Feng Ping

The winter in Warsaw was very cold. The bare branches in the old town added a depressing atmosphere in the city. The nerves of the nation was on a string. A single spark could lead to a huge fire, which would burn the city into ashes.

Radek was unwilling to give up. He decided to organize a secret meeting with his other colleagues and destruct Russian’s plan. The next day, he came back to work at the railway company that was opened by Russians in Warsaw. He got the news that Russians were planning to build an eastern railway that connects Russia with the Manchurian area of China. He had heard about Far East China in the newspapers. It was said these mysterious eastern country has a lot of treasures, and big powers started to half colonize the country, and gain a sphere of influence in China. Masuria was Russian’s sphere of influence. After the failure of war between China and Japan, China started to seek allies with Russia. From the Chinese government’s hand, Russia won the right to build an eastern railway to shorten the distance of the Siberian railway. The Japanese were also winning the sphere of influence in the northeastern part of China. It was said that a lot of Polish engineers and Polish people would be sent to the Far East to build the Eastern Railway.

Radek wrote down “building the eastern railway” on the paper with shortened letters, “B R CHINA.” and rolled it up. After the work, he walked towards the café where he usually met with other leaders in the national movement. The waiter saw him coming in, and asked, “How is the weather today? “

“It’s cloudy. The wind blows to the east,” Radek said.

“The same cup of tea?”

“Yes, the same tea.” The waiter didn’t raise up his head to look at him, and passed him a cup of tea. The message was passed to the waiter when Radek took the tea from him.

Radek acted as if nothing happened. He drank the tea alone in the bar, and after 30 minutes, he left the café.

Before he left, the waiter came out and greeted him from the other door. He said, “How is the tea?”

“It’s tasty as usual.”

“The tea is from the East. It is much more expensive in Europe than in China. I wish I could go to China, and drink the tea.”

Radek understood that the waiter had talked to the leader in the national movement. They sent information to him that he should go to China and take part of building the Eastern Railway. However, Radek still kept a stiff face, as if nothing happened. He noticed that several foreigners were sitting in the corner of the café, talking. They casted a few glances to them every now and then. Radek said casually, “I wish I could drink the real tea too. Goodbye.”

The next day, when Radek came back to the Russian railway company, he enrolled as the engineer who would help building the Siberian Railway. He was sent to China and did the job of supervising the construction of the railway.

Li Zhi was the youngest daughter of the richest businessman in Harbin. She was young, beautiful, self-willed, and rebellious. When she reached the age 18, a lot of candidates from other big families in Harbin would come to her home and propose to marry her.

However, she was unwilling to marry the man whom she didn’t love. She was very educated when she was young and read a lot of books from her father’s shelf. Her father usually spoiled her, but when he learned that she had refused to meet any candidates, he became extremely angry. He locked her in the room for 10 days, only sending her food through the windows.

Li Zhi was unwilling to give in, but she was also very clever. The next day, she said soft words to her father that she was sure to marry and not become a nun, but she would carefully examine the qualification of these candidates.