Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 30 I'll give you a plane, okay?
Wang Qiaoyun is a celebrity in Kuala Lumpur.

It was only after Li Jiazhi's introduction that he learned that she was actually the child of Wang Zhaosong, the leader of the overseas Chinese community in Qiongzhou.

Qiongzhou, which later became Hainan, did not establish an independent province during this era. However, it was an island far away from the mainland after all, so it had its own customs and culture. The people of Qiongzhou were also a major force in Southeast Asia.

The people of Qiongzhou have been good at sea since ancient times. Not only do they have a large number of plantation businesses in various places in Southeast Asia, but in addition to rubber, they also grow economic crops such as spices, Chinese medicine, coffee, opium, etc., and they also have unique skills in navigation.

Shipbuilding, ship repairing, steering, and fishing are almost all done by the people of Qiongzhou.

As the leader of the overseas Chinese in Qiongzhou, Wang Zhaosong's power may not be as great as that of the Li family, but it is indeed not much behind.
He was a true tycoon, running a variety of businesses including plantations, shipping, inns, theaters, tin mines, real estate, etc. He was also a board member of Hainan Wenchang Middle School.

"A girl from such a family would actually show up in public and perform in an opera?"

"Qiaoyun likes to sing opera, so she sang. She and I grew up together, and she has always been like this, doing whatever she wants. Her original name was not Qiaoyun,
The sons of the Wang family all have the character "Guo" in their names: Guopan, Guoyang, Guochi, Guofu, Guoman, Guohong, Guozhang, Guohan, and Guozhen.
My daughter's names contain the character "lian" (lianyan), Lianxian, Bianmei, and Lianping. Her original name was Wang Lianyan, but she thought it sounded ugly, so she changed her name to Wang Qiaoyun.

"When we were little, we went to school together. Later, she felt that the girls' school she attended was useless, so she dropped out. From then on, she rode her bike around Kuala Lumpur every day and made many friends.

She loves to sing opera, so she performs in her own theater in her spare time. People all over Kuala Lumpur love to listen to her singing."

"She also likes to fly planes and is a member of Shelley's flying club. You know, she's the only girl in that club.

She doesn't mind being in the spotlight at all. A newspaper said she was the first female pilot in Asia.

"Shooting, racing, horse riding, martial arts, Qiaoyun is good at everything. She also said that one day she must fly back to China to join the army and blow up the Japanese devils.

From childhood to adulthood, she has always learned whatever she wanted to learn and done whatever she wanted to do, and she can learn and do it as soon as she learns.
Uncle Wang asked her to go on blind dates, but she never went. She even publicly stated that she would never marry. I really envy her. She is so much better than me.

As she spoke, Li Jiazhi turned her head and looked at Zheng Yi, saying bluntly, "From childhood to adulthood, she has always been better than me. Saving you is the only thing I can do to make Qiaoyun envious and to brag to her."

Zheng Yi understood, but smiled and said, "I didn't see that she was better than you. I just saw that... her father really spoiled her!"

The first female pilot in Asia.

That's because there are only a few female pilots in Asia.

"Who are you envious of, Wang Qiaoyun, or the fact that she has a father who spoils her and lets her do whatever she wants?"

Seeing that Li Jiazhi didn't say anything, Zheng Yi suddenly asked, "You should have a dream too, right, Miss Jiazhi? What is your dream?"

Li Jiazhi smiled bitterly. "My father said that the tin mines and plantations... weren't suitable for a woman like me to help out or work. With my background, working there... wasn't realistic. The Colonial Office and the Chinese Advisory Council didn't want women either. I didn't even have a job, so how could I even have dreams?"

"Ah... the old chairman and the old lady, aren't you happy to let you work?"

"Yeah, I still can't find a suitable thing to do." "Then your university education was wasted, right?"

"........."

"Can I ask what your major is?"

"Literature, classical English literature."

"Ah~, what a useless major."

"…………"

He began to understand why Li Jiazhi envied Wang Qiaoyun.

To put it bluntly, although Li Jiqian and his wife were members of the revolutionary party, they were still somewhat feudal and conservative in their thinking.

Otherwise, Li Jiqian would not have divorced his wife and remarried because of the conflict between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Putting aside the love itself, Li Xiaoshi’s ex-wife was a British aristocrat and the cousin of the British king after all. With such an identity, wouldn’t she be able to do whatever she wants in Malaya?
If these two people don't divorce, how much benefit can this daughter-in-law bring to their Li family?
The marriage was ruined by the two of them because they thought their daughter-in-law was not virtuous enough.

As Chinese people from the British Straits Settlements, they could use the standard of virtue to demand the cousin of the King of England. It is conceivable that they would also emphasize family education and upbringing when treating their own daughters.

Although he and Li Jiazhi had not met many times and they were not familiar with each other, Li Jiazhi gave him the impression that she was well-educated and had impeccable manners.

It's just like……

A full-time young lady who has been cared for and carefully nurtured by her parents with all their efforts since childhood!
"Miss Jiazhi, I still owe you a favor for saving my life."

"Hmm? Mr. Zheng, please don't take that kind of thing to heart."

"No, I must remember your life-saving grace. You probably also want to fly to the sky, like Wang Qiaoyun. The fifth of next month is the chairman's birthday. If I give you a plane as a gift, would you dare to fly?"

"what?"

Li Jiazhi was stunned for a moment and asked uncertainly, "What did you say? What do you want to give Dad?"

"It's not a gift for the chairman, even though it's his birthday, but it's perfectly reasonable to give it to his beloved daughter.

I said, I want to give you an airplane, designed and built by me personally, so that you can at least have fun in the sky. As a birthday gift, if I teach you how to fly it, do you dare to fly it into the sky?

(End of this chapter)