Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 174 Foreign Readers (Monthly Tickets Plus)

A Mao owed Lin Chaoyang a favor for no reason and left happily, but Lin Chaoyang took the invitation letter to the director's office and explained the situation to Xie Daoyuan.

These days, diplomacy is no small matter. If Lin Chaoyang really wants to attend the Christmas dinner hosted by the American Embassy, ​​he must report to the school.

When he returned home in the evening, Lin Chaoyang presented Tao Yushu with the invitation letter from the American Embassy. Tao Yushu asked Lin Chaoyang in surprise what was going on.

Lin Chaoyang explained the situation to her again. The invitation letter from the embassy stated that female companions could be brought along, so he planned to take Tao Yushu to try some foreign food.

Tao Yushu was very happy after hearing this. Although she was not a Westernized person, she had a positive attitude towards going to the dinner party to broaden her horizons.

And as Lin Chaoyang said, you can also have a Western meal. If you go to Xinqiao Restaurant or Lao Mo, it will cost at least 20 or 30 yuan.

The dinner at the embassy can't be worse than the one they had at a Western restaurant, right?
After deciding to happily go for a free meal, Tao Yushu started to worry again, "What should I wear?"

Although they don't want to admit it, at this time Chinese people always feel inferior to foreigners. Tao Yushu was afraid that his dress was not formal enough and would lose the image of Chinese people.

Compared to her entanglement in dressing, Lin Chaoyang was much simpler, wearing a Zhongshan suit and leather shoes.

Maybe it may seem a bit rustic in the eyes of Americans, but that is their business. Lin Chaoyang feels that wearing this outfit makes him look more energetic and formal.

"Hey, Chaoyang, can you use a knife and fork?" Tao Yushu suddenly remembered and asked.

"Fork on the left, knife on the right."

For some unspeakable psychological reason, Chinese people always overemphasize etiquette when eating Western food, but Lin Chaoyang does not have this burden at all.

When they heard that Lin Chaoyang was invited to attend a Christmas dinner at the American Embassy, ​​Lin Erchun and his wife looked surprised and confused.

Of course they knew "America", but "embassy" and "Christmas dinner" were too unfamiliar to them. Putting these three terms together made the two of them feel a little confused.

Lin Erchun just asked Lin Chaoyang worriedly, "You won't make a mistake, right?"

Lin Chaoyang said lightly: "No, this has all been approved by my superiors, and I'm just going to have a meal."

"That's good." Lin Erchun felt relieved.

Zhang Guiqin, who was standing by, was very happy and asked, "Chaoyang, you are so famous now? Did the American envoy invite you to dinner?"

Lin Chaoyang explained with a smile: "Mom, the dinner is similar to our rural banquet."

When he said this, Zhang Guiqin immediately understood and asked, "Then we still have to give gifts?"

"No, just go and have a free meal and chat."

Zhang Guiqin said, "They're eating for free. What do they want?"

Her simple concept does not allow her to understand the American way of thinking and doing things. Lin Chaoyang cannot explain to her what it means to spread cultural influence. He can only say: "Christmas in the United States is equivalent to our Spring Festival. People are happy during the New Year, so they treat people to dinner."

"Oh, I understand." This time Zhang Guiqin said that she completely understood.

The next day, as soon as Lin Chaoyang arrived at the library, Du Rong came up to him and whispered, "Chaoyang, I heard that you are going to attend the banquet held by the American Embassy?"

It must be said that the library's information processing capability is fast enough. He had just reported the situation to the director yesterday afternoon, and Du Rong came to ask about it this morning.

"Ah."

"Hey!" Du Rong exclaimed in surprise after getting Lin Chaoyang's affirmative answer, "You are going to enter the international market!"

"That's nothing! They're hosting Christmas for the Americans at the embassy, ​​and they're just inviting some people to come and have some fun."

Du Rong didn't believe him, "Why didn't they invite anyone else but you?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at her speechlessly, not knowing how to defend himself for a moment.

For a whole day, the fact that Lin Chaoyang was going to the American embassy for dinner became a hot topic in the Yanda Library. Colleagues would come to ask him questions from time to time, which made Lin Chaoyang very annoyed.

Another day passed, December 12th.

Because he was going to attend a Christmas dinner in the evening, Lin Chaoyang changed his clothes at home in the morning.

In the evening, A Mao came to meet Lin Chaoyang. When the embassy held a Christmas dinner, it symbolically invited several American students who were currently studying in China, and A Mao was among them.

Ah Mao was wearing a black leather jacket. He looked at Lin Chaoyang's Mao suit and said, "Cool!"

The two rode their bicycles all the way to the southeast, first arrived at the gate of Yanshi University to meet Tao Yushu, and then the three of them rode together towards the Yanjing Hotel.

The Yanjing Hotel on East Chang'an Avenue is brightly lit at night. In today's China, there is probably no place with more cars than here.

Because it is an important place for receiving foreign guests, there is never a shortage of cars in front of the Yanjing Hotel.

Today is Christmas, and many foreign envoys, international students and business people have come here to celebrate the holiday. There are more cars at the gate than usual.

As soon as the three of them entered the lobby of Yanjing Hotel, they felt the Christmas festive atmosphere.

Lin Chaoyang and his companions walked into the East Building of the Yanjing Hotel, which was built in 1973 under the supervision of Comrade Wu Hao specifically for the reception of foreign guests. All the decorative paintings in the building were created by well-known painters such as Wu Zuoren, Li Keran, Huang Zhou, and Wang Xuetao.

The hotel lobby alone is over 2000 square meters. At this time, there are several tall Christmas trees in the hotel lobby with gift boxes hanging on them, which is obviously prepared for Christmas. Almost all the people in the lobby are foreigners, and many of them are wearing formal clothes.

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help feeling a little dazed when he was there. Was this still the Yanjing City he remembered?
Tao Yushu quietly asked Lin Chaoyang: "Why do I feel like all the foreigners from Yanjing are here today?"

"At least people from European and American countries should come here to celebrate the New Year!" said Lin Chaoyang.

Several people followed the instructions and got on the elevator and arrived at the door of the restaurant. There were people coming and going here, and several people were stopped by the security guards at the door of the restaurant. Then they showed their invitation letters before they were allowed to enter the restaurant.

There are several restaurants in the East Building of Yanjing Hotel. The Golden Hall is used for state banquets, and the Large Restaurant is used for general foreign affairs receptions.

The dinner held by the American Embassy was not held in these two restaurants, but in the lounge of the hotel. For today's banquet, the original round table and chairs were removed and replaced with the long dining table that Westerners are accustomed to.

Having seen no less than a hundred foreigners along the way, Lin Chaoyang thought that today's banquet should be a grand occasion with a large number of people.

Unexpectedly, theirs was the only table in the lounge. The length of the dining table was estimated to be nearly ten meters, and almost each side could accommodate more than a dozen people. It seemed that this was just a small banquet.

With A Mao's introduction, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu met Leonard Woodcock, the current U.S. ambassador to China, and his wife Shanlun Woodcock.

Leonard Woodcock was the first envoy after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Before him, the United States only had an institution in Yenching called the Beijing Office, and the head of the office was the director of the Beijing Office.

The two sides exchanged a few brief words, and Leonard Woodcock went to entertain other newly arrived guests, while Shanlun Woodcock continued chatting with Lin Chaoyang and his wife.

Shanlun Woodcock was originally a medical nurse assigned to the Beijing Office. Leonard Woodcock met her when he first arrived at Yenching University to take up his post in 77. They soon fell in love and got married.

Shanlon Woodcock has worked at Yenching for more than eight years and can be said to be half an expert on China. Not only can she speak Mandarin fluently, but she can also write and read Chinese characters effortlessly.

The main reason why A Mao invited Lin Chaoyang to the dinner this time was because she was very interested in Lin Chaoyang as a writer.

"Mr. Lin, I never thought I could meet you through Ah Mao. I especially like the book Lai Zi's Summer that you wrote. It's very well written."

"Thank you, Mrs. Woodcock."

Lin Chaoyang responded politely and complimented Shanlun Woodcock a few more times. As they chatted, they found out that she was not reading the Chinese version of "Lai Zi's Summer", but the English version of "Lai Zi's Summer" serialized in "Chinese Literature".

"It's a pity that this novel is only published as a magazine serial. I really hope it can be published in English so that more readers in the English-speaking world can see this wonderful novel."

After some communication, Lin Chaoyang could see that Shanlon Woodcock really liked "Lai Zi's Summer", and the topics of conversation with Lin Chaoyang almost all revolved around this novel.

It was not until Leonard Woodcock asked her to go and greet other guests that she said hello to Lin Chaoyang and walked away.

"I never thought you even have foreign readers."

Just now, when Lin Chaoyang was communicating with Shanlun Woodcock, Tao Yushu had been listening quietly beside them. Seeing that Lin Chaoyang's work was actually liked by the lady of the ambassador, she felt sincerely happy in her heart.

"It's just one more reader." Lin Chaoyang disagreed.

Tao Yushu said, "You can't think like that. Since Mrs. Woodcock likes it, then at least some foreigners in Beijing will like it. And what about those foreign readers? If you accumulate a few readers for each of your works, you may become internationally famous in the future."

When she finished speaking, a hint of longing could not help but appear in her eyes.

While the couple was whispering, guests arrived one after another. Among these guests were not only Americans, but also quite a few Chinese, almost half each.

The guests from the United States are mainly embassy staff, political and business figures, and international students.

The Chinese guests in this regard are mainly government diplomats and cultural figures.

At the beginning of the banquet, Mr. and Mrs. Woodcock sat at the first seats on both sides of the long table. The other guests took their seats in turn. The order was basically that of men and women, old and young, Chinese and foreigners. Lin Chaoyang and his wife happened to sit together.

While everyone was greeting each other, the waiter had already started serving appetizers.

French-style appetizers are usually simple cold dishes made of vegetables. Of course, the American embassy cannot be shabby when entertaining guests, so the appetizer served is French-style pan-fried foie gras.

The appetizers had just been served when Leonard Woodcock, who was sitting at the head of the table, tapped his wine glass with his spoon, making a crisp sound.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to see you here tonight..."

As the host of today's dinner, Leonard Woodcock gave a brief opening speech, and then everyone started eating.

Tao Yushu had eaten Western food at one of the few Western restaurants in Yanjing once or twice a year since she was a child, so she was quite familiar with Western dining etiquette. She was a little worried that Lin Chaoyang might not be used to using the knife and fork.

Unexpectedly, after the meal started, he was very familiar with using the knife and fork, even more skillful than her.

The most important thing is that her attitude is relaxed, unlike herself, who is always nervous and tense in front of so many foreigners.

"Stab!"

The knife cut through the steak, making a harsh sound when it collided with the plate. People around him cast concerned glances at him, and Tao Yushu couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, with his face flushed.

Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang placed his own cut steak in front of her and exchanged it with her.

The two looked at each other, and Tao Yushu suddenly felt a sense of security and sweetness, completely forgetting the eyes of the people around him.

(End of this chapter)