Chapter 94 Sixth Year of Anti-Japanese War

With the arrival of 1943, the Anti-Japanese War entered its sixth year.Long-term living in a small corner, closed and monotonous life, long-term poverty, shortage and hopeless days, people living in Lizhuang can no longer live peacefully. The researchers and their wives who took refuge here seem to be infected with infectious diseases. quarreled endlessly.These highly educated and academically researched people have become violent and irritable like beasts in a desperate situation, and trivial things can lead to face-piercing anger and verbal abuse.The relationship between them and the local people is also very tense, and disputes and conflicts occur from time to time. Their arrival drives up the price of goods, and the local farmers are full of hostility towards them.When the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica shipped the oracle bones unearthed in Anyang to Lizhuang in boxes, the locals said that they were a group of cannibals and refused to carry these boxes up the mountain.

The life of Huiyin's family was not peaceful.Huiyin's mother was in poor health, and she couldn't do many things at home, but she looked down on the hired maid.She always interfered and blamed the maid when she was doing things. For this reason, Huiyin often quarreled with her mother, and often blamed herself and regretted it after the quarrel.She knew that her mother was very lonely, and the only person her mother could communicate with was herself.But I can neither accept my mother's ideas nor bear my mother's nagging, so as long as they speak between them, there will be disputes.

Sicheng is also in a bad mood recently.Due to the shortage of funds, the Institute of Construction was once again in trouble.Liu Dunzhen, an old friend of Sicheng and the backbone of the society, decided to leave the society to teach in the Department of Architecture of Central University for the livelihood of the whole family.Liu Dunzhen is calm and has a strong sense of responsibility. Sicheng relies heavily on him for many things in the society.Now that he is leaving, Sicheng's heart is very heavy. The night is as cool as water, and the lamp is like a bean. Sicheng and Liu Dunzhen had a long talk in the humble studio of the Construction Institute, and neither of them wanted to leave.Since working together in 1932, the society has developed from obscurity to today. They have traveled so many roads together, endured so much hardship, and had so many difficult and joyful moments. All these bits and pieces record their life pursuits. 11 years is their best years.Speaking of sadness, the two men couldn't help crying bitterly.

Not long after Liu Dunzhen left, another colleague of the society, Chen Mingda, was also forced by life, bid farewell to the society, and took up a job in the Southwest Highway Bureau. In the spring of 1943, Dr. Needham came to Lizhuang. His visit made the monotonous life in Lizhuang briefly exciting for a few days. Joseph Needham, a British biochemist, is famous for his passion for and research on the history of ancient Chinese science and technology.During the Anti-Japanese War, he was the scientific counselor of the British embassy in Chongqing.He visited the Institute of History and Linguistics of the Academia Sinica, the Central Museum, and the China Academy of Construction. The research fields of these institutions are all areas of interest to him. When he went to the academy, he also visited Huiyin.

At the venue where Dr. Joseph Needham gave a lecture at the Academia Sinica, Liang Sicheng, with his usual quiet humor, successfully made two famous scholars of the Academia Sinica, Tao Menghe and Fu Sinian, who had always had a gap, shake hands and make peace in public.Scholars at the academy joked that Liang Sicheng should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Joseph Needham revealed that he will go to Kunming after leaving Lizhuang to help Chinese scholars at Southwest Associated University on behalf of relevant British institutions and discuss related projects of cooperation between Chinese and British scientists.The international community is paying attention to China, and Western countries have stepped up their influence and penetration on China during China's chaotic wartime.

Fei Zhengqing, an old friend of Sicheng and Huiyin, also came to China during this period. As a special assistant to the US embassy in China, he worked in the US embassy in Chongqing.In the United States, he flew through Easter Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, crossed Africa and Egypt to India, and then flew over the "hump" to Kunming. After a short stay in Kunming, he flew to Chongqing.