Chapter 36 36

"Then what would you like, doctor?" "Just a lemon meringue." As soon as Dr. Joanna Stein said that, she reached out and took a protein roll from the food counter and put it on her plate.Just such a protein roll, plus two celery, is her lunch.She said just now: she is going to be on a diet now. "That's weird," I said. "It can't be helped," she answered me. "I just like to eat very sweet sweets. I had to bring two celery sticks to appease my conscience." It has been two weeks since I came back.The first few days I just feel tired, and the next few days I just feel angry.Later, it seemed that I went around in a circle and returned to the original place. I only felt lonely in my heart.

But there is a difference. Two years ago, my heart was filled with grief that overwhelmed everything else.Now, I understand that what I need is a partner.Have a suitable partner.I don't want to wait any longer, and I don't want to rush around anymore. When I picked up the phone and called Joanna Stein, the only worry I had was that I had to talk some bullshit and explain why I hadn't heard from Yixia for so long. She never asked. On the phone she just said she was happy to get my call.I invite her to dinner.She said let's just have lunch together in her hospital.I complied immediately, so I am now in her hospital.

As soon as I arrived, she came over and kissed me on the cheek.This time I gave her the same kiss.We asked each other what was going on, and the answers didn't go into much detail.Both of them are hard at work, busy enough, blah, blah, blah.She asked me what cases I had handled.I told her a Spiro Agnew joke.She laughed out loud.We are together and feel at ease with each other. ①Spiro Agnew: Vice President of the United States at that time, see above note. Later I asked about her work in the hospital. "Thankfully, my job here is coming to an end in June." "What about after that?"

"Go to San Francisco for two years. It's a teaching hospital, and the salary is not high, just enough to live on." I quickly summed up in my mind: San Francisco is thousands of miles away from New York.Oliver, you idiot, you can't miss this ball again. "California, great place!" I replied, to buy some time to think about it. I've made an appointment in advance to spend the weekend in Cranston this week.Why don't I just ask her to go with me, as a relationship between friends is okay.She and Phil must hit it off.It is an opportunity to start from here.

My last sentence elicited her words, and they slammed into my ears. "It's not so much about California," Joe said. "There is another person involved here." Ah, alone!This is also a matter of reason.Oliver, without you, people in this world still get along?You didn't go to find her, so you still want her to miss you and keep you? I don't know if there is a look of disappointment on my face. "Well, that's good news," I replied. "A doctor?" "Of course," she said with a smile. "If you eat our bowl of food, if you don't meet a doctor, who else will you meet?"

"He likes music too?" "I can barely handle playing the oboe." Oliver, this is the end of the sour questioning.You should act nonchalant and change the subject. "How is Lord Louis?" "It's getting crazy," she replied. "Hi everyone, please be free on Sunday..." Come on, I don't want to run into the oboist. "Excellent, I'll definitely go some other day," I said nonsense. There was a moment of silence.I sipped my coffee slowly. "Hey, can I be honest with you, Oliver?" she whispered to me in a low voice.

"Go ahead, Joe." "It's kind of embarrassing to say, I... would love to have another meringue." I pretended to be doing my part, and went to get one for her, pretending that I wanted to eat it myself.Joanna Stein, M.D., a dignified doctor, can't thank me enough for this. Our short meeting soon came to an end. "I wish you all the best in San Francisco, Joe," I said as we parted. "Please keep in touch with me often." "Okay, sure," I said. So I shuffled back to work in the city center. Three weeks later, a turning point in my life occurred.

For several years my father has always said that it is almost sixty-five, almost sixty-five, but now it is really sixty-five.Everyone in his office congratulated him on this day. I was on a short flight that was delayed an hour because of the snow.When I arrived, many guests had already had a few big glasses, but the wine in the mixing tank was still full.Turning around, all I saw were people in tweed suits.Everyone praised Dad for being such an amazing friend.Look, this sentence will become their mantra in the future. I pay attention to etiquette.Several of my father's partners and their families came, so I went to chat with them one by one.The first one was Mr. Ward, a very kind old antique, and several children who accompanied him were also alternate old antiques.Then they went to greet the Seymours, an old couple who had been so sluggish, but now they were so sad that they could only talk about their son: their only son, Everett, was a helicopter pilot and fought in Vietnam.

Mom stood next to Dad, where she entertained representatives from Barrett's various businesses.One of them is a cadre of the textile union. I recognized the man immediately.His name was Jamie Francis, and he was the only one in the room not wearing Brooks or Jappley. "But you're too late," Jamie said. "I made a speech just now, but unfortunately you didn't hear it. You see—the members even gave a gift collectively." He pointed to the table in the meeting room of the board of directors. On the table was an Etna automatic electronic gold clock. The bright numbers showed that the current time was 6:15.

"Your father was a real good man. You should be proud of having such a good father," Jamie went on. "I have held meetings with him at the same table for nearly thirty years. I can tell you that none of these thirty years has been easy." I just nodded.Jamie seemed obsessed with repeating to me the speech he gave in recognition of my father. "Back in the 1950s, factory owners rushed to the south to open factories one after another. They left behind a large group of workers, leaving them without a living." This is not an exaggeration.Some cities in New England that were once full of factories are now deserted and deserted.

"But your father asked us to sit down and discuss together. He said: 'We decided to stay where we are. I hope everyone will work together to improve our competitiveness.'" "Go on, please," I said, as if he had to be urged to go on. "We offered to renew the machinery. I don't think any bank would have gone mad enough to give him such a large sum of money..." He took a breath. "In the end, Barrett did what he said, and immediately took out the money. He invested three million yuan, which is considered to have saved our jobs." Dad never told me about it.But then again, I never asked. "Of course, when it comes to stress, he's been under a lot of pressure today," Jamie said. "how?" He looked at me and spit out two words: "Hong Kong." I nod. He went on. "And Taiwan. Now South Korea is doing it too. Damn it." "Yes, Mr. Francis," I rejoined, "that rivalry is fierce enough." I knew it, too. "If I hadn't been in his office here, I'd have said a lot more foul language. He's a very good man, Oliver. If you don't mind getting angry--he and some of you Barretts are no the same." "Yeah," I said. "Actually," said Jamie, "that's why he's always going out of his way to not treat us badly, I suppose." I suddenly raised my eyes and looked to the other side, only to feel that there was a completely different person standing where my father was.I have never discovered that his soul has something in common with mine. But even though they all share this kind of feeling, there is one thing he is different from me, that is, he talks less but does a lot more. In November, I finally got my revenge and vented my anger. After being suppressed for several consecutive years at the football game, this time Harvard finally beat the crap out of Yale.The result was 14 to 12.What plays a decisive role is that one is God's help, and the other is that our defensive players performed well.Thanks to God's help, the strong wind sent the opponent Masi's passing skills to not be fully displayed.Thanks to the excellent performance of our defenders, the opponent Eli's last attack was finally intercepted.We watched the football in the military stadium, all of us were smiling. We drove to downtown Boston, and my father was full of praise along the way: "Win!" "It's more than good--it's just wonderful!" I said. One of the clearest signs that people are gradually entering the realm is that the winner of the annual Harvard-Yale competition has begun to be regarded as a major event. But it's still my sentence: we won the ball, and that's the most important thing. Dad parked the car in the parking lot of his office building just off State Avenue. After parking the car, I walked to the restaurant, intending to munch on lobster and say the same old talk. He was still strong on his feet.For in spite of his age it was customary for him to go rowing on the Charles five times a week.His health is fine. Most of our conversations were about football.Dad never asked me--and I don't think I ever would--what was going on with Marcy.As for other topics, as long as he thinks they should not be mentioned, he will never bring them up. So I took the initiative. As we walked past the Barrett, Ward, and Seymour investment bank's office building, I said, "Dad?" "What's up?" "I want to talk to you about... our bank." He glanced at me.There was no smile on his face.But it can be seen that he mobilized all the strength of his whole body to hold back.After all, he is an athlete, and when he reaches the finish line, the paddle in his hand must be rowed all the time, and he cannot relax a bit. That was not a whim of mine.But I never told my dad what a tortuous road I had gone before I finally made a decision and was ready to... plunge into it.Because it took too long to make this decision. I usually make decisive decisions, but this time, after returning from my father's birthday party more than half a year ago, I have been thinking about it every day and every night. The first was that it was impossible for me to love New York anymore. To eliminate the loneliness of the soul, New York is not enough.What I need most now is to have a place to settle.Have to find a place to land. It's probably not just that I've changed my mind about my own family.I'm afraid it should be said that I really want to go home too. I used to always want to be this kind of person, I wanted to be that kind of person, just to avoid seeing my true identity. But I am Oliver Barrett after all.Add a "fourth" after it.