Chapter 2 Chapter 1 in love with a phantom

After Jiang Wentao graduated from the nautical school, he served on a large oil tanker. At first he was a trainee third mate, and then gradually rose up. When I met him, he was already a second mate. Vice, at that time, he was only thirty-two years old. A few years ago, I would definitely meet him once every six months. When the tanker he served passed through the city where I lived, he would visit me and bring me many weird local products from the Middle East. chat with each other before boarding the boat. Jiang Wentao can be said to be a natural navigator, his love for the sea, among the people I know, no one can match him.He not only likes traveling by sea, but also on land, and has traveled almost all over the Middle East, so chatting with him is also very interesting.But in the past few years, the chances of us meeting have been much less, because the original route of the tanker he served was to the Far East through the Suez Canal.Since the closure of the Suez Canal, the shipping company has adopted larger tankers, no longer used shortcuts, and detoured the Cape of Good Hope to the Far East. The voyage at sea was extended, and he spent more time at sea. Therefore, our semi-annual meeting, Almost once a year and a half.It was also for this reason that that afternoon, when it was raining heavily, I was hiding at home and felt bored. When the doorbell rang and the servant brought Jiang Wentao in, I was very happy. Shouted: "Wentao, come up quickly!" The rain was very heavy, Jiang Wentao took off his raincoat at the door, and the rainwater trickled down his raincoat. The servant took the raincoat over, and he looked up at me. With a one foot square wooden box.He looked happy--I said he "looked happy" because I had a feeling that his happiness was forced as soon as I saw him look up.

He walked forward and went up the stairs. I met him down a few steps, patted his shoulder, and entered the study together with him. He put the wooden box down. I patted the box and said: " This time, what weird things did you bring to me?" Jiang Wentao smiled, and removed the cover of the wooden box. It was a stuffed crocodile. Jiang Wentao said: "The mummy of this crocodile was stolen from the pyramid of the Egyptian Pharaoh. According to the Egyptians, It can suppress evil spirits!" I don't really like crocodile mummies very much, but since they were brought from a long way, I naturally appreciate them.Then, I put the crocodile mummy aside, and we chatted again, the rain was still heavy, and he always seemed a little unmotivated during the conversation. At first, I thought it was because I was sensitive, but when I was sure When he really had something on his mind, I asked, "Wen Tao, do you have something special to talk to me about!"

Jiang Wentao looked at the rain outside the window: "Yes, I'm in love!" I laughed, Jiang Wentao fell in love, this must be said to be news, because he once said that a person like him who lives all over the world is never suitable for having a family. And I also made fun of him and asked him what to do if he has a lover? Jiang Wentao also boasted that there is probably no woman in the world who can fascinate him and fall in love. But now, he is in love, and his love obviously makes him very troubled! I smiled and said, "That's great, you're almost forty years old, shouldn't you still be in love?"

Talking about his love, a special light appeared in his eyes, although his expression was somewhat melancholy, but his interest was very high, he said: "Would you like to see her picture?" ?” I naturally know that the "she" in Jiang Wentao's mouth is the object of his love. I don't need to look at the photos to know that she must be a very good girl, because it is not easy to fascinate a man like Jiang Wentao thing! I nodded, and Jiang Wentao solemnly took out a thin, small photo album from his coat pocket.The photo album is very delicate, although it is only the size of a postcard, it has a camel leather cover and silver inlaid corners.

Judging from this exquisite photo album, we can also see how precious he is to those photos. He handed the photo album into my hands, while still explaining, said: "I have four photos of her in total." I opened the photo album, and that photo album can only hold four photos at all. The first photo is black and white, very hazy, and the photography skills can be said to be inferior. What I saw in that photo were several palm trees common in the desert, and there was a pool. Beside the pool, there were several women, two of whom had water jars on their heads. There was one, squatting by the pool, turning her head to look back and forth, the woman's head was covered with a light veil, her face could not be seen clearly, only her eyes could be seen, very vivid look.

When I saw that photo, although I didn't say anything, I was thinking in my heart that Jiang Wentao is a real person. If he only has four photos of his lover, then at least those four photos should be masterpieces. , how to get such a blurry photo, in the first place? In that photo, there are three Arab women, which one is his lover? I raised my head and glanced at Jiang Wentao. Jiang Wentao seemed to understand what I meant. He pointed at the woman squatting by the pool and looking back, and said, "That's her!" I frowned: "Did you take the photo?" Jiang Wentao nodded: "Yes!"

I shook my head and said, "The photography skills are too bad!" Jiang Wentao smiled bitterly: "I can't help it, but if you look at the next three pictures, it's miraculously clear!" I froze for a moment because I didn't know what he meant by "no way" and "miraculously clear". I turned the page of the photo book, and when I saw the second photo, I couldn't help but "ah". The second photo is indeed much clearer! The two photos must have been taken very close to each other, because the Arabian girl still maintained the posture of looking back. Her big watery eyes made any man who saw it involuntarily stop for a while, and then I sighed secretly in my heart: so beautiful!

She was smiling, sweetly, and a few strands of her long hair fluttered on her face, which made her look even more charming. I knew a long time ago that the girl Jiang Wentao loved must be very good, and now it has been proven. I smiled: "How did you know her?" Jiang Wentao answered irrelevantly: "It's really beautiful, isn't it?" I nodded: "No one can deny that!" As I spoke, I turned to the third page, and the girl had stood up. She looked tall, slender and graceful, much more attractive than when she was squatting by the pool, and she was still smiling.

I turned to the fourth page again, and the Arab girl had put a water jar on her head, and her smile was sweeter and more beautiful. I pointed to the photo: "Wen Tao, when a girl is willing to smile at you like that, it proves that your pursuit will not be in vain, but you still look very troubled, why? But because Muslims don't Are you willing to marry a foreigner?" Jiang Wentao smiled wryly: "That's too far away, the question you raised, I don't know when it will happen!" I was stunned: "What do you mean? You have never proposed to her? Look, she smiles so sweetly at you."

Jiang Wentao's smile became even more bitter, and he said, "You made a mistake, she wasn't smiling at me!" I frowned, and said "Oh", "You didn't take this photo, do you have a rival in love?" Jiang Wentao shook his head again and said, "No, I took the photo." I glanced at the photo again: "Then I don't understand what the hell you are doing. If you took the photo, then she must be smiling at you. What's her name? An Arab name, is it hard?" I remember it very much!" Jiang Wentao stood up and spread his hands: "Her name? I don't know her at all."

I was stunned again, I felt that Jiang Wentao was in a trance, and his words were a bit incoherent. When he continued to talk, I thought his nerves were somewhat abnormal, and he said again: "I can count her as having seen her and took pictures of her, but she has never even seen her." seen me!" I stared at Jiang Wentao, and I thought I was not a stupid person, but to be honest, I really couldn't understand what Jiang Wentao meant when he said that. After I stayed for a while, I finally came up with a reason, and I said "Oh", "The photo was taken secretly! But since you are already fascinated by her, you should go and hang out with her!" " Jiang Wentao shook his head again: "I would, but I have no idea where she is." Hearing this, I couldn't help but lose my temper, and I patted the table: "What are you talking about, I think, even you don't understand it yourself, and I naturally don't understand it!" Jiang Wentao sighed: "I understand very well!" I said loudly: "Then you can talk to me well, don't go around in circles, come and play charades with me!" Jiang Wentao nodded again and again: "You know, I like to travel. That day, the ship stopped at a port, and I had three days to rest. I prepared water and food, rented a jeep, and started heading to the desert, because everyone said, In that desert, many submerged ancient cities can often be found, and I am going to explore." I interjected: "In the end, you found a relationship and met that Arab girl?" Jiang Wentao said: "It can be said that way, but the matter is not as simple as you said." I stared at Jiang Wentao, there are several kinds of people in the world that I hate very much, and one of them is people who speak hesitatingly and without understanding, and I am afraid that there is no one who speaks more vaguely than Jiang Wentao at this moment! I folded my hands on my knees and kept silent. When he heard some inexplicable words from him, he sighed, looked at me again, and said: "The thing is, after I drove into the desert for more than ten miles, suddenly I saw an oasis in front of me, there were many people, there were palm trees, there was a pool—" I couldn't bear it anymore, and interrupted his words: "Every oasis has these, you don't have to describe them to me one by one." Jiang Wentao also saw my impatience, and he spread his hands helplessly: "But, she doesn't exist in other oases!" I somewhat understood: "She is the lover in your mind, isn't she?" Jiang Wentao nodded: "Yes, you have to listen to me patiently. When I saw an oasis, I drove there. How did I know that the oasis seemed to be less than half a mile away from me, but after I galloped for ten minutes, I was still there. I'm half a mile away, you understand?" I said "ah", the reason why I said "ah" is because I understand! I hurriedly said, "The oasis you saw is a mirage!" Jiang Wentao nodded repeatedly: "That's right!" I couldn't help being very interested, because the phenomenon of mirage, explained by the principles of optics, is a very simple thing, but it is always a rather wonderful thing, and, besides, that is not everyone who travels in the desert. Anything that can be encountered. I urged him again and again: "Speak!" Jiang Wentao said: "It's not the first time I've traveled in the desert, but it's the first time I've encountered a mirage. When I discovered this, I immediately stopped the car and observed the situation ahead with a telescope. I can see almost everyone in front of me!" I said, "That's really interesting, you can see them, but they don't know where they are!" "Yes!" Jiang Wentao replied: "At that time, I was extremely excited. I watched it with a telescope for a while, and then took a few photos with a camera and a telephoto lens." Hearing this, I couldn't help but take a breath, because I know Jiang Wentao's lover better! Jiang Wentao snorted again, spread his hands and said, "That's the way it is!" I looked at him: "What happened like that, you said you fell in love with that Arab girl, so how did love happen?" Jiang Wentao frowns: "When I was taking pictures, I already felt that the girl was very beautiful, but it just left a deep impression on my heart, but after the photos were developed, I looked at the photos and found myself more and more beautiful. In love with her!" I looked at Jiang Wentao and looked at his expression, it seemed that no one could deny that he was in love! But what is the object of his love?It was an Arab girl who he didn't know who it was, otherwise, he had seen that Arab girl before, but it was in a mirage. This kind of love is really too illusory! I stood up, treated him like a little brother, and patted his shoulder lightly: "Forget it, you don't love anyone, this kind of thing is too limitless!" Jiang Wentao raised his head: "Brother Wei, you must actually have that place in order to see that place in a mirage, right?" "Of course, the phenomenon of mirage is basically a phenomenon of refraction of light." "Then," Jiang Wentao continued, "this person must really be there before I can see her and take pictures of her." "You can say that." Jiang Wentao's expression became more active, and he said: "That's it, since there is this person, then I can find her!" I was stunned for a while, I couldn't refute Jiang Wentao's words, because he was right, there must be such an Arab girl, so he could see her in the mirage phenomenon.In other words, what Jiang Wentao sees is only a virtual image formed by the refraction of light, but if there is no entity, where does the virtual image come from? However, I couldn't agree with Jiang Wentao's words. Because, the virtual image appeared half a mile away from Jiang Wentao's eyes, while the real one might be a thousand miles away, so how could Jiang Wentao find her? I shook my head slowly, but Jiang Wentao became more excited, and he said again: "Since there is this girl here, then my love is not illusory, it's just that I don't know where she is now! " Although I didn't want to pour cold water on him, I had to remind him, I said: "Wen Tao, you have to understand that you may not find him in your whole life!" Jiang Wentao smiled bitterly, although he also admitted that what I said was true, he said: "So I want to ask you for help." I smiled and said, "How can I help you with such a weird thing? Who knows where your lover is!" I was making fun of him, but Jiang Wentao was very serious, he said: "You have been to many places, I want you to take a good look at the places in the photos, what are they!" This time, it was my turn to sigh, and I said, "I have read the photos in detail, Wen Tao, in fact, you don't need to ask me any more, you know that every small Arab village is like that!" Jiang Wentao remained silent, and I said again: "And in the thousands of square kilometers of Arabian land, there are hundreds of thousands of small villages like that, and you can't find them all!" Jiang Wentao was silent again, he stayed for a while, then took out a map from his body, spread it out, and pointed to a place marked with a red cross: "This is where I saw the mirage!" The place he was referring to was to the west of Oman, on the edge of the great desert of Raubanir Hari. He said: "This desert is also called Sandei Desert. Sandei is a very good girl's name, so I call my beauty Sandei." I really didn't mean to laugh at him, but I couldn't help saying, "Well, your Sandy, you've seen her there, but what's the use of that, what you've seen is nothing but an illusion!" Jiang Wentao said: "I want to know, is it possible to calculate the distance between the entity and the virtual image at that time based on the location where I saw the virtual image? At least, its direction?" I shook my head and said, "Wen Tao, if you can calculate this point, then you can not only get your Sandy, but also get the Nobel prize!"