father - home

"Yes."

It's really strange. With only two names, Dean Catherine can be sure that Showa Yu is Chinese. Is it a coincidence, is it a sixth sense, or... Then I saw something even stranger: after the hug, the dean's eyes were on Showa Yu went back and forth between Yu and stayed more on Yu's face.Such staring is very impolite, even if the dean is curious like Lisa because he saw a Chinese for the first time, he shouldn't be so gaffe.In the end, the shock left my mother and me, all eyes widened except Lisa on one side.

"Welcome, children from China." The dean spoke Chinese!is Chinese!Thinking back, just now, the dean spoke the words "Zhao" and "Yu" more purely than me, but now, she speaks pure Chinese.

"Catherine, how can you speak Chinese?"

Mother's question pulled the dean back from his reverie.Still holding Yu's hand, she said proudly, "Of course I can speak Chinese, I was born in China."

"What?" This is really big news.Dean Catherine has had a friendship with her mother for almost 20 years, and she doesn't even know it. "How did I never know?"

"I didn't deliberately hide it, Augusta, it's just that you didn't ask. The sisters in the monastery all know that I can speak Chinese, and I still have a lot of books brought back from China."

No wonder, this explains Lisa's curiosity when she knew that Showa Jade came from China.

"Really? Mother dean, can you let me have a look?" Yu also became excited.

"Of course, Yu, I'll take you there after lunch." The dean had already let go of Yu's hand, but there was still invisible intimacy and pity in his words and eyes.

Mother was the guest of honor, and lunch was arranged in the small restaurant, with the abbot and us accompanied by three elderly deacon nuns.When she was seated, Dean Catherine insisted on pulling Yu by her side.First we talked about the harvest of grapes and the quality of wine this year, and soon, the topic naturally shifted to Dean Catherine and China.

It turned out that Dean Catherine's father was a missionary. After marrying her mother, they went to China to preach together. In 1899, little Catherine was born in Beiping, China. She grew up there until she was 17 years old and went back to Germany to go to university. She originally planned to go back after graduating from university, but her father died in 1919 before graduating from university. Heartbroken, her mother returned to Germany with her young brother. From then on, Catherine never set foot on the land that haunted her dreams.

Dean Catherine's eyes are always difficult to move away from Yu's body. When Yu is uncomfortable with her, she asks: "Yu, what's your last name?"

"My surname is Zhen, the dean's mother."

"Zhen? Which Zhen?"

Yu was drawing on the tablecloth with her fingers.

Because the two of them spoke Chinese, and my mother and the nuns who accompanied me were very interested, so I asked Zhao to translate it.

"Is this Zhen a small surname in China?"

"Yes, there are not many people with this surname."

"Son, can you tell me your father's name?"

Yu nodded, and looked back at Zhao who was sitting next to him with some doubts. "My father's name is Zhen Jihu."

"Zhen... Ji... Hu..."

I sat opposite Zhao Heyu, and I could clearly see the emotional changes of the dean and the mother during the whole process.As Yu's fingers traced her surname on the tablecloth, the dean's eyes brightened. This "small surname" in China must have a special meaning for the dean; when Yu said her father's name, the dean Repeating softly, the surging passion in his heart flashed in his eyes, like throwing a boulder into a calm lake.Immediately, she tried her best to cover up and suppress it, and the repeated voice became very soft, and it was not easy to hear the trembling in it; she put down the knife and fork without any trace, and took the napkin to wipe her lips.I noticed that the napkin vibrated slightly, and if she was holding a knife and fork, the vibration would have attracted everyone's attention.When the dean put down the napkin, raised his eyes, and looked around everyone with a smile, everything returned to its original state. The boulder sank to the bottom of the lake, the ripples had dispersed, and the lake was as flat as a mirror.

"Yu, are your parents in China? How are they?"

"Yes, they are in Shanghai, very good."

"Where's your grandma? Also with you?"

"Grandma is fine too, stay with them."

That's the end of this topic. The change that should have happened has indeed happened. I exchanged glances with Zhao across the table. He seemed to have noticed it, and my mother had noticed it too.

Mother knew better, and her years of friendship with Dean Catherine had given them a tacit understanding.After lunch, my mother asked Lisa to take us, and Showa Yu and I went to the island to have a look around first, it only took half an hour, and then we went back to the boat.Firstly, it was too lonely for Joseph to stay on the boat alone, secondly, it was a sunny day, young people should go boating and playing in the water, and she had something to discuss with Dean Catherine, so we would pick her up at dusk.

As a result, Yu's desire to see the collection of books brought by the dean from China was put on hold, and her many questions could only be temporarily hidden in her stomach.

"There is still a chance in the future, Yu, you are welcome to come again, anytime, anytime, and you, Zhao." Dean Catherine issued a warm invitation, but there was a trace of sadness and fatigue in this enthusiasm, which was hidden behind a smile. sad.

When the sails were full of wind and the boat was speeding close to the lake, I sat on the side of the boat with Zhao, and he asked me, "Is Dean Catherine a little strange today?"

I nodded. "You can see it too. It's very strange, as if she has something to do with Yu."

"If there is, it's really a coincidence."

"Sometimes, fate is arranged like this, who knows for sure?" I looked up at Yu who was sketching Joseph, "Have you asked Yu? What does she think?"

"She was also full of doubts. The dean seemed to know everything about her family, but he only asked grandma, not grandpa. Yu said that she had never seen grandpa and died before she was born. Moreover, she It is said that her family is indeed closely related to Germany. Not only is her father very good at German, but her grandmother can also speak a few words. She has learned German since she was a child, so her German is the best among our group of students. But it is strange It was the government that asked her father to work in Germany, but her father refused, and then her uncle came. She really wanted to stay in the monastery and learn more about the situation, but..."

"I think this is what the dean meant. I just asked my mother to say it. Don't worry, there will be a chance in the future, and you will know what you need to know."

"What should happen will always happen." Zhao shrugged with a wry smile, and I could only look at the bulging white sail in a daze.