Margaret's Secret

Chapter 10 From Shanghai to Paris (2)
"Aider moi!"

That word again!Translated into Chinese, it means "Save me", and it really came from her mouth. Lin Hai had to believe that he heard it with his own ears.Her voice is so beautiful, and it still has the charm of aristocratic French in the sixteenth century, but the tone is slightly sad.

Looking at Margaret's face under the fluorescent light of the mobile phone, Lin Hai's mind suddenly went blank. He couldn't remember any of the thousands of French words he had learned over the years.

Although the language is forgotten, the instinct cannot be forgotten. Lin Hai gasped and grabbed her shoulders tightly—the body of the French princess more than 400 years ago was so soft, just like holding a docile animal. The sheep jumped on the shepherd's chest.

They were so close that Lin Hai couldn't see her face clearly again, he could only feel her rapid breathing and the seductive rise and fall of her chest.

In this dark art gallery room, during this miraculous night of oil painting, Lin Hai could no longer hide his excitement, and after a moment of violent panting, he began to call out her name: "Marguerite! Marguerite !"

Marguerite raised her head and replied: "It's me (in French)! I've been waiting for you for a long time, save me, save me!"

The last two words were still "Aider moi". Lin Hai didn't understand what he wanted to save her. Could it be to save her from the oil painting?

Yes, now that she has walked out of the painting, she cannot be let back.Lin Hai turned his head and touched the back, then grabbed Margaret's hand and walked back.

He groped out of the door of the secret room and pointed the phone screen outside. Although it was still pitch black, Lin Hai seemed to hear footsteps.

Marguerite held him tightly and whispered in his ear: "(French) Hurry up, Nostradamus is here to catch me."

"Who are you talking about?" Lin Hai replied in French.

But Margaret seemed to be extremely nervous: "Don't ask, let's run away quickly, or you will die." (From now on, for the convenience of narration, all Margaret speaks in French, and Fan Linhai speaks to her basically for French)
Lin Hai could hear the last sentence clearly, and he immediately felt terrified, and the terrifying footsteps seemed to be getting closer and more urgent.

He hurriedly grabbed Margaret's hand and ran towards the lobby of the art gallery. The sound of footsteps along the way broke the silence, the light from the mobile phone screen shone everywhere, and ghostly figures flashed on the wall.

Lin Hai felt that they were like headless flies, running wildly in the dark night of the art museum, surrounded by oil paintings hundreds of years ago, and returned to the Louvre Museum of Louis XIII, with the Three Musketeers or d'Artagnan Playing the game of death.

He ran away and asked, "Who is that person you mentioned?"

"Nostradamus, don't you even know him?" Margaret paused in the darkness, then said faintly, "That's a ghost."

At this time, the ghost had already chased after him. Lin Hai turned around and took a picture with his mobile phone, only to see a huge black figure rushing towards him.

Margaret was right, if Lin Hai fell into the hands of this "thing", he would surely die.

For the "aider" Margaret, and for the "aider" himself, Lin Hai must get rid of this ghost.

He rushed Margaret into a corridor covered with paintings on both sides.They were running in the dark corridor, Margaret's long hair flew up, and a few strands hit Lin Hai's face.

The long and winding corridor looked like a huge labyrinth. They seemed to have turned around several times, but they never got rid of the footsteps behind them. The black shadow kept following a few meters behind them, as if it would swallow them up at any time.

Just when Lin Hai could barely run, he suddenly found a bright light in front of him.Like a drowning man grasping at the last straw, he dragged Margaret and ran over desperately. It turned out that it was an emergency escape route, and it would not be locked even after the museum was closed at night.

They rushed into the passage immediately, and under the fluorescent light of the mobile phone, they found that there were stairs going up and down.But the stairs going down had been tightly closed by the iron gate, so they could only climb up in a panic.Lin Hai ran up several floors panting, and Margaret was too tired.

Running up the last staircase, there was a locked iron door in front of him. Fortunately, the door was locked from the inside, and Lin Hai opened the lock easily.After rushing out of the last door, they realized that they had climbed to the roof of the building.

Overhead is the starry night sky, surrounded by towering buildings, the never-ending lights of this city half illuminate the rooftop.

Margaret also raised her head, looking at the new world around her, as if she was in heaven.Lin Hai thought, could this be the first time she has faced the night sky in more than 400 years?
Under the night sky of the city, Lin Hai finally got a clear view of her whole body. The attire of the French court more than 400 years ago is particularly eye-catching on this high roof, as if the roof is used as a stage, and the night-time night sky A scene of Western opera with the city as the background, and the heroine is Queen Margaret in history.

At this moment, her expression is very complicated. Is it the excitement after regaining her freedom, or the sadness of leaving her own era?No, now is not the time to be sentimental, that ghost named Nostradamus will come up soon, so hurry up and find a way to get out of here.

Lin Hai found that there was an escalator next to the roof to go down, so he hurriedly dragged Margaret there.Although Margaret was wearing a long skirt, she climbed down cautiously.It turns out that this is the fire staircase, which is installed on the outer wall of the building. Because there is a building next to it, it cannot be seen from the outside.

Along this life-saving fire escape staircase, they quickly climbed down several floors, only to end up hanging in mid-air.It turned out that the fire stairs were broken when they reached the ground, and there was still a distance of about three meters. Below was a narrow and quiet alley with many black garbage bags piled up.

No, they couldn't hold it anymore, Lin Hai simply jumped down.Fortunately, there were many things in the garbage bag below, which just played the role of an inflatable cushion, keeping Lin Hai unscathed.He waved his hand upwards: "come down quickly, it's okay."

Margaret hesitated for a while, and finally let go and jumped down.Lin Hai caught her from below, and was taken down on the garbage bag together.

They were all trapped in the garbage bag, their bodies were entangled, Lin Hai felt tenderness all over his hands, Margaret groaned a few times, and turned her head away shyly.

Lin Hai got up with great difficulty, and pulled Margaret out again. The garbage bags were tightly packed, and they didn't look dirty.There is a dim street lamp in the alley, illuminating Margaret's pale face and her 400-year-old attire—the person in the painting has finally returned to the world, and everything is almost like a dream.

"Run away."

With a soft cry, he dragged Margaret and ran out of the alley. This place no longer belongs to the Western Art Museum, and there is a small road outside.

But there were no people on this road. If someone saw Margaret's attire, they wouldn't be scared to death.

They trotted for a long way, and finally got into a taxi.Margaret seemed to be taken aback by the car. She probably only had carriages in her era. Fortunately, there were no street lights at the stop, and the driver couldn't see Margaret's clothes clearly.When she got into the taxi tremblingly, the driver saw her face in the rearview mirror, but usually there are quite a lot of foreigners in taxis, so he didn't pay much attention.

The driver asked them where they were going, Lin Hai was a little confused for a moment, and he didn't know where he should go.It is not necessary to go back to school, is it necessary to bring people from more than 400 years ago to the dormitory?After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly thought of a place—the old house.

The taxi sped towards the city center, and soon drove up the elevated road. The night sea outside the car window was full of brilliance, as if flying through the jungle.Margaret leaned against the car window, staring blankly at the scene in front of her. It was so different from the era she lived in. For the first time sitting in a speeding car, it probably felt like a dream.

She suddenly turned around and asked Lin Hai: "Where is this?"

Lin Hai stared into her eyes and replied, "Shanghai in China."

"China?" She shook her head, showing a strange expression, "I never imagined that I would come to such a distant place."

"Marguerite, the world has become smaller. China and France are not far away."

At this time the taxi had already got off the elevated road and stopped on the road near the old house.After they got out of the car, the driver saw Margaret's dress under the street lamp. He pouted and said, "Foreigners just like to mess around."

Fortunately, it was very late, and the alley was deserted, no one noticed Lin Hai and Margaret, they trotted to the old house.

Lin Hai held her hand tightly and walked up the dark stairs. The wooden boards creaked until he opened the door of the old house.

"Sorry, I can only bring you here first."

Margaret was a French princess and queen more than 400 years ago. She was used to living in a magnificent palace, but facing this shabby old house, she didn't feel unhappy on her face.Instead, she looked at the ceiling with excitement, looked at everything in the room, and even took a big breath of the air in the old house, and said gratefully: "Thank you, you saved me, you are my benefactor."

Lin Hai looked at her face silently. It was in this old house ten years ago that he saw this beautiful face for the first time.Suddenly, he couldn't help but stretched out his hand to stroke her hair, and Margaret didn't intend to refuse, but Lin Hai still took her hand back.He knew that he must not lose his mind, because the woman in front of him was not an ordinary person, but a ghost who ran out of an oil painting more than 400 years ago.

But Margaret grabbed his hand: "What's your name?"

"My name is Lin Hai."

Then they were all silent, and Lin Hai didn't know what to do. Now Margaret has run out of the oil painting, and she can't go back for a while. Although she is a ghost from more than 400 years ago, she has a living life. What should I do with my body?
It was already midnight, and Lin Hai felt extremely embarrassed to be alone in the room with this beautiful foreign woman. He thought of a few French words and said softly: "I'm sorry, you think I should go, you will leave tonight Stay here."

But she took Lin Hai's hand again: "No, I'm afraid, I'm afraid that Nostradamus will come after him again."

Margaret's eyes were almost pleading, Lin Hai's heart softened immediately, he nodded involuntarily: "Okay, I will stay with you."

In fact, in the middle of the night, Lin Hai has nowhere to go, but the small attic above can sleep overnight.What about Margaret?Does she need to sleep in the painting?This made Lin Hai confused again, he really didn't know what to do, but even if it was due to our Chinese etiquette, we should prepare a bed for this "foreign guest".

But the wire bed in the bedroom was bare, and there was no room for sleeping. Lin Hai first asked Margaret to wait for him in the old house, and then he quickly ran out.Fortunately, the nearby 24-hour store sells bedding. He bought a set of sheets, bedding, pillows and the like, and immediately rushed back to the old house.

Lin Hai tidied up the wire bed and spread all the sheets and bedding on it, at least he can sleep on it now.Then Lin Hai opened the door of the small bathroom and told Margaret how to use these things. He secretly felt a little ridiculous. Do the people in the oil paintings need these?

He worked until after one o'clock in the middle of the night, when Lin Hai couldn't bear it any longer, so he climbed up to the small attic, and told Margaret not to open the doors and windows, just in case there was anything to call him.

And Margaret was like a docile sheep, she nodded obediently to everything Lin Hai said.

Lin Hai climbed up to the small attic and stared blankly at the wall of the wooden bed. The woman he saw here ten years ago appeared here alive now. It was a trick of fate.

He sighed softly, and before he had time to recall everything that happened today, he lay down on the small wooden bed and fell asleep under a blanket.

The faint moonlight was shining on his face through the dormer window.

My ears hurt sharply again, and I didn't even have time to look at the scenery under the porthole, so I could only chew my gum desperately.The Airbus was landing with a huge roar, and when the plane began to taxi smoothly, I realized that I was already on the land of France.

The flight from Shanghai to Paris took more than ten hours, crossed eight time zones on the earth, and flew over dozens of countries along the way, which made me exhausted.But think about it, in the era of the Crusades, Marco Polo traveled to China for several years, and now this time can only be regarded as a blink of an eye.

Due to the seven-hour time difference, I have adjusted my watch to French time. It is now 07:30 GMT. Looking out of the porthole, Charles de Gaulle International Airport has been enveloped in night, and the tarmac is brightly lit.

After getting off the plane, before I had time to express my excitement of stepping on Europa, I lined up in a dizzy manner, especially for me who went to the meeting alone.After going through complicated immigration procedures, I finally officially entered the French country.

At the passenger exit, I looked around for a long time with my travel bag, and finally saw a Chinese face in the crowd——Yu Li.

Although I had agreed to pick me up at the airport, after all, it was what the ancients said, "meeting an old friend in a foreign country", and my heart suddenly became hot, and I waved to him bouncingly.

In fact, during the Chinese New Year a few months ago, he came back to China to play with me, but now he has changed again, the most notable thing is that his hair is almost shaved, which makes his face more prominent Mature, I am really "tender" in comparison.

Yu Li took my travel bag, his body is still so strong, he will not suffer at all among foreigners.A smirk appeared on the corner of his mouth and said: "I heard that you are very popular in China, why are you still the same."

"Really, no matter how good you are, I can't compare to you. Seeing that you travel in Europe every day, I have long envied you."

Chatting away, we walked the long way through the crowded Charles de Gaulle airport, out of the concourse, and into the parking lot.

It turned out that Yu Li came here by car, a small-displacement Renault car, but the French like this kind of sexy car, and it is pleasing to the eye in the parking lot.

After getting in the car, Yu Li quickly drove out of the airport.The night on the outskirts of Paris is similar to that of Shanghai, and it takes more than half an hour to drive into the urban area.It is said that Paris is several times more beautiful at night than during the day. I looked around in the car window, but Yu Li said it all in one sentence: "Don't bother, you can't see Eiffel here."

This sentence finally made me give up, and the ten-hour flight also made me exhausted, so I simply curled up in the car and closed my eyes to rest.After driving for an unknown amount of time, the car finally stopped. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. They were all nineteenth-century buildings, which looked a bit like Oxford, England.

Yu Li took me out of the car, and it turned out that this was the University of Voltaire, located in the Latin Quarter on the left bank of the Seine, where many universities and cultural institutions in Paris gathered.As the name suggests, this university is named in memory of the great thinker Voltaire. It has a history of more than 150 years, and the surrounding buildings are all left over from the nineteenth century.Speaking of Voltaire, he has a close relationship with us Chinese. This [-]th-century French enlightener has a special liking for Chinese culture. He admires all ancient Chinese writing systems and believes that China is the object that European civilization needs to learn from. , also adapted the Chinese opera "The Orphan of the Zhao Family".

Walking through a long corridor, we stepped into a place that looked like a restaurant, and a little old man with gray hair was already waiting for me at the door.Yu Li immediately made an introduction, and it turned out that the old man was Professor Orleans.

The professor is unusually short, wearing a well-fitting suit, and has curly gray hair. He shook hands with me enthusiastically, and was nagging about something, so he almost came up to kiss me on the face.

Yu Li hurriedly translated: "The professor said that he wanted to see you in his dream, and asked if you brought the parchment?"

In fact, I also knew in my heart that of course it wasn't me that the professor dreamed about, but a parchment scroll.I patted my travel bag and said, "It's here."

The professor obviously wanted to read the parchment right now, but he restrained himself immediately. After all, France is also a country of western etiquette, and it is inevitable to invite guests from afar to dinner first.

Although French cuisine is well-known, it is really bland to my Chinese stomach.During the dinner, Professor Orleans talked eloquently, but Yu Li only translated a few sentences. He said that they were all polite words, and it didn't matter whether he listened to them or not.

After the meal, the professor "revealed his true colors" and asked me for a parchment book.Although I was extremely sleepy at this time, my mind was still clear, and I immediately explained that the parchment book was not my own, but could only be considered as a loan to the professor for research, so I had to go through the formalities.Yu Li said no problem, people often send cultural relics for appraisal, and there is a special agency in their university to handle them.

But the professor was still not reconciled and said that he had to take a look at the real thing first.I agreed to the professor's request and they took me to the history building.At this moment, this ancient building is almost empty, and the footsteps of several of us echoed in the dark night, which sounded eerie.

In the office of Professor Orleans, I opened the travel bag. In the innermost interlayer, there is a tin box tightly wrapped with a towel.I slowly took out the tin box, the professor's eyes were straightened, Yu Li told me not to open the box first, he and the professor looked at it carefully, nodded and said: "This tin box is twenty Made in France at the turn of the century when high society used this box to pack valuables."

(End of this chapter)