Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 98 The Orient Express
After Ning Zheng came back, he met Feng Jiu and the others, and the next stop was Paris, France. He took the famous "Simplon-Orient Express", which is currently one of the most luxurious trains in the world across Europe and Asia. A group of people will spend two days and two nights in the car.

Simplon is the name of a single-track standard-gauge railway mountain tunnel, starting from Breg, Switzerland, crossing the Alps, and ending at the border of Joasso, Italy, across most of Europe.

Feng Jiu had heard the name of this train for a long time when he was in China, and the line had been in operation for decades.There have been many legendary events on the train. For example, the Armistice Agreement of World War I was signed in carriage [-], so I have always yearned for it; I thought it would be many years before I had the opportunity to come to Europe to experience it for myself. Unpredictable...

At the beginning of the second year after taking the Orient Express for the first time, after Agatha Christie, the master of detective novels in the UK, published "Murder on the Orient Express" for the first time, Feng Jiu also bought a copy, while enduring the special ink of the new book Xie'er read it carefully, and as the plot progressed, from time to time, he recalled and compared the situation of taking this train at the beginning, and even inevitably had the illusion from time to time, thinking that he was still on that luxurious train.

The eye-catching yellow letters of the “VENICE SIMPLON -OREENT EXPRESS” trademark are embroidered everywhere on the carriages, menus, towels and bath towels of the blue iron train.

They booked two first-class carriages, which have a spacious and comfortable luxurious living room, a double bed covered with thick burgundy red silk sheets and goose down quilts, and a separate dressing room with bathroom; the cost for one night is close to [-] Dollar.

The other attendants are in the second-class compartment, the difference is that the space is small, and the single couch during the day will be turned into a single bed with upper and lower beds after a short operation by the conductor at night.

Ning Zheng took off his coat, turned his head and saw a hook with a special shape above the head of the bed, "What is this?"

Long Sheng was no longer short, and could barely reach on tiptoe, so he reached out to touch it; Ya Ya followed suit, but she was still too short; she immediately turned her head and looked at Long Sheng with a grunt; Long Sheng waited with a smile on his face. Seeing his sister begging him, he immediately picked her up and let her take a closer look, but Ya Ya still didn't know.

Long Sheng carefully identified it again, "Godfather, I think it's for people to hang pocket watches."

Saying that, he took out a small pocket watch with a perfect round shape from his pocket, which can be fixed on his small suit jacket with a special buttonhole: this is a small copper pocket watch specially customized by Ji Songling when his son was three years old. As soon as it was opened, there was a small photo of the mother and son taken in a photo studio before their birthday, which was hand-colored; he hung the watch chain on the hook, which was very suitable.

Ning Zheng has always worn a watch, but never had a pocket watch. He raised his eyebrows and thought it was reliable.

Feng Jiu specifically asked the exclusive French butler of the luxury car that followed them.After listening to Feng Jiu's words, the butler immediately showed a warm smile, and after explaining, Feng Jiu nodded and said that Long Sheng's guess was right.

Ning Zheng was surprised by Long Sheng's keen insight, and patted his small shoulder appreciatively.

It was almost evening to get on the bus, and after settling down, they went to the dining car for dinner.The dining car is not far away. The four walls are decorated with mahogany siding, hot-stamped with large clusters of bellflowers with a classic emerald charm, inlaid with long strips of translucent glass panels, and some are etched with " The picture of Basque, God of Dionysus and surrounded by groups of beautiful maids, is full of the elegant and delicate charm of Rococo in the [-]th century.

Each table is covered with snow-white tablecloths, and an orange-pink tulip-shaped lamp stands by the window, which is also the traditional symbol of all Orient Express trains handed down to the world; short red-brown velvet curtains hang by the windows, and crystal narrow-mouthed vases There is a milky white calla lily with yellow stamens in it, which is elegant and refreshing, and there is a silver ice bucket on the edge of the table next to the aisle, inside which lies a slender champagne bottle.

The ladies who came to dine all changed into evening gowns with revealing fronts and backs. The new-style fabrics were shimmering, and they wore exaggerated shiny headdresses. Everyone was very grand.

Feng Jiu passed them by, and looked at these European ladies wearing the most fashionable evening dresses calmly - in recent years, ladies' dresses that reveal a large back have become more and more popular.However, if you look closely, you will find that the shortcomings of Caucasian skin are fully exposed: the seemingly snow-white back has large pores, thick golden body hair, and densely packed large brown spots. In their point of view, it doesn't seem to be ugly.

The two children were walking in front. Ning Zheng was always careful not to bump into them. At this moment, he just turned his eyes to his wife. When he saw Fengjiu's expression, he made a mistake for a moment. He said in a loud voice, "You are not allowed to dress like this!" Then he looked his wife up and down to make sure that she was tightly wrapped up: Fengjiu was wearing a high-necked, silver-gray, long-sleeved, high-waisted skirt. Lace and the like, her head is simply crossed, a few scarlet small roses dotted it, and there are layers of long and short pearl necklaces hanging on her chest, only one face is exposed, and the crystal clear beads even reflect Seeing her charming face, Ning Zheng nodded with satisfaction, "This is the most suitable dress."

Feng Jiu twisted his body angrily; Ning Zheng naturally also saw the thick hair on these white women, and couldn't help recalling that his lips were still roaming wantonly on his wife's silky and delicate back last night...

At the same time, Feng Jiu noticed that when the well-dressed gentlemen saw Ning Zheng, their eyes suddenly widened: it seemed that the well-informed people who were concerned about current affairs had already guessed who they were.

Some people turned around and wanted to take the opportunity to approach them, but the couple had already been dragged by the Gianos to several important social gatherings in Italy, and they had no intention of making friends with other people at this time, so several secretaries and guards The group was separated very tactfully; the family went straight to the far end seats of the dining car and sat down.

Long Sheng and Ya Ya sat down side by side on the leather armchair covered with red velvet like conjoined twins. They were very curious about the European-style silver tableware with the Simplon logo printed on it. They looked at each one carefully and whispered, It seemed that it was different from the pure Chinese tableware used when occasionally sitting in Peiping, and I laughed out loud after a while.

The white-haired train conductor in a Mediterranean blue uniform came over to greet the family, and introduced that the chef is a Provencal who specializes in French cuisine. The brunch on this train is French lobster dishes, which are very popular. I hope they can have a good time. Enjoy this trip.

When Feng Jiu heard this, her heart shrugged: She still has an authentic Chinese stomach, no matter how delicious the Western food is, at the end of the day, she will miss those various porridges that can gently nourish the body that has been emptied all night-Chinese breakfast and Qi and blood, nourish the spleen and stomach, it is very comfortable after eating.

Ning Zheng knew what she was thinking at a glance, and lightly hugged her shoulder, "Be patient, we will find some rice to make porridge when we arrive in Paris." Feng Jiu laughed out loud, and she It's not that you can't really eat Western-style breakfast, it's just that you can be hypocritical occasionally.

While eating dinner, Feng Jiu glanced quickly at the various Western passengers in the dining car who looked straight at them or turned around to spy on them from time to time, and asked mischievously: "Guess, how many of them are spies here? "

Indeed, the "Orient Express" has an "elegant name" - "Spy Train". During World War I, this train did not know how many spies traveled to and from various European countries. Spies, they have a variety of methods to hide military and political secrets. Refurbished tricks: a British spy named Powell once pretended to be an entomologist to collect specimens in the Balkans, and he drew dazzling sketches about the shape and color of butterfly wings, Hidden here are the codes of fortifications along the Dalmatian coast, which greatly aided the British Navy.

The flies from the Japanese special high school did not follow. After all, there were too few passengers on this train, and their East Asian voices were obvious, which could easily be exposed.

Ning Zheng pinched her leg and responded in a low voice, "Then what do you think are high-class courtesans, trolls, nobles, kings, and smugglers?" The couple chatted and laughed while eating, and the two children had their own pleasure.After dinner, they accompanied the children back to the carriage under the enthusiastic eyes of other passengers who deliberately dragged them away, and led them to put together a puzzle of a small Roman fountain on the coffee table in the living room for a while; At nine o'clock in the evening, it's time for the children to go to bed.

They were afraid that the two children would not be used to sleeping here for the first time, so they agreed that Ning Zheng would take Long Sheng to sleep in one room, and Feng Jiu would take Ya Ya to sleep in the other room; He slept very well, even though he was relieved, even though he knew that Fengjiu was sleeping next door, he still missed him very much, so he went out quietly, opened the door of the next compartment with his "magic skills", and moved the sleeping person quickly. The heavy fat Yaya hugged her and placed it next to Longsheng, then locked the door, and lay down beside Fengjiu happily.

After tossing and turning for half the night, he finally hugged the fragrant Feng Jiu into his arms and fell asleep contentedly, causing Feng Jiu who woke up in a daze to scold him in a low voice for not knowing how to love the child.

Ning Zheng snorted righteously: "How can I feel bad? I have never been hugged or cared since I was a child, isn't it pitiful? Hurry up and hug me..." As he spoke, he rubbed his body, and the couple smiled tiredly. together.

Fengjiu listened to the regular "clang clang" sound of the train wheels on the track, as well as the long and short flute sound of the driver occasionally pulling the whistle, in the quiet night of the European continent, in the endless Alps Echoing from time to time, everything seemed so peaceful and serene, making people let go of all guards.

She suddenly had a thought——if this kind of life continues like this, isn't it... But this kind of thought is just like the rain on a sunny day in summer. It just fell on the ground and evaporated in an instant, and she went again Ning Zheng arched his arms and said softly, "...this mattress is really comfortable."

Ning Zheng has been watching her since just now, and by the faint orange floor lamp at the foot of the bed, he sees that she has something to say, so he has been waiting patiently, but unexpectedly, he waited for such a sentence.

But the tacit understanding between the two, how could he not know what she really wanted to say?
He raised her oval face, gazing at it with burning eyes, "Qingqing, I assure you, as long as I take back the Northeast from the small Japanese and drive them out of China, I will disarm and return to the field. From then on, I will accompany you every day." You, and the kids, go about your day."

Feng Jiu closed his eyes and dreamed for a while, that would be great, but——

"... Will there be such a day?" She asked without confidence.At this stage, it is too difficult.

"Of course, there must be." Ning Zheng found her lips, put them in his mouth, traced them carefully, and finally sucked them lightly.

"Well, I believe you." At this time, the couple had long since neglected the two children next door, and whispered for a long time, but they still embraced each other and fell asleep.

Until the next morning, there were knocks on the door, and the couple were woken up by Ya Ya, who was in a state of dismay.

"Betrayed, my mother has betrayed."

The little Yaya rushed in, her slightly curly shoulder-length hair, which was similar to her mother's, was scattered on her shoulders, her two round little nostrils were blowing air, and imitating her grandfather's occasional anger, she crossed her hips and stood in front of her. Walking back and forth with bare feet on the thick Persian carpet in front of the bed, and then changed to crossing his arms for a while, the posture was really a bit threatening.

On the bed, her parents looked at her sleepily, and in the eyes of Long Sheng who followed Yaya in, she looked a little pitiful.

But Long Sheng was very happy. In fact, he woke up when his godfather got up in the middle of the night yesterday. He just kept quiet and watched what his godfather was going to do. Here it is: Godfather swapping younger sister, no one would be happy with such a good thing, so he lightly kissed his younger sister's fat face as usual, and then fell asleep contentedly, head to head.

Originally, Yaya was happy to see her brother's face when she woke up, but then she remembered something was wrong, she didn't sleep with her brother last night, then her mother was snatched away by her father again, humph words don't count, dad The mother is also outrageous.

Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng coaxed for a long time, and then the little girl burst into laughter, and sweetly called "Dad, Mom", instead of the native dialect that would pop up in a hurry.

Ning Zheng got excited and jumped up to perform push-ups for Long Shengya.

Long Sheng counted seriously for his godfather, and when he counted to one hundred, his face was full of surprise.

Feng Jiu watched from the side, repeatedly saying that it's almost done, don't show off too much, and be careful of your old waist.

Ning Zheng smiled at her maliciously: Doesn't she know the best about his waist?Didn't you check it last night?

Seeing his smile, Feng Jiu became annoyed and dragged Long Sheng to the bathroom to wash up. Ning Zheng did not forget to shout from behind, saying that Long Sheng is your father who can do one job at a time. one hundred and five.

Long Sheng laughed, his parents and godfathers are very capable... Speaking of which, I miss my parents and grandparents a little bit.

After breakfast, Long Sheng stayed on his seat to watch the scenery, while his parents were still reading the newspaper and chatting while Yaya ran up and down the aisle of the already empty dining car, and was immediately caught by the door of the No. [-] dining car where they were sitting. The large mirror she was holding attracted attention—she seemed to have discovered the magical effect of the mirror for the first time: she stuck out her tongue, poked the corners of her eyes and mouth to reveal the red eyelids and mouth, grinned silently, and immediately turned her face; the mirror The little people in the house faithfully followed suit, and Yaya felt that she was very good at changing faces, so she was amused by herself and giggled, and she enjoyed herself very much.

Suddenly there was a "chi chi" laughter, Yaya twisted her neck to look, and found an old man with angry white hair, who was looking at her not far from the carriage, with two strange fat white hairs on his face. Beard, one pinch on each side, not to mention how symmetrical it is.

Obviously amused by how she looked just now.

Yaya looked at him, the old man blinked, and lifted the car window up with a "crash", and a fresh morning breeze blew in.

He deftly swiped the downward facing mustaches, pointing the tip upwards, then took out a small silver square tin pot from the inner pocket of the white morning coat he was wearing, unscrewed the lid and quickly poured it into his mouth One mouthful, another mouthful.A strong smell of alcohol emanated from the mouth of the bottle, and Yaya shrugged her little nose. The old man smacked his lips and tasted it beautifully, and then reluctantly screwed on the cap and put it back in his arms.

Then he took the smooth and beautiful transparent glass mineral water bottle on every dining table, unscrewed it and drank a couple of sips, "clucking" raised his neck and put the water in his mouth to rinse his mouth, and made another "gudong" Swallow it.

Then, he stroked down the two upturned moustache neatly, restored to its original shape, and gave Yaya a loud "click" when she touched Yaya's tongue and teeth, obviously asking her to keep it a secret for him.

This set of movements is smooth and smooth, and Yaya's eyes are so wide that they are almost bigger than the light bulbs in the wall lamps embedded in the car wall.

Immediately afterwards, a tall and fat red-haired old woman in red clothes appeared, her fiery red curly head shivered angrily along with the fat flesh on her face, she yelled in a language that Ya Ya could not understand, as if Complaining about the old man's breaking the habit of drinking alcohol early in the morning: Yaya sounds like the "goose language" that his mother said, or "speaking", the old man perfunctory her with a good temper, and took out a bunch of roses from his pocket Rosary beads, without any sincerity, kissed the cross on it, and then kissed the shining diamond ornament on the old lady's sideburns. People disappeared together.

Yaya felt that she was indeed an older child, yet she could still know other people's secrets.This matter is not small, she felt that her small heart could not hold such a big matter, so she hurried to find brother Lai Lai at the other end of the dining car.

Her parents are gone, only Long Sheng is here waiting for her.When she held her little hands together and squeezed her little mouth to talk about the matter, the always cold Long Sheng burst out laughing, already seeing that the little boy who would be quite tall in the future would bend over and pinch Yaya's chubby Face, laughing at her in an authentic Fengtian joke: "You, there is nothing you don't know, let's go, you little boy."

This doesn't seem to be a compliment to herself, Yaya pursed her lips, staring at her brother suspiciously.

Suddenly, a golden light flashed from the corner of Yaya's eyes, she looked around quickly, and found a small golden head popping up not far away, a pair of clear gray eyes were watching from behind the tables two rows away from them, and then lowered again after a while Head, I don't know what I'm doing.

Yaya slumped over, and saw a little boy with blond hair like an angel holding a pencil and sketching on a leather sketchbook. He raised his head suddenly, and immediately met Yaya's big black eyes , Yaya felt as if she was sucked into a gray vortex all of a sudden.

Probably because he has never seen Oriental dolls before, the little boy stared straight at Yaya. He was wearing a silver-gray checkered safari jacket that matched the color of his eyes, and olive black knee-length corduroy shorts underneath. Mid-length black socks and lace-up black leather shoes, revealing a section of calf.

Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng, who had just left the two children and walked to the junction of the carriages to enjoy the European summer scenery outside the window, came back affectionately. They happened to see each other. After looking at each other, they both felt that the childhood Cupid should look like this Son.

Before Feng Jiu could speak, Ya Ya first asked loudly in English: "Who are you, may I ask?"

"I'm Cecil Rampuson." The little boy replied a little shyly.

"My name is Gemma Ning." Ya Ya formally extended her hand and shook hands with the little boy, feeling that this Westerner was really awkward, so she insisted on saying her surname upside down.

Then he still didn’t forget his brother Lailai, “He’s Cecil Ji”, and suddenly clapped his hands again, “Also called Cecil.” Then he looked at the two of them with a smile.

Long Sheng didn't make a sound. Although his first impression of this little boy was not very good, he couldn't lose face, and immediately went up to shake hands with this Cecil.

Ning Zheng hugged Feng Jiu, and the two looked at each other and smiled: The little girl can be regarded as using the set of modern etiquette that she has gradually learned, and the three little guys are quite serious.

The name Gemma was given to Ya Ya by Feng Jiu when he arrived in Italy. In Italian, it means "gem"; in English, it means "Ya'er", which is similar to the Chinese nickname Ya Ya. It was just right; Longsheng's name was Cecil, Cecil, and he was also given by Jiujiu, purely because of his nice pronunciation.

This time it was a coincidence that he met Cecil after only a short time in Europe.

Yaya asked again: "How old are you?"

This time the little boy positively said that he was five years old, one year older than Yaya, and younger than six-year-old Longsheng, so Yaya immediately called him "Little Cecil", and Guan Longsheng "Big Cecil" was called.

After listening, the expressions of the two boys were different, one sad and one happy: probably boys hope that they are "big" in all aspects, big brother, big man, loud voice, strong man... In short, "big" is "big". OK

However, the special surname of this European boy caught Ning Zheng's attention just now: Ning Zheng once had a close friend in Peiping, who had never been friends with him for many years, and he was the British Minister to Peiping at that time—Sir Lam Pusheng.

He was about to take a step forward to ask what happened, when he found the mother of the little boy whose son had disappeared hurried over from the second dining car where they were eating: this was a tall, blond lady, demure and elegant, wearing a dark green silk dress The last pigeon blood ruby ​​poppy brooch is very eye-catching.

When she first saw the Ning Zheng family, she couldn't help being stunned. Ning Zheng smiled and chatted with them. Sure enough, she was really the second daughter-in-law of Sir Ram Pusheng. Father took care of the family business by the way, so he did not accompany their mother and son to Turkey this time.

Ning Zheng, who has been so busy in the past few years, just learned of Sir Rampuson's recent situation, he felt very sorry, and then expressed that he would definitely pay a visit when he arrived in England.

Little Cecil and Yaya played together.Yaya's oral English is very proficient, which is comparable to that of a five-year-old British child, so there is no barrier to communication with him.

The two people exchanged various toys and ways to play with each other, which is enough to be busy. For example, now the two are meeting each other and playing Luban lock. This seemingly simple, but actually mysterious and magical traditional Chinese toy attracted Xiao Sai. With Syl's full attention, Ya Ya also felt that the toy that the mother had just brought from her box, which was already tired of playing, suddenly had a new attraction.

They had a great time playing, and it was inevitable that they ignored the "old man".

Later, even Ning Zheng and Feng Jiu, who were chatting with little Cecil's mother, found out, but Long Sheng became silent.

Feng Jiu apologized, went to hug Longsheng, stuffed a Jiulianhuan into his hand, and then took him to Yaya and Cecil.

Long Sheng was already a master at playing with these educational toys, and he held his breath at this moment, intending to show it in front of Cecil, which really surprised and admired the little British boy.

Because the three children hit it off very well, they made an appointment for lunch together.The three children were sitting at the same table, and Ning Zheng and his wife were sitting at the same table as Cecil's mother. Suddenly, he heard little Cecil say to Yaya: "Jemma, why did you eat ice cream after drinking hot soup? My mother said That's going to make you sick."

Little Cecil was also raised very delicately. When she saw Yaya on the opposite side eating hot soup and ice cream, she couldn't help worrying about her new friend's health.

When Yaya heard this, she reluctantly put down the spoon and jumped onto the floor, shaking left and right; Little Cecil wondered, "What are you doing?"

"Shake myself well." Yaya said proudly, "Now it won't be hot and cold all at once."

The childish and childish words made everyone fall down.

Little Cecil's mother laughed loudly, the little daughter of the old man's old Chinese friend is so cute.

Feng Jiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he got up quickly and told Yaya that he had just eaten a meal, so he couldn't twist his body so hard, it would easily twist his intestines; besides, what little Cecil said was right, not to mention the stomach discomfort after eating like this, teeth I can't stand it either.

Yaya nodded after hearing this, she was not afraid of anything, but she was afraid of toothache, last year she had a toothache because she didn't brush her teeth well, but she suffered a lot.

Ya Ya twisted her little butt and sat on the chair again, and used the ice cream meticulously, without mixing it.

After lunch, the three of them played bridge again, which Cecil's mother brought specially for them: the three children happened to have never played before, and they didn't know much about the rules she introduced, but they didn't delay anything, and they were already busy fighting Yes, if you play a J, I dare to play a 3 to destroy you; if you play two 5s, then I will win by playing three 5s...

The cards were played in a mess, but the expressions were serious and serious, all the little tricks were frowning, thinking hard, and doing nonsense in a serious manner, it's really laughable.

The speed of the car was not slow, and soon arrived in Lausanne, Switzerland. Cecil and his wife bid farewell to Ning Zheng's family warmly, and got out of the car together with their servants—they had to change cars to go to Bucharest, Romania, which is more than 100 kilometers away , a sanatorium in Lake Balaton, located at the southeastern foot of the Bakone Mountain in the Danube region, where Cecil's frail grandmother lived, and they were visiting her on this trip.

Ning Zheng looked at Ya Ya, who was kneeling on the sofa of the dining car facing the window with bare snow white socks, reluctantly waving goodbye to his new friend Ya Ya, Long Sheng next to him looked at her with his mouth slightly pouted and frowning, while Xiao Ya under the car Cecil also looked back step by step, waving the hunting cap that had just been grabbed from the top of his head in his right hand, and couldn't help but pretend to be full of emotion: "Oh, this little girl, she likes the new and dislikes the old, she is quite like a mother. .”

Feng Jiu was grinning from the sidelines watching the lawsuit of the three little ones, and was named out of nowhere. He couldn't help but glance at him unkindly, "Hey, who are you talking about? How dare you talk nonsense? Believe it or not, I'll divorce you when you go back?"

Could it be that he just met an extremely handsome middle-aged German man, because his handsome demeanor is so rare, Fengjiu couldn't help thinking: If her husband reaches this age, will he be so attractive?

Before exchanging ideas with him, Ning Zheng was not willing to do it, but after a while, he sneered and ridiculed several times.

...Ning Zheng really believed that Mrs. Neng divorced him.

Did the tall, strong, middle-aged man with a typical Germanic appearance and dignified appearance just look too hotly at his wife: this time, he has been wandering in Europe for only two months, so he can see it, Mrs. The market, whether at home or abroad, are all optimistic. [1. Agatha Christie; Murder on the Orient Express[M]; Shanghai Translation Publishing House; 2.Murder on the Orient Express (1974)[Y]Director: Sidney Lumet; Released on 24th, 11, 1974; 20th Century Fox 3. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) [Y] Director: Kenneth Charles Branagh; Released on 10th, 11, 2017; 20th Century Fox]
Especially in Italy, he couldn't stay any longer. Italian men are inherently affectionate. If it weren't for the fierce light in his eyes, and the guards always following behind, those enthusiastic Italian men with black hair and black eyes Whistling can last a whole day; look at the exaggerated expressions, the hands waving endlessly to express admiration, the ones bowing, the ones flipping the little hats on their heads, and the ones blowing kisses, it's just eye-catching.

(End of this chapter)