The trend about time travel has not dissipated with the passage of time in the UK, but has become more and more intense.
Because another heavyweight came off the stage in person.
Herbert George Wells, together with his predecessor Jules Verne, is known as the father of science fiction literature.
Wells's masterpiece is the novel "The Time Machine" published in 1895. It was the example that Chen Muwu gave when he asked Einstein a question in the lecture hall of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on New Year's Day this year.
This book is the first science fiction novel published by Wells, but its position in the history of science fiction is very important. Some critics even regard the publication of this novel as "the first year of the birth of science fiction."
Wells also read in the newspaper about Chen Muwu's proposed universe model capable of time travel. He wrote an article in the newspaper and couldn't stop praising this young Chinese man he had never met.
…
After participating in activities related to Hebrew University, Einstein left the Mandate of Palestine and arrived in Spain by boat, where he was visiting the Iberian Peninsula.
During an interview with a reporter, a reporter asked Einstein how he would evaluate Chen Muwu, who has become very popular in the UK and even Europe. Einstein responded this way:
"I have to say that Chen is a very talented young man in physics, which should be considered the biggest gain from my trip to the Far East. I hope people will not only focus on whether humans can truly travel in time, but also on whether time travel can truly be carried out by humans. Pay attention to Chen’s first paper, which is about the nature of light that we can see everywhere in our daily life. Is it a wave or a particle?"
…
It stands to reason that Chen Muwu's name has already caused a stir in the UK and surrounding areas, so when he got off the train and presented his passport with his name to the customs, he should have been recognized by the customs officials.
But why is this not the case?
The problem arises with the English version of his name.
When submitting papers, his signature has always been Chen Muwu written according to the Chinese Pinyin custom.
However, on the passport issued to him by the Jiangsu Provincial Government [1], his English name was written in the pinyin of Waituma, Ch'ên Mu-Wu.
Although in the eyes of Chinese people, the pinyin of Chen and Ch'ên are similar.
But in the eyes of foreigners who are now familiar with the pinyin of Weituma, the former pronunciation corresponds to the surname Zhen, and the latter one is the original pronunciation of Chen.
The well-known mistake of converting a Chinese name to Waituma pinyin and then to a Chinese name was actually a mistake made on top of one mistake after another. It was similar to Chen Muwu's mistake this time.
The translator dropped the letter "i" in Chiang and translated Chang into Chang according to the Chinese Pinyin pronunciation. But in fact, after dropping the letter "i", Chang should also correspond to Zhang, and Ch'ang should correspond to It's normal.
This is why Chen Muwu was able to make it all the way from the customs to the Republic of China Legation without any hindrance, only to be discovered by the embassy staff.
He had not been in the office of the legation for a while when Charge d'Affaires Zhu Zhaoxin rushed over with small steps led by the staff.
As he walked, he stretched out his hands to Chen Muwu, with an unstoppable false politeness in his words: "Mr. Chen, I have admired your name for a long time, and I meet you today. You are really a talented person! I am Zhu Zhaoxin, first secretary and charge d'affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of China in the UK. , together with all the staff of the embassy, welcome you to the UK!"
The reason why Zhu Zhaoxin is so enthusiastic is that since Chen Muwu became famous in the UK, not only have countless reporters come to visit him wanting to interview him, but sometimes when he goes out on the street, pedestrians seem to think highly of him.
Only Corporal Li Xian can reflect the high prestige of Agent Zhu!
"It turns out to be Ding Gong! I'm so polite, junior." Chen Muwu stood up, smirked, and first cupped his hand towards Zhu Zhaoxin, then stretched out his hand to shake it with him.
Before going abroad, his eldest brother Chen Muqiao got him a lot of knowledge about Britain from the Global Chinese Students Association, among which he introduced the temporary charge d'affaires Zhu Zhaoxin, also known as Dingqing.
Chen Muwu called Zhu Zhaoxin with the first character "ding" plus "gong", which can be regarded as an honorific title.
After all, in the UK, Zhu Zhaoxin, who is in charge of the distribution of official expenses, can be regarded as half of his Chen Muwu's parents. Although I don't know what the situation is now, I don't think it's strange that there are many people in the ceremony. That's right!
"Mr. Chen, haven't you asked the master yet?"
"I don't dare to take it. The junior's cursive name is Hanchen, and his surname is Jiang and Yu."
…
The two pretended to be polite to each other, and then the guest and host took their seats.
From Zhu Zhaoxin's words, Chen Muwu finally learned that he had not only disrupted the physics community in Europe and the United States with his two papers, but also gained a certain reputation among the people through the spread of newspapers.
This was a path he had never imagined. No wonder the charge d'affaires in front of him was so polite to him.
Zhu Zhaoxin praised and encouraged Chen Muwu again, saying that he had become famous all over the world for his achievements in science at a young age, and hoped that he could continue to work hard and continue to bring glory to the country.
Chen Muwu said politely, but what he was thinking in his heart was, where is this?
"Hanchen, how is your itinerary after coming to the UK? Are you going to visit London for a few days, or do you have other plans? There are only ten days left for the wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and I will go there then. If you want to watch the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, I can arrange for staff to accompany you." Zhu Zhaoxin said kindly.
The title of Duke of York is usually awarded to the second son of the then King of England.
The current King of England is George V, who is printed or engraved on stamps and pounds.
His eldest son was Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, who succeeded King George V after his death and became Edward VIII.
But not long after he became king, Edward VIII "turned his crown into a beauty" and announced that he would give up the throne in order to marry a twice-divorced Mrs. Simpson.
The Duke of York had no choice but to take over the throne and replace his eldest brother as king, becoming the British head of state during World War II, George VI.
When Chen Muwu was in school, he had watched the movie "The King's Speech" that made Uncle Ke the Oscar winner. Naturally, he knew that the king in it who had some speech difficulties was the Duke of York who was about to get married.
He also knew that the first daughter born to the Duke of York after his marriage was the little old lady who had been the queen for seventy years and died not long before he traveled through time.
Chen Muwu had no interest in watching the colonial leader get married. The grander and more solemn the wedding, the more intense the oppression of local people in their overseas colonies. "Now that the county magistrate has added Zhu Fu, it is stained with the blood of living beings."
What's more, he still has to rush to Cambridge. It is best to complete the admission procedures before the start of the summer semester in April.
Therefore, Chen Muwu rejected Zhu Zhaoxin's invitation, and the charge d'affaires was no longer polite.
The two of them chatted for a while in this office, and Zhu Zhaoxin excused himself because he was busy with official duties.
The staff sent Chen Muwu several telegrams. During his more than a month-long sea voyage, his eldest brother Chen Muqiao came to the embassy from China and told him that he could study abroad with peace of mind and that he and his second brother would take care of him at home. All is well.
In addition, there were telegrams from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the Jiang Provincial Education Association, telling him to open a bank account under the name of the embassy as soon as possible, and future official fees would be paid into his account on a monthly basis.
Surprisingly, Tianyi's "Yi Shi Bao" office also sent a telegram, informing Chen Muwu that they had a special correspondent Zhang Xiuyou in Paris, France, and attached the reporter's address and asked him to send him the news. You can just send the serialized manuscripts after "The Condor Shooting" there. If you encounter any emergency in the future, you can also contact this special reporter.
With many friends and many routes, Chen Muwu put away these telegrams and borrowed the embassy's telegram to send home a safe message. Then he checked into a guest room specially arranged for him by Zhu Zhaoxin and prepared for tonight. I rested and recuperated in the embassy and regained my energy before heading north to Cambridgeshire tomorrow.
The only advantage of traveling by boat is that you don’t have to worry about jet lag.
In addition, he didn't close his eyes much the whole day yesterday from Marseille to Calais and then to London, so Chen Muwu quickly fell asleep.
*****
[1] Author's note: Before 1926, Sihai had always belonged to Zhangsu Province.
