"Now I am in another person's body, with my own woman, my own home, and an uncertain future."
"现在的我在另一个人的身体里,有了自己的女人,自己的家和不确定的未来."
Early morning, Lin Yuhui stood on the balcony. The first light of dawn appeared on the horizon, a sliver of gray-white gleaming from deep within the vast, dark desert.
清晨的林语晖站在阳台,天际曙光初现,漆黑的大漠深处,闪亮一丝灰白.
The jingle bells he had been hearing everywhere these past few days signaled that the first Christmas he would spend in this home was approaching. The last time there had been a real family reunion atmosphere was during Chinese New Year, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s.
这些天来四处都能听到的铃儿响叮当的乐声,标志着他将要在这个家度过的第一个圣诞节就要来临了,而上一次真正有家庭团聚节日气氛,还是中国春节,上世纪的八零,九零年代之交.
Looking back at Grace in the bedroom, through the pink curtains, he could vaguely make out her sleeping silhouette. Lin Yuhui knew very well in his heart that she was just an ordinary woman—so ordinary she didn't know how her ex-husband had died, and wouldn't overthink how long he could stay with her. She just needed companionship.
回望卧室里的格蕾丝,透过粉色窗帘,依稀看见她熟睡的身影.林语晖内心很清楚她只是一个普通女人,普通到不知道自己的前夫是怎么没的,也不会多想自己能够陪她多久,她只是需要陪伴.
And if he wanted to keep himself alive long-term, to stay with her, there was still so much to do. But the people Lin Yuhui needed had to be trustworthy—scientists with knowledge and skills who could help him apply today's technology to achieve immortality.
而自己想要长期保住小命儿,陪伴她,需要做的事情还很多,但是林语晖需要的人手必须是可以信赖的,有知识和技能的科学家才能帮助自己应用当下的技术,实现自己永生.
After explaining to Grace, he set off on his own path of exploration.
在和格蕾丝解释之后,他踏上了自己的探索之路.
This was an era of technological explosion. Every industry had massive amounts of cutting-edge knowledge and equipment available—the key was the lack of people capable of applying them. So Lin Yuhui planned to check the surrounding free zones, to see if there were any outstanding young people.
这是一个技术爆炸的年代,各行各业都有海量的前沿知识,设备,可以获得,关键就是缺乏有能力应用它们的人.所以林语晖打算到周边自由区去看看,有没有杰出少年.
Why go so far to find people? Because he didn't want potential competitors or enemies to learn his intentions. Besides, he felt a blank slate was more reliable to him.
为什么要到那么远去找人?因为他不想被潜在的竞争对手,或者敌手知道自己的意图.另外他觉得一张白纸对于他来说更加可靠.
Having money was good—no matter what idea he had, he could make it happen. For this trip he bought a motorcycle, because on the country roads its off-road performance was better. He disguised himself as a landscape photographer, and of course he had to carry a weapon, because this was America.
有钱真好,不管有什么想法都能落实.为了这次出行他买了一辆摩托车,因为在乡间的道路上,它的通过性能更好,他把自己伪装成了一名风景摄影师,当然一定要携带武器,因为这里是美国.
Riding the motorcycle along the Colorado River, following places with water and land, he explored all the way down. Somewhat unexpectedly, the road was sparsely populated—completely unlike the American family farms he remembered, with families having several children and small towns teeming with people.
骑着摩托车上路,沿着科罗拉多河,寻着有水源有土地的地方,一路探访下去.有些出乎意料的是一路上人烟稀少,完全没有他印象中那种美国家庭农场,一家生好几个孩子,人口大量繁殖的聚居的小镇.
By noon, Lin Yuhui reached the first town on this road. It looked desolately out of another era, all gray prefab buildings. There was a bar at the intersection, no hotel, no grocery store—just a lumber yard and a farm equipment repair shop.
直到中午,林语晖来到了这条路上他遇到的第一个小镇,看起来宛如隔世的荒凉,还都是灰色模板建筑.路口有一家酒吧,没有旅馆,没有杂货商店,剩下的就是木材商店,农具修理.
The locals sat outside their shops, staring at this outsider with unblinking eyes. All old men—no young people at all, and no women either.
当地人坐在自己的门店外面,用直勾勾的眼光看着这个外地人,都是老男人,根本没有年轻人,也看不到女人.
Lin Yuhui realized then that the people of the free zones had not prospered because of their freedom and tax exemption. Although this place was cut off from the technology and materials of certain advanced societies, so that locals could develop freely without outside influence—as long as the locals were smart and hardworking, they should still live decently. But he hadn't expected such a scene of desolation and decay.
林语晖这才意识到自由区的人们并没有因为他们的自由和免于赋税而繁荣起来.虽然这里隔绝于某些先进社会的技术和物资,以便能让当地的人们不受外界影响地自由发展.但是只要当地人们聪明勤劳,应该还是会生活得不错的,但是没想到会是这样的一副凋敝破败的景象.
Could it be that their choice to come live here was itself a kind of choice for them? Lin Yuhui considered this possibility too—that most of them were simply people who couldn't keep up with the pace of social development, the ones who had been weeded out and sent here.
莫非?他们选择来到这里生活,本身也是对他们的一种选择?林语晖也想到了这种可能性,就是他们大多数本身就是跟不上社会发展的节奏,被淘汰到这里的那一批人.
Realizing he had gone in the wrong direction, Lin Yuhui couldn't just turn around directly—that would be too abrupt, arousing the locals' suspicion and possibly causing trouble.
意识到了自己找错了方向的林语晖,还不好直接掉头返回,那样有些突兀,引起当地人的怀疑别再惹出什么麻烦.
Thinking it through, he decided: since he'd gone the wrong way, he'd pretend he'd gone the wrong way. So he walked up to a man sunning himself by the roadside and asked,
考虑到这一点,心想既然自己找错了方向,那就假装找错了方向吧.于是他上前询问路边晒太阳的一个人,
"Sir, excuse me, does this road lead to Las Vegas?"
"先生,请问这条路下去是前往拉斯维加斯吗?"
"What?" The man was not only old, he seemed hard of hearing too.
"哪?"他不光上了年纪,似乎耳朵还背,
"I want to go to Las Vegas."
"我要去拉斯维加斯,"
"Oh, no, you're going the wrong way. That way," he said, pointing back the direction Lin Yuhui had come from.
"哦,不,你走错方向了,那边,"说着,他朝林语晖来的方向指了指,
"Oh, what bad luck today," Lin Yuhui said, pretending to be annoyed. He turned the bike around, thanked the man, and set off.
"哦,今天真倒霉,"然后假装懊恼着,调转车头,道谢,上路.
He heard the locals talking behind him,
只听见背后传来路人的交谈,
"Who is he?"
"他是谁?"
"Some poor bastard who took a wrong turn."
"一个走错了路的倒霉蛋,"
"Oh, heh heh."
"哦,呵呵,"
The motorcycle's exhaust pipe chuffed and popped across the open desert, venting the surge of power and Lin Yuhui's sense of freedom. Though it was winter, the desert at noon still had warm breezes on the face, carrying a hint of the river's scent and freshness. The wind, the tires, and the exhaust—these monotonous rhythms, along with the scenery before him, made it extremely easy to empty his mind. Of course, there was another benefit: it also made the mind clearer.
摩托车的排气管在旷野上突突突地抒发着动力的澎湃和林语晖自由的感觉.虽然是冬季,沙漠里的正午依然是暖风拂面,夹带着一丝旁边河水的味道与清爽.风声,轮胎声和排气声,这些单调的声音节奏还有眼前的景物极其容易放空大脑,当然也有另一个好处就是让脑子更清醒一些.
Lin Yuhui realized that the people he needed had to meet two key criteria: "reliable" and "usable." It was precisely his earlier overemphasis on "reliable" that had led him down this wrong road. Since he needed both, why not look for "reliable" among the "usable"?
林语晖意识到了他需要的人要求两个关键特征"可靠","能用",而正是之前过于追求"可靠"这个特性才把他带到这条错误的道路之上,既然这两点都要具备,那么为什么不可以在"能用"的人中寻找"可靠"的呢?
A shift in thinking, and the precision of screening immediately improved. So the best place to find capable talent was still in the city—with a large population base, good education and industry. Just pick the top students from schools. Wait, no—why not go one step further and find people directly in the industry? On the windy ride back, Lin Yuhui had already figured out his next direction.
思路一换,筛选精度立即提高.所以要找可用之才最好的地点还是在城市里,有大规模的人口基数,有良好的教育和产业,去学校里挑尖子生呗.且慢,不对,为什么不更进一步,直接在行业里找人呢?在吹着风的旅途归程中,林语晖已经想好了下一步的方向.
He returned to the company in the afternoon. His work attire today was somewhat unconventional—the CEO of the company, showing up in a full motorcycle riding suit. Everywhere he passed, he got more or less strange looks.
下午回到公司,今天的上班穿着有些异类,堂堂公司CEO,穿着一身摩托骑行服来上班,所过之处都是或多或少有些异样的眼光.
Back in the office, a pile of documents awaiting his signature and approval sat on the desk. From initially paying attention to content details and cramming frantically, he had now started paying attention to the people involved.
回到办公室,桌子上一堆要审批签字的文件,从最开始的留意内容细节开始疯狂补课,到现在他开始留意涉及的人员了.
How to bind them? Money or desire? Power and status? Ideals and values? Nepotism? At this point Lin Yuhui thought of Charisse—she had always been willing to have a child with him. Would it come to this, a relationship close to mutual exploitation? He was questioning his own morality.
和他们怎么绑定呢?金钱或者欲望?权力地位?理想和价值观?裙带关系?这时林语晖想到了莎丽斯,她一直有意愿和自己生孩子,难道要形成这样的近似于相互利用的关系吗?他在拷问自己的道德.
You're saving yourself—what morality are you still thinking about? Has your brain turned to mush?
你在自救,你还在考虑什么道德?你的脑子灌了浆糊了吗?
Oh, this was a good excuse to shed his moral restraints. But Lin Yuhui then vaguely thought of Liana.
哦,这是一个好借口,可以卸下自己的道德限制,可是林语晖又隐约想到了莉安娜.
After handling the company's affairs, he returned home and saw his woman Grace, and the lovely children Charlotte and Levi. Lin Yuhui could finally set aside his survival anxiety for the moment.
处理过公司的事务回到家中,见到了自己的女人格蕾丝,可爱的孩子夏洛特和利维.林语晖终于可以把生存的焦虑暂时放在脑后了.
It seemed his life could never stop rushing—never stop to think of nothing, just enjoy the present. In his previous life, he had needed to plan a path for his fragile body to survive, so that when his daughter needed him, he could help. And in this life, when he had Hunter's body, his family, his sister-in-law—he felt as if he had been wound up again.
似乎他的人生永远无法停下奔波的脚步,停下来什么都不想,只享受当下的生活.上一辈子需要谋划人生找到一条自己的脆弱身体能够生存的道路,以便于女儿若有需要的时候,他能够帮上忙.而这辈子当他有了亨特的身体,他的家庭,他的嫂子,然后自己又好像被上了发条一样.
"Theodore, the children and I are preparing the Christmas tree ornaments," Grace said. She still liked to call Lin Yuhui by her ex-husband's name when her parents-in-law weren't around.
"西奥多,我和孩子们在准备圣诞树的挂件,"格蕾丝依旧喜欢公公婆婆不在场的时候,称呼林语晖为她的前夫的名字,
Colorful paper cutouts and toys were spread all over the floor. Charlotte and Levi were playing with the things they liked. Though their mother kept telling them how to hang the ornaments on the branches, such small children, in front of so many bright and shiny things, quickly forgot what they were supposed to be doing.
彩色的剪纸,玩具摆放了一地,夏洛特和利维在把玩着他们喜欢的东西,虽然妈妈也不时地告诉他们应该怎么样把挂件挂在树枝上,但是那么小的孩子,在这么多灿烂光鲜的物品面前很快就忘了自己要做什么,
"Mama, he's Uncle Hunter," Charlotte had been persistently correcting her mother on this point.
"妈妈,他是亨特叔叔,"夏洛特在这一点上一直在很执着地纠正着她的妈妈,
Grace could only look at her child helplessly, then turn an innocent gaze toward Lin Yuhui.
格蕾丝也只好无奈地看看自己的孩子,然后又无辜地望向林语晖,
Watching Grace sitting sideways on the floor, her skirt covering her thighs, and the somewhat resentful look in her eyes as she glanced over, Lin Yuhui couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt toward her—he had just been thinking about having a child with another woman.
看着格蕾丝侧身坐在地板上,裙摆遮住大腿的身影,和她望过来有些哀怨的眼神,林语晖不由觉得心中有些对不住她,自己刚才还在想和别的女人生孩子.
(Translated by ERNIE Bot)