After returning to the hotel, Brina first called her father, Frank, and asked if there were any part-time jobs in the law firm. After receiving a positive reply, she told the situation about Wu Yin and Qu Rui, as well as the situation between herself and Qu Rui today.
Chen Feng "shared hardships" with them.
When Frank learned that his daughter and Chen Feng had been shot again, he was worried and angry. He cursed the city councilors and politicians and said that he would call the police station later to pay attention to the progress of this case and supervise him.
The police quickly caught the two African-American men.
As for Wu Yin and Qu Rui's part-time job at his law firm, there is certainly nothing wrong with it, especially working part-time on weekends, which is really what their law firm needs.
You must know that very strict labor laws and overtime systems are implemented here. Working hours must not exceed 40 hours per week, which means that work must not exceed 8 hours per day on working days. If you exceed the limit, you will have to pay overtime pay. Overtime pay is hourly.
1.5 times the salary. If the working time exceeds 12 hours, double the overtime pay must be paid.
Although the law firm where Frank is a partner does not work on weekends in principle, if it is a big deal, it will definitely have to work overtime. In addition, people will definitely be needed to send and receive information.
In the past, the odd jobs in this area were left to interns, but interns had to pay overtime pay if they worked overtime on weekends, or even double the overtime pay.
From the perspective of the law firm's operating costs, this is obviously not cost-effective.
Of course, as a partner, Frank certainly doesn't care much about the operating costs and overtime pay to employees, but isn't there a better and more economical option now? And it was introduced by his daughter and a major customer, Chen Feng.
.
Therefore, Frank agreed without much hesitation to let these two overseas students from Long Country work part-time at the law firm.
After Brina ended the phone call with her father, she contacted Wu Yin.
When she explained the part-time job content and remuneration at the law firm, Wu Yin agreed without much thought, and said that Qu Rui would definitely agree as well.
In fact, they are almost in the internship stage now, and they have been here for more than two years. They are excellent in character and academics, and fully meet the requirements of the off-campus "work-study" program for international students in America.
They can completely regard this part-time job as an internship. Although the major is somewhat inappropriate, who makes the salary high and the work easy?
The next morning, Brina went to school, and Chen Feng did not go with her anymore, but stayed in the hotel honestly.
He is not bored at all. Originally, he stayed at home most of the time in Xiuzhou, but now that he lives in another place, there is no big difference at all.
There are mobile phones and WiFi, and there is no shortage of food, drinks and women. Where can I stay home without being a homebody?
Chen Feng's mentality is very good. Here he still insists on morning exercises, reading novels, and watching short videos according to his schedule back home. When he feels his eyes are a little tired, he puts down his phone, lies on the bed for a while, or contacts his family or talks to a few women.
, send a voice message, make a phone call, etc.
In this way, the day passed easily without feeling bored at all.
As for loneliness, Brina came to see him as soon as school was over. She came back at noon, and after school in the afternoon, she stayed in the hotel room with him without going out.
In this way, two days later, news finally came from the police that the two African-American men who tried to rob them and shot at them were captured.
The two African-American men were very honest. After being captured by the police, they directly admitted their criminal intention of trying to rob the driver of the BMW. As for shooting the four of them, they could not deny it.
There is no need for them to deny it. When armed robbery does not hurt anyone, the sentence in America is usually light. Even because there are too many such incidents, the police may not file a case.
This time it was also because Wu Yin and Qu Rui were students at the University of Southern California that the local police opened the case. Later, because of the attention and follow-up of Frank, a senior lawyer, the police stepped up their investigation efforts and finally succeeded three days later.
The two men were captured.
They had committed crimes before. Although one of them was 21 years old and the other was only 19, they had already committed crimes twice. The older African-American man could be said to be cruel and ruthless. He seriously injured two people on the first collision.
It was at a party that he opened fire, seriously injuring one person and paralyzing another. The second time, also at a party, he went crazy and suddenly fired many shots, injuring an 18-year-old boy.
The young African-American man had committed two crimes before. Once when he was seventeen years old, he robbed a foreign tourist with a gun and injured him. The second time he robbed a foreign tourist with a gun and injured two people.
Minor injuries.
Therefore, this attempted robbery against Chen Feng and others was their third joint crime.
If they had not succeeded in escaping at that time, they might have been injured or even killed.
Although these two African-American men have not killed anyone before, there is no guarantee that they will not kill anyone this time.
What is a bit unbelievable is that they started committing crimes with guns two years ago, and it was not until this attempted robbery that they were caught by the police. It is quite outrageous.
If the targets of these two African-American men's crimes were not students at the University of Southern California, and if Frank, a senior lawyer, had not followed up, these two men might not have been caught.
This made Chen Feng feel so fucked up.
Fortunately, all four of them were safe this time, otherwise the law enforcement agencies here in America would not be able to escape the blame.
After Chen Feng knew these things, of course he couldn't help but complain to Brina, and finally said: "This is the main reason why I don't want to live here. Personal safety cannot be fully guaranteed, and everything else
It’s all vain. No matter how much money you make here and you don’t have time to spend it, it’s all in vain.”
Brina smiled bitterly and said: "I don't defend the security here, it's just the fact. It's easy to get guns here, and with guns in hand, cowards can turn into murderers. So, the United States
There will be more and more gun-related cases. The only advantage is that bad guys can easily obtain guns, and the same goes for good guys. When the bad guys shoot at you or try to commit a crime against you, you can also shoot them.
, you don’t have to pay the penalty if you beat him to death.”
Chen Feng shook his head and said, "I don't want to make fun of my own life."
Brina spread her hands and said, "I know you can't stay here longer, and I understand. I don't hope you can settle here either. My family does have this expectation, but it's obviously unrealistic. Don't be too
care."
Chen Feng shrugged and said, "I don't care. I'm just telling the truth. I'm not suitable to live here, let alone settle here."
Brina said with a smile: "So, I plan to study abroad in Xiuzhou to see if I can adapt there. If I can adapt, I may settle down there after my studies."
Chen Feng still welcomed her coming to Xiuzhou to study abroad. After all, he got along with her very easily and happily.
"If you really decide to go to Xiuzhou to live, I will be very happy. I also believe that you can adapt to life there. When the time comes, if you need anything, I will definitely help you."
"Remember what you said, I will definitely have a lot of things to trouble you by then."
"I will definitely help you with your matter."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
In the evening, the two of them were watching TV together in the hotel, and suddenly they saw that an art fair was going to be held in Los Angeles this Saturday, and Chen Feng immediately became interested.
After asking Brina, he learned that there are many art exhibitions in Los Angeles, and there are also many large and small art fairs. The art fair he just saw is relatively large and can be called "international" marked in it.
Two words.
So, Chen Feng, who stayed in the hotel for three days, decided to attend the international art fair the day after tomorrow, hoping to find the art works he needed.
It's Friday soon.
In the morning, Brina came back from class and went back to the hotel to meet Chen Feng, saying that her mother invited him to visit her home again and have dinner together.
This time it was just her and her parents, without her uncle and cousin.
Chen Feng thought for a while and accepted her mother's invitation. This time she exchanged a bottle of champagne for more than two hundred dollars as a door-to-door gift. There was no doubt that she was warmly welcomed by her parents again.
The atmosphere during the meal this time was much more relaxed, including the pre-dinner prayer ceremony, and Chen Feng was able to accept it as the Romans do.
To be honest, it's actually quite good for them to do this. It's full of ritual and belief, and they don't waste much time.
After finishing the meal, Chen Feng's chat with Brina's family became more relaxed and natural.
After chatting about Chen Feng and Brina's visit to the art fair tomorrow, Frank and his wife both looked very interested. Frank said that he had also collected some art over the years, mainly small crafts and small paintings.
There are also a few. Clara said that she started collecting postcards from all over the world when she was fifteen or sixteen years old, and has collected more than 500 kinds of postcards so far.
Chen Feng was quite interested in some of Frank's paintings. Before he asked to take a look, Frank took Chen Feng to the collection room on the second floor as if he were offering a treasure.
First, he took Chen Feng to see the various handicrafts he had placed on an exhibition stand. Several of them were from the Dragon Kingdom, including a vase, a porcelain plate, a cloisonné, and a wicker basket.
Quite rich.
Of course Chen Feng has no interest in these. According to his previous experience, these things do not contain the kind of life energy he needs.
After reading all this, Frank finally took him to see several paintings in his collection, which he carefully wrapped in dust-proof cloth. Only after opening them one by one could he see the true appearance of these paintings.
After looking at three paintings in a row, none of them were what Chen Feng needed. It was not until the fourth painting that Chen Feng was somewhat surprised to sense the kind of painting he needed.
This is a standard Western oil painting, which feels like an impressionist painting method. The representative work of this genre is Monet's "Water Lilies". Frank's painting is of roses, a red rose bush and green leaves. It looks very ordinary, but
It contains the kind of life energy that Chen Feng needs.
So, Chen Feng said: "This painting is so good, I fell in love with it at first sight. Who painted this?"
When Frank heard what Chen Feng said, he said happily: "I also like this painting very much. Every time I take it out and look at it when I am in a bad mood, I will feel better. It's really magical. This painting
The artist's name is Deward Calvert, a wandering artist. About ten years ago, I met him by chance in Central Park in New York and watched him complete this work live. I
I liked it very much when I saw it, so I spent money to buy it. It was not very famous at that time, so I only spent five hundred dollars to buy it.
Now that this wandering painter has unfortunately passed away, his world-famous works are slowly being recognized and appreciated by the art world, so that the prices of the works he left behind are getting higher and higher. His works have been auctioned for a
The high price is 1.2 million US dollars. I also had my painting appraised by someone. Two years ago, it was valued at more than 50,000 US dollars. Now it is worth more than 100,000 US dollars."
When Chen Feng heard him take the initiative to quote the price, he smiled and said: "Then if I offer 100,000 US dollars, can you part with me?"
Frank was stunned for a moment before asking: "Are you serious?"
Chen Feng nodded seriously: "Of course."
Seeing this, Frank immediately extended his hand to Chen Feng without any hesitation: "Deal!"
What he just said was a bit of a boast. In fact, when he was buying paintings in Central Park, Devaud, a wandering painter, was in poverty, otherwise he wouldn't have set up a stall in the park. He asked about the price.
At that time, the other party offered $500, and he finally got the price of $100.
Now that this wandering painter has passed away, although the value of the works he left behind has increased a lot, it is not too exaggerated. After all, there has only been one Van Gogh since ancient times.
He said before that the other party's works have sold for more than one million US dollars, which is true, but the auction price is a package of eight works. On average, each work is only 150,000 US dollars at most. And there is
There is obviously some premium.
Therefore, if the work he bought for $100 ten years ago is now worth $100,000 by Chen Feng ten years later, the value has increased by a hundred times. How can there be any reason not to sell it?
When Chen Feng was about to reach out to shake Frank's hand and seal the deal, Brina suddenly pulled him back and said to Frank with some dissatisfaction: "Dad, I heard you say before that you originally created this painting.
You only bought it for 100 US dollars, how come it became 500 US dollars? Also, when you asked someone to appraise it before, it was only 20,000 US dollars. When did it become more than 50,000 US dollars?"
Frank was speechless by his daughter's question. He could only spread his hands with a somewhat embarrassed expression and said, "Lina, it was Chen who wanted to buy my painting, and he also set the price."
Brina said with a serious face: "He was misled by you just now, that's why he offered such a high price."
Having said this, she turned to Chen Feng and said, "Chen, do you really like this painting?"
Chen Feng nodded and said: "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't be willing to spend $100,000 to buy this painting."
He could feel that this painting contained almost enough life energy for him to absorb for an hour. It could be said to be relatively sufficient. If he really had to spend 100,000 US dollars to buy it, Chen Feng wouldn't feel it was a loss.
Brina didn't know the inside story, but when she saw that Chen Feng really wanted to buy it, she said, "Okay then. I think this painting can cost up to 10,000 US dollars. Dad, what do you think? You only spent 100 US dollars ten years ago."
U.S. dollars will earn a hundred times in ten years.”
When Frank heard about his daughter's offer, he immediately felt heartbroken. They Westerners take money very seriously. They would not be embarrassed to accept money just because Chen Feng was his daughter's boyfriend. Even if it was his son-in-law, he would accept it without hesitation.
.
"Lina, you can't bargain like this. Chen just offered 100,000 U.S. dollars. No matter how cheap it is, I can sell it to him for 50,000 U.S. dollars at most. Chen, you know the goods and have artistic talent. You should know this painting."
The painting is an excellent work of art with a high collection value. US$50,000 is really not much, and there will be huge room for appreciation in the future.”