Talk about your experience at the University of Michigan
请简要谈一谈您在密歇根大学的学习生涯。

这个问题的答案，大概不太容易简要。1995-1997年，我在密西根大学工程学院攻读机械工程学士学位。虽然只有短短两年多，却非常令我难忘。作为转学的留学生，陌生的环境、生疏的语言、学业的压力和紧张的经济状况都带给我很大压力。但其中最大的压力还是来自经济。我曾最多同时打四份工，在中餐馆、快餐店，学校实验室和研究中心都打过工。记得我的时间表曾是这样的：早晨8点到学校上课，下课后赶去餐馆打午餐，下午两点赶回学校上课，下午五点再去餐厅。然后一直工作到夜里十点，回住处后才开始念书，要到凌晨三四点睡觉。这样忙碌的日子，倒是把初到美国的孤寂和乡愁都挤没了。我记得我住在安阿伯边上的一座小房子的地下室，每月150美元租金。骑一辆20美元买来的旧自行车，到北校园单程大约40分钟。在冰天雪地里每天骑车上下学，也是令人难忘的体验。正是这段艰苦岁月，让我初尝人生之苦，理解奋斗的意义并非锦上添花，而是为了生存。不仅是当下的生存，还有未来的生存。

It is not easy to answer this question briefly. From 1995 to 1997, I was studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan College of Engineering for my Bachelor’s Degree. Although it was only a little more than two years, it is still fresh in my mind. As a transfer student studying abroad, I was under a lot of pressure from the new environment, unfamiliar language, academic pressure, and tight economic situation. But among these, strongest pressure was from my economic situation. At one point in time, I worked up to four jobs: a Chinese restaurant, a fast food restaurant, a laboratory, and a research center. I remember my daily schedule was as follows: I arrived at eight in the morning to class; after leaving class, I went to work the lunch shift at the restaurant; at two in the afternoon I rushed back to school to go to class; after five, I had to be at the cafeteria again. Then, I worked until ten at night; only after I returned to my dormitory, did I begin to study; I would not be able to sleep until three or four in the morning. I was so busy that I did not have time for the loneliness and homesickness most people feel they first go to the United States. I remember that I lived in the basement of a small house at the edge of Ann Arbor; my monthly rent was $150. Riding a used bicycle that I bought for $20, it took forty minutes to get to North Campus. In the ice and snow, riding the bicycle to and from school every day was an experience that is hard to forget. It was from this difficult time that I began to taste the bitterness of life; I came to understand that the meaning of working hard is not to get icing onto the cake, but to survive. Survival not only for the present, but for the future.

 

What inspired you to write your mystery novel series?
有哪些因素促使您撰写了神秘小说系列？

正如上面的问题所提到的，正是在密西根的经历，激发了我写作的热情，并于2003年创作并出版了第一部长篇小说。那时我还是工程师。从那时起，我就一直没有停止写作，虽然一直转换工作，甚至跨越行业，但始终坚持小说创作。我所涉足的不同行业，自然都成为我创作的素材背景。我开始创作以秘密商业调查为背景的悬疑小说，是2009年，在我进入此行业3年之后。这是一个新鲜而特殊的行业，神秘而不为人知。非常适合作为悬疑小说的创作背景。我正是根据跨国商业调查的经验，以及在此调查中了解到的许多“不为人知”的财富背后的故事，创作了系列小说《秘密调查师》的前四部作品，并还在继续为此系列创作更多作品。

As I mentioned in my answer above, it was my experience at Michigan that inspired my passion to write. In 2003, I wrote and published my first novel. At the time, I was still an engineer. From then on, I never stopped writing. Although I always changed jobs, even transferring professions, I continued to write. All the occupations I have held naturally became the subject matter and setting of my works. I started to write suspense novels about private business dealing, in 2009, three years after I went into private business investigation.

It was a new and special industry, mysterious and unknown to outsiders. It is well suited to be the subject of novels. I used my experience as a multinational business investigator and my knowledge of the secret stories behind wealth to create the first four books of the mystery novel series, Mi Mi Diao Cha Shi [Investigative Division]. Now I continue working on this series.

 

Tell us about an experience, realization, or a best moment or most difficult moment from your work across your various fields of expertise.
请与我们分享您在跨专业跨领域的研究和工作过程中最令人兴奋或者最困难的时刻。

我想，不停跨界这件事本身，也许就足以困难得令人头疼了。从机器人工程师，到市场开发管理，到中英文口译，再到投资风险管理、商业调查，然后又是职业作者和编剧，即便是按照大行业来说，也是从工程，到金融，再到影视，跳了三回。每一种都从事五六年，驾轻就熟了能开始吃老本了，就又丢了，是不是可以说成“狗熊掰棒子”？ 总是从头开始，自然会遇到很多困难和挑战。但在我看来，这些困难并不令人畏惧。因为每次当我进入一个新的行业，或者开始一个新的工作，我的心态都是充满好奇的。我是带着观察和了解的心态进入的。因为我心目中始终有一个核心的目标，就是写出更好看的故事。既然要写故事，就必须多经历，多了解。

有了这种心态，就再也不怕重新开始，那些因为生疏而产生的挫败感也就不重要了。也许正因为不太畏惧，困难克服起来倒是容易多了. 也许最令我兴奋的，也就是每次换行带来的灵感，以及每次从零做起一路披荆斩棘的成就感吧！总有些冒险者的快乐。

Constantly changing careers is probably in itself difficult and headache-inducing. I began in robotic engineering, then went to market development and management, then Chinese-English interpretation,, then investment and risk management, then a business investigator, then became a professional author and playwright. Even going by industry: from engineering to finance to movies and television, I jumped into three industries. In each, I worked five or six years, and once I gained enough experience and became familiar, I stopped—doesn’t it seem as though I am dropping as much as I am picking up? Always starting at the beginning naturally leads to many difficulties and challenges. But from my perspective, these difficulties are not daunting, because every time I enter a new field or start a new job, I am always curious. I enter into fields with an investigative approach, because in my mind, from start to finish, my ultimate goal is to write better stories. If you want to write stories, you must have plenty of experience and deep understanding.

With this approach, I am no longer afraid to begin again, because the frustrations from being unfamiliar become unimportant. Perhaps because I am not very afraid, overcoming challenges is much easier. Perhaps what most excites me is that each career change brings, because I start from zero and fight all the way, a sense of accomplishment and inspiration. Always, there is joy to the adventure.

 

How did the university influence your choice to go into consulting?
在密歇根大学的经历对您的高级顾问职业有什么样的影响？

我曾经从事过不少职业，比较正式的大概有三种：自动控制工程师、商业调查师、作者。 在密西根大学的两年经历，自然对三个职业都有帮助，但尤对1、3两项帮助最大。1就不必说了。如果不是在密大确立了专业方向并取得了令人满意的成绩，并因此顺利获得斯坦福大学的全额奖学金，我也无法在自控和机器人领域最尖端的实验室深造，并顺利进入自控行业。而对于作家这工作，正是在密大的两年艰苦经历，激发了我的创作热情，从一个热爱读小说的人，变成热爱写小说的人。我的第一部在中国大陆出版的长篇小说《漂洋日记》（2003年），就是以密西根大学的生活作为主要背景创作的。那部作品在国内小有名气，也鼓励我坚持把文学创作作为自己的理想。如果没有密西根大学的经历，恐怕我是不会成为小说作家的。

对于商业调查和投资风险管理而言，既然是顾问，就需要丰富的经历。尤其是我做的工作，和对中美文化的深入了解密切相关。密西根大学是开启我对美国乃至西方文化、历史、价值观认知的地方。自然也意义深远。

I worked in many fields, but formally there were three occupations: mechanical engineer, business analyst, and writer. My two years at the University of Michigan naturally helped me in all three fields, but most strongly the first and the third. The first one as a mechanical engineer is easy to understand: if I hadn’t chosen my field and made satisfactory grades at Michigan, I wouldn’t have gotten a full scholarship at Stanford, nor would I have gotten a higher education in auto-mechanical engineering and robotics at a top lab and eventually transitioned smoothly into a career in auto-mechanical engineering. As a writer, my two years of hard work at Michigan ignited my passion for creative writing that transformed my love of reading fiction to love of writing fiction. My first published novel in mainland China, Piao Yang Ri Ji [Diary that Sailed across the Ocean] (2003) was mostly based on my experience at the University of Michigan. The success of that novel within mainland China also encouraged me to further pursue my dream as a writer. If if hadn’t been for my experiences at the University of Michigan, I’m afraid I might not have become a novelist.

As for business analytics and investment risk management, as a consultant, you need a wealth of experience. My job especially requires a deep knowledge and close understanding of American and Chinese cultures. The University of Michigan is where I began to understand American and Western cultural history and values. Naturally, the University of Michigan means a lot.

What do want people to take away from your work and story?
您最希望大家从您的工作或者作品中获得什么？

我希望读者们能够从我的作品中看到人生。我的人生，我所了解的其他人生，还有读者自己的人生。每个人生都是一面镜子，让我们找到自己。我的经历促成了我的作品，我的作品就是这一面面的镜子。我希望我的经历和故事，能帮助大家找到一些自己，不论是过去的自己，还是未来的自己，现实中的自己，或者幻想中的自己，哪怕只有一点点，那就已经非常令我满意了。

I hope readers can see human life through my works: my life, the lives of people I know, and the readers’ own lives. Every life is a mirror that allows us to find ourselves. My works come from my experiences; they are those mirrors. I hope my experiences and stories can help everyone find something of themselves, be it in the past, in the future, in the present, or in fantasies—even if it is only a little piece, I would be very satisfied.