I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 241 is about *Life Is Beautiful*.

At school, I met Pierre, the old principal.

Yes, the title of "Deputy" for Lao Pi has been removed; he is now a proper principal.

He changed his usual attire and donned a black suit.

The brown suit made him look a bit old and a bit overweight.

This outfit, however, looks quite neat and tidy.

His beard had clearly been trimmed, he'd had his hair waxed, and he'd changed his glasses, making him look much younger.

However, when he saw Liu Jin smiling, he glared at Liu Jin fiercely.

This is the true style of Old Pi...

Bernard chatted with Old Pi for a while, then entered the teaching building with Liu Jin.

They chatted in the classroom where they used to be in the Chinese class, reminiscing about their life when they first came to France.

"At first, I wasn't used to it."

"It's okay too!"

Liu Jin smiled and said, "My French and English are quite good, so there are no communication barriers. If I encounter any problems, I will go to my teachers and the school for help. Our tutor in the first year was Ms. Julie, who specialized in teaching French. She was a very dedicated teacher."

Chinese people are known for their strong vitality and ability to adapt to any environment.

There is a Chinese idiom: "To be content with one's lot."

Now that I'm in France, I might as well study hard and live well. It doesn't seem like I'm having any trouble adjusting.

"Someone like you is rare... Did you know anything about France before?"

"Not much! My understanding of France comes mostly from the works of Balzac, Maupassant, Daudet, Stendhal, Zola, Romain Rolland, and Dumas. As for real society, I haven't had much contact with it before."

"But your depiction of modern French life in 'Amélie' is very realistic."

"That's normal. You can always find out something from newspapers and television."

I've always believed that, setting aside language, religious beliefs, and certain lifestyles, most people, including those from China, share some common traits: kindness, resilience, courage...

This is the main reason why humanity has continued to exist to this day.

Because we all respect what is right.

"A very interesting point of view!"

……

The two of them left the Chinese class and walked along the teaching building.

After passing the computer room, I saw that there were quite a few students inside.

Today is a holiday, but the computer room is still open, and many people will come to use the internet.

“I often sneak around the internet here and have secretly printed a lot of documents.”

Liu Jin covered his mouth and chuckled.

"At the time, many people were waiting to print their documents, but my document was a bit too long, and many people started cursing at me."

"Haha, what documents are you printing?"

"A piece of information about DGM France."

Are you interested in history?

"It's alright. Actually, I've been preparing a work about that period for two years."

"The story about Notre Dame that Alizee mentioned?"

"Yes!"

"You've given me some hope... If you need any information later, you can let me know."

You know, I'm somewhat skilled in this area.

"That's not just a skill, that's an expert!"

A well-crafted compliment arrived, putting Bernard in a great mood.

Afterwards, they chatted in the international class classroom.

Bernard's thinking jumps around a lot, and he often comes up with tricky questions.

However, most of the questions revolve around the cultural differences between China and France, and how Liu Jin came up with his inspiration and ideas.

Liu Jin dealt with them one by one.

……

They chatted for a long time in the teaching building that morning.

I went to the library again in the afternoon.

Then we took a walk on the playground behind the teaching building, chatting as we went.

The topics were incredibly diverse.

"Your life is a bit America-like."

At noon, the two had a light meal at McDonald's.

Bernard couldn't help but laugh when he saw Liu Jin put the fries in the hamburger.

"Chinese people admire America, don't they?"

"It's less about longing for America and more about longing for a better life."

"Oh?"

"If you're talking about cultural aspirations, there is indeed such a group. But most people, who have lived in China for generations, hope that China can become prosperous and strong, so that their lives can be better. It's that simple."

Actually, I'm the same way.

"Look how much I'm enjoying my hamburger, but I'd much rather have a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) and a bowl of braised noodles, but unfortunately, those aren't available."

Bernard couldn't help but ask when the baiji buns and braised noodles would be served.

Liu Jin explained the situation and recounted the stories behind the two foods, which made Bernard look regretful.

Back then, he was mainly in Beijing, the capital of China.

Or rather, he never left the capital city.

"China is a very large country, encompassing many climate zones, and the dietary habits of the north and south regions are also very different."

I remembered a joke; I hope it makes you laugh.

"I'm all ears."

"There's a Korean, you know South Korea, right?"

"Know!"

He believed that the best food in the world was in South Korea. One day, he made a bet with a friend, saying that China was a country with a food shortage. He said that while he could eat a different meal every day for a week in South Korea, he might only be able to eat the same thing every three days in China. His friend thought he was wrong, so to prove his point, he flew to Sichuan.

Six months later, his friend contacted him and asked where he was.
He said he was still in Xichuan… He had only planned to stay for one day, but he hadn’t even finished trying all the delicious food there yet.

Bernard paused for a moment, then suddenly realized what he meant and burst into laughter.

Are you praising the variety of Chinese cuisine?

"I recently started a column in the Humanitarian Daily about Chinese cuisine, introducing Chinese food culture. If you are interested, you can take a look."

"I really don't know that."

Bernard turned his head and glanced at his assistant.

The assistant quickly lowered his head.

He only focused on collecting Liu Jin's novels and was genuinely unaware of the newspaper serializations.

"How about this, come to my house tonight, and I'll cook some Chinese dishes for you."

"That would be an honor."

After walking around the playground, they strolled along the Garonne River.

Tired from walking, the two sat down to rest on the grass by the river.

They work very hard, and the staff work even harder.

Along the way, Liu Jin bought some water and snacks at a convenience store and gave them to the staff.

This also greatly increased the staff's goodwill towards him.

The afternoon sun was very bright.

The Garonne River ripples with shimmering light.

It rained a couple of days ago, and the water level of the Jialong River rose considerably, with the current being quite strong.

The sound of the rushing river, the sound of the breeze rustling the branches of the large trees on the bank.

The sounds of them coming together are very beautiful.

"Amos, let's talk about this book."

Bernard suddenly took a book from his assistant and handed it to Liu Jin.

Life Is Beautiful.

"of course can."

Liu Jin took a sip of mineral water and took the book from him.

Why did you write this book?

"Speaking of which, you might laugh at me... Last year, well, I think it was March, I participated in an interview."

“I know, I saw that issue. I was amazed by your ability to recite Jean-Christophe fluently. By the way, you made a bet with Gao back then, saying you would write a book about China. Is this the book you’re talking about?”

"Yes!"

Liu Jin took out a cigarette from his pocket.

Many French people smoke, and it's quite casual about it.

Unlike more than twenty years later, when a group of pretentious people would jump up and stop you if you sat outside smoking.

In which year did Nicole Kidman light a cigarette at a film festival press conference, and people shouted how elegant she was?

How come Chinese people smoking is considered polluting the environment?

And then there's that one "banana" (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) who's even more ridiculous. She herself criticizes Europeans for smoking in the streets, but when she comes to China, it's like a Chinese person smoking a cigarette becomes a heinous crime. That attitude is disgusting!
Bernard also smoked, but he smoked a pipe.

He refused Liu Jin's cigarette, then filled a bowl with tobacco and lit it.

Liu Jin said, "Actually, when we made the bet, I didn't expect to write such a story."

It was once when Sophie, the Sophie you know... don't laugh, we just watched a videotape.

Schindler's List!

Bernard smiled when Liu Jin mentioned Sophie Marceau.

The staff around them laughed too!
Lately, Sophie and Heidi seem to be constantly competing.

The incident stemmed from the Berlin Film Festival, where Heidi and Liu Jin appeared at the Frankfurt Stadium.

The French are happy to see this kind of thing.

Last year, some people complained that Liu Jin only targeted France, but this year, he's turned his attention to Germany.

Some people even listed famous actresses from various countries.

British, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Austrian...

This has become an interesting anecdote.

“I know Schindler’s List.”

"After reading it, I thought of the tens of thousands of victims who had taken refuge in China and also suffered persecution from the perpetrators."

"But as far as I know, there are no concentration camps in Xiaozhi."

"But there are refugee camps!"

"Forehead……"

"Does Professor Blissai think life in the refugee camp is happy?"

"of course not!"

"In fact, there are many concentration camps in the small life."

In Northeast China's Darian region, in Shandong Province, in Henan Province, even in island nations, and in Southeast Asia...

Are you familiar with the Bataan Death March?

"Forehead……"

"It was after the small day that they attacked Pearl Harbor and then invaded the Philippines."

America's army fought fiercely with the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula for four months before surrendering in 1942. 78000 surrendered. These nearly 80,000 were forcibly taken to a prisoner-of-war camp 120 kilometers away. They were deprived of water and food. Along the way, when some fell behind due to exhaustion, they were stabbed or shot by the Japanese… a total of over 15000 were killed.

I suggest you look up the book *Living Home: My Experience of the Bataan Death March* by Dr. Lester Tanny of Arizona State University. You'll learn about the cruelty of ordinary people.

Liu Jin took a deep drag on his cigarette as he finished speaking.

The sunlight shone on his face at this moment, but it gave people an extremely gloomy and sorrowful feeling.

The photographer captured it at just the right moment.

"I'm not saying this to prove anything. I just want everyone, not just Chinese people, to remember the brutal crimes committed by the Little Days. Their crimes in China were a hundred times more cruel than the Bataan Death March."

……

(End of this chapter)