When I opened the door, I saw Qin Xiaolan looking at me with a smile, she was wearing a white dress, carrying a black bag on her shoulder, drawing a light makeup, chewing a piece of gum in her mouth, red lips and white teeth, beautiful eyes, and looking forward to it, it seemed that she was going out for a stroll.

I was a little surprised, looked at her and said, "Why do you go if you don't sleep at night?" ”

"It's about a 10-minute walk to Chinatown."

She blew a bubble and blew it bigger and bigger.

"Smack."

I shook my body in fright, glared at her and said, "Be a demon, you have to go yourself." ”

With that, I walked back to my room.

"Hey, you're not a man."

She followed up angrily and said: "I'm a girl, in a foreign country, if something happens, your companion is also responsible." ”

"Unreasonable, I didn't let you go shopping in the middle of the night."

I sat down at the head of the bed, lit a cigarette and said, "If you want to blame it, it's because you're restless and energetic, what museums do you visit during the day, and I want to accompany you to Chinatown at night, do you think I'm made of iron?" ”

Qin Xiaolan rolled his eyes and said, "You know that the United States is a gang country, right? ”

I took a puff of my cigarette and said lightly, "It seems like some mafia or something." ”

"That's right, the Sicilian mafia is very snobbish, and it specializes in kidnapping girls like me, think about it, I'm your friend and assistant, in case someone else..."

I glared at her and said angrily, "Then you can't think on the bright side?" Besides, what age is this? ”

Qin Xiaolan was a little angry when she saw that I didn't eat oil and salt, she glanced at me, pouted and said, "Do you want to accompany me?" ”

"Grandma, I really convinced you."

I shook my head helplessly, put on my clothes, and went downstairs with her.

Chinatown is a fairly large commercial community, and there are also powerful Chinese gangs in other states in the United States, which cannot be compared with Chinatown, and its development can be roughly divided into four stages, rising in the 60s, transforming in the 70s, finalizing in the 80s, and spreading and expanding after the 90s.

In the ancient Chinatown, in front of the Confucius Building, there is a bronze statue of Confucius, which wordlessly tells the vicissitudes of life of the Chinese people living in the past two hundred years.

There are many Fujian people here, Fujian restaurants can be seen everywhere, although it is time to night, but the diners are still increasing unabated, the crowd is bustling, endless, very similar to the scene of the night market in China, shouting and selling, lively and extraordinary.

Qin Xiaolan bought a bunch of sugar gourds and ate them with relish, and I bought a bottle of soda and walked around with her, wandering aimlessly.

She stopped in front of a Fujian tavern, glanced at it for a moment, and said, "Do you want to go in and have a try?" ”

"Are you a foodie, you haven't digested dinner yet, and you're about to start eating again?"

I tilted my head and took a big sip of soda, a sea buckthorn drink made in the United States, which tasted good, sweet and sour.

Qin Xiaolan pursed his lips and said, "If you don't eat, forget it." ”

After saying that, she walked into the tavern leisurely, I burped very sourly, and my tears flowed out, I rubbed the corners of my eyes, and walked in with her.

It's a small restaurant with an old façade and interior, an old-fashioned rafter ceiling, mottled walls, and greasy floors, but a large number of customers.

There was a faint smell of vegetables wafting in the air, and near the doors and windows, there were four Americans, like a family of four, a man and a woman, two adults, and two little girls about seven or eight years old.

I stopped and watched, and when I saw that there was no vacancy, I looked at Qin Xiaolan and said, "Let's change the store, it's too crowded here." ”

"No, the food here is very delicious."

She sniffled, and when she saw that there were still two people squeezed in next to the table of the foreigner's family, she said stupidly, "Let's just sit here." ”

"Do you share a table?"

"What's wrong, there is no infectious disease, eat yours with peace of mind."

Qin Xiaolan walked up to the foreigner, negotiated a few words, and waved his hand to me.

The waitress, a native of Hokkien in her thirties, with a yellow face, triangular eyes, a large mouth, and a gray apron, handed me a menu and said, "You order first, and then call me." ”

After she finished speaking, she took another menu and handed it to the foreigner, and spoke a few fluent English, I was amazed, and even the waiter's English level was stronger than mine.

I ordered a white fried fresh bamboo clam and Xiamen sand tea noodles, Qin Xiaolan had a great appetite, she ordered a red fish, a fried oyster, a lychee meat, and a stir-fried double crispy.

I was dumbfounded, frightened by her appetite, and even the foreigner next to me looked at Qin Xiaolan with a different kind of eyes.

During the meal, I deliberately observed the chopsticks used by foreigners, and their family of four seemed to be very knowledgeable about Chinese cuisine, and they were also very skilled in using chopsticks.

I was amazed and muttered, "That's amazing." ”

"What?"

The foreigner glanced at me, and the Chinese was very clear.

"Do you speak Chinese?"

I looked at the foreigner with a surprised face, and I was a little excited in my heart.

He was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a white jacket on his upper body, a pair of light blue trousers on his lower body, a pair of black-rimmed glasses, slightly vicissitudes on his cheeks, and short parted hair.

"Yes, I teach in China."

"Oh, no wonder Chinese is so good."

He held out a hand and said, "My name is Charles." ”

"My name is Wang Tao."

I shook his hand, and when I saw that his face was clear and there was a trace of tiredness on his cheeks, I asked him, "Are you going home to visit your family?" ”

"Yes, this is my wife, Judy, and these two are my daughters, Hayley and Anna."

As soon as I saw the little girl, I thought of my daughter, and it was an indescribable longing and concern.

He ordered four servings of Babao red sturgeon rice, and ordered two stir-fried dishes, namely purse shark fin and pork rice and fish lips, and the family of four was very interested in Chinese culture, especially some ancient buildings and famous tourist attractions, such as the Badaling Great Wall, Chengde Summer Resort, Sichuan Dujiangyan, Guiyang Wenchang Pavilion and so on.

"Are you here for a vacation?"

He took a sip of water, looked at me and said.

I pursed my lips and smiled and said, "I'm here on a business trip." ”

He nodded, and asked curiously, "What do you do?" ”

I told him about my original intention and matters for coming to the United States, and I told him all the sadness I had encountered recently, and after listening to it, Charles said lightly: "You're here to find a clothing supplier, right?" ”

"That's right, the clothing styles produced here are very popular with Chinese consumers, so I came here to find a few suppliers to lay a good foundation for the company's later development."

I muttered, looking at the table full of delicacies, but I had no appetite.

Charles frowned and said lightly: "I have a few friends who are in the clothing business, if you don't mind, I can introduce them to you." ”

"Really, thank you so much."

I stood up excitedly, held his hand and said: "I don't think about tea and dinner these days, my heart is upset, just because I can't find a reliable producer, the longer the time is delayed, the more serious the company's loss, today I met you is really a great fate, and I like us to get together often in the future." ”

He smiled and said, "You're welcome, leave a contact information if it's convenient, and make an appointment tomorrow to discuss the clothing in detail." ”

On the way back, my mood changed from bad to good, and thanks to Qin Xiaolan, if she hadn't pulled me out for supper at night, I wouldn't have met Charles.

The next day, Charles sent Qin Xiaolan an email, which detailed the address and contact person of his friend's company, and attached an electronic version of the recommendation letter, which was quite thoughtful.

After breakfast, Qin Xiaolan and I took a taxi to the southern side of Manhattan, where most of the New York garment factories are gathered, a bit like a domestic industrial park, in an office building, we found Charles's friend, his name is Sam, a burly black man, about forty years old, with a swarthy hairy beard, covering most of his face.

Qin Xiaolan and I expressed our intentions, Sam listened, warmly received the two of us, but when it came to the price of finished clothing, he was a little vague, I understood that he wanted to raise the price, but in order to reduce the cost and freight, in terms of clothing purchase price, I had to use the price of Texong company (the previous negotiation company) as the standard.

Sam showed me the clothing model map, and the clothing styles that will be produced in the second half of the year, after I saw it, I was quite moved, Qin Xiaolan as a clothing designer, also full of praise, she said that these clothing designs are very avant-garde, also very creative, hanging in the domestic market, will definitely become a hot product.

Sam took us to the garment processing workshop, looked at the garment fabric and production process, Qin Xiaolan and I were very satisfied, in order to establish a long-term cooperative relationship, I reached an agreement with Sam, in terms of clothing selection and sample layout, made a final decision, at a price ten dollars higher than Texong, signed a clothing purchase contract.

After going through the relevant formalities and paying the deposit for clothing, it was already noon, Sam invited me to have lunch with Qin Xiaolan, who drove a very old Ford sedan, but the sound of the engine was very good.

In the United States, where old cars can be found everywhere on the streets, the country has been involved in the automobile industry for a long time, and in the early 20th century, almost every household had a car.

Around Times Square, he took us into an olive garden restaurant, still serving steak wine, pizza and sausages, and I was curious about their passion for pasta and meat, such as potato chips, cereal, milk, sandwiches, cheese, bread, grilled meats, fried chicken, burgers, and more.

These foods are used as their main meals, but they are not tired of eating at all, but for me, it is okay to eat one or two meals, because their dishes are monotonous, almost all of them are fried and roasted, or cooked in a steamer, in China, there are thousands of ways to cook food, the most senior foodie, I prefer spicy food, such as Chongqing hot pot, boiled fish, spicy crab, stir-fried tripe, braised clams and so on.

In the afternoon, Qin Xiaolan and I went to meet another friend of Charles, which is a self-produced and self-sold clothing company, which is very large, with hundreds of customers in China, and they have set up a foreign trade office to receive merchants who come to discuss cooperation.

We waited for a moment in a conference room when we saw a Chinese man walking by, he was thin, gray with gray sideburns, about fifty years old, wearing a black suit, his face was kind and comfortable, and his every move was shrewd and capable.

He sat at his desk, took a sip of tea and said, "My good friend Charles said that there will be two guests coming today, and I apologize for taking care of them." ”

He paused and continued: "My Chinese name is Xu Xuefeng, is the founder of this clothing production company, although it is not a first-line big-name clothing company, but after several years of development and transformation, the company now has more than 30 branches, and there are many clothing customers in China. ”

A tall, graceful blonde beauty came over and handed me and Qin Xiaolan a very thick photo album, which contained thousands of clothing model pictures, I was dazzled, and said stupidly: "We want to seek a long-term cooperative relationship, although there are many clothing styles here, but some are very old, I want to buy a batch of the most popular clothing on the market first." ”

Xu Xuefeng smiled and said, "That's what you see, in our place, there is no small batch purchase." ”

He stood up, walked over and said, "Don't worry about sales, the merchants we work with are very stable, you two might as well follow me to see the finished clothing." ”

The two of us followed him to a studio, which was full of model clothes that had been formed, its fabrics were of high quality, fine workmanship, and good elasticity, and it took Qin Xiaolan and me an afternoon to sign a contract with Xu Xuefeng, and after completing all the formalities, the sky was already dark.

A busy day has finally passed, harvested a lot, full of results, this trip to New York, let me regain my confidence and determination, as the so-called Saion lost the horse, know whether it is a blessing, someone is in the dark to make a bad, but never thought, the road of heaven and earth, all the unfairness in the world, need to work hard for themselves, break the shackles, lower their stature, although there is no feast in the world, I only hope that in this battle, can have a good ending.

Here, I have negotiated three suppliers, namely Texong, Sam's, and Xu Xuefeng, who can provide me with a steady supply of products, and of course, I would like to thank Charles for his enthusiastic introduction.

When I returned to the hotel in the evening, I asked Qin Xiaolan to count the finished product prices of the three suppliers, as well as the production date of the order, etc., and sent these price lists to Xiao Qing, asking her to make a detailed profit analysis table, asking Zhang Xueyao to do market evaluation and clothing pricing, asking Zhang Xiaoying to engage in publicity work, and telling Brother Slag to seek customers, if there are other stores and want to order in bulk, the price can be preferential.

"Xiaolan, you book two tickets to return to China the day after tomorrow, and there is nothing to do here."

I sat in my chair and smoked a cigarette with a chirp sound in my mouth.

Qin Xiaolan sat in front of her laptop, tapping on the keyboard quickly, she glanced back at me, and said lightly, "You have to go back so soon?" Do you miss your wife? ”

"I miss my daughter."

I said with a puff on my cigarette and squinted eyes.

Qin Xiaolan shrugged his shoulders and said disapprerovingly: "In my opinion, it's my mother's mother who misses her daughter." ”

"Hey, you can't say that."

I extinguished my eyes, stood up again, and said, "I'm a normal man, and everyone has seven emotions and six desires, right?" ”

"I didn't say anything, what did I shout, besides, I don't want to go back yet."

She craned her neck and closed her laptop.

"What are you doing here if you don't go back? Traveling? ”

I said angrily.

Qin Xiaolan blinked his beautiful eyes and said softly, "I want to go to the Black Lake to play, and then return to China." ”

I was a little stunned and asked her, "Where is the Black Lake?" ”

"It's not far, about seventy miles from Albanny, the scenery is beautiful there, we can book a ticket to go back to China the day after tomorrow, and go there tomorrow, how about it?"

There was a hint of excitement and anticipation on her cheeks.

I thought to myself, I've been going back and forth in Manhattan for the past few days, and it's okay to go out for a walk, so I looked at her and said, "Are you sure you can come back for a day and a night?" ”

"Of course, there are direct buses to the Black Lagoon."

I nodded and said, "Okay, let's book two tickets the day after tomorrow." ”

"Really, great, I knew you would."

She jumped up excitedly, kissed me on the cheek again, and said, "Sister-in-law won't be jealous, right?" ”

My heart rate was soaring, my cheeks were hot, I was a little disorganized, and I pushed the door open and walked out of the room.

The Black Lagoon is located in the mountains, not far from Albany, not far from Albany, there are Indian settlements nearby, and there are no buildings to be seen soon after entering the mountains, and the trees along the way are lush and green, and the mountains stretch and twist, and the distant horizon can be seen with high and low mountains.

In the mountains and forests, you can see several sika deer from time to time, they are jumping and jumping around, and they are very lively.

"Look, there's a wild sika deer, it's so beautiful."

Qin Xiaolan pointed to the deer in the forest, dancing excitedly.

The road is very narrow, uphill and downhill in the mountains and forests, seven bends and eight turns, the road signs are not clear, near noon, I saw the inky black lake, a plank road was built around, linked by iron cables, near the southeast corner of the lake, there is a single small building, this is a private hotel, specially to receive tourists who come to the black lake for sightseeing.

The water was dirty, but the fish were abundant, and there were a few wooden boats docked at the pier, their hulls in a dilapidated state, some of the oars had been broken, and the shore was overgrown with aquatic plants, and a few unnamed waterfowl flew by hurriedly, making quacking sounds.

Accompanied Qin Xiaolan to play for an afternoon, took hundreds of photos, caught more than ten big fish, all of which were given to the store, after dinner, I felt very tired, wanted to rest early, returned to the room, found Qin Xiaolan's luggage piled up in the corner, I was surprised, so I asked her: "Why did you move things to my room?" ”

She said helplessly: "There is no room, today is full of tourists, the room is not enough, I don't believe you to ask the boss." ”

"I don't speak English."

I'm a little annoyed, but there is only one bed in the room, she is here, where do I sleep?