Originally, he said that he would play cards on Friday night, but before Li Baobao finished eating, Lao Qi called to say that the restaurant where he worked was suddenly full of customers, and the boss told him to go and cut vegetables. Li Baobao said: "Can't you find someone to fight on your behalf? Lao Qi said that he was in a hurry and couldn't find it for a while. Li Baobao knew that even if he could find it, Lao Qi would not ask someone to play on his behalf, and making money was more important than playing cards. Over there, Lao Qi said again: "If you are bored, why don't you go to church with Mrs. Shen at seven o'clock!" Li Baobao asked: "There is a banquet in the evening?" Lao Qi said, "I don't know." It's just no, there is always a snack after checking the scriptures. The mung bean cake made by Mrs. Yang last time was delicious. Come on! ”

After hanging up the phone, Li Baobao finished his meal and picked up the bowl. While shabu-shabu, I thought of Lu Wanyi. When she was there, she didn't have to make a bowl, and she didn't have nothing to do on a Friday night. In addition to attending classes and catching up with homework, I have endless shops to visit with Lu Wanyi every day, endless quarrels, and endless vomiting. The two were free to love and marry in Thailand, but after arriving in the United States, the relationship between husband and wife was not as good as before. Presumably, the marriage is also based on the national conditions, and the marriage in Thailand may not be maintained in the United States. During their four years in the United States, the two quarreled until they both developed an extramarital affair. Li Baobao was just joking, but Lu Wanyi made it real. After divorcing Li Baobao, Lu Wanyi married her lover and heard that she was pregnant. Li Baobao knew that people like Lu Wanyi would be noisy no matter who they were with. I don't understand why she is still getting married, maybe because she wants children. After the divorce, Li Baobao lived a quiet life, everything was simple,

That's a lot more time. Rice cooker cooking, eat vegetables open a can, use a bowl to serve rice, pick vegetables from the can, wash one less plate. When Lu Wanyi was there, she had to fry two dishes at every meal, and sometimes she made soup. Soon after Lu Wanyi left, Li Baobao graduated and found a job, realizing his dream for many years. Didn't you come to the U.S. just to be today? At that time, when he walked to the library in the wind and snow, and endured the scorching heat to wash dishes in a restaurant, didn't he use the dream of finding a job in the future to motivate himself? And now that he has a job, drives a new car, and doesn't have to just pick up price drops when he goes to the store to buy groceries, Li Baobao feels that he has been squeezed into a vacuum. Reality doesn't need to crush your ideals at all, as soon as the ideal is realized, it will crush itself, and life will be meaningless. In addition, without Lu Wanyi, Li Baobao's life has become undulating, and there is no quarrel. He felt his brain begin to dull and his muscles began to loosen, like a matador who has no ambition without bullfighting. However, immediately finding another wife, Li Baobao had concerns. If the new wife is like Lu Wanyi, what can she do? Lu Wanyi was also reasonable, gentle and lovely at the beginning. But then she changed, maybe because she changed, did she change? Li Baobao has never thought it through. Li Baobao lived alone, running to friends with families for three days, playing cards, listening to other people's husbands and wives quarreling, and sometimes persuading them to fight. It's enjoyable and doesn't hurt your spirits. And when he pulls a frame for others, Li Baobao will suddenly understand a lot of truths.

Li Baobao arrived at Shen Yimin's house at seven o'clock. Mrs. Shen opened the door. Li Baobao asked, "What about Lao Shen?" Mrs. Shen said, "He is practicing qigong in the back room. As soon as he practiced, he ignored anyone's talk, and he couldn't answer the phone, saying that he would rush his anger to the evil way. He started at home, and when he came to the United States, life was stressful, and he needed more practice to balance his body and mind. Do you practice qigong? I'm just impatient. Mrs. Shen rummaged through the cabinet again and found a bag of melon seeds: "This is what I brought from China, and the spiced melon seeds made by the king of melon seeds in our hometown have twenty-three kinds of ingredients alone." You taste it. ”

Li Baobao grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and they really tasted good. This is a new piece brought by Mrs. Shen from China, and it has passed through several customs and changed planes several times, so it is more precious than what you bought in the store. What's more, the local Oriental store doesn't even have melon seeds, so if you want to buy it, you have to ask someone to go to the big city. Li Baobao and Shen Yimin are acquaintances. Lao Shen and Lao Qi live in two bedrooms and one living room. Li Baobao likes to play cards with them, but sometimes he is missing one of the three, and he is worried that he can't find anyone. I heard that Mrs. Shen's visa was signed, and everyone calculated that there was no need to find someone to play cards this time. I didn't think that after Mrs. Shen came, she called playing cards a gamble and refused to play. And her husband is not limited to beating her, and occasionally sits on the sidelines to watch. During the three months of Mrs. Shen's visit to the United States, she first visited the local shops and was impressed by the abundance of materials and the modernization of life in the United States. Like mainlanders who have just arrived in the United States, Mrs. Shen can only feast her eyes on the dazzling array of goods. I asked a few restaurants if there were any odd jobs. Unfortunately, she couldn't drive and didn't speak English, so she had to stay at home to take care of the children and cook for her husband. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Shen started going to church to learn free English, and later went to church. Every Friday night, Thais study the Bible together, which is the only regular meeting of local Thais. Once a month, the Bible study group has a dinner party, where the congregants serve the food, and all Thais are invited to eat and study the Bible after the meal. Li Baobao has been there a few times, and remembers that each time the food tasted excellent, but he forgot all about the content of the Bible study.

Li Baobao swallowed melon seeds, and Mrs. Shen led the child to get dressed. Shen Yimin walked out of the bedroom. Li Baobao saw that Lao Shen's face was ruddy, so he asked, "Is your qigong really effective?" Shen Yimin said: "I did a computer program for a day today, and I was dizzy. If you don't do qigong, you will fall asleep in the church at night. Now that my wife is a Christian, she is ready to choose a good day to be baptized, and she wants me to baptize with her. At this time, Mrs. Shen and the children dressed up, and Mrs. Shen asked Li Baobao if he wanted to join the church. Li Baobao asked: "Why do you want to enter?" Do you have to take off your shoes when you cross the river, and you have to hunt when you go up the mountain? Lao Shen said that there was not much time, so he would get in the car first and then talk about it. Sitting in the car, Mrs. Shen said to Li Baobao: "I didn't follow the crowd when I joined the church. Are you too educated to change? Li Baobao said: "This has nothing to do with what doctrine it is. There are also many people in the United States who are not religious. Mrs. Shen said, "When you know God, you will have a sense of sacredness." Li Baobao saw that she was very pious, and he didn't say anything.

When I arrived at the church, I saw a little Thai boy standing at the door. When the little boy saw Li Baobao and them, he hurriedly pulled the door for them and said good evening. Entering the door, Shen Yimin said to Li Baobao: "The child just now is the son of the restaurant owner that Lao Qi went to work. Mr. Yang of the church took the initiative to pick up the Thai children to the church, and the owners of these restaurants wished that someone would give them free babysitting. I don't know why only one came today. Li Baobao said: "In fact, it is the bosses and ladies who should really come to the church. Their black hearts are long enough to send them to eighteen levels of hell. If you don't change it, you will be allowed to go to 36 levels of hell in the future. Shen Yimin said: "Not only the boss is black-hearted, but no matter who the Thai people are, their hearts will become black as soon as they open a restaurant." Therefore, no matter how poor a person is, he cannot open a restaurant. It's no wonder that the Thais. I've often thought that America is strong because of Christianity. Believe, teach everyone to have a standard and unite as one. And none of our 100 million people in Thailand has a religion that can screw people together. Therefore, the Thai people are scattered, only caring about themselves and not others. Li Baobao said: "The strength of the United States is due to the democratic system. There is another side of Christianity that you probably don't know. I just read a book about the ancient Crusades that slaughtered infidels. Now there are Christians who oppose abortion and run to the clinic and shoot the doctor to death. Shen Yimin said: "That's a small number of people to blame, you can't cover the whole with partiality." Shen Yimin looked around, and when he saw that everyone had arrived one after another, he lowered his voice and said, "Let's go home and talk, it's not good for people to hear here." Li Baobao didn't say anything, and found a chair to sit down. It turned out that they were not using the main hall, but a classroom in the church. A large cross hangs on the front wall of the classroom. There are more than a dozen rows of chairs opposite the cross. In addition, there is a piano and a blackboard in the room. Li Baobao saw Miss Zhang Feifei sitting in the front row, so he went over to say hello. Ms. Zhang is a Ph.D. student in medicine and is single.

When Miss Zhang first came to the United States, she took Li Baobao's car to buy vegetables many times, and every time she bought vegetables, she told Li Baobao jokes. Later, Miss Zhang bought a car, and everyone was busy, so there was less contact. Miss Zhang was wearing a skirt tonight and rubbing powder. Li Baobao said hello and wanted to sit down next to Miss Zhang. Helplessly, the seats on both sides of Miss Zhang were occupied, and Li Baobao had to return to his chair.

As soon as I sat down, I saw a lady wearing a long skirt and beaded chain walk to the front of the classroom and say to everyone, "Let's sing the hymn first, please turn to "For Love". Shen Yimin stabbed Li Baobao with his arm: "This is Mrs. Yang." As he spoke, the luthier played the prelude on the piano. Li Baobao is familiar with this music, but he can't remember where he heard it. After listening to a few more sections, it dawned on me. It turned out to be the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine". As soon as Mrs. Yang waved her hand, everyone sang in unison.

Li Baobao hurriedly went to the songbook and flipped through it for a long time before he found "For Love". I saw that the lyrics read: "For love, he came to the world, left the noble heaven, and became like a man." Li Baobao just couldn't sing, peeking around the left and right, everyone was singing seriously. Mrs. Yang has the quality of a soprano, and her singing voice stands out from the crowd. Li Baobao went to church in Guangzhou, where he preached and sang in Cantonese. When I went to church in the United States, of course, English was spoken inside. Nowadays, people study the Bible in Mandarin. Thus as their followers say, faith in God knows no nationality, race, language, or dialect. Wherever there are people, there is God, and there are people who believe in God. Although God has not yet exerted power on Li Baobao, whenever Li Baobao sees God's power over others, he is always involuntarily shocked. At this time, he didn't know whether to sing well or not, and he squirmed his lips to make a singing appearance. Fortunately, everyone stared at the songbook and didn't pay attention to him.

After singing the song, Li Baobao breathed a sigh of relief. Mrs. Yang said to everyone, "The love in this song is different from the love we usually talk about. The love here is the divine love of Jesus. He left the noble heaven for us, made the land of the Jews his home, befriended the fishman, and recognized the carpenter as his father. He cleansed the world from sin with His precious Blood. ”

Li Baobao wanted to laugh, but he didn't dare, so he lowered his head vigorously. I thought they must have thought I was confessing my sin when they saw my head so low. After Mrs. Yang explained, she led everyone to sing the second song. Li Baobao hurriedly flipped through the songbook, but the song was short, and he finished singing it before he could turn it. Mrs. Yang still commented on the lyrics, although the lyrics are all in the vernacular: "The freedom mentioned here is not that we can do whatever we want, and we can go wherever we want." Everyone looked at Mrs. Yang, but Mrs. Yang didn't look at everyone, her eyes stared at the ceiling in front of her: "The freedom that God gives us is the freedom to teach us not to do bad things." Someone applauded, Li Baobao looked back, but he didn't look at it. Mrs. Yang closed the songbook and announced to everyone: "Next, let's play with the wind blowing to liven up the atmosphere, and then introduce each other." Li Baobao was confused, isn't the wind blowing a religious ritual? Ask Mrs. Yang what is the wind blowing. Mrs. Yang replied: "The wind blows is a game, let's play for a while, and everyone will get acquainted." Li Baobao asked how to play, and Mrs. Yang said, "There are only nine chairs for ten of us to sit on." The man who had no chair had to stand in the middle and shout: 'The wind blows!' Then the people who were sitting around asked: 'Blowing what?' The person who is standing has to find a characteristic that at least two or more people have in common. If there are two or more people wearing hats, he can call out to the person wearing the hat, and all the people wearing the hat must leave their chairs and go with the person standing in the middle to grab a new chair. There are nine chairs for ten people, and there is always one person who can't grab them. Those who can't grab it have to stand in the middle and shout that the wind is blowing. Li Baobao lost all interest when he heard this. Just as he tried to slip away, the crowd was already scrambling to grab chairs. It is the turn of the person standing in the middle to say: "The wind blows, and the one with the nose blows!" "Someone with ears!" "Shoes man!" Li Baobao couldn't help but move with the crowd, and finally failed to grab the chair because he was clumsy and was pushed to the middle. Now Li Baobao was dumbfounded, the wind is blowing, what is it blowing? Li Baobao's imagination is like a wild horse that has escaped, and he just wants to say: The wind blows, and the person with a big mouth and big feet blows. The more I think about it, the more afraid I am to say it. He looked around blankly and said, "What are you blowing?" The crowd said with concern, "You can blow anything." "Some people gestured to him, some scratched their hair, some rolled up their sleeves. Li Baobao then said: "The person who blows the watch." The man with the watch hurriedly got up and grabbed the chair, and it took another seven or eight to stop.

Li Baobao regretted that he should not have come to such a study class, and he couldn't hold back his feelings, so he didn't dare to show it on his face. He left the classroom lightly to go to the toilet and came out to drink water again. Li Baobao walked to the classroom and looked up to see Mrs. Shen coming out. Li Baobao asked Mrs. Shen how long it would take to finish her Bible study. Mrs. Shen said that it would be another half an hour at most. "Are you impatient and want to leave? I wish I had been here longer. The classroom is the most intimate place I feel in the United States. Mrs. Shen said that she shed two tears, which startled Li Baobao. Mrs. Shen sighed and said, "I don't know what to do in the United States." Lao Shen goes to school every day, and his children also go to preschool. I'm home alone, and I don't even have anyone to talk to. I can't drive when I want to go out, and I can't understand TV when I watch TV. In China, although the five sisters in our family have become families, they live only a few streets apart, and they visit each other for three days. There is a big shopping mall downstairs in our house, and the downtown area is around the corner. And now I don't see a person for a day, and I listen to the wind and grass outside the house all day long. I've never been so bored in my life. Li Baobao comforted and said: "Everyone has a fresh period when they first come, and they think that everything is good in the United States. The freshness period is followed by the bitter period, and no matter how good the United States is, it has nothing to do with itself. After the depression is a period of struggle, gritting my teeth and going to school. After struggle, it is the period of success. That's when a job was found, a house was bought, and a new car was opened. Mrs. Shen said, "You are now in the period of success, I really envy you, carefree." Li Baobao said: "You are wrong. The success period is followed by the loss period. Without pursuit, without hope, life would be meaningless. Mrs. Shen said, "Who knew you had such thoughts." You usually come to my house, and I can't say this, so that Lao Shen feels that I am restless. But, little Wang," Mrs. Shen whispered, "do you see that there is anything between Old Shen and Miss Zhang?" Li Baobao said without thinking: "Impossible." You old Shen are not that kind of people. Mrs. Shen said again: "Mr. Shen said that he wanted to introduce Miss Zhang to you." But I think he wants to take the opportunity to get close to Miss Zhang. At this time, Mrs. Shen's child came running to ask for water. Mrs. Shen leaned close to Li Baobao's ear and said, "Don't take what I said just now, don't tell Old Shen." ”

Li Baobao returned to the classroom, and everyone was laughing. Li Baobao sat down next to Shen Yimin and asked what he was laughing at. Shen Yimin said: "The overseas Chinese student just now said that he was dissatisfied with the status quo in Malaysia. He had a great sense of humor, but unfortunately you didn't listen. Li Baobao asked: "Now the international situation is being discussed again?" Shen Yimin said: "Now it's time to talk about troubles. It's your turn in a moment. Look, it's time for Miss Zhang to speak, let's see what she says. Miss Zhang put her hands on her knees, lowered her head and said, "I don't have any worries now." Before I came to know God, I often felt that life was boring and empty. After believing in God, my mood suddenly brightened, and the more I lived, the more interesting it became. Li Baobao was taken aback, Miss Zhang had such an idea, and she usually couldn't see it at all. The next person to complain about her troubles was Mrs. Shen.

"What worries me the most is my husband's studies." Mrs. Shen said, "He used to study physics, but later switched to computer science, and he was under a lot of pressure to study mentally. May God bless him as soon as possible to lift his burdens and let us through this difficult time. As he spoke, his eyes turned red and he burst into tears. Li Baobao thought about what Mrs. Shen said outside the classroom, but he was grateful for her trust in him. At this time, Mrs. Yang called Li Baobao to speak. Li Bao was sure and said, "My trouble is that I can't prove right and wrong. For example, if you say that God exists, how do you prove that He exists? I say he doesn't exist, how can I prove that he doesn't? Why do we trust our own feelings so much and doubt the feelings of others, because our own feelings are right, and the feelings of others are wrong? Mrs. Yang said, "If you believe in God, you will see Him and hear His voice." My husband is about to graduate, and we sent out a lot of application letters. Many of the places we are going have not yet been opened by God. When I prayed to God, I asked God, "God, where are you going to lead us?" God does not answer. I knew he was testing our patience. As long as I trust Him, He will make a way for me. I am grateful to God for allowing me to come here and let me speak out about my troubles. We don't just come to church to make friends, not to have fun. We share our troubles and our joys, like brothers and sisters. We draw strength from God, let His love warm us, and let His light shine on us, so that we have the strength and love to help and care for all those who are in pain and trouble. Now I have some notes in this carton, please pick one for each person, write their name and phone number, fold it and put it back in the carton. Then each of us picks a random note from the carton, and whoever has the name written on the note is the person you want to care about. ”

Everyone wrote notes one after another and handed them to Mrs. Yang. Mrs. Yang put away the note, closed the box, and shook it several times. Then she opened the box for everyone to pick. On the note that Li Baobao picked, Miss Zhang's name was written.

The final item of Bible study is prayer. After the prayers, everyone poured into the kitchen, and there were various drinks on the table, including potato chips, and Chinese snacks such as red date rice cakes. A line was already lined up to pick up the food. Li Baobao had no appetite, so he sat on the sofa next to him and was distracted. From time to time, the adults would gather together to talk in a few piles with food, and the children would run and chase after the adults. Shen Yimin asked Li Baobao why he didn't eat it, Li Baobao said he had a headache and asked Shen Yimin to send him home. Shen Yimin said that this snack would have to be eaten for at least more than half an hour, and it would not be too late to send Li Baobao first and then pick up his wife.

Li Baobao returned home with infinite sorrow in his heart. If you don't go to this church, you're curious, it's better not to go. There's no definite number for how tomorrow will pass. He reached into his pocket and fumbled for the note. He looked at Miss Zhang's autograph and recalled her performance in church. Anyway, she has already believed in God, and God will care about her. Li Baobao crumpled the note and threw it into the paper basket. He undressed and stood in front of the full-length mirror looking at himself. The person in the mirror seems to know and doesn't seem to know. He turned off the lights and got under the covers. He thought, if you get a good night's sleep, you'll be in good spirits. When you are in good spirits, you will feel better.

I fell into a dream, and I had everything in my dream. But Li Baobao thought infinitely in his heart. He suddenly remembered that Lu Wanyi was coming.

From a college graduate to a company executive to a chef who waits for death to die, Li Baobao doesn't know what went wrong with him. Thinking of the time he spent with Lu Wanyi before, although he knew very well that she looked down on him, he was already very satisfied to be with her and get along. Later, I heard that she went to Europe and found an old French man, who should be a noble lady now. Li Baobao was bored, so he took out a cigarette and smoked it. I choked on it and realized that I hadn't smoked for a long time.

He simply turned on the light, opened his eyes, and stared blankly at the white wall, like a mummy.