After a long journey, the cruise ship finally arrived on the east coast of the United States, under the gray canopy, the gray city, the snowflakes fluttering in the sky, and on a small island in the distance, the Statue of Liberty held a torch high, as if to guide travelers from afar.

The weather in New York was very cold, and Jian, who was wearing a fur coat and high boots, was shivering from the cold, but he still couldn't hide his excitement, and ran to the bow of the boat like a bird, and turned back to greet Chen Zikun: "Come on." ”

Chen Zikun hurried to catch up, the two snuggled up to the bow of the boat and looked at the Manhattan in the snow dance, Jian Bing couldn't help but open his arms to make a flying shape, and shouted at the same time: "America, I'm coming~~~~"

Chen Zikun hurriedly grabbed her waist and blamed: "What should I do if I fall?"

Jian Bing chuckled: "With you, I'm not afraid of anything, you know, I've always had nightmares along the way, dreaming that the same cruise ship was wrecked on the ice sea, and thousands of people died, that tragic appearance is terrifying, but fortunately, our ship is okay and arrived safely." ”

The whistle sounded for a long time, deafening, the port was getting closer and closer, the passengers returned to the cabin, packed their luggage and prepared to disembark, half an hour later, Chen Zikun and Jianbing had stepped on the land of Manhattan, and the two looked at the skyscrapers and sighed: "This is the United States." ”

A staff member of the consulate in New York came to pick up Chen Zikun, who was a foreign student on official assignment and a friend that Gu Weijun had told him to take care of, and the consulate had already arranged a hotel for them, which was on the famous Broadway street, very close to Chinatown, where the Chinese lived.

New York is like an infinitely magnified Shanghai Public Concession, with the hustle and bustle exuding hustle and bustle around every corner, with sleeping beggars on heating duct vents, expensive goods in Broadway shopping mall windows, and Ford cars whizzing through the streets and New Yorkers hurrying in a hurry, all telling the Chinese couple that this is the other side of the world, New York.

The hotel is old, a mid-century building, the golden wallpaper in the rooms has faded, and the flush toilet is a little unusable, but the row of clumsy cast iron radiators under the window is burning, bringing spring-like warmth to travelers from afar.

Sent away friends from the consulate, Jianbing got busy, first put water in the bathtub, then sorted out the luggage, and changed the clothes of the dusty people, she was used to being served, and the clothes were always handed over to the laundry to take care of, and the United States was no exception, there was a phone in the room that could go directly to the front desk, and someone naturally came to collect the clothes.

After the phone call, twenty minutes later, sure enough, someone rang the doorbell, and it turned out to be a thin Chinese old woman who came in, Jian Bing was worried that her English level was not enough to communicate with the locals, and she was immediately overjoyed, and talked to her in Chinese, who knew that the old woman actually shook her head and said a dialect that Jian Bing did not understand.

Chen Zikun came out of the bathroom, spoke the same language and talked to the old woman, taught her the clothes, and gave a tip of twenty-five cents. ”

"Teochew dialect, I spent some time in Guangdong, I can speak Cantonese and Teochew, most of the people in New York's Chinatown are Chaoshan, and most of them open laundry houses, these people are early years to sell piglets to the United States to build railroads, and later California to engage in Chinese exclusion, they migrated to the East Coast." Chen Zikun learned a lot about the customs of the United States from Gu Weijun along the way, and at this moment, he talked eloquently, which immediately made Jianbing Dasheng feel admired.

Originally, Chen Zikun wanted to order a bottle of brandy to celebrate, but he was told that due to the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, alcohol is banned in the United States, so they can't drink it even if they have money, and the two can't help but miss the food and wine in Shanghai, thousands of miles away from home, and want to stay in the United States for four or five years or even longer, and can't help but feel melancholy.

After a day's rest in New York, Chen Zikun rushed to West Point, 80 kilometers away, to try to catch up with the spring of 1921.

After careful interrogation at the gate, Chen Zikun entered the school, which was full of military cadets in gray military uniforms, who were meticulous in their manners, completely different from the youth in society.

When he arrived at the school office, Chan handed over his documents to a female secretary wearing reading glasses and tapping on a typewriter, and the secretary in his fifties looked at the documents, looked over the frame of his glasses at Chan Zikun, said wait a minute, and then picked up the papers and went into the office on the side.

Five minutes later, the female secretary came back and told Chan in a stereotypical tone, "Unfortunately, we do not approve of the documents you submitted, in other words, what you brought is invalid."

Chen Zikun has two heads, this is a letter of recommendation signed by President Xu Shichang himself, and there is also the seal of the President of the Republic of China, and his identity certificate is also jointly issued by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which are all official documents, so why is it invalid.

He argued with reason, but the female secretary didn't think so, looked at him disdainfully, continued to tap on his typewriter, and the door of the office next to him opened, and a polite Mr. Glasses came out, he was quite polite, and explained the reason to Chen Zikun.

Originally, the rules of admissions at West Point Military Academy were that domestic students must have a letter of recommendation from a congressman or military general to enroll, and the same is true for foreign students, but the letter of recommendation is not brought by the students themselves, but must be passed on from country to country through diplomatic channels.

Now Chen Zikun understands that co-authoring the president's recommendation letter is worthless in the eyes of others, is it possible that he ran for nothing? He couldn't swallow this breath and insisted on meeting the top leaders of the school.

Mr. Glasses shrugged, knowing that he could not convince this stubborn Chinese, so he dialed the principal's phone with a try-and-see attitude, and after a few words, he said, "Sir, please follow me." ”

The principal's room is located on the highest floor of the office, standing by the window, the playground can be seen in an unobstructed view, the room is decorated in a very military style, with sabers and battle flags hanging on the wall, and behind the desk sits a middle-aged soldier with a general star on his shoulder.

"Your Excellency, Mr. Chen is here." Mr. Glasses presented Chen Zikun's information, and after the general read it carefully, he handed it back to him and said: "Unfortunately, we must treat foreign students equally, and making exceptions for one person is unfair to others. ”

Chen Zikun wanted to argue a few more words, but the general suddenly raised his head, his eagle-like gaze made him swallow his words back, straightened his waist and said, "I will come back." ”

……

Chen Zikun returned to New York in frustration, just walked to the door of the hotel room, he heard Jian Bing's angry noise, and when he entered the door, the old woman in the laundry room was bowing her head and being trained, and Jian Bing shook a washed tweed shirt in his hand: "Does Nong know how much this dress costs?" If it is washed, you have to pay for it! ”

"Forget it, it's just a piece of clothing." Chen Zikun stopped Jian Bing's anger, took out a coin and sent the old woman away, talking about the nail he touched at West Point, Jian Bing was in a worse mood when he heard it, and he was helpless to complain for a long time.

"In this case, I have to call back and ask the president to open another letter of recommendation, but this time and again, if the people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are lazy, at least for a few months, won't they delay their studies?" Jian Bing hung his head and said.

Jianbing is right, the president is not something anyone can send, the last time he got the letter of recommendation so smoothly, it was completely dependent on Wu Peifu's face, and now Wu Dashuai is training in Luoyang, is it possible that he can make a special trip back to Beijing for this matter? The big guys are all in a hurry, and no one will take Chen Zikun's study abroad to heart, and it is light to delay it for a few months, and it can be delayed for a year.

Chen Zikun said: "There is no way, there is only this way to go, who made me a foreign student, if they are natives, it is not so troublesome." ”

Frustration is frustration, and the rice still has to be eaten, but it is freezing outside, and Jian Bing is too lazy to move for fear of the cold, but he is hungry for Chinese food, so Chen Zikun went to Chinatown to buy some cooked food to eat.

As soon as she left the door of the hotel, the old woman from the laundry came up and said, "Sir, you are a good person, I can help you." ”

Chen Zikun was shocked: "What can you help me?" ”

The old woman smiled mysteriously: "I can help with anything." ”

Chen Zikun looked around in astonishment, and saw if the old woman had a shadow, this big day, could it be that he met a fairy?

"Follow me, sir." The old woman pushed the cart to collect the clothes and walked slowly in front, just in the direction of Chinatown, although Chen Zikun was suspicious, but still followed her.

After a short drive, we came to the famous New York Chinatown, which is full of Chinese restaurants and laundry rooms, all kinds of signs are also written in Chinese characters, and most of the people who come and go are Asian faces, and many people even drag the braids of the former Qing Dynasty.

The old woman came to a laundry room, went in through the front door and came out the back door, made a few detours in the alley, and finally came to her destination, which was the basement of a building, with a statue of Guan Gong in the house, some black and white photos hanging on the wall, smoky, and four Chinese were sitting at a table playing mahjong.

"Sir, wait a minute, I'll go tell Uncle Ji." The old woman said and went into the inner room.

After a while, Chen Zikun was called into the inner room, which was very dark, the candlelight flickered on the candlestick, and a little old man with pigtails curled up on a wicker chair, his face wrinkled like orange peel, and an equally wrinkled Shar Pei dog in his arms.

"Hou Shengzi, I heard that you are in trouble?" Uncle Ji's Chinese is not very standard, with a strong Teochew accent, and he doesn't look at him when he speaks, just cares about petting Shar Pei.

"Yes, some minor troubles." Chen Zikun is a little vigilant, the atmosphere here is very weird, I'm afraid it's not a place where honest people come from.

"I can help you with your trouble, and the fee is very fair." Uncle Ji said slowly.

The old woman also helped: "Uncle Ji can do anything." ”

Chan couldn't help but say, "I need to be a U.S. citizen and be recommended by a member of Congress, and you can do that?" ”

Uncle Ji laughed quacked: "Yes, as long as you can afford it." ”