The two girls in the same row were still discussing Milanese leather boots and Parisian perfumes, enthusiastically recommending cheap duty-free shops to each other, and displaying their own shopping tips in front of them. The location of the store and the number of the purchased product are clearly written. They had only met Chen Ying once before leaving the country, so her worries were not enough to attract their attention. When Chen Ying approached them and asked if they knew the exact time, they seemed even more upset that she had interrupted the conversation.

"When you get to the airport, you know." They threw it at her stiffly and then went back to the subject.

Chen Ying had no intention of currying favor with them, and understood that they really couldn't help. So she returned to her seat, took out the email she had printed out and put in the compartment of her backpack, and read between the lines to identify the agreed pick-up location. She remembers that the teacher in charge of arranging the dormitories had said that they would all live as tenants in different Danish families, and that her landlords would be an elderly couple in their sixties. She had checked the map and was staying in a neighborhood for the elderly, far from the school in the city center.

No one likes to get up early and waste a lot of time on the road. In the face of such an arrangement, she also fought for it. The school listed her requirements for choosing a dormitory: quiet, small population, and close to the school. After some screening, this family is undoubtedly the best match.

"There are only two elderly people in this family, and there are no children or pets." The words of the liaison teacher rang in my ears again.

Somewhat frustrated, she contacted her landlord, looking for information in a series of scribbled English sentences that he replied. She lives in the middle of nowhere, already outside the capital territory, and needs to cross a small town to get there. The map shows a grove of trees across from the residence, which used to be a vast expanse of the sea.

After about an hour, we finally arrived at our destination, Copenhagen International Airport. After more than ten hours of flying, when Chen Ying pushed the luggage cart to be inspected by customs, all she could think of was a bed - a comfortable bed, even if it was only a mattress, so that she could lie down and fall asleep immediately. The cervical spine had protested a few hours earlier, and the high cushions on the plane's seat had made these bones painful, and now they were completely rioting.

It was dinner time when I arrived, and on the weekend, there was no one at the airport except for the sporadic staff and the passengers who had just arrived. Cleaners sit on cleaning carts and meticulously clean the blue-gray granite floor. The entire airport is designed in the style of a steel tube structure, with dark blue telephone booths, eye-catching yellow directional signs, and plain hardwood staircases everywhere to highlight the simple characteristics of modern Nordic architecture. Chen Ying looked at the chairs covered with knitted sleeves in the corner, and couldn't wait to lie down immediately. She walked weakly behind the luggage cart, barely having the strength to press the handles. Dazzled by the Danish characters containing letters she didn't recognize, she bred up her mind to recognize English words and find her way out of the strange world.

In her hazy mind, she vaguely remembered what the landlord had liked, and the two kind old men had posted the picture in an email attachment from their most recent contact. She had only hurriedly opened it for a look. The man had an Irish-style red face and short shaved white hair. The hostess was pale, with bright blue eyes shining under her short brown hair. In the photo, they are all wearing baggy old T-shirts, and the white wall behind them is bright and clean.

How to find them became a problem for her. The airport was so large that she couldn't see where she would pick her up from the printed email. She had already walked around the exit of the airport a few times. Her dark hair and short stature stood out, and many tall Danes looked at her curiously. This embarrassment added to her anxiety, and she anxiously took out her phone, only to see that the field showing the signal strength was still refreshing. She had no choice but to stand aside with her phone in her hand, waiting for the signal service to connect.

"Are you Chen Ying?" Someone asked in English. Chen Ying looks for the source of the sound in the crowd. After a while, she finally saw the elderly landlord coming this way, waving at her on the other side of the barrier.

The tension that had just spread throughout his body dissipated suddenly. She smiled and waved at the familiar face. He briefly introduced himself, and then grabbed the handle on Chen Ying's suitcase and lifted it away. Chen Ying knew that his name was John, he was sixty-five years old, and the hostess named Yona, who had not come, was preparing their dinner at home.

"Your plane is late." John said in somewhat broken English, "I've been waiting here for half an hour longer." ”

"I'm so sorry." Chen Ying tried her best to say something comforting. John was eye-measured at 1.85 meters, but such a height was only average here, and she needed to trot to catch up with him so that he would not disappear into the crowd.

"Ten minutes to go." He said.

Chen Ying followed John left and right, and was at the bus stop outside the airport at the moment. It's a semi-open-air bus stop with wooden benches topped by sloping glass panels. It's night, and the deep blue sky is full of shining stars. The ticket window next to the station was closed, and John instructed Chen Ying to buy tickets at the self-service machine in Danish krone, after which they sat down in chairs together. John pulled a lighter out of his jacket pocket and began to light a cigarette.

"Do you want one?" He asked, knocking on the cigarette case.

"Never, thank you." She watched as he took a deep puff on his cigarette holder and flicked the ash into the wind. There is only one bus at this station, and the trash cans near the stop sign are full of light brown cigarette butts.

"Chinese don't smoke?" He looked at her contentedly.

"There are also people who smoke, but there are very few public places." She said with reservations.

"It's a special treat." John snuffed out the cigarette butt and threw it into the trash can, "Denmark doesn't produce tobacco leaves, so in the past, only the queen had the privilege of smoking." ”

"Men and women, young and old suck?" Chen Ying looked at a boy who was about the same height as herself next to her, looking like a high school student. He also had a slender cigarette between his index and middle fingers, and there were several marks on the joints that had been yellowed by nicotine smoke. He was holding a book in his hand and reading it with relish.

"There's no limit to this, it's like eating sugar. It's time for us to get in the car. ”