The Lake Shore Express (Lake Shore Limited) slowly stopped at the platform. This train leaves Chicago every afternoon and arrives in New York the next morning, so the platform is now full of black shadows, and the train lights illuminate the road ahead.
The dark railway tracks also shone on the faces of those shadowy figures who were not quite awake, and the virtual beauty of New York in the early morning was dimly reflected on everyone's face.
The train door slid open, and a sweet female voice announced on the platform. Amidst a series of footsteps, Lu Mingfei, who was carrying a backpack, walked onto the train platform, then stood still. He looked up and looked left at Exit A.
Look to the right at the lights at Exit B. Your expression is somewhere between "Grandma Liu enters the Grand View Garden" or "Lu Mingfei enters Kassel."
The flow of people passed by on both sides of him. He stood there for a long time. Among the crowd, he looked down at a photo in his hand blankly. Afterwards, someone didn't know who pushed Lu Mingfei's shoulder and stumbled forward.
He subconsciously turned around, but all he saw was the purple sky with a thin moon and stars above the rail train.
The skyscrapers in the city outside the train station have already been lit up, and there are figures moving vaguely behind the glowing glass curtain walls, but because they are too far away, no more sounds can be heard. For no reason, it seems that these lights have no warmth, but are more deserted.
The feeling or the strange feeling!
Lu Mingfei once heard someone say that when a stranger comes to a strange city, every skyscraper he looks up to will look down at him with a strange face, and the whole city seems to be condescending.
Examine the stranger and consider with indifference whether to swallow him whole and wipe him clean, or to spit him out with disgust.
How lucky he is that he is just a temporary visitor and not a stranger, Lu Mingfei thought.
But after a while, he had to stop his divergent thinking, because the flow of people had reversed and poured onto the train. If he didn't decide whether to leave from Exit A or Exit B, these people would force him to do the third step for him.
Chosen.
In the surging crowd, Lu Mingfei pushed forward with difficulty, like rushing forward in a black river, holding the photo in his right hand high, as if he had not given up hope before drowning.
—
Walking from New York Grand Central Station to Brooklyn is by no means a simple matter. Manhattan and Brooklyn are divided into upper and lower districts, as if they are two different worlds. After all, just "from Manhattan to Brooklyn" is enough to take photos.
An 87-minute crime movie. After all, life in New York never lacks these passionate materials.
Lu Mingfei didn't want to be one of the materials, so he chose the safest way to travel, which was to take the subway. He took the subway from Uptown to Chinatown and then went to Times Square to transfer, and then crossed the Manhattan Bridge to reach the Lower Town. For this reason, he was thoughtful
Under the guidance of the New York travel guide, he bought a seven-day New York subway pass, which saved a lot of money for his not-so-rich family.
The waiting hall of New York Grand Central Station is as bustling as the Opera House in Paris, France (in fact, their stairs are indeed designed this way). Countless people in bright clothes walk through the huge space, without communicating with each other, but making the whole space noisy.
Like a boiling kettle,
Lu Mingfei, who was carrying a backpack, lowered his head and walked among the crowd. From time to time he looked back at the crowded crowd behind him. The mixture of unfamiliar languages always made him feel like someone was calling his name, but every time he looked back, it was a strange face.
Holding the mobile phone and hurriedly passing by with his head lowered, the wind brought by him felt a bit cold.
After he came out of the waiting hall of the Grand Central Station, it was already dawn. Outside the train station was the bustling 42nd Street in Manhattan. At seven or eight o'clock in the morning, there was already a lot of traffic, the street lights had been extinguished, and there were clouds and clouds on the glass curtain walls of the building.
bird flitting.1
A wealthy American at the end of the 9th century once said: When you arrive in New York, you should feel like you are entering a palace.
But standing outside the majestic Central Railway Station, Lu Mingfei just felt that he was just a little thief who entered the palace by touch, thinking only about how to get some unexpired cheese and gold coins. He was standing at this time
Under the Greek-style Mercury statue at the train station entrance on the street, Hercules stands on the left and Minerva stands on the right. It feels like a mission has been added to it, but the prerequisite is that you have to ignore the statue he is holding in his hand.
That discounted burger bought at the train station.
It is said that everyone who comes to New York City through Grand Central Station will smell the air of freedom and find their way to a new future with a hamburger in front of the two American eagle statues the moment they step out of the train station.
Mingfei only smelled the cold morning air that was bone-chilling, and saw a strange city and strange streets. Strange and indifferent people walked past him one after another, ignoring the American-style homeless people begging on the street corners as a matter of course.
After walking two steps along the street and arriving at the intersection, Lu Mingfei looked at the paper box with the word 'It's in front of the homeless man' written on it. Lu Mingfei could only hand the burger in his hand to him and received a 'thank you'.
,haveanieday.'.
He couldn't help but ask in his broken English why the other party didn't find a job? The tramp looked at the young boy and said nothing. He just shook his head, gnawed on a hamburger and looked at the still unfamiliar buildings. After eating the hamburger, the tramp
I fell asleep, even though the time on the artistic clock at the train station pointed to eight o'clock in the morning.
Lu Mingfei stood there for a while and then scratched his head and had no choice but to leave. After all, he had other things to do.
—
"indtoshowmethewaytosubway?"
"ind"
Lu Mingfei held a map on the street and asked passers-by over and over again. As he said before, he had other things to do. Of course, he didn't mean getting lost on the streets of New York. But for a person who just decided to take a trip to New York yesterday morning.
, for a guy who made all his plans and strategies temporarily on the train, it was a miracle that he could persist until he got off the first subway before getting lost.
Asking for directions is a technical job, and asking for directions in a place where you don’t understand the language is an even more technical job. You have to worry about others treating you as if you are asking for directions. You are a thief with ulterior motives. No, after asking only a few people, a police car turned its siren on you.
Clearly not warning, two police officers who looked like they had eaten too much high-calorie food came over with ill intentions, their right hands seemed to have a vague movement of holding a gun.
—
With the enthusiastic help of the police uncle, Lu Mingfei walked out of the police station and successfully found the subway station he wanted. Even though he had stated several times that he was not an illegal immigrant, the other party still hired people from the Immigration Bureau to investigate thoroughly.
I checked Lu Mingfei once, just because the way this guy asked questions here and there on the street was too disturbing, making people worry whether he would turn around and run away the next moment, dragging the well-meaning white lady’s LV with her.
After Lu Mingfei showed his Kassel College student ID card, the police gave up their suspicion that he had evil intentions, and their attitude became much friendlier. They also kindly reminded Lu Mingfei that he should practice more English, otherwise, during the interrogation
Lu Mingfei was slapping the table and staring, while still saying "Imlean". This made Lu Mingfei feel miserable and couldn't explain the popular language in American schools, right?
With the help of the police, Lu Mingfei was taken to the subway station in a police car for the first time, and was reminded that the next time he asked for directions, he could ask no more than three people. If he asked too many questions, passers-by would report him to the local police.
Only then did Lu Mingfei realize that the public order in New York was good. This was simply because of the "simple folk customs"!
"Who makes you look out of place from beginning to end, as if you don't belong in this city at all?" Some fat police officers looked Lu Mingfei up and down and said, "People like you have had enough in Manhattan.
, still going to Brooklyn?”
"There is a reason why I have to go." Lu Mingfei stammered, hoping with his eyes that the police officer's New York accent would slow down a little. He had trouble listening to IELTS, let alone the chatter of locals.
"Do you have any friends over there? And the address you gave me seems to be an orphanage? Is your friend an orphan?"
Lu Mingfei said, did you ask this question? It would be more tactful to ask your friend if he is Batman, but he could only nod fiercely in uniform, "Officer, do you know how to get there?"
"
"After getting off the subway, take the nearest bus stop to the terminal, which is in the East District of the city. If you encounter black people who like to cause trouble on the road, leave them alone. If anything happens, threaten them to call the police. Generally, they will leave in good faith."
Lu Mingfei thanked him for a while, and the policeman left him outside the subway station, turned off the siren, and left. Many people passing by were left pointing at Lu Mingfei who got off the police car, which made the boy lose face.
He turned around and walked into the subway station.
—
Lu Mingfei fell asleep on the subway.
—
Lu Mingfei woke up, but he had also sat and stood, so he was ready to sit back again.
—
Finally, we passed through the urban area. We arrived at the subway station, got off the train, and passed through the gate. It was all done in one go. Apart from a few black guys on the subway who were bad at rapping and harassing everyone along the way, Lu Mingfei didn’t meet anyone who might threaten his life.
things.
Following the directions given by the fat police officer, he got on the bus after exiting the subway station. After inserting a coin, he found a seat in the back row by the window. He looked at a crying child who had been painted on the glass window with a black marker.
I was in a daze, and rows of historic buildings in Brooklyn were passing by outside the window. I don’t know why Lu Mingfei found a sense of familiarity in this crowded street scene that lacked the sense of a big city.
The bus staggered to the terminal. It was in the eastern suburbs of Brooklyn, the most remote part of downtown. Buildings over ten stories were almost invisible. It borders Queens, which is considered a poor area in downtown Brooklyn. Here
There are some old and disrepaired buildings everywhere, and the walls are full of colorful graffiti and obscenities. From time to time, you can see a few black guys wearing red masks walking around the alley with their pockets in their hands.
Busy with a big business worth tens of thousands.
Lu Mingfei didn't dare to wander into the alley, so he took the main road as far as possible, and walked all the way to a borderland near the sea. This was probably a suburb of the slums. He kept walking according to the address on the map, and finally stopped at
I walked in front of a construction site, put down the map, and looked at the excavators and forklifts in confusion.
"Hey! Hey! That boy!"
Lu Mingfei had only stood for a while when someone shouted at him. A red-necked man wearing a construction hat shouted and waved at him and ran over to him. Without any explanation, he took his arm and pulled him away.
Before Lu Mingfei could react, the other party pointed to where he was standing just now. A heavy steel bar was being lifted by a crane. If there was any engineering accident, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Don't hang around here. What are you doing here as a student?" The red-necked man looked up and down and Lu Mingfei recognized him as a student.
"What's happening here?" Lu Mingfei looked at the construction site, where an old church-like building was being demolished, with industrial materials and sand piled everywhere.
"Are you looking for a place for demolition?" The red-necked uncle saw Lu Mingfei's begging look and asked patiently, "No matter what you are looking for, it is no longer here, and some have closed down.
We will start demolishing this place immediately after receiving the news.”
"This is supposed to be an orphanage. Can a charity also close down?" Lu Mingfei was a little confused.
"Why can't charities close down? Official institutions can close down due to funding problems. How do you think my wife lost her job?" The red-necked uncle was so angry that he glanced at Lu Mingfei, "Not to mention the orphanage here.
I heard that it was not an official facility in the first place, but was set up by private individuals. There are always rich people who want to make illicit money in order to build their own virtues. While creating orphans, they are philanthropic to the orphans and think that they will definitely go to heaven when they die! About that time now
A group of wealthy people lost their capital chain, burned their butts, and simply ran away. The orphanage persisted for a month or two and couldn't continue to operate, so it naturally closed down. Are you here to find someone in it?"
"It's okay, don't use it now." Lu Mingfei took out the photo in his trouser pocket, took a look at it and said, one of the few clues was now broken, "Uncle, do you know this address?"
The red-necked uncle took the photo handed over by Lu Mingfei and glanced at the address left behind. "Isn't this near the elevated light rail? It's not far from here, just a few hundred meters away. Even a fool can find it."
"Thank you." Lu Mingfei thanked him. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly paused and put the photo and a 10 dollar bill back into the red-necked man's hand. "If you have a chance, please give this photo to the people in the orphanage."
,Thank you." After saying that, he picked up the backpack on his back and left.
Lu Mingfei left with his front foot, and an old man dressed as a grandma walked up to the red-necked man with a cross in his hand. "I seem to hear something moving here? Are you in trouble?"
"No, mama, I just met a guy who asked for directions. It has been solved now." The red-necked uncle pointed in the direction of Lu Mingfei, "He must be a foreigner, and you can tell at a glance that he feels out of place.
"
"Everyone is out of place when they first arrive in this world." Nanny lowered her head and said with a smile, "Everyone has been confused, but in the end they will find their destination."
"But now your final destination is almost gone." The red-necked man glanced at the orphanage that was about to be demolished and said, "What should we do with the children inside? Are they assigned to other official orphanages?"
"Don't you know? We are not bankrupt, we are just relocating. The God-blessed kindhearted person who funded us donated a million dollars to the orphanage to repair a new residence two months ago. Those children will have
A new home, like I said, everyone will find their place in the end."
"Is it true that you just donated a million dollars when the sun came out in the west? You can't figure out the new destination of the rich people's thinking? Then I hope that the new destination won't have a high amount of milk powder money and a domestically violent wife like me.
"The red-necked man muttered, and handed the photo to his mother. "Dean, the thing that boy asked me to take with me just now is for the people in the orphanage."
Grandma took a look at the photo and was stunned. The photo showed a man with drooped eyebrows playing cards with a group of people at a table. The background was a cafe, and the sun shone in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. The man's young face was
There is a touch of brightness, and in the corner of the photo there is a signature written in broken English with a marker: Ronald Tang, an anonymous generous donor who is not rich :).
Grandma stood there for a while, and suddenly she glanced in the direction Lu Mingfei left with some feeling, but she only saw the back of a boy who was incompatible with this city and this street scene. Seeing that back, she was stunned for a while and felt a surge of emotion.
She felt a sense of familiarity, but in the end she just shook her head slightly and walked away.
—
Lu Mingfei was lost. He was walking in the streets of Brooklyn, feeling a little confused. His thoughts drifted to the white doves flying in the sky along with the gradient colors of graffiti.
—
"Lu Mingfei, I want to ask you a favor."
"What? Principal?"
"I heard that Ronald Down adopted a kitten two months ago when he left that apartment in Brooklyn, New York."
"Does the Dragon King also keep pets?" Lu Mingfei raised his head and asked, the sun shining slightly brightly on the face of the old man holding a bone china cup across the table.
"I don't know. Maybe you can help me verify this question. I will leave the address of the apartment behind the photo. Maybe you can use it to write a supplementary paper for your internship class."
"What topic should I choose?" Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded, "On the possibility that the Dragon King is a cat slave"?
"I don't know either." The principal said, "Perhaps "A Brief Analysis of Human Emotions of the Four Dragon Lords" is more appropriate?"
"" Lu Mingfei was silent for a while and then said, "It's been two months. If the cat had no one to feed it, it would have starved to death, right?"
"No one knows, but wouldn't it be too pitiful to let a cat starve to death in an apartment with no one to collect its body?" the principal asked.
"Maybe," Lu Mingfei said, "but it's not necessarily true that Old Tang let the cat go when he left?"
"Do you think an angry dragon king would patiently find a home for a pet cat or simply release it when he leaves his former residence?" the principal's tone was somewhat intriguing.
"I don't know either." Lu Mingfei fell into silence after finishing speaking.
"Lin Nian told me that you had some concerns about facing the Dragon King underwater, so you should go there so that you don't have too many regrets." The principal put down the bone china cup and pushed a piece of paper to Lu Mingfei.
Lu Mingfei picked it up and took a look. It was a train ticket from Chicago to New York.
"Going to find the cat?" he asked subconsciously.
"Of course you can also try to find other things, as long as they can make you feel at ease." The old man said softly.
—
With the help of an enthusiastic black man from Brooklyn, Lu Mingfei found the address.
—
"Are you sure you know the residents here?" the landlord asked.
"I'm sure it's Ronald Tang, right? I'm his friend and I'm Chinese, is there any problem with that?" Lu Mingfei replied.
"Why does he have a Chinese friend?" The landlord looked at the thin, yellow-skinned boy in front of him with disdain.
"Because he is also Chinese! Chinese-American." Lu Mingfei's eyes widened.
"You seem to be right. He hasn't paid rent for two months. If he hadn't always had a good reputation with me, I would have kicked him out. Moreover, the tenant next door has been complaining that there is a strange smell in his house.
, you are his friend, ask him to pay more attention to personal hygiene and ventilation, and stop ordering takeout and leaving garbage in the house."
The landlady, a fat woman in her forties, stood in front of Lu Mingfei and started talking nonchalantly. Lu Mingfei felt like he had entered the teacher's office again, just bowing his head and being scolded, and he couldn't help but feel that he had collapsed.
After eight lifetimes of bad luck, the fat landlady seemed to feel dry at the end of the training, so she let Lu Mingfei go and gave him a spare key to let him go upstairs.
After thanking him profusely, Lu Mingfei went upstairs, pressed the door number and found the address on the photo the principal had given him. He raised his hand and was about to knock on the door, but he stopped halfway and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
, then took out the spare key and opened the door.
"Excuse me."
—
The door of the apartment was opened, accompanied by Lu Mingfei's voice, bottles and jars were pushed open, the door collided and collapsed, and then there was the sound of Lu Mingfei rushing around, and the noise of the high-speed rail and light rail suddenly sounded outside the window sharply.
Covered everything up.
Just as the landlord complained, this is not a hygienic apartment. There are stacked drink cans everywhere, finished takeout bags are placed in the corner, and the simple furniture is covered with jeans and jackets. To put it bluntly,
It's called sloppy, but to put it politely, it's full of the breath of life and the breath of a person's life.
You can imagine how casual the owner of this apartment is. The first thing he does after returning home every day is to take off his jacket and jeans and throw them on the sofa and chair. He then takes the takeaway phone card and lies on the computer chair and spins around.
When I came to the computer, I happily dialed the takeout number while logging into "StarCraft" all and cutting a plate with my friends.
The air was filled with a bad smell, but Lu Mingfei had never felt so relaxed. It seemed that the burden he had been carrying was suddenly lifted after he walked into this room. It didn't matter. He had the same burden as the Dragon King.
Is it the attribute of staying at home? No wonder they can become friends on the Internet without knowing each other.
At some point, Lu Mingfei also sat in front of the computer chair. To his left was the window that looked across the sea to Queens. Perhaps Old Tang had looked at this world that was incompatible with him many times, just like he did now.
That decadent man may have once gotten off the train station in Manhattan just like he is today, wandering the streets of New York at a loss, and finally tossed and turned and hid in the corner of the city to build a lonely but warm nest, which contained many stories.
, but those stories were buried together under the river in Kuimen.
Lu Mingfei thought he knew Lao Tang, but all he knew was Lao Tang on the Internet. The self-proclaimed server master was a heartless good friend who would help his brothers when they were embarrassed. But in private, this man named Lao Tang
What are the people of Tang like?
If it hadn't been for today, Lu Mingfei would have never known that this man was born in an orphanage. He once traveled all over the world as a hunter. Although he made a lot of commissions, he invested them all in the construction of the orphanage and the maintenance of stability.
Well, that was Old Tang before he found Norton's identity. The principal said that when the Dragon King recalls his memories, he will only be the cold-blooded and ruthless Dragon King.
But is this really the case?
Lu Mingfei didn't know, but he didn't forget the purpose of coming here today.
He stood up from the computer chair and walked to the depths of the living room of the apartment, where he smelled a foul smell. Maybe that was the source of the smell mentioned by the landlady?
He already had the answer in his mind at this moment, but he still walked to the source of the stench, the cat cage hidden in the corner.