Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven Xinghua Village

Qilu University consists of four colleges of liberal arts, science, medicine, and divinity. There are five palace-style main buildings, and a huge architectural complex consisting of hundreds of houses and more than 2,000 rooms.Su Guanlan ran to the office building to complete the registration procedures, then sneaked out of the back door of the school, still running forward, and retrieved the rattan box from the weeds.Back to school is already dusk.He used to live in House B of "Zhilan Garden", but this time he was still arranged to live there, but changed to another house. "Zhilan Garden" is divided into two parts. The first house is where single professors and lecturers from the Seminary and English Department live, and the second house is where about a dozen students from the Faculty of Science live.Su Guanlan found that the treatment had changed: she used to live in a single room, but now there are two beds in this room, and another student has already lived in it.It was a short man with a round face, his appearance was a bit funny, but he was very articulate, and he looked lively and straightforward.He introduced himself as Zhu Ertong, who lives in Qingdao and has just been admitted to the English Department of Qilu University.

"Actually, what I really want to study is art, and I want to study in Europe." Zhu Ertong said, "This is what I entered the English department map! Learn English well, and then choose a second foreign language, of course French, it will be easy. .” "You have to go to France to study art." Su Guanlan said casually. "Oh, you understand this too?" "However, the dormitory of the Faculty of Arts is on the east side, why did you live here?" "I don't know. I will live wherever they let me live. Maybe it's because it's full."

While talking, someone knocked on the door. Su Guanlan saw that it was Bu Luomi, and without waiting for the other party to speak, she said repeatedly: "Okay, okay! I'll go right away, right away." Look outside, the night is thick, it is already after nine o'clock in the evening. "You're still hungry!" Bromi said, handing over a paper package.Su Guanlan opened it and took a look, ho!Bread, sandwiches, boiled eggs and ham and sausages, and a tin of canned food. "Thank you very much!" Su Guanlan realized that she was already very hungry, and immediately started to gobble up a glass of boiling water.After eating, he wiped his mouth and waved to Zhu Ertong: "I'll go to Xinghua Village. If you're sleepy, go to bed first."

The president's office of Qilu University is in a garden surrounded by fences and streams.There is a stone arch bridge covered with moss on the creek, the fence is covered with ivy, and a plaque of "Xinghua Village" in official script is hung on the fence gate.Flowers and trees are planted all over the garden, including several willows and more than a dozen apricot trees.Interestingly, when the apricot blossoms are in full bloom in spring, half of these trees have white flowers and the other half have light red flowers. "Xinghua Village" got its name from this, and it became an alias for the principal's office.At the turn of summer and autumn, the apricot blossoms of course have long since disappeared, but the dense green clusters are also very charming.There is a two-story small building with a unique shape in the green tree family, which is not only the principal's office, but also the principal's residence.Su Guanlan came to the small building and went up the stairs.Before he could ring the doorbell, the two oak doors suddenly opened without a sound. Pastor Bromi appeared with a smile, and silently made a "come in" gesture...

Su Guanlan has been to this small building countless times, but the strange thing is that she is still unfamiliar with it and can't get used to it.The room is too high, the windows are too narrow, the lighting is poor, and all the walls, floors and ceilings are tightly covered with dark wood boards, which makes all the rooms look like the depths of a cave... After passing through winding corridors and one or two rooms, I finally arrived at the principal's study and office.It's even more strange here: even though the night is dark, purple velvet curtains are still hung, tightly blocking all the windows; like the medieval European noble mansions, candles are burning on flower branch candlesticks, flickering orange luster, giving bookcases, Carpets, sofas, coffee tables, globes, wall cabinets, fireplaces, oil paintings, and pendulum clocks were all painted a cloudy brown-yellow and mottled.There is a cross made of hardwood above the fireplace, nailing a life-size "Crucifixion Jesus" carved with rosewood.

The cross is an instrument of torture used in ancient Persia, Judea, Carthage, and Rome to execute the death penalty.The usual method is to beat the criminal with scars all over his body first, drag him across the wood, and when he arrives at the execution ground, strip off all his clothes, tie his arms straight to the cross bar, or nail his two palms to the cross bar; Then raise the crossbar and fix it on the vertical column that has already been erected, so that the criminal is suspended about ten feet above the ground, and finally the criminal's feet are tied or nailed to the vertical column; there is a protruding wooden prong in the middle of the vertical column. To support the criminal's crotch, there are also wooden prongs to support the two feet.The "trick" with the criminal's name and crimes written on it is fixed above the criminal's head...

The criminals nailed or bound to the cross suffered so much and died slowly; there were also merciful people who used iron bars to break the criminals' leg bones to speed up their death and reduce their pain.In the long historical period before and after the Era, the rulers of Persia, Assyria and the Jewish state often used this torture to execute hundreds or even thousands of hostile elements at a time. B.C., Jesus of Nazareth, who was born in Bethlehem, preached in Galilee and Judea, and chose Peter, James and twelve others as his disciples. He was hated by Judaism authorities and betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples. , was arrested by Pilate, the governor of the Roman Empire in Judea, on the charge of "conspiring against Rome", and was crucified together with two other robbers in 32 BC...

After Jesus died, the disciples claimed that he was God or the Son of God, and dedicated himself to redeeming the sins of the world, regarded him as the savior, said that he had ascended to heaven, and respected him as Christ or Jesus Christ, thus creating Christianity. In the fourth century, Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire believed in Christianity and announced the abolition of the death penalty of crucifixion; since then, the cross is no longer a torture tool but only a religious symbol.It is considered to embody the main teachings of Christianity. Crosses are generally displayed in churches, and there are crosses on the top of the church and on the graves of believers.In the 5th century, Christianity split into the Western Church centered on Rome and the Eastern Church centered on Constantine; in the 11th century it officially split, the Western Church was called the Catholic Church, or the Catholic Church, and the Eastern Church was called the Orthodox Church.The religious reform movement occurred in the sixteenth century, which led to Protestantism; in China, what people generally call Christianity refers to Protestantism.And Qilu University is a university established in China by the Protestant churches in the United States and Britain... Su Guanlan has been studying in missionary schools since she was a child and grew up. Sometimes she also attends church, reads the Bible, and listens to sermons, but not believers.He majored in chemistry, and he couldn't find the place of God in the structure of atoms, molecules, and polymers.He is used to seeing all kinds of crosses and the "suffering face" of Jesus, but he feels indifferent. The only exception is this one in the principal's office of Qilu University; every time he sees it, he feels a chill on his back...a large The stunning mahogany desk is filled with books, classics, papers and stationery.Sitting in a high-back easy chair was a burly elder with a kind face.He is in his forties, but already bald, with yellow eyes, thin lips, a high and broad nose, slightly loose skin on his plump face, and long brown curly hair around the back of his head.What document is he reading at this moment.He was wearing a dark poplin slanted coat, which accentuated the silver cross hanging on his chest; this cross was only the size of a matchbox, and Jesus Christ was not nailed to it...

Su Guanlan stepped into the room, bowed, and called softly, "Principal." "Hey, Guanlan!" Dr. Chalude raised his head, with a smile on his face.His "Mandarin" is very standard, with a deep and deep tone.Now, he got up slowly, rubbed his hands, walked around the large writing desk, and said as he walked: "How many times have I said, don't be so polite, don't call me 'principal', just call me 'Uncle Cha', don't you mean that Is it my own nephew!" Chalude hugged Su Guanlan, touched the young man's cheeks with his own face, patted his back and shoulders, pushed him away and then zoomed in to take a closer look: "It's been more than a year since we parted, hey! I'm tanned , stronger, more muscular, even taller, in short, more handsome—oh, what are you going to say to me after I've told you so much?"

"I want to say: Thank you, Headmaster." "Oh, thank me—why?" "Last May..." "That's my job, and it's also for your father's entrustment." Chalude shook his head, expressing emotion, "At the same time, doing those things under such circumstances is also our responsibility given by God—but, Guan Lan , The situation at that time was indeed very dangerous!" "Yes, principal," Su Guanlan said anxiously, "but..." "What's the matter, just speak up, just speak up." "It's so late, you asked me to come to Xinghua Village, what's the matter?"

"I didn't ask you to come, but I invited you to come—" the headmaster corrected with a smile, "Didn't Pastor Bromi say so?" "Yes, yes." Su Guanlan could only nod repeatedly. "It's like this, Guanlan," Chalude said, and made a gesture, "I want to give you an unexpected surprise—" Su Guanlan followed the principal's gestures and looked over, but saw a man sitting on a high-back carved armchair beside the fireplace.He is about fifty years old, with a slender face, rosy and fair skin, a broad and protruding forehead, and a strong and flexible facial contour; the nose is high, the bridge of the nose is as thin as a knife blade, and the fine lines on both sides of the nose stretch out like a hard bow to the corners of the deep-set mouth. Tightly pursed; a pair of deep eyes are inlaid under the two thick black-gray eyebrows, the long corners of the eyes are protruded to the sides, and the eyeballs are obliquely hidden in the double orbits, making it impossible to see clearly, but occasionally you can feel it. From there flashes a spot of blue and white light.His beard is well-trimmed on his lips and under his chin. It is as thick and black-gray as his eyebrows. The two mustaches must have been painted with Hungarian mustache wax, otherwise they would not be raised like cones... Su Guanlan was astonished and cried out, "Father!"