Reborn in the red age

Chapter 135 Free America
After getting off the plane at New York International Airport, everyone went through the customs clearance procedures and transferred to a domestic terminal in the United States again. The group arrived at the final destination of this trip, Washington.

Qingfeng Li and the others were not the first batch of students to study in the United States. Naturally, they did not have that much exposure. They only accepted an interview when they got off the plane. The American media did not have that much time to pay attention to them.

After being interviewed and photographed by Washington reporters at the airport, and greeting the local overseas Chinese who came to pick them up, Li Qingfeng and others boarded the bus sent by the embassy to the embassy in China.

After more than 30 hours of flight, everyone was a little groggy. The embassy was also more considerate of these international students. It did not arrange a meeting for everyone when they arrived. Instead, it prepared a simple dinner for everyone to go to bed after eating.

Seeing the familiar white rice porridge and steamed buns placed on the dining table, Li Qingfeng, who was still a little groggy at first, suddenly regained consciousness. He didn't think it was a big deal if he ate it every day. After not seeing him for two days, he really missed it.

In other words, there are no pickles in the embassy, ​​which is almost meaningless.

The next morning, all the international students on this trip lined up in front of the embassy to participate in the solemn flag-raising ceremony.

Li Qingfeng and others all stood in silence, watching the bright red flag rising in the capital of the United States.

After the flag-raising ceremony, Li Qingfeng and others took photos in front of the embassy, ​​followed by the Chinese people's favorite activity, meetings.

At the meeting, the embassy staff seriously told everyone about the current situation in the United States: "Racial discrimination in the United States is very serious. Although the United States has abolished racial discrimination legally, it has not disappeared in society, and the United States allows private individuals to Carry a gun and try to avoid conflicts with the American people."

"Now the United States has a relatively high unemployment rate, social unrest, and various gangs are rampant on the streets. Even in big cities like Washington, some neighborhoods are very dangerous. When you are studying abroad, try to stay with local students when you leave school. Travel together, don’t be alone, and don’t come home late.”

Everyone was stunned when they heard what the embassy said, and everyone opened their eyes in disbelief.

Except for Li Qingfeng, it is difficult for others to imagine that in this extremely developed country, society can be so chaotic. It makes sense for the American people to live in dire straits after watching domestic propaganda.

Looking at everyone's expressions, Li Qingfeng secretly laughed in his heart, where are we? The people from the embassy haven't talked about the more exciting content on the American side.

Drugs are openly sold on the streets, prostitutes openly solicit customers, and gang fights happen every day in the United States. It is no surprise that they all do it.

"America has many good places. This is the reason why the country sends you to study. I hope that students can have their own ability to distinguish, take the best and discard the dross."

After getting to know the more specific situation of American society at the embassy, ​​everyone had an afternoon of free time. Under the leadership of the embassy staff, they walked to the White House and the Capitol Building to appreciate the city scenery of Washington.

Walking out of the consulate area, looking at the endless stream of cars driving like a river on the broad street, with tall buildings nearby, everyone who was just discussing why the United States was in such chaos fell into silence.

Li Qingfeng also observed the street scene in America curiously, nodding in his mind. At this time, almost every household in the United States has a car. In China, even a bicycle is still a large item in the home and is a luxury item.

No wonder so many government-sponsored students are unwilling to come back. The United States has such good conditions. Without a firm belief, who would be willing to give up such favorable conditions and return to a backward country?

Looking at his companions with different expressions, Li Qingfeng sighed in his heart. He didn't know how many people would go back this time, and the country's precious foreign exchange would be wasted.

In the middle of this year, when my country's first batch of US$1.67 million arms sales order was placed, when the delegation went to Egypt for negotiations, the seven people had only five US dollars in foreign exchange.

The annual fee for a government-sponsored international student is US$[-]. Now, it really takes a lot of courage to send international students from China.

When passing by a large supermarket, the leader of this trip proposed to use the foreign exchange given by the country before boarding the plane to buy some film. Everyone could take photos and send their photos to their families thousands of miles away.

This proposal was approved by everyone, and the people in the embassy understood everyone's mood. They smiled and took the leader to the supermarket and bought a lot of 135 color film.

A roll of color film costs less than three dollars and can take 24 photos. On average, each person can take 8 separate photos.

Everyone carried few cameras, and they had to queue up to take pictures. They spent the entire afternoon taking pictures. Although Li Qingfeng was not very interested, seeing how excited the others were, he patiently took pictures with them.

In the evening, everyone returned to the embassy and borrowed the embassy's darkroom to develop today's photos.

The next day, under the leadership of the embassy, ​​everyone went to the bank to apply for a bank account. When Li Qingfeng got the bank card, he curiously looked at it in his hand.

Looking at the bank card in his hand and the ATM machine next to him, Li Qingfeng sighed in his heart, developed countries have always been very developed.

(Debit card, issued in 1977, ATM machine, put into use in 1969)
The current living expenses for international students are 400 US dollars per month. The embassy will transfer the money to the international students' personal accounts at the beginning of each month, and then the international students can withdraw the money by themselves at the ATM machine.After two days in Washington and two days of retraining at the embassy, ​​Li Qingfeng stuffed the developed photos into two different envelopes, wrote the addresses and handed them to the embassy staff.

Qingfeng Li said goodbye to everyone who was about to participate in the three-month intensive English training, and boarded the train to California alone with his luggage.

Sitting in the smoky train compartment, Li Qingfeng looked curiously at the old white man opposite who was taking drugs openly.

Sensing Qingfeng Li's gaze, the old man smiled friendly at Qingfeng Li, shook the bottle in his hand and invited: "Young man, do you want one? With this thing, you won't feel tired after riding the train all day and night." "

"Thank you for your kindness. I just came to the United States and I don't want to develop this hobby yet." Li Qingfeng also showed a friendly smile and declined the old man's invitation to take drugs.

When the old white man heard that Qingfeng Li had just come to the United States, he looked at Qingfeng Li's clothes. He looked unhappy and asked in a stiff tone: "Japanese?"

"No, a Chinese who just came to the United States to study." Li Qingfeng smiled and extended his right hand to the other party.

In the mid-70s, Japan began its economic rise and quickly became the world's second largest economy.At the same time, the industrial competitiveness of the United States declined, resulting in a trade deficit between the United States and Japan. A large number of Japanese products quickly occupied the American market.

This reversal of roles between superiors and subordinates has made many Americans hate the Japanese. It has only just begun to show signs of hatred. After the time entered the 80s, the hatred intensified and many riots against Japanese Americans occurred.

Of course, Americans cannot distinguish between Japanese and Chinese Americans, and many Chinese Americans living in the United States also suffered heavy losses in the riots against Japanese Americans.

This is also a routine operation. In this land of the United States, whenever there is an activity against Asians, no matter which country is targeted, Chinese Americans will be implicated.

When the old white man heard Qingfeng Li say that he was Chinese, his expression softened a little, and he stretched out his hand to shake Qingfeng Li's hand: "Hello Chinese boy, welcome to study in the United States. Believe me, it won't take long for you to become a Chinese. Fall in love with America, the country of freedom”

Glancing at the couple of foreigners in the car who were kissing passionately and almost staged an erotic scene, Qingfeng Li smiled and nodded: "America is indeed very free. I felt it as soon as I got in the car."

After experiencing the sexual liberation and hippie movement of the 70s and 1979s, America was at the peak of sexual openness in [-].

Except in some relatively conservative areas, it is not a big deal to openly put your hands into women's clothes on the train. If you really get angry and go to the toilet directly, it is normal.

"Ha ha"

The old white man noticed Qingfeng Li's eyes and laughed, thinking that Qingfeng Li, a kid from China, was very interesting.

The two started chatting on the train. The old man was quite nice and told Qingfeng Li a lot about the situation in the United States, including that he should always carry $20 in his pocket and hand it over to the other party with his eyes closed if he was robbed.

We had a pleasant chat along the way, and when the old white man got off the bus, the two even hugged each other.

Along the way, Qingfeng Li never met a foreigner who was so friendly to Chinese people.

Walking out of the graffiti-covered train station empty-handed, Qingfeng Li looked at the dense traffic outside and pondered. Should he report to school first, or get some money first?

In the end, Qingfeng Li decided to make money first. Now he only has 400 yuan, which is the living expenses for this month. Fortunately, Stanford paid for his own teaching materials. Otherwise, the money would not even be enough to buy teaching materials.

Qingfeng Li didn't want to wrong himself when he came to the United States. He first sold a piece of gold that he got from the Kwantung Army fortress, and then after a period of time, he would visit some places and do a wave of zero-dollar purchases depending on the situation.

I got directly into a yellow taxi standing on the roadside soliciting customers and said indifferently: "Chinatown"

The taxi stopped under the quaint archway in Chinatown. Qingfeng Li paid the fare and got out. Looking at the red lanterns all over the street and the traditional Chinese characters on the shop signs, he felt very friendly in his heart.

Walking into Chinatown, looking at the faces of Oriental people everywhere and listening to the noisy southern dialects, Qingfeng Li felt as if he had returned to China.

Walking along the dirty streets, Qingfeng Li quickly found a small gold shop.

After staring at the traditional Chinese characters on the sign, he walked directly into the store, glanced at the old man wearing glasses, and threw a piece of large yellow croaker on the wooden counter.

(End of this chapter)