by William Langley

Wendi Deng， the continent-hopping， careerswapping， cream pie assailant-whacking wife of Rupert Murdoch， has proved only so adept at life on the big stage. Her talents are many， but ever since she married Rupert aboard his 155ft yacht 14 years ago， the odds have been stacked against her.

Mr Murdoch， as everyone knows， is really married to his business， and although his third wife may have given him a new lease of life， two daughters and an assisted passage into the 1）lucrative Chinese television market， there were many in the Murdoch cosmos who failed to take kindly to her.

“What first attracted you to your elderly billionaire husband？” was the question everybody joked about asking the young Chinese bride，a one-time waitress in a Los Angeles noodle 2）parlour. The notion of Mrs Murdoch as a dynastydevouring dragon-floozy proved hard to shift， and the news that Mr Murdoch wants a divorce on the grounds of an 3）irretrievable breakdown was surprising only in its suggestion that， when youre 82， anything is actually retrievable.

The couples troubles—regular gossip in medialand for years—have recently seeped into the mainstream. A year ago， the New York Times announced Ms Dengs“Declaration of Independence”， reporting that the pair lived largely separate lives， and that Mr Murdochs corporate 4）lieutenants were scheming to make sure that Mrs Murdoch “is kept at a distance”.

Happily， she was right by his side when， with one 5）virtuoso display of marital devotion， she became an overnight global sensation. In 2011， Mr Murdoch was giving stumbling evidence to a 6）parliamentary committee investigating phone hacking， when a protester ran in from the wings and tried to splat him with a foam pie. As others watched 7）dumbfounded， Ms Deng launched herself at the attacker and landed a fearsome， karate-style right-hander with the sound of a 8）halibut being dropped from a vast height on to a paving stone. The 9）prankster， one Jonnie Marbles， said later： “I saw the rage in her eyes. It was scary. I wouldnt want a rematch.”

鄧文迪，這位魯伯特·默多克的妻子，跨洋過海，跳換職途，為丈夫重擊砸奶油派的襲擊者，她證明了自己面對大舞臺的生活是如此游刃有余。她才華橫溢，但自從14年前，她在長達155英尺的游艇上嫁給魯伯特后，重重困難便不斷向她襲來。

默多克先生，正如眾所周知的那樣，其實他娶的是他的生意，盡管他的第三任妻子或許給了他新的生活、兩個女兒和有助于他打入前景可觀的中國電視市場的通衢大道，但默多克對她的很多事情并不太樂于接受。

“你這位年邁的億萬富翁丈夫在一開始吸引你的是什么？”這是人們在取笑這位年輕的中國新娘時常提的問題，這位新娘一度是洛杉磯一家面館的服務(wù)生。人們認為她是個吞噬王朝的兇狠蕩婦這一觀點很難有所改變，默多克先生最終提出離婚的消息也是不出所料的，唯一令人驚訝的是他提出離婚的理由，說兩人關(guān)系破裂到不可挽回，大家會覺得，都活到82歲了，還能有什么可以挽回的？

這對夫婦的問題——多年來都是媒體界的花邊新聞——最近成為了主流話題。一年前，《紐約時報》發(fā)表了鄧女士的“獨立宣言”，報道稱這對夫婦大部分時間過著分居生活，而且默多克公司的助理們在謀劃如何確保默多克夫人“被保持在一定距離之外”。

讓人高興的是，當她精彩地展示出她對婚姻的奉獻精神時，她不僅獲得了對方陣營的認可，還一夜之間成為了全世界的佳話。2011年，默多克先生在向議會委員會就電話竊聽丑聞提供拙劣的證據(jù)時，一位抗議者從側(cè)廳沖進來并企圖將一盤泡沫派拍向他。正當所有人都愣住之際，鄧女士從凳子上跳了起來，并以右掌給了這名突襲者可怕的空手道式的一巴掌，那聲響就如一條大比目魚被人從高空往鋪路石上一摔那般響亮。那個惡作劇的人，是一個叫強尼·馬布爾斯的家伙，在事件之后說：“我見到她眼中的那股怒火。嚇死人了。我可不想和她再對戰(zhàn)?！?/p>

When you are as rich as Mr Murdoch， divorce is a costly and complex prospect. His previous wife， Anna， collected $1 billion when he divorced her in 1999， 17 days before marrying the then 30-year-old Ms Deng. It is unlikely that she will receive much less. Some Murdochwatchers expressed surprise that the couple hadnt settled for a simpler together-but-apart arrangement.

By taking the heavy option， Mr Murdoch has fed the notion that something 10）irresolvable has happened in the background. This was given a dose of rocket fuel by the BBCs business editor， Robert Peston， who claimed in a tweet that “the undisclosed reasons for Murdoch divorcing Deng are jaw-dropping”.

11）Allegations of Ms Dengs 12）indiscretions have flown around for years， sometimes in such profusion and detail as to suggest a deliberate smear campaign. American newspapers have， from time to time， been contacted by an anonymous 13）tipster using the Gotham City 14）pseudonym Harvey Dent to identify supposed lovers from the worlds of politics， big business or the movies.

The greater likelihood is that Ms Deng was never really cut out for life as a Murdoch， and that as her husband has aged and his power has flowed in the direction of others—particularly his grown-up children by Anna—things have become more difficult for his outsider wife.

像默多克先生那么富有的人，離婚是一件成本非常高且極為復(fù)雜的事。他的前任妻子安娜，在1999年與他離婚時獲得了十億美金，17天后，默多克就與當時年紀為30歲的鄧女士結(jié)婚了。所以鄧文迪將獲得的也不會少到哪里去。關(guān)注默多克的人士對于兩人不簡單弄個“形合實分”的協(xié)議表示驚訝。

通過做出代價沉重的選擇，默多克先生助長了人們的某種想法，即認為背后必定發(fā)生了一些無法解決的情況。而BBC的商業(yè)編輯羅伯特·佩斯頓則更是給這一想法添了一劑火箭燃料，他在推特微博上說：“默多克和鄧文迪離婚的神秘原因讓人驚訝得下巴都掉下來了?！?/p>

對于鄧女士言行不檢的陳述已沸沸揚揚地傳了好些年了，有時候那種豐富和細節(jié)描述簡直像蓄謀已久的一輪惡意誹謗。美國多間報社不時收到一名以高譚市哈維·丹特為假名的告密者的聯(lián)系，并從全世界范圍內(nèi)的政客、商業(yè)大腕或影星中指認傳聞中的秘密情人。

更大的可能是鄧女士從來就不適合作為默多克家族的一員來過生活，因為她的丈夫年事已高，而其權(quán)力也已流入其他人的掌控之中——尤其是他與安娜所生的幾個成年孩子——情勢對于他這位局外的妻子來說已變得越來越困難。

The couple met in 1997 at a time when Murdoch was trying， with 15）uncharacteristic lack of success， to break into the Chinese media market. The story goes that Mr Murdoch was 16）berating the troops at his Hong Kong TV headquarters when Ms Deng， a junior employee， stood up and asked： “Well， why is your China strategy so bad？”

He sought her out afterwards and was struck， not only by her confidence， but by what Vogue magazine called“the kind of looks usually reserved for a James Bond 17）villainess”. Soon， she was not only his wife， but a key tool in his advance upon China.

Ms Deng was born in eastern China in 1968， one of four children. “I grew up in a funny little town called Xuzhou，”she has said. “In the countryside， very poor. We didnt have hot water.” Her parents were factory engineers and convinced Communist Party members， who named her Wenge meaning“cultural revolution”. She later changed it to Wendi， but praises her mother and father for pushing her towards learning and achievement and ultimately into a medical school in Guangzhou， close to the Hong Kong border.

這對夫婦是在1997年相遇的，當時默多克想要打入中國傳媒市場，卻一反常態(tài)遭遇滑鐵盧。故事是默多克在香港電視總部訓(xùn)斥下屬的時候，鄧女士，作為一名低級員工，站了起來并問道：“那么，是什么原因?qū)е履愕闹袊呗赃@么失敗的呢？”

他之后找她見面，還為她感到震撼，不僅僅是因為她的自信，還因為她具有《Vogue》雜志所言的“占士邦壞女郎通常具有的那類外貌”。很快，她不僅成為了他的妻子，還成為他朝中國市場進軍的關(guān)鍵棋子。

鄧女士于1968年生于中國東部，是家里四個孩子之一。“我在一個有意思的小鎮(zhèn)長大，這個鎮(zhèn)叫徐州，”她說過?！霸卩l(xiāng)下，非常窮。我們沒有熱水?！彼母改甘枪S工程師和忠心的中國共產(chǎn)黨員，給她取名“文革”，意為“文化大革命”。后來她把名字改成了文迪，但一直對父母表示感激，因為是他們對她學(xué)習的敦促，她才取得好成績，最終進入廣州（瀕臨香港的邊界）的一所醫(yī)學(xué)院。

It was there that she met an American woman， Joyce Cherry， who taught her English and became a friend. When Mrs Cherry and her husband， Jake， returned to the US， they obtained permission for Ms Deng to accompany them and to continue her studies at California State University. Not long after arriving in Los Angeles， however， Mrs Cherry discovered that Jake and the teenage Wendi were having an affair. The Cherrys divorced， and Ms Deng and Jake married. By the time it ended， 18）just four months later， Ms Deng had decided to stay in the US.

She worked punishing hours in a Chinese restaurant to support her studies， landing a prized place at Yale Business School， and later a job at Mr Murdochs Star TV 19）subsidiary. She was on a trip to drum up business in Hong Kong when the boss breezed through.

If Ms Dengs rise rings with a certain ruthlessness， her supporters insist it is not the whole story. Many claim that her influence on Rupert has been overwhelmingly good. “She is fabulous to work with， a real pro， terrific at bringing people together，” said Tina Brown， the magazine editor.

The girl from Guangzhou has the glamour， the money and the connections， but her future seems less certain. If life as Mrs Murdoch isnt always easy， it can be a lot harder when you are suddenly someone else.

就在那里，她遇到了一位教她英語并與之成為朋友的美國女士——喬伊斯·查瑞。當查瑞夫人和她的丈夫杰克回到美國后，他們?yōu)猷囄牡先〉煤炞C，她得以陪同他們到美國并在加利福尼亞州立大學(xué)繼續(xù)深造。然而，就在到達洛杉磯后不久，查瑞夫人便發(fā)現(xiàn)杰克和這位少女鄧文迪有染。查瑞夫婦離婚，然后鄧文迪和杰克結(jié)了婚。直到這段關(guān)系結(jié)束之時，也就是他們結(jié)婚四個月之后，鄧文迪決定留在美國。

她在一家中餐館里拼命工作來支撐她的學(xué)業(yè)，在耶魯商學(xué)院獲得珍貴的一席之地，而后在默多克旗下的星空傳媒子公司謀得一職。在準備前往香港發(fā)展事業(yè)的途中，鄧遇到了星空傳媒的老板。

如果說鄧文迪崛起的故事充斥著某種不擇手段，那么她的支持者則會強調(diào)這不是整個故事的全部。很多人認為她對魯伯特的影響是極好的?！八且晃粯O佳的工作伙伴，是一名真正的專業(yè)人士，在團結(jié)人方面很在行，”雜志編輯蒂娜·布朗如是說。

這位來自廣州的女孩擁有美貌、財富和人脈，但她的未來卻似乎不那么確定。如果說作為默多克夫人的生活并不總是很好過的話，那突然變成另外一個人定會是難上加難。