TYSUF – Chapter 2 A Dream from the Previous Dynasty (1)

The person who greeted her at the dock that day was a student sent by the Geng Scholarship to study in the United States. It was said that he earned his master’s degree in just one year here, and the school wanted to keep him as a teacher, but he refused.

“I came here to learn a good skill and return to my country,” he told her.

In the second month after she was settled in, he returned to his homeland.

The departure of the only somewhat familiar person left Shen Xi feeling uneasy. She felt as if she had been cast away in this strange and bizarre world. She spent three restless nights in the house he arranged for her, imagining countless possible outcomes, such as being treated as an outsider and eliminated, or being sold to a house across the street to work as a prostitute…

Everything in this place felt unfamiliar, unsettling.

She searched through the house for anything edible to sustain herself, but by the fourth day, she couldn’t find any more food. She rummaged through the old cupboard, and in the end, the only thing that caught her attention was a metal, elongated box.

It was brown and blocky, which reminded her of opium paste.

She sniffed it near her nose, and it almost seemed like food.

Squatting in front of the old cupboard, she carefully examined it by the light filtering through the window.

Someone knocked on the door.

Shen Xi’s heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, she gripped the object tightly in her hand and looked warily toward the door three steps away.

Another knock.

“Shen Xi.” A voice called her name from outside.

Who was it?

She went to open the door, and along with the bustling noise from outside, two people holding old leather suitcases appeared in front of her—one man and one woman. They were both around twenty, dressed in Western clothes. As soon as the man saw her, he smiled and took off his hat. “Miss Shen.”

The woman, on the other hand, was more outgoing and lively. She smiled brightly and grabbed Shen Xi’s shoulder. “Are you the sister-in-law of Fu Tongwen?”

Shen Xi, still holding the unknown “possibly toxic” object, stared blankly at the two people before her. After a moment, a smile slowly spread across her lips.

This was her first meeting with her future two neighbors.

That evening, the man and woman settled into the house. The woman, named Dou Wanfeng, lived next door to Shen Xi, and the man, Gu Yiren, lived downstairs. After filling Shen Xi’s stomach, Wanfeng wiped the table vigorously until it gleamed with cleanliness, then laid a tablecloth on top before placing a lamp on the table. “You really helped us. Originally, we were going to teach children to earn tuition fees, but now we don’t have to.”

Shen Xi understood this meant that Fu Tongwen had paid their future tuition.

“Tell us, what do you want to study?” Gu Yiren asked with a smile, sizing up Shen Xi as he sat down.

Shen Xi pursed her lips, thinking for a while before answering, “Medicine.”

The two exchanged surprised glances. Gu Yiren unexpectedly asked, “Is it because of Fu Tongwen?”

Shen Xi was slightly taken aback, recalling that he was her “husband.” Unsure of how to respond, she remained silent.

It was Wanfeng who kicked Gu Yiren under the table, interrupting the questioning.

“We’ll help arrange things for you,” Wanfeng said to Shen Xi.

Whether it was their skills or the help from Fu Tongwen’s people, Shen Xi quickly determined which school to attend. With three months left until the official start of school, Wanfeng had already become her private tutor, helping her adapt to life here by taking care of everything from her clothing and food to her accommodation. By the time summer came and school began, she was already accustomed to wearing short-sleeved shirts and Western-style skirts.

Fu Tongwen’s letter had always been tucked under her pillow. On the night before her school enrollment, Shen Xi mustered the courage to ask Wanfeng if she could write a letter to Fu Tongwen. After saying this, she realized it sounded wrong and quickly added, “So he can forward it to my family.”

Wanfeng naturally thought it was a reasonable request. “That’s no problem, but letters take a long time to arrive, so you’ll need to be patient.”

Shen Xi nodded. “I know. His letter from January 1st didn’t arrive until the end of February.”

“So fast?” Wanfeng was surprised. “It’s good if it’s here in a year.”

Wanfeng handed her a fountain pen and ink.

Shen Xi spread the letter paper on the table, holding the pen in her hand, but the pen hovered above the paper for a long while as she adjusted to the feel of it. She was also mentally piecing together what she wanted to say to him. After thinking for half an hour, she ended up writing about trivial matters. She thought, since this was America and Fu Tongwen had been in Britain, writing about her experiences shouldn’t bother him. After all, since he had never been here, there would always be some novelty. So, as she wrote, she gained more strength and even sketched the shape of the first chocolate she had ever seen in her life at the end of the letter. She also added a note: “Bitter with a hint of sourness, sour with a touch of sweetness.”

The letter was written until dawn, folded carefully, and placed in an envelope.

But the next day, she regretted it. She had been sent to the countryside from Guangdong at a young age due to her family’s downfall, which was why everything here felt so fresh to her. But Fu Tongwen was who he was—how could he not know all of this?

By December, there was still no response.

Shen Xi was good at comforting herself, but it was a shame about the thirteen sheets of letter paper she had used.

During this time, she had gone from being a student who couldn’t keep up to one who could finally understand what the professors were saying. That was at least something to be happy about. Even Gu Yiren, who had completed his master’s degree in one year, was amazed by her intelligence: “You’re quicker to learn than your…” Gu Yiren’s words were once again interrupted by Wanfeng, and the two of them smiled at her apologetically.

Shen Xi guessed that Gu Yiren had meant to say she was learning faster than Fu Tongwen.

That night, she wrote another letter to Fu Tongwen under the lamp.

Following Fu Tongwen’s habit, she wrote at the end of the letter:

—Shen Xi

December 23rd

Just as she set the fountain pen down, she picked it up again and added a few more sentences. In essence, she wanted to tell him that not long after her arrival, a famous ship called the Titanic sank. It had sailed from England and was heading to America.

This topic seemed completely unrelated to them, but to Shen Xi, anything related to “England” and “America” felt connected to them both.

The letter was sealed as usual and sent out.

This time, the letter was quite thick. Inside were three newspapers she had collected: The New York Times, The New York Forum, and The New York Evening Post. These were recommended by her old professor from a political science course she was taking. This year was the American election year, and the professor had asked them to follow the election closely, summarizing the newspapers and writing reports. She had chosen this course because of Fu Tongwen, and had completed two assignments: one she handed in, the other she kept to send to him.

She couldn’t finish her medical studies without being able to send a letter, right?

The next day, she handed the letter to Wanfeng and repeatedly confirmed whether it would really be sent out. Wanfeng reassured her, saying she had never received any “orders” to stop Shen Xi from corresponding with the Fu family, and then, laughing, tapped Shen Xi’s head with the letter. “I told you, the sea is unpredictable. You have to go with the flow when it comes to letters.”

Shen Xi touched her forehead and vaguely explained to Wanfeng, “Writing a letter takes a lot of effort, so it would be a pity to lose it.”

“Alright, I guarantee this letter will reach the Fu family. And there’s something else important —tomorrow is Christmas, and I’ll take you to visit my teacher’s house.” Wanfeng smiled mysteriously at her.

Shen Xi had heard classmates mention this holiday before but didn’t think much of it, since it was a local celebration. Moreover, according to Wanfeng, Fu Tongwen had guessed that Christian families here were very welcoming and would likely host the Chinese students, so he had specifically asked them to avoid these gatherings. The advice was clear: focus on studying, and stay calm while doing so.

But Wanfeng had lived here for three years and had long made celebrating Christmas a habit.

Shen Xi had nothing else to do that evening, so she went with her to the dinner party. The evening was interesting; the host brought out a basket of holiday gifts they had received and opened them one by one. Before leaving, the host had prepared gifts for both Shen Xi and Wanfeng, and luckily, Wanfeng had already prepared return gifts for them.

When they got home, the two of them laughed as they opened the boxes, which contained two exquisite monthly calendars.

Shen Xi was flipping through them when Wanfeng reached under her quilt and pulled out something wrapped in satin.

Shen Xi laughed, using her bare feet to step on Wanfeng’s foot: “Is it clean? You’re putting it where I sleep?”

Wanfeng shook her head, clicking her tongue and sighing: “Crossing the sea, it’s not clean.”

Shen Xi paused, feeling a sudden surge of emotion in her chest.

Wanfeng chuckled lightly and urged her, “Hurry up and open it.”

Her fingers touched the satin and carefully unwrapped it, revealing a long, flat wooden box.

What? Is it for a letter? Does it really need to be this big?

She opened the box lid, and inside were two things wrapped in satin. No letter.

Shen Xi hurriedly unwrapped them; it was chocolate and a fountain pen.

“I just heard a classmate mention this,” Wanfeng grabbed a piece of chocolate and took a bite, scrunching her nose in enjoyment, then grabbed another piece and stuffed it into Shen Xi’s mouth. “What does yours taste like? What’s inside?”

“Like sugar… milk candy.”

Wanfeng was about to eat more but was stopped by Shen Xi: “Please, don’t eat it all!”

Wanfeng laughed: “Alright, alright, let’s look at this.”

She took out the fountain pen and read the inscription: Mont Blanc.

“Oh my God, this fountain pen is so beautiful,” Wanfeng grabbed Shen Xi’s hand, “You’re so enviable, Shen Xi.”

Shen Xi grasped her hand back: “Where’s the letter? There’s a letter, right?”

Wanfeng smiled, then, as if by magic, handed her the letter and, rather thoughtfully, slipped off her slippers and left the room first: “A letter from home is priceless, how could I keep it hidden? Take your time reading.”

Shen Xi cut open the envelope and unfolded the letter.

A year later, his reply was still brief:

The soft-centered chocolates I bring to you were gifted by the consulate, a new item from Belgium, intended to offset bitterness with a hint of sourness. The fountain pen is also the same. Do not worry, take good care of yourself.

—Fu Tongwen

September 28th