart was broken, and I was traveling alone in the world.
The ship moved slowly along the Huangpu River, entered the Yangtze River from Wusongkou, and then entered the sea from the Yangtze River.
Seeing the sea water in front of him getting bluer and bluer, Chen Muwu closed his eyes in despair, muttering to himself, "Let the storm come more violently."
Perhaps it was the kindness of the old Dragon King at the bottom of the East China Sea, but the three-day voyage from Jihai to Hagang was actually calm.
Chen Muwu was ready to lie down on the bed. After lying there for a day and finding that he had nothing to do, he occasionally got up and walked around on the deck to pass the boring time at sea.
This ship, the Enri Horidou, was bound from Yokohama in Japan to Marseille in France, passing through the Strait of Malacca in Singapore and the Suez Canal, the dividing line between Asia and Africa.
Every few days, the ship would stop at a port city along the way to replenish the coal, water and food necessary for the ship.
Buggang was the first supply point that Chen Muwu passed by on his trip.
The ship will replenish supplies here and disembark passengers destined for Hagiko and elsewhere from Hagiko.
Chen Muwu also locked his cabin door and followed the flow of people to land.
He first found a post office and sent a telegram to Yanhai's home to report that he was safe. He also bought some local fresh fruits from a vendor so that he could supplement vitamins at any time and avoid the trouble of scurvy.
Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, Penang, Colombo, Djibouti, Suez, Portset...
Except for leaving Colombo and sailing on the Indian Ocean for Djibouti for eight days and seven nights, the ship would dock for supplies basically every three to four days during the other voyages.
The above-mentioned places are either British colonies or French colonies. With visas from both countries, he can travel unimpeded and go wherever he wants.
Every time the ship docked, Chen Muwu would always repeat the previous steps over and over again, sending telegrams, buying fruits, and occasionally some local specialties, such as ivory cigarette holders from Sri Lanka and iron boxing gloves from Saigon (none) .
The price per word of the telegram sent to Jihai is getting higher and higher each time, and the distance from home is getting farther and farther.
These days, Chen Muwu has been in and out of consciousness. Whether he is awake or not depends entirely on the mood of Feng Bo in the sky and Dragon King in the sea.
…
In order to prevent passengers from getting bored during the more than one month voyage, there are of course many ways for passengers to have fun and entertain themselves on such a large ship.
After dinner every day, there is always a special restaurant that is cleared out and used as a dance hall, where a temporary jazz band formed by several crew members performs without hesitation.
When the weather is nice, the deck will be filled with people coming out of their dim cabins to bask in the sun.
Under the parasol, the people playing Go on both sides of the chessboard are basically Qi himself.
Four people gathered around a square table, talking and laughing. Their voices were sometimes high-pitched and sometimes low-pitched. There was no doubt that those were Chen Muwu's compatriots playing mahjong.
Chen Muwu did not go to the dance hall and did not participate in their entertainment activities.
During so many days of sailing, he didn't even say hello to these compatriots, let alone get to know each other.
Although on the surface everyone is a playboy, in Chen Muwu's heart, he is not the same as them.
When the weather is calm, Chen Muwu will occasionally take out his stationery and write a few random strokes on the paper to prepare for his next paper.
The Remington typewriter, which was not very convenient to carry, was left behind in Baihai by Chen Muwu. The main reason was that he had never thought that he could still be awake on the ship.
…
After exiting the Suez Canal from Portusset, the voyage on the sea has entered its final stage.
After another three days and four nights of sailing on the Mediterranean Sea, at eight o'clock in the morning on April 16, the steamer Enrehoridou finally arrived at the terminal of the trip, the Port of Marseille, France.
It took a total of thirty-two days from the departure from Jihai to the arrival in Marseille.
As a first-class passenger, Chen Muwu once again enjoyed the privilege of being the first to disembark.
But Chen Muwu had no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery in southern France, because after passing the customs, he had to rush to Marseille station to catch a train, all the way north to Calais, a port city in northern France.
That night, Chen Muwu boarded the ferry across the English Channel from Calais to Dover.
After arriving on the other side, he took the ship-rail red-eye train from Dover Station. Early the next morning, he finally arrived at Victoria Station in London, the capital of the United Kingdom.
As a foreigner with an obvious appearance, Chen Muwu could only line up at the end of the queue with the Jasmines and Malayans. Even the dark-skinned Brother Asan could stand in front of him.
The customs officer who had just been so friendly in front of his countrymen immediately changed his face when he saw that the remaining people in the team were all yellow-skinned Far Easterners: he straightened his shoulders, drooped the corners of his mouth, and looked like an imperialist. It spreads out against the counter.
Chen Muwu had both a certificate from the Ministry of Education and an invitation letter from Cambridge University, so he easily passed the customs without any trouble.
After checking the passport, the next step is the physical examination.
The Spanish Flu made people panic, fearing that travelers entering the UK would bring some diseases with them.
Especially Chen Muwu and others, East Asians with black hair and yellow skin, the doctor examined them very carefully.
An old man with white hair used a stethoscope to listen to Chen Muwu's chest and back. While praising Chen Muwu for his good figure and strong body, he also advised him to eat more beef, and his health would be better: this time During the European War, their British soldiers were able to beat the Germans to pieces only because they ate beef every day.
After the physical examination is not over, the suitcases must be opened one by one to check whether there are any contraband.
Several kilograms of tea leaves and pieces of Suzhou embroidery brought from Qihai - these were gifts that Chen Muqiao forced him to bring to the teachers, a piece of ham, and an ivory cigarette holder bought from Colombo, just for these few things , Chen Muwu paid more than ten pounds in taxes, which is equivalent to spending a typewriter. 【1】
After finishing all the above, Chen Muwu finally walked out of the door of Victoria Railway Station.
A haze that smelled very familiar came to my face.
*****
[1] Author's note: The description of passing through the customs, especially the section where the doctor persuaded Chen Muwu to eat beef, was borrowed from Mr. Lao She's novella "Two Horses".
