Such wild words stirred even the mild-tempered Lewis to feel a flicker of mischief, a desire to make things difficult for him.
All the more so since Cao Hua already disliked Jiang Mingxi.
He laughed bitterly in anger but calmed himself, saying, “Fine, this is your challenge. I’ll test you right now.”
At once, Cao Hua ransacked his mind for another long poem by Shelley.
“I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand……”
Shelley’s famous line from ‘Ode to the West Wind’, “Winter is past, and the spring shall come,” is widely known in China and often memorized, so it was no surprise this brat could recite some of it.
But the poem Cao Hua was now reciting, ‘A Stylistic Interpretation of Ozymandias’, is a lesser-known work by Shelley, not yet translated or introduced domestically.
Inspired by the fragments of Ramses II’s statue in the Great Britain Museum, the poem’s meter differs from the traditional sonnet form, lacking the characteristic octave and sestet structure.
Though obscure at home, it stands as another of Shelley’s representative lyrical poems, offering a sharp critique of humanity’s blind pursuit of power and fame, imbued with profound philosophy.
Cao Hua often recited it at gatherings, and now, flowing naturally with rhythmic cadence and rich beauty, he delivered it flawlessly.
When he finished, even Mr. Lewis’s face showed a trace of emotion. “This is the poem of Shelley’s that I love the most. I don’t know why it isn’t more popular in China.”
Cao Hua complimented him, “In our language, it’s said that lofty tunes find few echoes; kindred spirits are rare. There are very few refined souls like you in this world.”
Then he turned sharply to Jiang Mingxi with a smirk, “Your turn.”
Jiang Mingxi didn’t recite but asked first, “What’s the name of this poem?”
When Cao Hua impatiently told her, she pressed further, “What is it about?”
Cao Hua sneered, “If you can’t recite it, then get off quietly. Stop stalling with nonsense.”
Jiang Mingxi sighed regretfully, “The poem sounds really beautiful. ‘Ode to the West Wind’ feels like the wind itself, but this ‘A Stylistic Interpretation of Ozymandias’ sounds solemn and weighty, yet tinged with desolation. Especially this line……”
Her eyes narrowed slightly as her voice rose, deep and fluent, as she recited:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
She perfectly mimicked Cao Hua’s earlier tone and inflection, even capturing his unconscious tremor!
“That line carries such heroic grandeur. Somehow, it reminds me of Li Bai’s poem: ‘The Qin king swept across the six realms, how majestic his tiger gaze! Swinging his sword, he cleaves the floating clouds, all lords bow westward,’ with its overwhelming momentum.”
Eager for knowledge, she turned to the foreigner with the big beard, “Could you tell me what this poem is about?”
Lewis’s Chinese was average and didn’t catch the Li Bai reference, so he felt no particular stir but answered Jiang Mingxi’s question, “This is a quotation from the epitaph of Ramses II. Ramses II was a Pharaoh of Egypt……”
He earnestly began recounting Ramses II’s life story to Jiang Mingxi.
Meanwhile, Cao Hua’s face darkened to an unprecedented expression of unease.
The epitaph, translated roughly into Chinese, reads: “I am Ozymandias, king of kings; behold my mighty deeds, and may heaven bow before them!”
The grandeur Ramses II conveyed can only be rivaled at home by Qin Shi Huang, who unified the Seven Kingdoms!
Cao Hua stared suspiciously at this provincial brat.
He claimed ignorance of English but had perfectly restored his tone and style after one hearing — and not as a mere parrot.
She had keenly grasped its rhythm and spirit and accurately linked it to another great ruler from Chinese history…
Could such a thing be possible?
——No matter how you think about it, that’s impossible!!
Cao Hua snapped, glaring furiously at Jiang Mingxi, “You must have memorized this poem beforehand!”
Jiang Mingxi’s eyes sparkled with joy, but her excitement was suddenly and rudely cut off, causing her to grit her teeth in anger.
Damn it, she had been trying her best to stay law-abiding this lifetime; otherwise, with her past temperament, she’d have already tied this guy up in a sack!
Suppressing her murderous intent, she said coldly, “I believe I introduced myself first — oh, I forgot — I’m Jiang Mingchuan. May I ask how our foreign friend prefers to be addressed?”
The big-bearded foreigner replied kindly, “Lewis. That’s my Chinese name.”
Jiang Mingxi then shot a sidelong glance at Cao Hua and resumed the topic, “I said from the start I wanted Mr. Lewis to test me. You first accused me of being a thief, then arrogantly tried to test me yourself, and now you’ve interrupted an important conversation between me and Mr. Lewis. It makes me wonder — did your parents abandon you at birth?”
The subtext was clear: Your stuff!
Since birth, Cao Hua had been the center of attention, the favored prodigy. He had never endured such humiliation.
Now, his head swimming with rage, he lost all restraint and snarled, “Fuck your mother, you bastard brat! How dare you accuse your grandpa of being ill-bred, your mother…”
He unleashed a torrent of imaginative insults, meticulously tracing a line of curses up through the female ancestors of the other party, revelling in his venom.
He was so proud, thinking this provincial brat wouldn’t dare talk back — until his gaze caught Mr. Lewis’s furious eyes.
It was like dousing his blazing fury with a bucket of ice water.
Only then did Cao Hua realize what filthy words he had spat out, his face instantly blanching.
He opened his mouth to explain, but it was too late.
Mr. Lewis grabbed the cane beside him and struck hard across Cao Hua’s face, leaving a fierce red mark.
Cao Hua cried out in pain, clutching his swollen cheek as he staggered back in shock, his voice trembling as he exclaimed, “Lewis, you just slapped me?”
Lewis’s expression darkened. Usually even-tempered, this was a rare moment of anger.
In halting Chinese, he replied, “You insulted him and his mother publicly, and shamed all his female relatives. Isn’t a slap justified? If this were France, someone would have already thrown a White Handkerchief at you!”
Throwing the White Handkerchief signified a challenge to duel. According to France’s Dueling Code, the duelists risked life and death, and the winner bore no legal responsibility.
Lewis looked at this Chinese friend with profound disappointment, “Cao, I thought you were a gentleman, but even the filthiest vagabonds in England don’t speak like you did just now. You must kneel and apologize to Mr. Jiang at once!”
Lewis knew that Chinese people revere their mothers deeply. According to Confucianism, filial piety is paramount — unfilial sons cannot hold office.
He guessed China likely had customs similar to France’s legal dueling, where killing for filial duty carried no legal penalty.
He also knew that kneeling is a very solemn ritual in China, so he suggested this as the way for Cao Hua to prove his repentance and seek Jiang Mingchuan’s forgiveness.
In short, Lewis spoke purely out of goodwill, unwilling to see Cao Hua lose his life over a few harsh words.
But to Cao Hua, this was a humiliating outrage.
He had only retaliated because the brat had questioned his upbringing first. Now he’d been slapped publicly and told to kneel?
“Bullshit! You foreign devil, how dare you wreak havoc in our China? Me, kneeling? I spit on that! Go look in the mirror and see if you’re even worthy!”
Such vulgar insults spoken directly to Lewis were rare experiences for him. He was stunned, even forgetting to be angry, eyes wide with disbelief.
Just then, the train sounded a long whistle and thundered into the station.
Rage boiled in Cao Hua’s chest. His left hand clenched tightly as he hoisted his heavy suitcase, and his right fist swung fiercely toward Lewis’s dumbfounded face — now was the moment for revenge!
Lewis, stunned, gripped his cane motionless, utterly frozen.
Jiang Mingxi’s eyes flashed as she immediately lifted her foot and delivered a sharp kick to Cao Hua’s knee.
Cao Hua felt a stabbing pain in the bend of his leg; his whole body lost control, crashing forward like a heavy sack and smashing hard into the small table opposite.
Crash— crackle!
The white porcelain vase and delicate coffee cups shattered on impact, and scalding brown coffee splattered everywhere.
“Ah—! Hot! It’s burning me!” Cao Hua’s face plunged into the spilled coffee pot, and the scalding liquid instantly soaked his face and neck.
He leapt up as if touched by a branding iron, hands clutching his burning cheeks as he screamed in agony, his body shaking violently from the pain.
A nearby passenger, witnessing everything, gaped in shock before finally stammering, pointing at the steaming coffee pot, “Oh…oh my…that’s freshly brewed, boiling coffee…”
The attendant rushed over anxiously, “Mr. Cao, Mr. Cao! Are you alright? Let me help you up!”
“Get away! Don’t touch me!”
Cao Hua snarled like an enraged beast, fiercely swatting the attendant’s hand away.
He forced himself upright, the red welts glaring on his face, coffee dripping wet down his chin, utterly disheveled.
His eyes, bloodshot from pain and fury, were like poisoned knives, slicing repeatedly at Jiang Mingxi and Lewis.
His teeth clenched hard, grinding as he spat hoarse curses through gritted teeth, “Fine… fine… fine! I, Cao Hua, remember this hatred today! Just you wait — we’ll see who wins when the time comes!”
With that fierce vow, he clenched the suitcase again and, staggering and battered but burning with rage, stormed off the swaying carriage.
The carriage fell utterly silent.
The first-class passengers remained frozen in the aftermath of the confrontation, not yet reacting.
Until—
Jiang Mingxi turned to the dark-faced Lewis, “So, how do you say that ‘ride a donkey, sing a play — we’ll see’ in English?”
Lewis: ……
He burst out laughing, even crying with mirth.
Others in the carriage soon joined in, their eyes on Jiang Mingxi softening with amusement.
Jiang Mingxi looked puzzled, not understanding what was so funny.
This was a serious question.
She was genuinely curious how this xiehouyu (Chinese two-part allegorical saying) might be translated into English. Did English even have xiehouyu?
Lewis laughed for a while, then regained his composure.
He shook his head helplessly, “I really didn’t expect Cao to be such a rude and barbaric man.”
Jiang Mingxi knew why Cao Hua had suddenly gone mad like a rabid dog.
Lewis, as a foreigner, could not understand how important ‘face’ was to Chinese people, especially to the scholar-official class.
In the Song Dynasty, tattooing criminals with marks on their faces was a form of exile, branding them with lifelong shame and degrading them from scholar to criminal, dragging their whole family down the social ladder.
In the Qing Dynasty, palace maids who erred were often slapped; outside the palace, only servants would be slapped by their masters.
Kneeling, meanwhile, was far more solemn.
In Chinese tradition, kneeling was reserved only for the heavens, the earth, the sovereign, teachers, and parents.
No wonder Cao Hua had lost all reason.
— Jiang Mingxi was not about to explain these subtleties to Lewis.
Lewis, recalling the fist Cao Hua had raised at him, shuddered with lingering fear and a sense of betrayal by a friend.
He sighed deeply in disappointment and said earnestly, “Mr. Jiang, thank you. You saved me. You are a true gentleman.”
Jiang Mingxi replied lightly, “Oh, it’s nothing. Respecting elders and loving the young is a traditional virtue of our Chinese people. Anyone else would have done the same.”
The Eastern boy’s modesty and courtesy only made Lewis admire him more and feel even more ashamed.
He took off his top hat and held it to his chest, apologizing to Jiang Mingxi, “Please allow me to apologize on Cao Hua’s behalf. Everything he did today shows his despicable character. I misjudged him.”
Jiang Mingxi blinked and suddenly said, “Is an apology enough to make up for the harm he caused me?”
Her voice was full of sorrow, “Your friend has gravely insulted my entire family. According to our Chinese tradition, this is a feud that can never be settled by death alone…”
Lewis closed his eyes in regret.
Alas, he knew.
Chinese people deeply cherish family honor.
At the root, it was Cao who was at fault and must bear the consequences.
“Unless……”
Lewis opened his eyes in puzzlement.
The Eastern boy smiled slyly, “You teach me English.”
Lewis: “……”
He couldn’t hold back another hearty laugh.
“That would be my honor, Mr. Jiang. I would be delighted to teach a clever and noble young gentleman like you.”
The boy glanced sideways and confirmed, “You won’t charge, right?”
“Oh, of course, completely free.” Lewis laughed, amused by the mischievous little guy.
Though they’d just met, Lewis already liked him.
Young Mr. Jiang had a strange gift for making him laugh heartily.
“Then let’s begin the lesson.”
Jiang Mingxi immediately sat down and eagerly asked Lewis a question she cared deeply about. “Can you translate what he just said when he insulted me? I want to learn that.”
Lewis: “……”
He burst out laughing again, clutching his stomach, doubled over in mirth until his sides ached.
Oh God, what an adorable child!
He had a feeling this train journey would be very interesting indeed.