It's almost a two-hour drive from the hotel to Mr. Carlo's home, but Mr. Carlo's barbecue party is scheduled for the afternoon. Fei Chai was worried that it would be impolite to go there early, so he told Yang Yang, who smiled and said: "
It’s okay, Carlo is a China expert and has lived in China for many years, and he has always been looking forward to seeing you again.【,”
Just after Yang Yang finished speaking, a call came in. Fortunately, Yang Yang was wearing a mobile phone headset, so he answered the call. It was Wei Haowen who said he wanted to stop in the small town ahead.
Stopping the car in front of a restaurant in the town, Wei Haowen introduced: "This restaurant is very famous for its lard residue and blood sausage. It would be a shame not to try it."
Du Songmei asked with a smile: "Is it possible that you have been active here?"
Wei Haowen said: "No, I saw it on the National Geographic Channel."
Fei Chai laughed and walked in first.
Everyone entered the restaurant. This place was very close to Mr. Carlo's home, so the waiter and many guests were familiar with Yang Yang. It is said that Yang Yang also worked here as a summer job for a period of time, so they all greeted Yang Yang intimately.
He also introduced Fei Chai, Xiaomi and others to everyone, showing that
However, everyone knew about Fei Chai's adoption of Yang Yang, so they were very affectionate to Fei Chai and others. Among them was a bearded man who claimed to be a timber merchant in the town. He also said that if it was night, he must meet Fei Chai.
Have a drink, this is not an ordinary polite word in the United States.
Everyone sat down, and Du Songmei said to Fei Chai: "It seems that you are very popular here, but they don't seem to value you as a scientist, but they do value you as Yang Yang's adoptive father."
Fei Chai said: "This is the so-called cultural difference. Didn't I say it in my lectures before I went abroad? After I came out, I should not mention my official title on certain occasions and try my best to talk about my academic achievements. Of course, family ties are more important in front of these people.
"
But Yang Yang said to Wei Haowen: "Uncle Wei, it's not time to eat yet, why do you have to stop? And it will be there soon."
Wei Haowen smiled and said: "Although Mr. Carlo has lived in China for many years, he is an American after all. Today's barbecue party is almost equivalent to a gathering of your family and neighbors and friends. I was not invited, so I wanted to find someone first.
There is a place to stay, and after the barbecue party is over, your father will also go back to live in the town."
Fei Chai heard it from the side and couldn't help but secretly praise Wei Haowen for his thoughtfulness. So everyone ate some local specialties such as blood sausage, and then went to a hotel in the town to settle down.
Fei Chai and Xiaomi put away their luggage, and then prepared to go to Mr. Carlo's house with Yang Yang. Unexpectedly, Du Songmei also changed clothes and came out. Fei Chai deliberately smiled and said half-jokingly: "I thought Haowen's words also included you.
Woolen cloth."
Du Songmei smiled and said: "Of course he can't do it, but he didn't say that I can't do it. Your invitation also includes your wife's. It's a pity that Zhao Mei can't fly for a long time, but as your translator, it's normal for me to accompany you."
Ah. And I’m looking forward to the average American family barbecue.”
We had no choice but to take her there. In fact, Yang Yang was present, Fei Chai knew some English, and Mr. Carlo spoke fluent Chinese, so communication should be no problem.
After driving for another half an hour, we arrived at Mr. Carlo's house. Because we had called in advance, Mr. Carlo was pushing a wheelchair by his wife and was waiting on the gravel path at the door. Fei Chai and others got off.
Yang Yang was the first to greet the car. She and Mr. Carlo had not seen each other for a long time and seemed to be very close to each other. Then she introduced them to everyone.
Mrs. Carlo is a tall and thin woman with fair skin. Although she has blond hair, she has freckles on her face. She is not a beauty, but she is very generous and enthusiastic (it seems that most Americans are like this). After everyone has finished greetings,
Rang entered the living room and introduced Yang Yang's three half-brothers and sisters. Fei Chai shook his head secretly as he watched. After all, Mr. Carlo was disabled and Mrs. Carlo was a tall girl. I really don't know how they managed to survive.
gave birth to three children.
During the conversation, Fei Chai learned that another of his 'old friends', Rams Baker, a lawyer from the Carlo Foundation, would be arriving in about twenty minutes.
After chatting for a while, Mr. Carlo suggested that everyone prepare for a barbecue together. Fei Chai responded immediately, so the family went to the backyard and started making preparations.
Although Mr. Carlo usually uses a wheelchair, he is so busy pushing the wheelchair around that he does not consider himself disabled at all. The children are also doing their best work and seem very happy. Xiaomi is a little uncomfortable with it.
.
Although Xiaomi is not a pampered child, he is still quite unaccustomed to the sudden change of environment. Moreover, when he is a guest in China, there is no reason to ask the guests to take action. Moreover, he is not used to the environment, and he doesn't know where to start if he wants to help.
, Fortunately, Yang Yang took care of him, assigned him to do some things, and said: "The secret to living here is not to treat yourself as an outsider."
After a while, Mr. Baker also arrived. I hadn’t seen him for several years. Mr. Baker was still tall and strong, with a smile on his face. Even though his hair was getting thinner, he also lived up to the old saying, a smart head doesn’t grow hair. He met Fei
Chai gave him a bear hug and said that he was looking forward to meeting him again.
Since Mr. Baker arrived, the guests invited by Carlo have also arrived one after another. Some of them have brought some small gifts, such as a bottle of wine tied with a ribbon, etc., but none of them look like high-end goods.
, it’s definitely out of reach.
Because Fei Chai came from afar and was Yang Yang's adoptive father, everyone who came would be introduced grandly. Fei Chai relied on Du Songmei to translate beside him and was also very talkative, but Du Songmei suffered a lot because American English has dialects.
He has a good accent, and Mr. Carlo has a wide circle of friends. He knows people from all over the world.
We were almost used to each other's accents and ways of speaking, but Du Songmei was not so good at it, and she was sweating all over her forehead. However, she was mistaken for Fei Chai's wife several times. Although she explained it immediately, she still felt in her heart.
But I feel happy, it turns out that being the wife of a popular person is not a bad thing.
There are two PSKs among Mr. Carlo's neighbors. They are convinced that natural disasters may cause the end of the world. After learning that Fei Chai is a geological defense scientist, he invited him to discuss with him because it involves some professional issues.
Nouns, so Fei Chai was able to communicate with them smoothly under Du Songmei's translation. He found that both of them were experts among amateurs. They searched the world through the Internet every day.
The amount of work they have done to predict local geological hazards and their possibilities is so large that it can completely surpass some domestic professionals. However, they are amateurs after all, with average skills and too stubborn. But it is because of this stubbornness that the two of them
Everyone has a large amount of supplies stored in their home, and there is even a second shelter within a hundred kilometers from home. One of them is a deeply buried container, and the other is a farm.
After listening to Fei Chai's professional advice, both of them admired Fei Chai and invited Fei Chai to visit their "doomsday preparations."
Fei Chai actually wanted to go, but the schedule was too tight, so I could only explain the reason and say I'm sorry again.
The barbecue party lasted about two hours. In fact, similar activities were mainly social activities. Everyone chatted with each other, and eating was second. After the barbecue party, Fei Chai and others helped clean up the mess, and then chatted again.
For a while, Mr. Carlo seemed to be interested in funding a private geological exploration project, but due to some interference, the negotiation was never possible. Mr. Carlo said regretfully: "I actually just want to do a purely scientific project. Although
This project also exists
It is for the purpose of data sharing, but in general it is non-profit, but...I definitely mean no offense when I say this. Some institutions in your country seem to be biased against foreigners, just like they have the same attitude towards ghosts and gods.
, keep a respectful distance, always feeling that we have some bad intentions. I want to do exploration, and they suspect that I may steal mines. I can’t say that this phenomenon does not exist, but if I want to truly integrate into the international community, I want to truly learn how to distinguish between friends.
and enemies."
Fei Chai nodded and said: "That's true. There is an old Chinese saying that reflects this mentality, which is that you must not have the intention of harming others, and you must have the intention of guarding against others. Before you can't distinguish between friends and foes, it is best to treat everyone as the same.
imaginary enemy."
Mr. Carlo said: "You will lose friends if you do this, and you may not necessarily stop your enemies."
Fei Chai said: "I completely agree with what you said, but Mr. Carlo, although you have lived in China for many years, with all due respect, you still don't fully understand China."
Mr. Carlo shrugged and said: "What about you, as a Chinese, do you know your motherland?"
Fei Chai said with a smile: "I know that land." After saying this, he looked at each other and Mr. Carlo, and both of them laughed knowingly.
Before leaving, Mr. Carlo and Mr. Baker handed Xiaomi a copy of the legal documents related to the guarantee for studying abroad, and invited Xiaomi to go to Mr. Baker's office the next day to go through some formalities. Fei Chai arrived at Xie, and then Yang Yang drove as usual.
Send them back to town and make an appointment with them the next day
Yang Yang came to pick up Xiaomi and went to Mr. Baker's place first, and then sent Xiaomi to the language school. Fei Chai and the others, driven by Wei Haowen, went directly to a small town called Gravel City to attend the Global Geology Award Ceremony, because it took six hours to
drive, so they left a little earlier than Xiaomi.
Fei Chai prepared a thousand dollars, including nine hundred in whole bills and one hundred in small bills. He counted it several times and prepared to give it to Xiaomi for pocket money the next day. Although he felt that the money was a bit much for a boy, he still
After this breakup, I don’t know when we will see each other next time. No matter how open-minded Fei Chai is, he is still a Chinese-style father. When he thinks about being separated from his son the next day, and they will be separated from each other, he starts to feel sad.
The next day, Fei Chai got up early again. Xiaomi was still sound asleep. Looking at his son's childish face, he couldn't bear to wake him up, so he had to wash up first, get ready for the trip, and wait for everything.
Everything was done, but my son still didn’t wake up, so I decided to give him
The son left a letter, so he went to the desk to write a letter using the hotel's sticky note. However, he had thousands of words in his heart, but he couldn't write a word at a time. While he was struggling, Xiaomi woke up and saw that his father had already packed it up.
I picked up my luggage and asked, "Dad, are you leaving?"
When he suddenly asked Fei Chai, he didn't know what to say anymore, so he crumpled the unfinished letter and threw it into the wastebasket. Then he forced a smile and said, "Yeah, I was just saying I would leave you a note."
Where is the son?" He said, took out the money he had prepared last night and gave it to Xiaomi and said: "A poor family has a rich life, but don't spend it arbitrarily, and listen to your sister."
Xiaomi nodded and said, "I understand, Dad."
Fei Chai suddenly felt that his heart was cramping and his nose was a little sore. In order not to let his son see it, he smiled and picked up his luggage and said, "It's still early. You can sleep a little longer, and I'll leave first." He said that he didn't want his son to see him off.
, and hurried out of the room.
When Xiaomi saw her father leaving, she stayed alone in the room for a while. Then she seemed to remember something strange. She went to the wastebasket to pick up the note her father had thrown away and opened it. She saw the first line: My dearest son...
Before I read the rest, tears flowed down silently and unsatisfactorily.