Chapter 37 life on board

We finally got on the boat on the night of February 8th.The name of the ship was Nea Hellas, and it had a displacement of 17,000 tons, which was considered a very large ship at the time.It is said that this huge ship is owned by the United Kingdom and was rented by France to transport the French army to Vietnam to suppress the local people.Therefore, the management and driving personnel on board were all British, while the passengers were almost all French soldiers. There were very few passengers in plain clothes, and the eight Chinese accounted for a large proportion of them.We live in two rooms.The equipment inside cannot be said to be luxurious, but it is clean and comfortable, and we are all satisfied.The meals on board were very rich and good, and I have mentioned this many times in my diary.All in all, on board, all went relatively smoothly.

But there have also been bad things.One day, we were on the top deck watching the sea view.Suddenly a British sailor came up to us and told us that only first-class passengers were allowed on the top floor.We were taken aback, as if we had been hit in the head: "The Chinese Consul General in Marseilles personally agreed to buy a first-class ticket for us!" Because the war had just ended and everything was not ready, and this ship was also a ship for transporting troops. You can't see the waiting time from the ticket.We thought we were first class passengers, but we weren't.We thought we were the winners in the Marseille struggle, but we didn't know that the consul general was an old fox, and he easily deceived us "winners".We were angry and laughed, laughed at our naivety, learned a lesson, and gained a lot of experience.However, for the sake of the Chinese people's face, we must not fail to go to the highest level.We have to pay ourselves to change to first class, just to win this breath.We went to the captain's office to negotiate.I don't know where the inspiration came from, but the captain smiled and asked us to go to the highest deck without us paying any extra money. Everyone was happy.Since then, nearly a month has passed smoothly on board.

However, the success will not be without small troubles.The British are an honest and serious nation, they are too conservative and pay attention to etiquette.To eat in the restaurant on board, especially dinner, you must wear a tuxedo.We are a group of poor students, just covered with clothes, where did we get all these tails and tails of clothes.But the rules must be followed.We had no choice, and ran to find the captain again.He allowed us to enter the restaurant as long as we were neatly dressed, with a tie and leather shoes on.We are grateful for his kindness, "give up your life to accompany a gentleman" and try our best to dress ourselves up.At first, because the weather was not too hot, I put on a straight suit, turned the ventilation hole on the ceiling to myself as far as possible, sat upright at the dining table, drank soup without making a sound, and knives and forks did not rattle, serious and well-behaved Moment, after eating a meal, already sweating profusely and exhausted, I went back to my room and hurriedly took a shower.This endured for some time.Once the ship entered the Red Sea, the weather was unspeakably hot.Wearing a shirt, unable to walk, still sweating profusely, it seems that there is no life to give up even if you think about "giving up your life".We simply regard the restaurant as daunting and dare not go in to eat.So we negotiated with the restaurant and changed to eating in the room.This little tribulation is considered overcoming.

Of course, not all hardships on board, there are still many, many pleasant things.The first is to watch the French soldiers on board with cold eyes.I don't know exactly how many French soldiers were on board, but there were probably thousands of them, both male and female, although the number of female soldiers was far less than that of male soldiers.The French are a cheerful and sociable people.Some people say that they put their hearts in their own hands and give them to each other anytime and anywhere.Dealing with them is not as difficult as the Germans and the British.As soon as they met, they seemed to have become old friends without saying a few words.This was the case with the young French soldiers of both sexes on board.They and they are all warm and lively and cute.No one finds it strange that they cuddle and fight with each other.Only at night we sometimes felt a bit inconvenient.We walked on the deck, let the sea breeze blow and enjoy the night view of the sea, which is undoubtedly a rare blessing.But in the darker corners, sometimes one accidentally stepped on people lying on the deck, not one, but two, of course a man and a woman.At this time, we really feel very sorry and very embarrassed.But those who are trampled are very generous, they don't care, just lie down.We had no choice but to hasten our steps and flee back to our room.The room was brightly lit, and the encounter outside in the darkness on the deck seemed to have vanished at once, leaving only fragments of memories.

I knew a young French officer, whose rank I do not know.Thin figure, thin face, and a kind appearance.He can speak English and we have a common language.We often met on the deck, talked, walked together, talked about all kinds of problems, were not suspicious of each other, and talked about everything.He often satirized the French army in a contemptuous tone, saying that there were more officers than soldiers, and that there were more high officials than small officials.He didn't shy away from the situation we encountered at night, but he didn't approve of it either.In this way, we seemed to have become very good friends within more than 20 days. He really seemed to give me the heart he held in his palm, and I felt very happy.

As for the relations between the French soldiers and the British sailors, they seemed to me to be very harmonious.I didn't see how they got in touch, so I dare not talk nonsense.There were also a few things I saw with my own eyes, the one that impressed me the most was the boxing match between the French soldiers and the British administrators.This kind of competition is almost always held at night. After dinner, the battlefield is set up on the front deck of the ship, only one or two meters away from the side of the ship.At a depth of tens of meters below the ship's side, the waves were churning, and the surging sound filled the ears.The sea is deep blue, vast and unpredictable, and ichthyosaurs and water monsters are lurking inside. They heard the voices of people on the boat and saw the shadows of lights reflected on the sea surface. They were shocked and dived deeper and deeper.The lights on the boat were brightly lit and there was a lot of voices.Great lads from Britain and France are punching each other, and they are leaping, not showing weakness.At this time, the ship was still advancing through the waves without stopping for a moment.We are hundreds of miles away from the mainland, and on the endless sea, it seems to be a small independent world.I seem to be in a fairy tale and myth, and I seem to be in a dream in a trance. This situation does not seem to be in the world anyway.

Our ship is still sailing in the Red Sea.Why is it called the "Red Sea"? There have been such questions in the past, but no answers have been obtained.This voyage gave me the answer inadvertently. There is a passage in the diary on February 19: It's really hot today and I'm sweating profusely.After lunch, I wanted to rest for a while, but it was too hot to lie down.Looking at it from the top deck, there is a red wave in the distance, like a blood line.The sea water is originally black and green, but this one is particularly red, and it cannot be broken by waves.Probably this is where the name "Red Sea" comes from.We also saw flying fish today.

I think it is not easy to see this red line with your own eyes.In the voyage of thousands of miles, there is only a red line with a width of several meters and an unknown length. It takes a little luck to see it.If I hadn't been on the top deck at this time, I wouldn't have seen it.I consider myself a very lucky person, almost a little swayed. Another thing proves that all of us on board are lucky.At that time, the Second World War had just ended, and the sea mines had not yet been cleared. From the Mediterranean through the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, it was like this everywhere.Our ship was one of the very few ships that first sailed from Europe to Asia.Several ships were struck by mines and sunk before ours.Although we didn't fully know this situation at first, we also felt it.Why did we gather on the deck as soon as we sailed, put on life buoys, and arrange drills? Why did my diary record that I had to go to the deck to "stand on duty" every day? There must be a reason.After crossing the Strait of Malacca, one morning, the captain told everyone that he hadn't closed his eyes all night. This is a mine hazard zone, and he was afraid that something might go wrong.Well now, the most dangerous areas are left behind.Since then, he can sleep peacefully.After hearing this, we were all a little scared.However, fear is happiness; only after the danger has passed can there be fear.This is common sense.

We feel very happy. When brimming with happiness, we arrived at our destination: Saigon.