At the age of 14, Peng Yichen left his home in Huaxia and crossed the ocean to Chicago.

He worked as an apprentice at the "Hong Yuansheng" fruit shop in the Chinese district. A few days later, he was kicked out by his boss for stealing money to gamble, and he was left without a job and food and clothing, so he wandered the streets.

One day, when Peng Yichen was hungry and panicked on the street, he met Wang Aguo, who had been with him as an apprentice.

"Yuesheng, what are you doing here?" Wang Aguo also found him, and just when Peng Yichen wanted to dodge, he stopped him.

"I, I didn't do it, I panicked. Peng Yichen stood still and replied embarrassedly.

Seeing Peng Yichen's appearance, Wang Aguo knew that Peng Yichen must be wandering on the street, so he didn't ask much, so he took him to a noodle restaurant opened by Zhejiang people, ordered two bowls of noodles, one bowl per person, and ate them.

It turned out that after Wang Aguo was full, he opened a "Pan Yuansheng" fruit shop in the Chinese area.

After eating the noodles, for the sake of the love of his senior brother and junior brother, he asked Peng Yichen to become a clerk in his store.

……

When Peng Yichen first entered "Pan Yuansheng", in view of the lesson of knocking out his job in Hong Yuansheng, he wholeheartedly helped Wang Aguo to do business, received a salary every month, and had dividends to share during the New Year's holidays. But this kind of life of keeping to himself is not in line with Peng Yichen's mind, he is a naturally restless person who always wants to do a big career.

After working in the fruit shop for less than half a year, one day, he finally figured it out and proposed to his senior brother that he wanted to go out and set up a stall alone, and he wanted to do his own business.

Seeing that he was so persistent, Wang Aguo didn't stop him, gave him some rotten fruits that couldn't be sold, and gave him a little capital.

In this way, Peng Yichen returned to the street again, squeezed a corner on a small wharf in the Chinese area, set up a fruit stand, and began to earn a living on his own.

At night, when there was nowhere to stay, he slept with some beggars under the back doors of some hotels, and sometimes under overpasses.

Fortunately, there is no endless road!

Peng Yichen is poor and poor, but he has a chivalrous heart, and he gradually became a little famous among the poor brothers in the Chinese area.

When he had a few pennies around him, he liked to help the street gangsters and homeless people he knew.

I didn't have anything to eat, and I unceremoniously asked those gangsters and Hanako to ask for food.

Because his hometown is in Laiyang, he peels pears very well, so Huazi and gangsters gradually gave Peng Yichen a nickname called "Laiyang Pear".

In the days to come, Peng Yichen relied on his own good technique of peeling fruit skins, coupled with his good calculating, never threw away rotten fruits, but peeled the skin to sell, cut pieces and sell them cheaply or pickled them with sugar, and gradually he could eat a full stomach.

After a long time, he got the nickname "Fruit Peng" again.

It's just that Peng Yichen's small business, in this bizarre, treacherous and fraudulent Chinese area, has neither the capital to invite guests to buy wine, but also lacks powerful figures to back, how easy is it to talk about?

Whenever he saw the bigwigs getting in and out of the cars, wearing suits and leather shoes, not only rich and powerful, but also able to enter and exit the luxurious parties of the high-class ghosts in the Star Flag Country, Peng Yichen couldn't help but hate the root of his teeth, and he couldn't wait to live this kind of paradise-like life immediately.

It's a pity that things backfired, and after more than a year like this, he was still a poor bastard.

In this colorful Chicago, relying on this kind of little play to earn a few small sums of money, and sometimes there is not even enough to eat, how can we talk about any development? In these shabby days, Peng Yichen, who was young, finally made up his mind to change his career.

On this day, Peng Yichen saw that the business was light and idle, so he thought of the "Foot Cutting Ah Er" who was the most intimate with him in the bathing pool in the Chinese area and was a foot cutting master.

Peng Yichen and Ah Er haven't seen each other for more than 10 days, and he hasn't taken a bath for a long time and it's itchy, so he put away his stall and strolled to Yude Pool to talk to Ah Er, and take a bath by the way.

Who knew that he was looking for it in Yude Pool, but he couldn't find Ah Er, and when he inquired in the tea room, he learned that Ah Er had not come to work for several weeks.

When Peng Yichen heard this, he thought that Ah Er's asthma had happened again, because he was worried about Ah Er's condition, he didn't say a word, rushed out of the bath pool, and ran to Ah Er's house in three steps and two steps.

Ah Er is also a bachelor and lives near the bath pool. Peng Yichen rushed to Ah Er's residence after a while.

But the door of his house was closed, and Peng Yichen knocked for a long time, but he didn't see any movement in the room. Peng Yichen hurried to see the landlady again and inquired about Ah Er's situation.

The landlady was a slightly coquettish middle-aged woman, she looked at Peng Yichen who was dressed with disdain, and said indifferently: "You ask Ah Er, I don't know where he went, I only remember that he came to pay the rent last week, and he also paid the rent for the next month in advance, it is estimated that he made a fortune somewhere, went out to drink flower wine, and may not come back these days." ”

"What do you think of his body?" asked Peng Yichen, still a little worried.

The landlord swallowed melon seeds and replied: "People are quite energetic, not like sick." ”

Peng Yichen asked again, "How long have you not seen Ah Er?"

"It's been a few days!" said the landlord, impatient, glancing at Peng Yicheng.

Peng Yichen felt a little calmer when he heard that Ah Er was not sick, but when he heard that Ah Er had not returned for many days, he was a little worried.

He said goodbye to the landlady and went home anxious.

As soon as Peng Yichen arrived at home, he didn't cook, and his clothes fell on the bed, guessing Ah Er's whereabouts. He thought to himself, Chicago is very chaotic, if Ah Er has something three long and two short, how would it be good? Thinking about it, it is not a good feeling in his heart. When he was worried, someone suddenly knocked on the door, and when he opened the door, he saw that it was a junior downstairs, holding a letter in his hand. Peng Yichen took the letter and ran back to the room.

He took out the letter and looked at the payment, and he was happy that it was written by Ah Er. He read it eagerly, and realized that Ah Er was now in Milwaukee.

Peng Yichen read the letter in one breath, happy and surprised. I'm glad that Ah Er has landed, and what is surprising is that Ah Er, who is usually not very loud, is also clean and neat, and he actually went to Milwaukee to find a way to make money.

He sighed a little, not knowing when he would be able to make his mark.

That night, Peng Yichen couldn't sleep: Chicago is really hard to mix!

I've been setting up a fruit stand in the Chinese area for so long, and I still can't mix it up. Ah Er looks much worse than me, but he is farther and bolder than I thought, and has found a way to make money......

Peng Yichen tossed and turned all night, waited until the rooster crowed, and got up in his clothes. He washed his face with cold water, and his mind was immediately clear. I thought, "Why don't I go out and mingle like Ah Er, and go to the world!"

Thinking of this, Peng Yichen decided not to set up a fruit stall today, and went to the City God Temple to ask for a lottery to see if this outing was auspicious or evil.

……