Moment in Peking by Lin Yutang

Author:Lin Yutang
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf, epub
Tags: 小说
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1939-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XXVII

SOON after dinner, Grandmother said she needed a nap, and the elder ladies went in to the front courts with her. The rest of the company scattered to wander about in the mansion. Huaiyu said that he and his family had to leave because of an appointment. For Inging ,it had not been a successful party. Although her husband had shone during the conversation ,she felt that she had not been accepted quite as an equal of a wife , and the women had not been entirely natural with her.

Having accompanied Huaiyu and his family to the rear gate, Mr. Yao turned back, and came up to Lifu, and to the latter’s surprise, said ,“You answered him right. Good for you!”

“Father,how can you say such a thing?” said Mochow. “It is better not to offend a person like Huaiyu. ”

Mr. Yao laughed and said, “Well, I suppose Lifu will be safer in your hands than in mine. ”

“Didn’t it make you angry to hear him talking about supporting our Chief Executive and all that rot?” said Lifu. “Millions for this and millions for that ,as if he were running the government!”

“What’s the harm?” said Mochow. “Let him talk for his part and you listen for your part. Listen to him as you listen to a show. ”

“But it is officials to this type that are ruining the country. Shining lights of the Republic!”

Mochow, seeing Lifu vehement again,felt as if she were riding a thoroughbred, and knew she had to hold the reins lax sometimes and let him canter a little. So she merely changed the subject by saying, “It does seem that he is not treating his wife properly by flaunting his new mistress so openly in public. ”

“I wouldn’t be in the wife’s shoes, “said Coral. “He needs some one to tell him straight to his face what people think of him. ”

Suyun now came to join them, leaving her husband with Mr. Tseng and Sutung, who had struck up quite a lively conversation about Mrs. Tseng’s stomach pains. When she saw Suyun approaching , Mochow said to Lifu, “His sister is coming. Guard your words. ”

“What an able companion in the chamber!” said Coral. “You are beginning already. ”

“You don ‘t know my brother’s temper, “said Lifu’s sister. “He doesn’t mind his personal things ,but he gets excited over things that don’t concern him. ”

“Yang Chisheng’s blood,T know, “said Mochow.

“I am not interested in politics,” said Lifu.

“But you are ,more than anybody else I know! “said his fiancée.

“Me? Impossible!”

“Lifu, “said Mr. Yao. “My daughter knows you better than you yourself. You listen to her,and you will be all right. ”

The conversation drifted to Lifu’s future. Although he didn’t quite know himself ,he felt that he wanted to be a journalist ,and he wanted to go abroad to study after his marriage. The trouble with him was that he had a facility in expression coupled with an amazing ability for finding out what was wrong in any situation

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