rebirth of change

"My surname is Joe, just call me Old Joe, young man, how about you? Seeing that you are not too old to be able to travel to Christmas Island, your family background must be extraordinary. These are...?", to be able to go abroad When traveling, a good family background is a must, but with so many people following, this is a bit different. This is actually the key reason why Mr. Qiao asked Chen Kangjie to come down and talk.

"My surname is Chen. You can call me Xiao Chen. There is nothing extraordinary about my family background. I just want to learn more. It is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books." Chen Kangjie said modestly, and then turned his head to look at Xiong Ziqiang. They said: "These are my friends. You know, my mother is worried about my son traveling thousands of miles, so the family asked a few friends to come out to play together, which can be regarded as a care."

Although Chen Kangjie tried his best to avoid showing off his own identity, what he said already made Lao Qiao feel that their family was definitely not simple. Even an ordinary wealthy family could not afford so many servants.

Chen Kangjie can't hide anything too much. If he says that his family is an ordinary working family, no one will believe him if he is killed. Besides, in less than half a day, the news of a private business jet arriving on Christmas Island will spread throughout the island. .The previous charter flights to and from Christmas Island were basically small passenger planes. This is the first time this kind of luxury plane has come here, so it will definitely attract the attention of many people.

"Hehe, yes, yes, adults are like this. I'm sorry, I have chatted with you for a long time, but I haven't brought you to the room to have a look. I don't know if you are satisfied or not. Our small place is nothing big. Hotel", Old Qiao nodded with a smile and stood up, his Mandarin became more and more fluent, and he really wanted to bring Chen Kangjie and the others to the guest room.

As expected of his hotel's reputation as a hotel, the guest rooms on the second floor are not luxurious, but they are quite clean, especially two of the rooms have toilets, which is rare.

There are eight rooms on the second floor of Old Qiao’s house, which are just enough to accommodate Chen Kangjie and his group. Four rooms face the street, and four rooms face the backyard. They are satisfied with the rooms. Chen Kangjie didn’t even ask about the rent, so he just Decided to live here.It stands to reason that Chen Kangjie should choose a guest room near the backyard, which is safer and quieter, and it will be noisy if it is near the street.However, Chen Kangjie still chose to live on this side of the street, so that he could see the pedestrians and scenery on the street from the window.

After washing his face and resting for a while, Chen Kangjie and his party planned to go out for dinner. Old Qiao's house actually provided food, but he didn't know that there would be so many people living in his house today, so the food prepared was not enough.When going out, Old Joe suggested that they could go to the seaside, where there is a nice small restaurant, where they can eat the red crab which is very special on the island.

At this time, the sun had already set from the sea level, several dim street lamps were lit up on the small street, and there were more pedestrians on the street. Many people who finished their work came to the street for a walk in cool clothes, some shopping, Some start their own simple night life, drink beer or something.Occasionally, one or two leisurely tourists can be seen, because there are no traces of labor on their bodies.

It's just that although he is on the Indian Ocean, Chen Kangjie has the illusion that he has not arrived in a foreign country. Instead, he is like being in a small town in the eastern province of Guangdong, and all he can hear is squeaking Cantonese.It was only when they saw the English speakers on the side of the road and the Caucasian foreigners who passed by from time to time, that they came back to reality. They were really in a distant place, a place that did not belong to China.

The tour introduced by Old Joe is called Dunedin, which was opened by a New Zealander. This old man is 60 years old, but he likes the quietness of Christmas Island. He ran here to open such a small hotel by the sea. .

When Chen Kangjie saw this small restaurant with a small neon billboard flashing, he thought, the owner must be from Dunedin.

The entire restaurant is made of wood, and the bottom is supported by wooden piles, which are more than two meters above the ground. However, at this time, the seawater is high tide, and the seawater has submerged half of the wooden piles.To get to this small restaurant from the concrete road, you need to walk through a wooden covered bridge of more than ten meters.Half of the restaurant is covered with wood, and the other half is exposed to the outside. The floor is covered with wooden boards, several long wooden tables are placed, and there is a wooden fence around the outside to prevent tourists from accidentally falling into the water.

Such a comfortable design, even if you are not eating, but sitting at an outdoor table and drinking a cup of coffee or tea, it is also a kind of enjoyment.Looking far away, the sea and sky are the same color, listening to the ebb and flow of the tide is pleasant and graceful, feeling the breeze blowing on the face, and the salty humidity brings coolness.

When Chen Kangjie and the others arrived, there were not many guests. There were only two tables of guests having dinner, one inside and one outside.In addition to the boss, there is only one Malay girl as the waiter.

"Welcome gentlemen, are you sitting inside or outside?" Seeing Chen Kangjie and the others walking down the covered bridge, the young Malay girl stepped forward and greeted them in English that is difficult in Nanyang.

It is generally difficult for English-speaking foreigners to speak their native language to people from other countries. This may be due to their naturally proud subconscious.They always want others to accommodate them, not the other way around.The simplest example is that many foreigners are starting to work in China. Careful people will find that most of their interactions with domestic colleagues or people are in English.Ordinary people in China may be rooted in history and reality. When they see foreigners, they don't say "hello" but "hello".At this point, we may not be able to blame foreigners entirely. We have all given up our own language to accommodate others, so naturally others do not need to be polite.

Normally, this Malay girl would not greet guests so politely.The circle here is too small, and the population is so large. Everyone is familiar with each other. When they are familiar with each other, greetings will become simple and cordial.But Chen Kangjie and the others are strangers, and the Malay girl has never seen them before. In addition, she heard that a private business jet came to the island today, so she speculates that Chen Kangjie and the others are probably passengers on the plane. to her politeness.

"Thank you, let's sit outside, the air is good," Chen Kangjie replied casually.

After the Malay girl arranged them to sit down at the two tables at the back, the boss came out with a recipe in his hand.

"Gentlemen, what would you like to eat? Here is the recipe, please take a look." The boss with venomous eyes smiled and put the paper recipe in front of Chen Kangjie who sat down as the leader.

"I heard that your red crab is very famous here, so give us a few copies of this, and the rest, you can just look at it, and we are just like this." Chen Kangjie was very casual, and stretched out his hand to spread out the recipe again. Close up.

"Okay, let's have some dry fried red crab, Bluff oysters, smoked salmon, potato mussels...how do you think? They are all very fresh. For dessert, you can try our own You should be satisfied with the pavlova you made." The boss didn't really make up his own mind, so he told Chen Kangjie what he wanted to serve first.As expected, this place is in the middle of the sea, and what he recommends are basically seafood. Although the last Palova Chen Kangjie doesn't know what it is, but the boss is so confident, it must not be too bad.

"Okay, thank you, let's go as you said." Chen Kangjie waved his hand.

While Chen Kangjie was ordering, the three white men at the next table turned their heads to look at them from time to time.

The reason why Chen Kangjie didn't order seriously by himself was also related to them.When he came in just now, he heard these three people talking about the Christmas Island Phosphate Mining Co., Ltd., so his eyes and ears were actually paying attention to them.

Hearing that Chen Kangjie finished ordering so quickly, and the group of them just sat and enjoyed the scenery without talking, the three of them immediately felt that it was boring, picked up beer and started chatting while eating again.

"Are you really planning to go back to Western Australia?" The person on the left of the two sitting together with their backs to Chen Kangjie asked the friend opposite.

"Yes, I don't plan to come back. There's nothing I want in this place, and the salary hasn't increased. There's no point in staying here. I heard that we're going to have a big project there, and we'll need a lot of people. The income must be higher than here, and more importantly, the living environment is much better." The man across from him used a knife and fork to fork a piece of food and put it in his mouth, chewed a few mouthfuls, and then nodded after swallowing.

"I think this place is actually pretty good. The pace of life is slow, and the cost is not high. The most important thing is that it is quiet, like a vacation. Every day, you are faced with white waves, sandy beaches and blue skies." The person who asked the question just now said the man.

"Dude, then you can stay here. Don't even think about it, why don't you have a girlfriend yet? In this place, which woman would like to live with you here, nothing else, she wants to buy a box Putting on cosmetics will become a difficult thing. Usually this place is beautiful, but what about when a typhoon blows? The spring water is poured into the sea, not to mention, once the generator stops, the whole island is pitch black, and it immediately becomes eerie Anyway, I still want to go back as soon as possible, and I will resign to Mr. William Lanark next Monday." It seems that this person's intention to go has been decided.

"What about you, Walter," the man, who still had a good impression of Christmas Island, asked his friend sitting on his right.

"I haven't figured it out yet. Perhaps, I will go back sooner or later. My grandmother passed away last year. I want to go back to see her, but there is no plane. When I arrive by boat, my grandmother has been buried for three days," replied After finishing, Walter took a deep sip of wine.

From the chat of these three people, Chen Kangjie understood why there were fewer and fewer Westerners on the island.It is indeed too remote here, the scenery is very beautiful, but the living conditions are also very poor. Those Westerners, especially young people, are beginning to be unable to bear the torment of loneliness. The colorful and bright big cities are forming a new attraction for them.