Chapter 2 Chapter One Returns

1959.In Beijing in late autumn, the golden wind is bleak.Fragrant Hills, which was originally thick green and verdant, was suddenly dyed red and purple, mottled and mottled. A brown-red Warsaw car was driving on an asphalt road in the suburbs, entering the urban area from west to east from the Gongzhu Cemetery, passing through Xidan Intersection and West Chang'an Street, turning at Tiananmen Square, and passing the newly completed Great Hall of the People , drive past the newly painted Zhengyang Gate and the west side of the Arrow Tower, and drive to Qianmen Street from north to south.There are a lot of pedestrians, busy traffic, row upon row of various shops, and twinkling neon lights...

The Warsaw car slowed down even more, drove eastward into the side street, and slowly stopped at an alley. This area is full of bungalows, with gray bricks, gray tiles and gray floors, which are desolate and monotonous but clean and tidy.Occasionally, cyclists and pedestrians pass by. The rear door of the car was pushed open, and a tall, middle-aged man with broad shoulders got out.He stroked his long gray hair, straightened his chest, took a deep breath, and stretched his arms and waist; at the same time, a round-faced girl got out of the passenger seat and stood in front of the middle-aged man, Yingying smiled and said, "Teacher Su, you're home."

"Time flies so fast," Teacher Su looked around with emotion, "It's been a year in the blink of an eye!" The middle-aged man has a protruding forehead, a thin face, a tall and straight body, and bronze-colored skin.He was wearing a black suit, a blue silk tie, and a light gray trench coat over it.He said to the girl: "Little Xingxing, come and sit at home, mom must miss you very much." "Mom must miss you more!" Little Xingxing was still smiling, "I often visit my mother, so I won't bother her today." The driver is a lad.He took out two suitcases, one large and one small, from the back of the car, strode into the alley, and quickly returned to the car: "Deputy Director Su, the luggage is at your door."

"Thank you, Xiao Zhao." Xiao Zhao got into the car and poked his head out: "Deputy Director Su, I'll pick you up when you go to work someday." "It will take a few days." The middle-aged man said casually, "After a year away, there must be a lot of changes in the institute?" "The place hasn't changed much," the driver's tone suddenly became strange. "The one who has changed a lot is our Comrade Jin Xingji." "What do you mean, Zhao Degen?" The girl became vigilant. "By God, nothing special." "What changes have I made?"

"'Eighteen Changes of Women's University'." "Where did I change?" "You must force me, and I will report to Deputy Director Su that during the year he went abroad to work, his beloved daughter, student and assistant Xiao Xingxing has undergone gratifying and earth-shaking changes in terms of mental outlook or emotional life. of……" "You are so bad!" The girl grabbed Zhao Degen's ear. The boy cried out. Deputy director Su stood aside, smiling and saying nothing. "Drive fast, drive fast," the girl got into the car and beat Zhao Degen's shoulder vigorously, "Long tongue, you idiot!"

"Yes, yes!" The driver blinked at the middle-aged man, "Goodbye, Deputy Director Su." "Mr. Su, goodbye!" Jin Xingji also waved out the car window, "Say hello to mom for me." "Okay, goodbye." Deputy Director Su smiled and waved to the two young people. A puff of white mist spewed out from the rear of the car, and it started slowly. The middle-aged man turned his head and walked into the alley.Although the stone steps of the gatehouses on both sides have worn away and the paint has peeled off, they can still see the grandeur of the past.He stepped over a high threshold, and an ordinary courtyard appeared in front of him.The courtyard is paved with blue bricks, and several "Xifu Begonias" are planted, which is a small deciduous tree with a height of more than ten feet. It blooms light red flowers in spring and purple red fruits in autumn.Although the leaves are all gone now, the branches are full of round and heavy crab apples, like amber or ruby ​​beads.On the eaves of the main house, the indoor lighting makes the glass of the door and window filled with apple green, and also reflects the dozens of pots of bluegrass placed under the window...

The radio broadcast came through the door and window just at this moment.A female announcer is reporting on "Capital News": "The seven-member Chinese medical expert group headed by Professor Su Guanlan, deputy director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, returned to Beijing by plane this afternoon after finishing their investigation visit to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam." Professor Su Guanlan was about to knock on the door, when she stopped and listened: "Relevant comrades from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, as well as officials from the embassy of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in China, went to the airport to greet..."

A soft sigh came from the room: "The broadcast has been reported, why haven't you arrived home yet?" "I'm home, I'm home!" Professor Su Guanlan shouted with a smile.The door was not latched, and opened with a pull.The professor picked up two suitcases and strode into the room, and immediately turned around and closed the door to prevent the cold air from sweeping in. "Guanlan, you're back!" The hostess yelled when she heard the sound and turned around suddenly.She looks a head shorter than her husband, with a thin body, pale face, full of shallow wrinkles, and a lot of silver threads in the gray-yellow temple hair; but her facial features are correct, her eyes are clear, and she looks calm and gentle.Now, the eyes are shining with moisture.

"Yuhan, it's me, I'm back!" Su Guanlan said, spreading her arms. Yuhan rushed over and fell on her husband's chest. "Yuhan, Yuhan, my Yuhan!" Su Guanlan murmured while hugging his wife.He felt that his wife seemed to be thinner than a year ago, her body was like a piece of paper, her breasts were flattened, her shoulders and her spine were protruding... The professor closed his burning eyes, and silently and for a long time with his cheeks and lips Rubbing his wife's temples, face, neck and shoulder blades. "Guanlan, isn't this a dream?" Yuhan also closed her eyes, her tone was like a dream, "I have dreamed about this situation countless times this year..."

"It's not a dream this time, Yuhan!" Su Guanlan's voice trembled slightly, "At this moment, we are two in one, and your eyes are only four inches away from mine..." "Four inches?" "That's 10.16 centimeters." "You, Guanlan!" Yuhan couldn't help laughing.She broke away a little, and held her husband's face in her hands, "The children will laugh at you when they hear it." Ah, boy!Su Guanlan's heart warmed up, "Yes, where are the children?" Almost at the same time, a door leading to the inner room opened, revealing two chubby little faces and two pairs of shiny black eyes.Immediately afterwards, there was a burst of cheers and noise: "Ah, it's Dad..."

"Dad, it's Dad, it's Dad!" "Daddy's back, daddy's back!" A little boy and a little girl scrambled out and jumped on their father.Professor Su Guanlan squatted down cheerfully, holding a pair of children in her arms. Yuhan wiped the corners of her eyes, took a deep breath of relief, leaned against the door frame, and watched her husband and children who were hugging each other with a smile. "Father, what delicious food did you bring when you came back from abroad?" Su Yuan, a five-year-old boy, suddenly asked.Su Tian, ​​a seven-year-old girl, glared at her younger brother: "You little glutton! Dad went abroad to work, not to eat. You don't even ask Dad how hard it is, you know how to ask for food!" Su Yuan stared straight into the eyes: "I asked about the food, and then I'm going to ask Dad how hard it is." "Aha!" The professor chuckled, "My little gluttonous son, I didn't expect to become a little pauper again." As he spoke, he kissed his son's cheek hard.Su Yuan giggled, avoiding her father's beard.Su Guanlan turned her face, patted Su Tian's head and asked, "Good daughter, you have become a primary school student, haven't you? Tell Dad, how is your academic performance? How many subjects did you fail?" "Not even a single score of three or four," the little girl raised an index finger, "it's all—" The professor opened his eyes wide: "Oh, it's all two points?" The daughter proudly opened her palms: "It's all - five points!" Su Guanlan held the two children closer to her chest: "Okay! Don't Tiantian want to become a doctor? With such good grades, she will definitely succeed." The little boy stretched out his arms, and rumbled from his mouth: "Woo - I don't want to be a doctor, I want to be a pilot, fly a jet, fly all over the sky, all over the sky! If Dad goes abroad again, he will take the plane I drive." It took Yuhan a lot of effort to pull the pair of children away from her husband's arms, so that Su Guanlan could straighten up.His wife helped him take off his windbreaker and suit, and untied his tie.This house doubles as the living room, dining room and living room, called the "hall".Yuhan told the children to wash their hands and prepare for dinner.Su Guanlan carried the suitcase into the study next door.The wife urged from behind: "Hurry up and change your shoes, and get ready to eat. The food gets cold when it's hot, and it's hot again when it's cold. It's tasteless." The study is huge.The entire east and north walls are full of bookcases.The windows face south, that is, towards the yard.On the west wall hangs a map of the world, a map of China, and a map of the Indochina Peninsula - the Indochina Peninsula is also called the Indochina Peninsula, and Vietnam is located on the east side of the peninsula; there are also two exquisitely printed oil paintings.At that time, Soviet and Russian art was popular in China, and these two paintings were written by the masters of the "Traveling Exhibition School": one is Kramskoy's "Unknown Girl" and the other is Aivazovsky "The Ninth Wave". There are thousands of books lined up in the bookcases. Except for reference books, they are all professional foreign language books in the fields of chemistry, pharmacology, botany, medicine, anthropology, microbiology, bacteriology and virology.There are also several bronze mirrors and pottery figurines, a dozen pieces of ceramics, horn bones, ivory, glass, jade, agate and cloisonné, as well as the "Four Treasures of the Study". A bamboo curtain is hung outside the window on the south wall, through which one can peek into the small courtyard.The apple-green silk curtains in the window were drawn to the sides.There is an easy chair and a mahogany writing desk in front of the window; although the desktop is large, it is almost occupied by lamps, small bookshelves, stationery, telephone, English typewriter and radio, and Su Guanlan’s family, relatives and friends can be seen under the glass platform Photo.The Mido five-lamp radio was still broadcasting the news.The professor stretched out his hand and twisted the knob to lower the volume, and the bright and jumpy melody of light music came out from the speaker. A flower chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling.On the square marble table under the lamp, there are tea sets, mirrors, clocks and gramophones.There is a coffee table between the two soft single sofas under the west wall, and several pots of chrysanthemums, asparagus and cacti are placed here and there... In short, everything is spotless and clean as a mirror; The hostess came back from afar. "Yuhan," Su Guanlan said loudly, feeling hot in her heart, "You've worked hard!" "What's wrong?" "Working abroad is day and night, dirty and tiring, and when I come home, it's like entering heaven—the heaven you built!" "No, I forgot one thing - the bluegrass hasn't moved into the house yet!" "After dinner, let's move together." Su Guanlan has a predestined relationship with "Lan".Not only does he have orchids in his name, but he also likes to grow orchids. There are dozens of pots of orchids in his family.There are many plants called "orchids": violets, agaves, magnolias, white orchids, freesia, lily-of-the-valley, calamus, Milan, clivia, strelitzia, eupatorium... All these "orchids" are more powerful than crosses. Flowers, Magnoliaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Iridaceae or Liliaceae, etc., are not orchids as the Chinese usually call them, not "true orchids". "Book of Changes" has a saying that "words of the same heart are as beautiful as orchids", and the "orchids" at that time were actually vanilla of the Compositae family and fenugreek of the leguminous family. "True orchid" was not recognized until the Tang Dynasty, and has been cherished and cultivated since then. Botanically, it is listed in the Chinese Orchidaceae genus. Common varieties include Chunlan, Cymbidium, Jianlan, Molan and Rhododendron.Su Guanlan's family grows all these varieties of orchids mentioned above.Orchid is flowering, so it is called "orchid"; it is also a herb, so it is also called "bluegrass".Orchid is a perennial evergreen plant, so it is still green in late autumn.But Beijing orchids cannot survive the winter outdoors. They must be moved into the house at night in autumn, and must be kept indoors all day in winter... Su Guanlan sat down on the padded armchair beside the marble square table, began to take off his leather shoes and put on slippers; he rolled up his cuffs, crossed his legs to untie the leather shoelaces, and took a look at his slender face in the small mirror on the table: And bright eyes, long and high nose bridge, long and swept back gray-white hair... "Yuhan," Su Guanlan had to raise her voice because the room was across the room, "Before I went abroad, most of my hair was black, but now most of it is white." "It's been a whole year, and you're too tired during this year!" On the other side, Yuhan also raised her voice, "However, gray hair is mainly determined by genes, and the genetic traits are very obvious. Dad's gray hair is also Is it early?" "Gene, gene," Su Guanlan laughed, "Yes, you study virus inheritance!" Yuhan then said something, but Su Guanlan didn't hear it.He was attracted by some kind of movement outside the window.He is not a lively person, but at this moment there is a strange feeling in his chest; he walked to the window with his slippers on, and when he looked through the gap in the curtain, he couldn't help being startled: the figure of a girl entered him vision... Although the twilight is dim, it is still easy to see the scene in the courtyard: the girl is tall and slender, with light and slow steps, and her thick chestnut black hair is tied into a bun behind her head.The face is oval, the facial features are sculptural, and the lips are graceful; the big eyes are protruding to the sides, the lids are dark, the eyelashes are very long, and the pupils are blue in black and brown, as deep as a lake in a snow-capped mountain clear.His hands are plump and slender, and his skin is white and soft; on his left elbow is a crocodile leather bag, and a gray-yellow windbreaker is casually tied with a belt... For some reason, Su Guanlan felt uneasy. The girl straightened her chest, held her head high, squinted her eyes slightly, her expression was indifferent, her steps were steady, like a Venus carved out of white marble... "I seem to have seen her somewhere..." Su Guanlan became even more uneasy, "No, I must have seen her somewhere!" Suddenly, this feeling of uneasiness turned into ominous feeling, even panic!The professor shuddered, as if slipping from the edge of an iceberg, falling straight into the cold and unfathomable sea...