The loud whistle sounded on the sea, startling a sea of seabirds, and at the same time alerted the people who had been waiting on the pier for a long time, and they all rushed to the other side of the pier to prepare for work.
The Stars and Stripes flying on the ship indicates the origin of the ship.
A young man wearing a suit, a top hat and a pair of black-rimmed glasses stood at the bow of the ship, looking excitedly at the crowded Chancheng Pier not far away.
Is this the Qing Dynasty?
Foreigners were coming and going around him. This young man wearing glasses spoke fluent bird language and could easily communicate with the foreigners. There was no hint of humility in his expression.
When the ship docked, the bespectacled young man took the rattan box and waited for the foreigners to get off the ship first. He got off the ship under the unhappy eyes of the crew, feeling very angry and helpless at the crew's rudeness.
But when he stepped onto the hard three-piece soil surface of the dock and looked at the busy but orderly dock in front of him, he was suddenly stunned.
Clean, tidy and orderly!
It was not as dirty and messy as the docks he had seen, and there were no thieves with malicious intentions, and there was no stench filling his nose, which gave him a feeling of extreme surprise.
Is this the Qing country that foreigners consider to be ignorant and backward?
Even the United States, where he was born, and all the docks where ships stopped along the way, were not as comfortable as the dock in front of him.
Looking at the pulley boom raised high on the dock, it can easily lift and lower the heavy cargo carried on the ship, as well as the two luggage belts pulled by mules. The use of machinery is better than that of the foreign docks he has seen.
, not only is it not bad, but it is also more standardized, and the efficiency is obviously higher.
Not to mention the order on the dock, it was completely incomparable to the foreign docks I had seen in the past.
Regardless of whether they are foreigners or Qing people, everyone is busy and orderly.
What surprised him the most was that the arrogant and arrogant foreigners he had seen in the past turned out to be very well-behaved here. They did not get angry at the busy Qing people on the dock for no reason, nor did they make any infuriating mistakes.
As it turns out, it doesn't look like foreigners at all.
The density of people at the pier also surprised the bespectacled young man. Everything he saw was full of people, which also showed the busy scene of the pier, which made him speechless.
Following the bustling flow of people, he soon saw a series of brick and wood buildings next to the dock square. The rich aroma of food and drinks wafted over there, causing his stomach to growl.
The feeling of hunger welled up in my heart, and I subconsciously walked towards the brick and wood building.
Hey, this is...
After squeezing through the dense crowd, what comes into view is a row of neat brick-and-wood structure shops, including pubs and restaurants, fruit shops, grocery stores, etc. Basically, most of the regular daily necessities that can be seen on the market.
Some are for sale.
What made him feel strange was that most of the customers who came to these shops were foreigners, and only a few Qing people patronized them. He didn't know why.
In addition, these shops are guarded by strong young men who are not easy to mess with at first glance. Teams of young men patrol back and forth from time to time, so the protection is quite tight.
But, is this necessary? This is just a place to eat and buy things.
He didn't think much about it, and walked into the restaurant with the most fragrant food. The waiter stammered and ordered a few specialty dishes, without asking for drinks. He wolfed down the food after it was served, and it didn't take long.
After eating all the food on the table, he was really hungry. Of course, that was also why the food in the restaurant tasted delicious.
"This, this, this meal, how, how, why is it so, so expensive?"
When waiting to pay, the price of the food was unexpectedly expensive. It was not much different from the food on the ship. The bespectacled young man thought that the restaurant was ripping people off, and he immediately became unhappy.
"Sir, our dock shops are all doing business with foreigners, so it's no wonder the prices are not high!"
The shop clerk wasn't angry at all, he just told the fact that the young man with glasses was speechless.
After paying for the meal, he was planning to leave directly. Unexpectedly, the waiter who collected the money suddenly asked: "Sir, do you want to come inside and have some fun?"
The bespectacled young man's mind suddenly moved, and he remembered what the waiter said. The shops here at the pier are specially opened for foreigners, and the facilities inside should be similar.
"Everyone has it, there's something, it's so fun and fun!"
He stuttered a lot, but the bespectacled young man kept talking for a long time on just one sentence, which made his forehead sweat, his mouth dry, and he felt very depressed.
The waiter was tired after hearing this, but fortunately the service attitude of this guy was really good. After listening to the bespectacled young man’s inquiry, he immediately enthusiastically introduced: “There is a gambling house, a brothel, and the most lively arena competition. I don’t know, guest.
Where do you want to visit?”
The young man with glasses showed a displeased expression. Where is this?
Brothels and gambling houses are not a good place to go, and they are all shops specializing in foreign business, which makes me feel uncomfortable just thinking about it.
He traveled thousands of miles from San Francisco to come to Chancheng, but he didn't want to get involved in these harmful things. Neither brothels nor gambling houses were places he wanted to go.
The waiter in the shop was very good at observing people's emotions. When he saw the displeasure on the young man's face with glasses, he immediately realized the problem and hurriedly said with a smile: "If you don't like those places of fun, why not go watch a ring competition? There is just one today.
Two disciples of Master Huang, the master of Chancheng martial arts, participated!"
"Oh, the Master Huang you are talking about cannot be Master Huang from Bao Zhilin, right?"
The bespectacled young man became interested and couldn't wait to ask: "Did his disciples also participate in the ring competition? If so, then I really need to see it!"
"Exactly!"
The waiter nodded hurriedly and said with a smile, "I will definitely not disappoint the guest!"
Without the waiter reminding him, the young man with glasses took the initiative to give him a small piece of broken silver as a tip, which made the waiter beam with joy. The young man with glasses hurriedly walked into the large building at the back of the store.
After spending more than a dozen copper coins at the door, he entered the competition area through a long passage. Suddenly, a deafening burst of cheers and shouts rushed into his ears, startling the bespectacled young man.
When he gradually adapted to the surrounding environment, he narrowed his eyes and looked towards the ring in the center of the venue. The scene that happened above shocked him so much that he couldn't even close his mouth for a long time.
A strong, muscular, bare-chested, bald young man was punching a blond foreign man who was taller and stronger than him to the ground.
There was a muffled bang that made my teeth feel sore. The strong foreign man was obviously seriously injured and couldn't get up no matter how hard he struggled.
Hiss...
When the bespectacled young man saw this scene, he couldn't help but take a breath. Not to mention the bald young man's ability to knock over a foreigner who was taller and stronger than him, just the ruthless ferocity of this guy's attack was enough to kill him.
Terrified.
When will the Chinese be able to beat foreigners so openly and honestly...