Translate to English: Chapter 17 "Guns, Germs, and Steel".

Sachi and Scott just finished discussing.

Regarding Lu's fee,

The Daily Telegraph offers £35 for a weekly column;

The Manchester Guardian offers £20 for an article, as long as it passes editorial review.

And, they accept syndicated content.

This surprised Lu greatly.

After all, the two newspapers are competitors, and this competition is comprehensive, spanning from the commercial domain to political inclinations. The use of syndicated content would make it feel as if deep-seated enmities suddenly thawed, even fostering a sense of camaraderie as if they were bosom buddies, inexplicably.

Scott winked mysteriously and chuckled, "Mr. Sachi still has a conservative tendency~"

Sachi shot him a glare but didn't respond.

He indeed had a spirit of enterprise, but his mindset ultimately leaned towards stability. Although he dared to bet on a Chinese student, it wasn't much.

It's understandable how it ended up like this.

However, both Scott and Sachi were shrewd; there was no deception between them, but rather a balancing of interests.

Sachi nodded slightly, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Scott, there are still matters at the newspaper office, excuse me."

Scott also stood up, "Let's go together."

With that, he even positioned himself side by side with Sachi.

Seeing the two like this, Lu naturally wouldn't join in the fun, saying, "I think the environment of this café is quite nice. I'd like to brainstorm here for a while. Please go ahead."

Sachi and Scott bid farewell to Lu and left on their own.

The editors-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph and The Manchester Guardian shoulder to shoulder was quite a spectacle.

Watching them disappear, Lu asked the waiter for paper and pen.

Because it was Fleet Street, there were often journalists and editors around, and the quality of the stationery provided here was good, better than what Natsume Sōseki paid for.

Lu contemplated, considering where to start.

Since it was an editorial, it had to be innovative; clichés wouldn't work.

Secondly, it needed depth; superficiality wouldn't pass editorial review.

The first thing that came to his mind was works like "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword," but he dismissed it himself.

From the perspective of popular reading, "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" could be considered perfect; even the Japanese themselves acknowledged the book's portrayal of their culture of shame, debts of honor, and lack of individualism.

But in reality, the author, Ruth Benedict, had never even been to Japan.

Who could claim to thoroughly analyze a country's national character solely through a few prisoners of war?

Isn't that ridiculous?

The Japanese praise "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" for many reasons, but one significant factor is that the book was written by an American after World War II.

After WWII, Japan's sycophancy towards America was all-encompassing; even Curtis LeMay, who firebombed Tokyo, causing the deaths of 500,000 people and leaving 8 million homeless, was awarded the highest order of the "Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun."

In such an atmosphere of national sycophancy, it's questionable whether the Japanese acceptance of "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" is sincere.

In any case, Lu didn't believe a word of it.

Moreover, as a mixed-blood of the Qing Dynasty, writing such provocative books was akin to seeking death.

He pondered for a moment and wrote down two words on the paper:

Depth,

Innovation.

Using Chinese characters.

His gaze lingered for a moment before he finally thought of the appropriate work—

"Guns, Germs, and Steel."

This book was very interesting; the author, Jared Diamond, was not a historian himself, so it was interdisciplinary writing, offering new perspectives on history and social studies.

Another important point was safety,

Copying this book was almost impossible to offend anyone.

Of course, simply copying wouldn't work; otherwise, it would certainly be baffling when writing about World War I and World War II.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand happened in 1914. In 1900, Archduke Ferdinand was still alive~

Lu picked up his pen, wrote down the title, and began to brainstorm the specifics.

At this moment, a crisp voice sounded, "Mr. Lu, nice to see you again."

It was Miss Margarita again.

Lu sighed and looked up, saying, "Didn't you just leave? Do you really want me to contact Scotland Yard?"

Hearing him mention Scotland Yard again, Margarita frowned slightly, muttering, "I've already thought it over carefully just now. Even if the police from Scotland Yard come, they can't do anything to me. You were obviously trying to scare me earlier!"

Lu sighed, "Do you need to 'carefully consider' such a thing? Of course, I was just trying to scare you!"

Full of sarcasm.

Margarita, who had felt clever just now, was instantly filled with frustration, drooping her head, dispirited.

Lu pointed towards the door, "Please."

It was the first time Margarita had been treated like this, feeling a bit annoyed, she raised her small fist, ready to retort that the other party lacked gentlemanly demeanor. But then she suddenly noticed the manuscript on the table.

She didn't know Chinese characters, so she didn't understand "Depth" and "Innovation," but she could understand the English-written article titles,

She asked, "Germs? Why germs?"

Lu remained silent, "..."

Margarita's curiosity didn't wane, "I heard that both The Daily Telegraph and The Manchester Guardian simultaneously approached you for articles about the rise of America. Is this what you're writing now?"

Lu continued to remain noncommittal, "..."

Margarita felt like she was talking to a stone Buddha, muttering, "Stingy!"

She wanted to leave like this, but she couldn't help but be torn between leaving and staying to find out the relationship between germs and the rise of America.

The two stared at each other.

After a while, Margarita suddenly spoke, "Give me back my money. I won't treat you to afternoon tea anymore."

Lu was speechless, wondering who was the real stingy one.

He glanced across the table,

Sachi's utensils had already been cleared away, and the £1 note that had been under the plate was naturally gone.

Helplessly, Lu reached into his inner coat pocket.

But soon, his movement froze because he was currently wearing the suit prepared by Scott, and all his belongings were still in the patchwork of that coat,

In other words, he couldn't produce a single penny right now.

This was the aftermath of urban residents becoming accustomed to mobile payments and not liking to carry cash when going out.

The atmosphere at the scene became strange.

"..."

"..."

"..."

A full minute of awkward silence.

Lu awkwardly touched his nose and said, "Didn't you just ask about the relationship between germs and the rise of America? It's simple. When Europeans stepped onto the American continent, they not only brought science but also smallpox, mumps, measles, cholera, syphilis, and yellow fever..."

Margarita, still puzzled, said innocently, "If you're going to answer, at least be serious. Such a perfunctory response is worse than saying nothing at all."

Lu shrugged, "No, I'm quite serious. Think about it, what's the most thorough land reform plan? It's obviously to grab the 'landlords' and hang them with ropes~ and compared to ropes, germs are much more efficient."

Portraying an epidemic as a land reform,

Margarita couldn't accept it.

She confirmed, "Are you serious?"

Lu nodded, "Yes, sometimes, history and politics are just that simple and cruel."

Margarita stared at him carefully for several seconds, her curiosity deepening, "When your article is published, I'll be sure to read it carefully."

After saying this, she elegantly walked away, holding up her skirt.