After Xia Lan left, Lin Xiaoguang began to conceive of a new novel, "Beijingers in New York".
At first, he just thought of this TV series, but then he thought that if he wanted to use this book as a guide to going abroad, the name would be a bit narrow. Maybe non-Beiping people would not be interested. At the same time, there are so many places in the United States, and it is difficult to go to other places.
People in the city probably won't be interested in this book.
So the title of this book needs to be changed.
Should it be changed to "Chinese in the United States"? "When Beijing Meets Seattle"? Or should it be more straightforward, "A Guide to Living in the United States for Chinese"?
It always feels like the taste is a bit different.
"All the Way to the West"? "Wonderful Things"? Or something else?
After thinking for a long time, he couldn't think of a better name, so he simply skipped the name and wrote the text directly.
Let’s start the story from Tsinghua Park. The protagonist is called Li Changan, a native of Chang’an in the northwest. In 1977, he was still working in the countryside. Then he resumed the college entrance examination and was admitted to Tsinghua University. He got married when he graduated from college. When he graduated at the end of 1981, he and his wife were both selected.
The government sent me to study abroad, but according to regulations, the couple could not go to the same country, so one went to the United States and the other to France.
One day in February, Li Changan followed the crowd out of the plane, took a deep breath, and had a lot of thoughts.
At this time, a girl who was traveling with me looked at the blue sky, gazed affectionately, and sighed: "Ah! The air in America is so sweet and fresh. I smell the smell of freedom, how intoxicating it is!"
The story begins here.
Since it is a novel and not a popular science article, there is no need to be truthful. For reality, plainness is true, but novels are obviously not like this. What they need is conflicts, drama, and story tension.
Therefore, he began to think about how to make the novel more reasonable and at the same time enrich the storyline with a large number of American elements.
Depression, conflicts, climax, dullness, the cycle continues like this.
Living in a basement in a residential area, working as an illegal worker to wash dishes, being robbed by people of color, being deported because of ignorance of the law, becoming a street girl because of beetroot addiction, marrying an old man in order to stay in the United States, racial discrimination, and drug abuse.
He will present a real America to international students, a poppy country that is both beautiful and sinful.
It took him several days to delete, delete, and revise repeatedly. He made an outline before writing the 30,000-word opening chapter, and then handed the manuscript to Xia Lan before she returned to China.
At Hung Hom Station in West Kowloon, he said goodbye to the two of them and said, "Aunt Lan, time is a bit tight, so we have to do this. We will temporarily name it "My 1977". Take a look."
"OK."
Xia Lan solemnly put the manuscript back into her handbag, then looked at him with a smile: "Sorry to trouble you, Xiaoguang."
He shook his head: "No trouble."
"Yiyi, say goodbye to my brother!" Xia Lan pulled her reluctant daughter away.
"Goodbye, brother!" Shen Yiyi smiled sweetly and took one last look at the bustling city before turning and entering the station.
Xia Lan is traveling with three people, coming from Jianghan. One of them stayed in Shenzhen Town before leaving the country. They will meet again when they return to Shenzhen Town, and then the three of them will return together along the same route. There is no need to worry about safety issues.
Lin Xiaoguang saw the two off before returning to his residence on Qiande Road.
Then I immersed myself in writing the manuscript at home for a few days. September was approaching, the semester of the University of Hong Kong started, and Daniel also came back from the United States. At the same time, Lin Xiaozheng came back from Taiwan, and brought his cousin, also named Yang, named Yang Jin.
Yes, he also has a cousin.
Since Anyang came to Xiangjiang, he had got together with several roommates before, and then he and Anyang stayed and flew together. They rarely stayed in Qiyuan. This time, if Lin Xiaozheng hadn't gone to the Qiande Road residence to find him, he would have been there.
Little did he know that the latter had come back and brought his cousin with him.
"Your cousin is here to study this time too?" The two of them chatted casually.
"NO, NO..." Lin Xiaozheng shook his head repeatedly: "I just came here to play. She is still in junior high school and will graduate next year."
"All right……"
In the evening, a few people took the time to gather together. At first there were relatively few people, but then there were more people. Daniel called Ma Tingting, and Catherine followed immediately. Later, Liang Jiayi and Mu Wenjun also came, plus Yang
Jin and Anyang, a total of ten people.
Four boys and six girls, yin is strong and yang is weak.
When they met, Lin Xiaoguang was stunned when he saw Lin Xiaozheng's cousin Yang Jin. If she hadn't spoken Mandarin with a Minnan accent, he would have almost thought that this was his cousin Yang Lan. They looked so similar. How could there be such a similar person in the world.
Anyang was also a little absent-minded and looked at him suspiciously.
"Probably not. There are many similar people in the world, but it doesn't mean that they are all related by blood. One of them is in the mainland and the other is in Taiwan. They can't be compared with each other. They shouldn't be relatives." He smiled to comfort Anyang and himself.
.
To be honest, he even doubted whether his grandfather still had a posthumous son in Taiwan. It was hard to guarantee that this was not possible. After all, he was an officer in the national army back then.
At the dinner table, he was still a little distracted.
Without him, although Yang Jin is younger than Yang Lan and looks more tender-faced, their smiles and frowns are so similar that they are almost as if they were carved from the same mold.
Until the end of the meal, when there was no one else around, he found Lin Xiaozheng and asked: "Azheng, do you have any photos of your cousin Yang Jin?"
Lin Xiaozheng was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red, and he looked at him angrily: "Lin Xiaoguang, you already have a girlfriend, but you fell in love with my cousin when we first met, and you fell in love with her. This is too much. I tell you, you
Don’t even think about it.”
"what?"
Lin Xiaoguang was a little stunned. Did he look like a pervert? He clearly wanted a photo and mailed it to Yang Lan to show her. Why was he misunderstood?
"Brother!" Yang Jin stood up sharply.
"Forget it, let's talk about it later, but Azheng, you really misunderstood me." Lin Xiaoguang was afraid of causing further misunderstandings, so he simply left.
"I misunderstood your sister!" Lin Xiaozheng rolled his eyes angrily.
Yang Jin looked at his cousin suspiciously, then at Lin Xiaoguang's back, and asked: "Brother, what did Brother Lin just say? Are you talking about me?"
"I didn't say anything, just chatting casually, don't think too much about it."
Looking back, Lin Xiaoguang went to the telegraph office of the company and sent a telegram directly to the old man, asking about this matter. Before the liberation of the country, did any of his posthumous children live in Taiwan? After all, Yang Lan and Yang Jin looked so similar that there was no guarantee that someone would
Misunderstand.
Once the telegram was sent, he ignored it and only waited for a reply.
One night in September, he had just finished his classes and came home from school. After leaving the school gate, he was preparing to return to his house on Conduit Road. The lights of a big red Ferrari on the roadside came on, the window was rolled down, and a man shouted:
: "Lin Xiaoguang, stop!"
He turned around and saw clearly that it was Liang Jiayi under the light, and immediately shook his head: "Girl, what are you doing calling me so late at night?"
Liang Jiayi said: "Get in the car."
He shook his head: "Sorry, I have to go home. My fiancée is still waiting for me."
"Lin Xiaoguang, I asked someone to investigate you. Qinhuai Industrial belongs to you, right? I have a business now and I want to talk to you. Why, don't you give me face?" Liang Jiayi smiled half-heartedly.
His eyes narrowed slightly, a little surprised.
"Why, you are only allowed to find someone to investigate me, but I am not allowed to find someone to investigate you?" Liang Jiayi snorted.
He didn't say anything, just opened the left door, got into the passenger seat, and put on his seat belt: "You only have three minutes, if you want to talk, hurry up."