In the 21st century, there are "Chinatowns" in all corners of the world, and the Chinese gathering place in Paris is called "13 Blocks". Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In 1929, Paris did not yet have the title of "13 blocks", but it had already gathered many Chinese. For example, when Zhou and Deng were two great men of our dynasty who studied in France, they both lived here.

Surrounded by many students studying in France, Zhou Hexuan came to a neighborhood on the left bank of the Seine.

Strictly speaking, it can't be called a block, it's a bit like a shantytown or an urban-rural junction. It's not as bustling as the main part of Paris, but it's not a slum.

The buildings here are obviously not strictly planned, and they are built everywhere in a crooked manner, and most of them are bungalows and two- and three-story buildings. Although it is messy and complicated, it is orderly in the chaos, there are many Chinese character signs hanging on both sides of the street, and some small shops are also quite busy.

Li Shi once introduced: "Most of the students studying in France are from poor backgrounds, they can't afford to rent a house in the city, so they can only live in the suburbs of Paris, which is the best choice. ”

Zhou Hexuan asked: "How many Chinese are resident here?" ”

"I don't know," Li Shi thought for a moment and said, "at least one or two thousand." I don't know if it is Chinese, many immigrants from Southeast Asia and East Asia will also choose to settle here after arriving in Paris. So don't see yellow skin everywhere, but not all Chinese. ”

Zhou Hexuan asked: "How is the Chinese life here?" ”

Li Shizeng smiled bitterly: "That's it." As long as you work hard, you can still survive. The point is that the social status is relatively low, belonging to the marginalized people in Paris, although they have become French citizens, but they do not have the right to vote. ”

Hundreds of people walked the streets, and the residents here watched curiously.

The owner of a steamed bun shop met an acquaintance in the crowd and came over and asked, "Classmate Lin, are you holding a parade?" ”

The international student smiled: "We just picked up Mr. Zhou from the train station, and I saw that the one in front was Mr. Zhou." ”

"Is that Mr. Zhou who is praised by the French?" The shopkeeper asked in surprise.

"Of course it's him." International students said proudly.

When the shopkeeper heard this, he immediately ran back to the steamed bun shop, picked out more than ten meat buns, wrapped them in good brown paper, rushed to Zhou Hexuan and said, "Mr. Zhou, you eat steamed buns!" ”

"Thank you." Zhou Hexuan was surprised, and then smiled and took out the money.

The shopkeeper hurriedly refused: "I don't want money, it's all for free." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "Then how embarrassing? ”

The shopkeeper said with a smile on his face: "Mr. Zhou has given us Chinese a long face, this is just a little bit of my heart." ”

"Thank you." Zhou Hexuan hugged his fists and asked Sun Yongzhen to put away the buns.

Since the First World War, France's population has plummeted and it has begun to receive a large number of immigrants. Nowadays, it is easy for Chinese to immigrate to France, but in the traditional concept, no matter what nationality they have obtained, they still consider themselves Chinese.

The same is true in the United States, where Chinese Americans consider themselves Chinese.

Whether it was Sun Yat-sen's revolution, Chang Kaishen's leadership of the Northern Expedition, or the later War of Resistance Against Japan, these Chinese have been actively donating. There are even elders who send their children and grandchildren back to China to fight, and their patriotic behavior is more pure than that of many native countrymen.

The biggest reason is that China is too weak, and overseas travelers are often bullied, dreaming that the motherland can become strong as soon as possible.

When I heard that Zhou Hexuan was coming, many Chinese along the street came to watch, and there were not a few gift-givers. Although they are all small things such as fruits, buns, snacks, etc., they still make Zhou Hexuan very touched, looking at their simple smiles, Zhou Hexuan has an urge to wipe away tears.

The destination of the crowd is a restaurant called "China World Hotel".

The name of the restaurant is very loud, but it is only a small two-story building, and it cannot accommodate hundreds of people at the same time.

After Li Shizeng entered the store, he hugged his fists and said to a middle-aged man: "Boss Chen, I'm going to trouble you today, Mr. Zhou has a big treat." ”

Boss Chen looked at Zhou Hexuan in surprise: "Is that Mr. Zhou in the newspaper?" ”

"Exactly," Li Shizeng introduced, "Mingcheng, this is Boss Chen Yingchen, a native of Shandong, and the Lu cuisine he makes is very authentic." ”

"Hello Boss Chen." Zhou Hexuan greeted.

"Rare customers, rare customers," Chen Ying glanced at the large army outside, and shouted to the shopkeeper, "Go and prepare food, and then go next door to borrow some tables and benches, if you can't put them in the store, put them outside!" ”

The shopkeeper was embarrassed and said, "Boss, there are not enough ingredients in the kitchen." ”

"Then go buy it, and if you can't buy it, borrow it! Go and come back quickly! Chen Ying shouted unquestioningly.

"Eh, I'll go right away." Several shop guys all went out.

Chen Ying called out the French woman in the counter again and introduced: "Mr. Zhou, this is my wife, her name is Michelle." ”

"Hello, Mrs. Chen." Zhou Hexuan nodded and smiled.

Michelle is pretty and beautiful, but she has many freckles on her face. She seemed very introverted, shrunk behind her husband and said in somewhat awkward Chinese, "Hello." ”

Due to the number of people, there was no time to serve the meal.

Chen Ying had no choice but to beckon everyone to sit down first, then came out with a bag of peanuts, grabbed a few handfuls at each table, and asked his wife to pour wine for everyone, and said apologetically: "Let's talk first, the meal will be ready soon." ”

"Boss Chen, please sit down too." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Chen Ying sat down with a smile and said apologetically: "Mr. Zhou, there is nothing to entertain in the shop, please forgive me." ”

Zhou Hexuan asked casually: "Where did Boss Chen come to France?" ”

"Five ...... of the Republic of China" Chen Ying subconsciously said the name of the Republic of China, and then changed his words, "1916 in the Western calendar." ”

"Chinese workers in France?" Zhou Hexuan understood.

"Yes, Chinese workers." Chen Ying said with a smile.

In World War I, although China did not send troops, it sent 140,000 Chinese laborers to support the Allied side. These Chinese workers were very important, because the French men were killed and injured so much that even the women were sent to the factories, but they were still understaffed. Without 140,000 Chinese laborers going to work in France, the French soldiers could not even supply ammunition.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Can you tell me about it?" I'm curious about it. ”

Chen Ying shook his head and smiled bitterly: "There's nothing to talk about." I used to be a farmer in Shandong, and my parents used half a bucket of grain to send me to a restaurant in the town as a buddy. I remember that it was the spring of the fifth year of the Republic of China, just after the end of the New Year, and the county officials suddenly posted notices everywhere, saying that Britain and France were recruiting workers. The salary was very high, and as soon as my brain was hot, I signed up without telling my parents. ”

Zhou Hexuan asked, "And then?" ”

"Then he signed and drew a deposit, leaving a deposit of ten oceans for the family, which is actually a settling-in fee," Chen Ying gradually fell into his memory, "At that time, we did not directly board the ship and go to sea, but the French officers took us to the beach and set up camp, and taught us to line up, stand upright, walk and speak foreign language." I was also divided into groups, and I was arranged to be the group leader because I could write a few words and do some simple arithmetic. In this way, we trained for more than two months, and then we flew across the sea to France on a foreign boat. ”

Zhou Hexuan filled him with wine: "You continue." ”

Chen Ying took a sip of liquor and said, "I was seasick, I still had a high fever on the boat, and I came to France in a daze." However, one of my brothers in my group fell ill and died on the way, and was thrown into the sea by the French, and his body could not be found. After some time, the French officers took us to a small town called Noyelle. I still remember that everyone was panicking and didn't know what was going to happen next. Until I went to that town, there was a large area of wheat outside the town, the wheat was golden, and everyone smelled the smell of wheat, and they were at ease at once. At that time, I thought that it would be great if I could farm in France with peace of mind. ”

"Chinese farmers love land the most." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

"That's," Chen Ying laughed, "but unfortunately we didn't have a chance to farm, and outside the town was a big camp, boxy, surrounded by two layers of barbed wire." I lived in the camp for half a month, and the brothers who came with me were selected in batches, and the lucky ones went to the factory, and the unlucky ones were sent to the front. I was very unlucky, and I went to war in a daze. ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "Will you shoot?" ”

"It's going to be a fart," Chen Ying became more and more angry as she spoke, "The contract said that we only came to France to work, and we didn't say that we were going to the front line to fight, and the French didn't talk about credit at all." On my first day on the battlefield, I was sent to dig trenches and exhausted me to death. It's finally time to start fighting, I think I can take a break, hey, send me to deliver ammunition again. There was a rain of bullets everywhere, and machine gun bullets were flying around. You see, I was missing a piece of my ear, it was blown up by shrapnel, and it almost died. I was still the leader of the group when I regrouped on the battlefield, and there were 12 people in my group, but after only two months of fighting, only 7 people died. ”

Chen Ying opened the chatterbox, and he didn't need Zhou Hexuan to answer, he continued to say: "The French are actually fine, but the most hateful are the British. When we first gathered in the town for training, it was the British officers who guarded us. When we didn't like it at all, the British officers beat us like dogs. After the beating, he wiped us clean with a brush and hot water, and then sent the half-dead Chinese workers to the hospital. Why wash it clean? Because there were reporters in the hospital, the British were afraid of being reported by reporters on the abuse of Chinese workers. The fight is still good, I have a brother, they tied him to a tree and beat him, and he only had one breath left, and the British officer felt that he could not be saved, so he shot him directly. ”

"At that time, there was a Scottish doctor named Green in the Chinese Gong Hospital, and he was a kind man. He wrote a letter to his superiors to report the situation, but it was useless, and Dr. Green was taught a lesson by the British officer. ”

"That's not all. The most odious thing is to arrange for us to clear mines, the mines on the battlefield, which are so easy to discharge, will explode in a row, and the corpses will not be seen intact. Some of the brothers were so frightened that they simply dug a hole in the barracks and buried themselves in it to commit suicide. In this way, I can leave a whole corpse, and in the future, the three souls and seven spirits will return to China completely. A brother from my next village committed suicide like this......"

Chen Ying's narration continued, and Zhou Hexuan was silent when he listened.