Zhou Wenjie decided to write down the story of his original body's family, adapting it as he went.
The decline of a noble family, from a life of wealth with servants at their beck and call to a current state of poverty where they barely had enough to eat from one meal to the next.
This story should pass review once written, but it would be quite long and take too much time. Therefore, it was better to write shorter stories.
As he was pondering how to begin, a guest from afar arrived to visit Father Lin.
It was the president of Jingda University, and also a classmate of Father Lin. He was in Shanghai to visit a scholar and had stopped by to see Father Lin.
"Yu Zhang brother, long time no see," Father Lin came out to greet him, shaking hands warmly with the middle-aged man at the doorway.
"Zheng Zhe brother is busy with important matters, indeed we haven't had time to meet in a long while," the university president teased. "Is this your virtuous niece?"
"Yes, this is my youngest daughter. Yan Yan, come and greet Uncle Gao."
"My daughter Lin Yan greets Uncle Gao!" Lin Yan curtsied to President Gao like a lady.
"Good, good! Truly a woman of great intelligence and virtue!" President Gao nodded with satisfaction.
"Come in and chat, standing at the door isn't proper!" Father Lin pulled President Gao into the house.
After they were all seated, Zhang Ma brought over tea and pastries and placed them before them.
"Is what Brother Zheng Zhe wrote in his letter true?" President Gao's visit to Father Lin was not merely a coincidence.
A month ago, he had received a letter from Father Lin, praising his daughter's incredible memory and how she had memorized and copied all the books from a French university.
So, upon receiving the letter, he had immediately left the capital and rushed over. However, he had found a plausible excuse to mask his true intentions.
"Would I lie to you?" Father Lin gestured for Lin Yan to fetch the books from the study.
"Time was tight, and my daughter couldn't bring too many books back with her at the time, but fortunately, her memory is quite good. She brought them back in her mind."
"Virtuous niece, your actions are noble. How many books do you estimate you have remembered?" President Gao asked excitedly.
"Probably around a few thousand, I don't know the exact number."
"That is enough, more than enough. For you, virtuous niece, to do this for the nation and its people, you are truly a heroine!" President Gao could no longer concern himself with anything else; he just wanted to see the books as soon as possible.
Lin Yan quickly came downstairs, holding over ten books.
"Uncle Gao, Yan Yan has only transcribed these so far. I am still writing the rest."
Lin Yan handed the books to President Gao. The ones she had transcribed were all related to science and technology, including mathematics, physics, and chemistry. These were all contents from the original host's memory.
Lin Yan did not transcribe the contents from her own memories. It was not yet time for that; what she had produced was sufficient.
President Gao took the books and flipped through them. As he did, Lin Yan's calligraphy, comparable to a master's copybook, immediately caught his eye.
"Such beautiful penmanship! It has a strong character!" he exclaimed. He was a scholar of literature and not very familiar with these scientific subjects.
"Virtuous niece, you've also translated them into Chinese?"
"The library books were all in foreign languages. Yan Yan felt it would be more convenient to translate them. Uncle Gao can rest assured, I cannot guarantee anything else, but the translations are absolutely flawless."
This was the first time Lin Yan spoke with such confidence in front of others.
Though Father Lin said nothing, he was also very proud of his daughter.
"Virtuous niece, as a man of letters, I don't understand these subjects. I will find a friend to look through them and select which ones to use as our textbooks. But you can rest assured, I will put your name as the primary editor."
President Gao caressed the books, reluctant to put them down.
"Uncle Gao, a tall tree in the forest is not necessarily a good thing. Moreover, I still need to transcribe more books, so the position of editor is not good for me."
Lin Yan refused. She might be too conspicuous at the moment, attracting unwanted attention from spies would be a loss that outweighed any gain.
She could establish industries and gain a foothold in the business world. But if she were also outstanding in literature, such a person would be far too eye-catching.
"But virtuous niece, your contributions are so great?"
President Gao did not want to dismiss Lin Yan's achievements. Her actions deserved to be known by all discerning individuals.
"Alright, Brother Yu Zhang. Yan Yan doesn't care about these matters. Take the books and handle them as you see fit. Yan Yan does not need such fame," Father Lin waved his hand, settling the matter.
President Gao pondered for a moment, then said to Lin Yan, "Allow me to be bold and call you Yan Yan, virtuous niece. How about this: you give me a pen name. I will put this pen name at the front of the books. After all, these books were brought back and translated by you.
I still want others to remember you. Although you do not seek this credit, we cannot erase your contributions. And rest assured, only the three of us in this room will know this pen name."
"This is also good. Yan Yan, think of a pen name," Father Lin also felt this was a fine arrangement.
"Then let it be Qi Ming! Qi Ming, from the morning star."
"Qi Ming, a good name. Yu Zhang thanks Mr. Qi Ming for his noble deed!" President Gao stood up, carefully placed the books on the table, and bowed deeply to Lin Yan.
Besides these science and technology books that needed Lin Yan to transcribe, for other literature and philosophy categories, Lin Yan planned to use a typewriter.
Lin Yan did not intend to translate these books herself anymore. In fact, China was not lacking in translation talent at present. Using a typewriter would be faster.
However, for science and technology books, she could not trust others to translate them. Furthermore, such books contained many different symbols and diagrams that a typewriter could not reproduce.
If the translator did not have a sufficient understanding of these books, they would not be able to translate them well.
After handing these books over to President Gao, Lin Yan did not concern herself with the matter any further. After all, she trusted this university president implicitly and believed he would make excellent use of these books.
When the next batch of books was transcribed, Lin Yan would send them to President Gao through trusted individuals. Of course, Lin Yan would not be involved in President Gao's collaboration with local universities to have these books printed.
Putting this matter aside, Lin Yan began to contact people in the business world. This had been pending for quite some time.
A considerable amount of time had passed since she had received those business cards. She had already investigated the reputations of these businessmen. After consulting with Father Lin, Lin Yan confirmed her choices for invitations.
Invitations were sent to businessmen, both large and small. Upon receiving them, they inquired among their friends. Then, they discovered that their invitations were for the same time and place.
Although they didn't know why Miss Lin, a new star in the business world, had invited them, the formality of the invitations suggested that some important matters were to be discussed.