There was no thirty months before the Spring Festival this year, so the twenty-ninth day of the month is Chinese New Year's Eve, and the same day is also Xiao Yuan's birthday, Xiao Yuan did not publicize his birthday everywhere, so in the United States, there is no one else except Xia Jiuying and Jiang Hua who know his birthday, of course, on this day, people who know his birthday in China, such as his mother Yang Jingchen, Lin Ran, and Tang Xinyu Gu Wolf and others, still called him and congratulated him on the phone.

Happy times always pass quickly, the day passed quickly, the next day was the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Yuan and Xia Jiuying went to school in the morning, participated in the New Year party organized by the Berkeley Chinese Association, in the afternoon, went to the Banshan Martial Arts Hall, and gave Tong Banshan a New Year's greeting, Xiao Yuan and Xia Jiuying came to pay New Year's greetings, so that Tong Banshan was very happy, and one of them gave them a red envelope, which was the only red envelope they received in the United States.

On the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Yuan and Xia Jiuying went to the Banshan Martial Arts Hall, and after reconciling with Tong Banshan, they set off for San Francisco together, and Jiang Hua left Berkeley on the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year and went to San Francisco in advance.

Therefore, on the way to San Francisco, Xiao Yuan has been tense and pays close attention to Tong Banshan's every move, but Tong Banshan seems to be very relaxed and happy, chatting with Xiao Yuan along the way, chatting with a lot of anecdotes in the American Chinese martial arts world, compared to this, Liu Wenwen, who was in the same car with them, has been cold as ice, sitting in the passenger seat without saying a word, occasionally hearing Xiao Yuan and Tong Banshan talk about the happy place, and will snort coldly, expressing some dissatisfaction in their hearts.

In fact, Xiao Yuan's worries were a little unnecessary, and the few hours of Berkeley to San Francisco were calm until they reached the door of the Huaxia Wushu Federation in San Francisco's Chinatown, and nothing happened.

Tong Banshan took Xiao Yuan, Xia Jiuying and Liu Wenwen, as well as another male disciple named Lin Ping who acted as a driver was welcomed into the compound of the federation, which is a courtyard with a large area of north and south, there is a building with the architectural style of the Ming and Qing dynasties in the east and west, the north and south, carved beams and painted buildings, there are a lot of red lanterns hung on it, the lanterns are written with the New Year, or the bronzing words such as Fulu, the four corners of the building eaves are also inserted with some colorful flags fluttering in the wind, the blue bricks in the courtyard are paved at the bottom, and some large tanks full of water are placed around, There are also red notes such as a full tank of clear water pasted on it, and many people in the courtyard are shuttling back and forth, a busy scene of the new year.

"The master of the Five Elements Bagua Gate, the master of the Berkeley Banshan Martial Arts Hall, Tong Banshan has arrived!"

When Xiao Yuan and the others were looking at this courtyard, the guy who led them in sang loudly, and with his shouting, immediately a few old men of the same age as Tong Banshan walked out, and greeted Tong Banshan enthusiastically, after Tong Banshan's introduction, Xiao Yuan knew that these people were some seniors in the Chinese martial arts world in the United States, either a certain master, or a certain martial arts curator, or like Tong Banshan, both.

And when these seniors listened to Tong Banshan's introduction of Xiao Yuan as the next generation of the Five Elements Bagua Gate, they all showed great interest in Xiao Yuan, and at the same time congratulated Tong Banshan on finally finding a good apprentice.

From the conversations between these seniors and Tong Banshan, Xiao Yuan also confirmed one thing, Tong Banshan has indeed been looking for the next generation of the Five Elements Bagua Sect all these years, and this kind of news made him have some doubts about his previous speculation.

"Could it be that Tong Banshan really just wants to cultivate himself and want to be his next generation successor?"

"Humph!" Liu Wenwen stood behind Tong Banshan, watching several seniors say hello to him, snorted lightly, turned her head to Xiao Yuan and said, "Xiao Yuan, if I am a man, which round will I get you." ”

Xiao Yuan smiled, ignored Liu Wenwen, and exchanged glances with Xia Jiuying, both of whom saw some doubts in the other party's eyes.

"Hmph, what a drag!" Liu Wenwen saw that Xiao Yuan ignored her, but instead exchanged eyebrows with Xia Jiuying, snorted coldly again, twisted her head to the side, and stopped talking.

Tong Banshan and the others didn't greet each other for too long, so they followed the waiter who had brought them in to the east side of the building and arranged a place for them to live, among which Tong Banshan lived in one room, Xiao Yuan and Lin Ping lived in one, and Xia Jiuying and Liu Wenwen were originally going to be arranged to live in one room, but Xiao Yuan mentioned that Xia Jiuying did not live here, so Liu Wenwen occupied one by herself.

After arranging the accommodation, Tong Banshan called Xiao Yuan, Liu Wenwen and Lin Ping together to explain two sentences, and let them move freely, so Xiao Yuan took Xia Jiuying out of the federation compound, and took her to the Huaxia Consulate General according to the route inquired in advance, indicating her identity, and soon a staff led them to meet the Consul General of the Huaxia Consulate General in San Francisco, Xiao Yuan briefly explained the situation to the Consul General, and then left Xia Jiuying in the Consulate and left alone.

Out of the consulate, Xiao Yuan returned to Chinatown, and did not immediately meet the association, but walked around Chinatown, feeling the atmosphere of the Spring Festival of overseas Chinese, many traditional Chinese programs, such as lion dance, dragon dance, etc. can be seen everywhere in Chinatown, and some foreigners took the opportunity to come over to join in the fun, and directly set up a stage on the street to perform some songs and dances that are very different from the oriental style, adding a bit of exotic style to the oriental charm of Chinatown, and also making Xiao Yuan realize that this is really not China, but the United States on the other side of the ocean. I couldn't help but feel a faint sense of homesickness in my heart.

It was already noon, Xiao Yuan felt that he was a little hungry, so he casually found a Chinese restaurant that was still open and walked in, ordered two dishes, asked for a bowl of beef noodles, and after serving it, Xiao Yuan took a pair of chopsticks and picked a noodle and put it in his mouth, savoring it carefully.

"There is no authentic noodle in China, and there is a bit of meat to eat." Soon, Xiao Yuan came to such a conclusion, and when he was sighing, he suddenly had a pair of chopsticks stretched out into his bowl and ate the few pieces of beef in his bowl with lightning speed.

"Damn, why are you robbing me of my meat to eat!" Xiao Yuan hurriedly raised his head, but saw Jiang Hua standing in front of him with a pair of chopsticks, with a hippie smile on his face, and his mouth was still chewing, so he said dissatisfiedly.

"Hehe, if you don't grab meat to eat, do you still grab noodles to eat?" Jiang Hua sat opposite Xiao Yuan and said, snapped his fingers as he spoke, called the waiter not far away, and said, "Give me a bowl of noodles, remember that the meat will be doubled, and I will add money." ”

"Okay, guest wait." The waiter was also a Chinese young man, so he naturally understood Jiang Hua's words, wrote down his request, and turned to leave.

Xiao Yuan looked at the clear soup noodles in front of him, smiled bitterly, and at the same time made up his mind that when Jiang Hua's noodles came up in a while, he must grab a few pieces of meat from him to eat, but this idea could not be expressed, and he had more important things to ask.

"How did you find me?" Xiao Yuan asked.

"I've been walking around next to the Huaxia Wushu Federation, you came, I saw it, and then you sent Xia Jiuying to the consulate, and I stayed on the way you came back, so I could naturally find you." Jiang Hua said.

"How about it, I came a day early, did you find anything?" Xiao Yuan asked again.

"Nope." Jiang Hua shrugged and said.

"I followed Tong Banshan in the federation just now, and I listened to him chatting with several other seniors, and said that he has indeed been looking for the next generation of successors over the years." Xiao Yuan said.

"What, this discovery makes you less suspicious?" Jiang Hua asked.

"Yes, at least on this one, suspicion of him is eliminated." Xiao Yuan said.

"Doubt this thing, whether it is one point or ten points, it must be treated as ten points, so, Xiao Yuan, you must not be careless, at least from today onwards, you must pay attention to everything, you must be cautious in your words and deeds, you can't be caught by others, and other people's behaviors should also be extra careful, as soon as there is a stir, leave immediately, and pay attention to diet to prevent someone from poisoning, and again, when you go on stage with someone tomorrow, you must not have a competitive heart, once you find a problem, you must admit defeat, The vest I gave you for your birthday last year, you must wear it close to your body......" Jiang Hua looked serious and told him one by one.

Xiao Yuan listened carefully and nodded frequently, although Jiang Hua had repeated these words several times when he was in Berkeley, but at this moment, Jiang Hua's re-advice still moved him.

At this time, the guy came over with a tray with a bowl of steaming beef noodles.

"Sir, your noodles, please use them slowly." The guy put the noodles in front of Jiang Hua.

And Jiang Hua was still telling Xiao Yuan one by one at the moment, and he didn't immediately pick up the chopsticks to eat noodles, but he didn't want Xiao Yuan to push his bowl forward, and Jiang Hua's bowl was next to each other, and then used the chopsticks as a broom, and swept all the meat covered with a layer in Jiang Hua's bowl into his bowl, and then pulled the bowl in front of him, quickly picked up a few pieces of meat and put them in his mouth, and said to the stunned Jiang Hua while chewing: "Jiang Hua, what are you doing in a daze, go on, what else needs to be paid attention to." ”

"What else needs to be noted is, Xiao Yuan, you give me all my flesh back!" Jiang Hua gritted his teeth, screamed, picked up the chopsticks and stretched them out, grabbed them with Xiao Yuan, and grabbed them to the lively place, causing the other people who were eating in the restaurant to look sideways and dumbfounded.

"Two, please dine civilly." At this time, a guy came over and said very tactfully.

"Oh, okay." Xiao Yuan and Jiang Hua stopped arguing, sat down firmly with each other and glanced at each other, and suddenly laughed.

"Xiao Yuan, what arrangements do you have for dinner?" After the guy left, Jiang Hua asked.

"There are no arrangements, and I have free time for a day today." Xiao Yuan said.

"I'll take you somewhere, I'm sure you'll be thrilled." Jiang Hua said.

"Where?" Xiao Yuan asked.

"Confidentiality." Jiang Hua said with a mysterious smile.