Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 7 Hunter
For three consecutive days, Zheng Yi stayed in the mine and nothing happened.

Every morning after getting up, I would eat and drink tea, then take a rest for a while, walk around the mine, check the machines and circuits,

Record any hidden dangers encountered, perform any maintenance and adjustments that can be done, and record any missing accessories and report them to Manager Wu.

After lunch, I went home to take a nap. If I had nothing to do in the afternoon, I would stay at home and guide Wu Wenhao to study some introductory books on mechanics.
Manager Wu also went to the city to buy them. Most of them were in English, but Wu Wenhao could understand them roughly. He only needed to ask him about specific words.

There is a big radio in the dormitory. Zheng Yi mainly relies on it to pass the time. There are three Chinese channels, one is from Singapore, speaking Hokkien, one is from Kuala Lumpur, speaking Cantonese, and one is from Malacca, which he doesn't know what language it is and he has difficulty understanding it.

Generally speaking, they are some domestic news, avant-garde articles, literary works, and occasionally Cantonese opera.

Zheng Yi understood Cantonese, but he didn't understand Cantonese opera. There was really nothing to listen to, so he just followed along for fun.

There is only one English channel, which is the famous BBC World Service. To be honest, the broadcast quality of the BBC at this time is much better than those Chinese channels. Zheng Yi usually spends most of his time listening to this.

He even asked Manager Wu to take him into the city on a motorcycle. He spent most of the day driving around the streets and alleys and bought himself a guitar.

Every evening, the workers in the mine would stop to rest and play cards, and Zheng Yi would play and sing for him.

The song that was most popular among the miners, and which he himself also liked to sing, was "Just Go With the Flow." The lyrics and the scene of the song unexpectedly matched the mood of these Nanyang visitors.
Manager Wu even had the lyrics written down, and within two days, almost all the workers in the mine could sing it:
“There are always people who are better than you and there are always mountains that are better than you. Don’t be afraid of working hard, be afraid of being ordinary.
There are gains and losses, debts and repayments, and God does not allow people to be too greedy.

Stand tall and grit your teeth, life and death are easy but bowing your head is hard;

Even if you can't be a hero, you must be a good man.

Don't take all the grudges lightly. If you are not carefree enough, you are not brave enough.

When the bitterness comes, I swallow the wine and drink it all, I look up to the sky and smile with cold tears~
The world of mortals keeps turning, no matter where you are, you can just go with the flow~"

On this day, the workers were singing together around Zheng Yi. Zheng Yi himself did not sing, but just played the piano accompaniment. After the song was over, everyone couldn't help laughing, but suddenly they heard someone clapping loudly in the distance.

Everyone turned around and saw that Li Xiaoshi had arrived without them noticing, and he was accompanied by a blond, blue-eyed foreigner wearing a black suit.

"Good, good, good music, good lyrics, and even better song. This song expresses the bittersweet life of us Nanyang tourists, and it's open-minded and carefree. Good, good, but this song doesn't sound powerful enough with only guitar accompaniment."

"Guitars are more suitable for lyrical and rhythmic songs. This song is so majestic that it deserves a strong man singing it with accompaniment of suona, drums, and gongs to show its momentum."

Everyone couldn't help but stand up, looking embarrassed, as if they had been caught slacking off during work hours by the boss.

"There's no need to be so restrained. Why not combine work and rest? It's better for you to get together and sing and dance than to play cards and gamble during your rest time.
This song is good too, the lyrics and music are uplifting and progressive, yet also have a unique sense of freedom. I quite like it. Where did you learn this? "

Seeing that Li Xiaoshi wasn't angry about their group singing, Manager Wu finally put his mind at ease. He smiled and said, "This song was originally played and sung by Mr. Zheng himself. So, it must have been written by Mr. Zheng."

"Oh? Brother Zheng can actually write songs?"

Zheng Yi waved his hands repeatedly upon hearing this and said, "I can't write lyrics and music this good. This was created by an old friend of mine named James Wong."

"James Wong? I haven't heard of him. I am a song lover. If such a good song has been released, there is no way I haven't heard it. Could it be that Brother Zheng is using James Wong's name to be modest?" Zheng Yi shook his head and smiled bitterly when he heard this. He knew that this matter was indeed difficult to explain. Besides, in this day and age, James Wong's father might still be wearing open-crotch pants. There really was no such person.

"Brother Li also understands music?"

Li Xiaoshi: "I wouldn't say I understand it, but I love it. But I'm good at the clarinet and piano. Oh, my ex-wife Duolun is really good at guitar, and she also knows the Irish harp. She taught me a little bit..."

As he spoke, a hint of nostalgia flashed across Li Xiaoshi's eyes.

He and Duolun fell in love in Cambridge. The time he spent with Duolun in Cambridge and Hong Kong Island was also the happiest time for Li Xiaoshi.

However, life became unbearable after returning to Kuala Lumpur. Although his father was a revolutionary, he was also a Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty and had many traditional conservative ideas in his mind. Not to mention his mother, who had always been saying things like "husband is the head of the wife" since he was a child.

But Doron is an Irish aristocrat and a cousin of King George VI of England. It is already unfair enough for her to marry a Chinese like you and come to the Far East to marry. Do she still have to learn the three obediences and four virtues?
Conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are always the number one killer of marriages.

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Li Xiaoshi interrupted his reminiscence and said, "If you have time, Brother Zheng, can we discuss music?"

"Okay, Brother Li, the person behind you is..."

"Oh, look at me, I've forgotten the important things. Let me introduce you, Brother Zheng. This is our technical consultant for Taiyou and Jinluntai, Hunter. He's from the UK and is also my Cambridge classmate."

"Hunter, this is what I told you about, Zheng Yi, Brother Zheng."

He spoke Chinese when talking to Zheng Yi, but spoke English when talking to Hunter. Obviously, Hunter did not speak Chinese.

Zheng Yi also followed the host's wishes and took the initiative to extend his hand and said, "Hello, Mister Hunter, Nicetummit Oil."

However, Hunter was very arrogant and completely ignored Zheng Yi's friendly gestures. He looked him up and down, then turned to Li Xiaoshi and said,

"Li, with all due respect, I really don't see what's so special about this guy. Maybe he can indeed repair machines, but so what?

I'm sure you're aware that there's a world of difference between a mechanic and an engineer. I'm a Cambridge graduate, and I only agreed to come to the Far East to help you for a few years because we're classmates. How dare you compare me to someone like that?"

Seeing that Li Xiaoshi's expression seemed a little embarrassed, Zheng Yi found it a little funny for a moment and understood what was going on.

That’s it~
No wonder he spent hours painting a rosy picture for me that day without even talking about the salary. After all that time, it turned out that there was still one interview process missing.

Yes, since he is a technical talent, naturally only someone who understands technology can know his depth. After all, Li Xiaoshi was the student union president of Cambridge, and he has seen a lot. How could he be so easily fooled?

However, since this old foreigner looked down on him, he naturally didn't mind "exchanging ideas" with him.

I immediately said in English, "Hello, are you from Cambridge? I wonder what your specific major is. My personal strength is actually chemistry, but I also have some knowledge of thermal engineering and mechanics. Is mechanics your specialty? I can play with you."

(End of this chapter)