Set in the 1930s it follows the misadventures of Fang Hung-chien
Fang Hongjian, a bumbling everyman who wastes his time studying
abroad, and secures a fake degree when learning he has run out of
money and must return home to China. The first part of the novel is
set on the boat home, where Fang courts two young ladies.
Fang was the son of a country gentleman. A marriage had been
arranged for him while at university, but the intended wife died
before he could see her. After completing a degree in Chinese
literature, he went to Europe where he studied at several
universities without pursuing a degree. After being pressured by
his family, he bought a fake degree from an American Irishman.
The year was 1937, and Fang was returning to China from Europe
along with other graduating Chinese students. One fellow traveller
was Miss Su, in her late 20s. She is quite pretty in a thin and
pallid style, but her choosy attitude towards men means she is
still unattached and getting slightly desperate. Another young lady
on board was Miss Pao, who tended towards the tanned and
voluptuous. Fang pursued Miss Bao with some success during the
voyage. However, when the boat reached Hong Kong, Miss Pao
disembarked into the embrace of her fiancee, a middle-aged, balding
doctor, and Fang realised he had been used.
Fang then became more intimate with Miss Su. However, after they
disembarked at Shanghai, Fang became occupied with finding a job,
and attending matchmaking sessions arranged by his parents and
former in-laws. After one failed attempt, Fang decided to contact
Miss Su. While visiting her he also met her cousin, Miss T''ang, and
Miss Su''s suitor, Chao Hsin-mei.
The second section follows his securing a teaching post at a new
university - where his fake credentials are used to keep him in
line, and in the third part, it centers on his disastrous marriage.
The novel ends with his wife leaving him, while he listens to a
clock chiming.
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