The old man did know the boy's grandfather.

The two of them have known each other since childhood, their homes are across the street, and they also attended a school.

However, the Han family gradually prospered, and moved away from this place because of work.

The local name "Dabao" was given by Mr. Han's grandfather, saying that it was easy for boys to have such a nickname, and the thinking of the older generation of Chinese people did not change anything after they came to the United States.

Most of the residents of Chinatown speak Chinese, and the ancestors of the Han family can only speak a few words of English, and they have not lived in Los Angeles for more than 20 years.

On weekdays, he is busy with work, and the old man rarely goes back to Chinatown, and he may not be able to meet this childhood companion named Huang Wen when he comes, thinking that the two have not seen each other for nearly thirty years.

Old Man Han suddenly heard his nickname, his face instantly turned red, he turned his head and glared at him, and changed the topic: "My grandson, Han Xuan." ”

"Come and show grandpa, it's so handsome. Old man Huang beckoned and smiled, patted the boy's arm and praised him, and looked up at Old Man Han: "I often see your news in the newspaper, congratulations, there are many people here, go sit under the tree?"

"Okay, listen to you. ”

Tell Jetton to go to the hotel and let them do it later, and the two old men talked as they walked, talking about their children and grandchildren.

Soon I came to the bottom of a wax tree, the canopy of branches was quite thick, just enough to block the midday sun, and there was a little smell in the air, which was the smell of sewers.

It is not far from the residential area, because there are tourists on both sides of the main street, so the decoration is very clean and full of Chinese style, and there is only one street away from it, but it has completely changed its appearance.

The railings of the old shantytown are full of clothes, children about the same age as Han Xuan are running around, the streets are not wide, and bicycles and motorcycles are parked on both sides, making it inconvenient to enter and exit.

White smoke rose from the chimneys, just in time for cooking, as was the case in many houses, and the whole street was hazy, and sewage was draining down the pipes, winding down the dilapidated concrete floor, and splashing away with vehicles.

"What about you, Lao Huang, how are you doing?"

The old man patted the dust on the edge of the flower bed, sat down regardless of the image, said with a smile, and frowned slightly when he saw the scene over there.

"It's not bad, at least it's much better than before, when we were children, the police often came to drive us away, and the three legs were discounted, remember?"

"It's just that when I go to school, I walk with a limp, and now I can't see that kind of situation, the neighborhood elected me as the mayor of the town a few years ago, and I have to endure a lot of hardships to understand it, only if I am hard, I will not suffer from their crimes. ”

Old man Huang speaks with a little Northeast accent, which is not standard, he learned it from his parents when he was a child, and he has not been able to change it for decades.

"Of course I remember, how is he now?"

"Buried in the cemetery in the east, I've been sleeping for more than ten years, leukemia, a bunch of people are going to die, and there are no more left. The voice is very calm, when a person reaches a certain age, life and death are downplayed, Huang Wen sat hard next to the old man, and it seemed that his waist was not very good.

Breathed a sigh of relief and continued to speak: "I know that your company is in the city center, but I usually don't have much to do, so I didn't bother you because I thought you had a lot of things to do." ”

"At that time, you were business-minded, and he was the richest in this place, and he was not even afraid of the police, but I didn't expect you to make such a big business. ”

After the old man Huang finished speaking, he stretched out his finger and pointed to the street store: "Who doesn't know you here, everyone is famous in the Chinese circle, Wal-Mart is open across the street, they would rather run out of a few streets and buy things in your store." ”

Han Xuan was silent, standing beside his grandfather, with mixed feelings in his heart.

Although the United States has made much progress in racial equality compared to a century ago, invisible discrimination still exists to a greater or lesser extent.

The Chinese have always been submissive, influenced by Confucian culture and do not like fighting, the idea of moderation has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and Chinatown is like an isolated urban village compared to the surrounding bustling city.

It's noon, and it's hard to imagine in Los Angeles that there are so many residents queuing up to get water from roadside wells.

Han Xuan suddenly felt that the so-called "only when China is strong, Chinese people will have dignity" is a wrong conclusion that puts the cart before the horse, and the discrimination against Asians in the United States is largely racial and cultural discrimination, and is not based on whether your motherland is strong or not.

Looking at the black people in the United States, from slaves more than a century ago, second-class citizens more than half a century ago, to black presidents in later generations, it is not the rise of any African country, but the result of their own unremitting efforts for equality and freedom.

For black Americans, having a black president does not mean that you are black from now on, you are rightfully respected, and black Americans need each of them to continue their own efforts to get rid of prejudice.

If there are three or four criminals out of ten black people, they will not have a good reputation as a group.

This principle is also very applicable to the Chinese, in order to eliminate these discrimination, it is necessary for each Chinese to make their own efforts, and those who do not strive for dignity with their own efforts, but hope to rely on the strength of the motherland to obtain dignity, will not be respected in Western society.

Ireland, for example, was a very poor country until the mid-20th century, but Irish immigrants were not discriminated against by the same laws as Asians.

In World War II, the Japanese were all sent to concentration camps because they were from hostile countries, and the Germans and Italians, who were also from hostile countries, did not suffer the same fate.

Han Xuan has been staying on the ranch, and Brown University is known for its equal human rights, although he often sees the word "racial discrimination" in books, television, and newspapers, but he doesn't really know it.

Now seeing the backward face of Chinatown, the boy understands something.

He was very uncomfortable now, and his chest felt like a stone had been crushed.

I have the impression that a few years later in Indonesia, there will be a horrific "black ** riot" incident, and the "930 incident" in 1965 made him even more angry.

The Washington Post estimated that the number of Chinese who died in that incident was 500,000, Time magazine said 400,000, and the New York Times estimated between 150,000 and 400,000.

There are more than 20 million overseas Chinese living all over the world, and I am one of them, and the Han family can gain a foothold in the United States, but how many Chinese have fallen into such a situation like these people in front of them.

Nobody knows.

However, Han Xuan always felt that Chinese should not be like this.