Chapter Fifty-Four: The Celebration of My Senior Brother

  Carrying a small suitcase, I walked out of San Francisco Airport. Fortunately, it wasn't as hot as I had imagined, I thought it would be over 30 degrees Celsius, but it was only two or three degrees higher than Montana, still very comfortable.

  As soon as I came out, I saw my senior brother Liu Chao holding a large white card, looking around the exit with a sly expression, pulling his luggage and quickly walking towards him. Then he gave me a big bear hug and said with a smile: "It's been a while since we last met, you've lost weight, and your wife has no self-control."

  Liu Chao pinched Ju'an's neck with his arm and pulled it hard: "You little brat, you have a lot of weird questions, get in the car and go home." After finishing speaking, he picked up Ju'an's small suitcase and beckoned him to walk outside.

  Looking out of the car window at the endless stream of cars on both sides, Ju An said: "There are so many people, it's not refreshing at all."

  Liu Chao said, "This time it's not about coming over to look at the car, today is to celebrate our company's first business deal, we held a small celebration in the company, as a shareholder of the company you must come".

  "Oh! So there's singing and dancing, you should have called me to join in the fun! Hmm! Brother Liu, you're doing a great job!"

  Who would have thought that Liu Chao didn't counterattack verbally, but just smiled slyly: "There's good news, when did I ever forget you? This time someone mentioned organizing a celebration party, and I decided to invite you over, after all, it was the company's first order".

  Ju An was not confused by Liu Chao's words and looked at him, saying: "You didn't even counterattack me with two sentences, it's not normal, is there some conspiracy waiting for me?"

  Liu Chao said: "What conspiracy could I have to abduct and sell you? You're already so old, even if someone wanted to take you back home, it would be a waste of food. It's not like you can be sold, and even if I had an ulterior motive, I wouldn't use it on you."

  After thinking about it for a while, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, but somehow it just didn't feel right.

  "Should I go to your company or your home?" Forget it, just stay at home.

  Liu Chao emphasized: "It's our company, you're also a major shareholder, how can you not have any sense of responsibility as an owner?"

  "It's like that, you've answered me and I'm at ease now." Ju An patted his chest and said: "Alright, since it's our company and I'm the major shareholder, should we go to your place to drop off your luggage first or go to our company first?" He especially emphasized the word "our".

  "First go back to my place, put down your luggage, take a look at the room your sister-in-law has prepared for you, and let me know if there's anything missing," said Liu Chao.

  Ju An smiled and said: "What can I be dissatisfied with? There is a toilet."

  Liu Chao glanced over: "Aren't you talking nonsense? My home can't possibly not have a toilet."

  "That's all right, you don't know that in our country the house I rented has more than 10 people sharing one toilet, every day I hold it until I get to the company to use the restroom."

  Liu Chao said: "You're so unlucky in the country, fortunately, you met a good person, otherwise, with your personality, you'll suffer for a lifetime. I'm saying, can't you be more motivated? It's not like you're not capable, and your temperament is too laid-back."

  "True, when I was in China, I never dared to think about housing issues."

  Liu Chao said: "Nonsense! You all graduated from the same school, why others are doing well and you're not? It's because of your personality. Except for a few people, you don't have any enthusiasm for others. You won't even say nice things to leaders or refill their water cups when they're empty. No wonder Wang Fan is so close to you, you two have the same stinky temper, and both of you are born with a foolish air about you."

  "In the past, I also thought about serving in front of my leaders and flattering them, but after doing it for a while, I felt that I couldn't even respect myself, and it was uncomfortable in my heart."

  Liu Chao sighed and said, "In the domestic arena, if you don't know how to play this game, it's really hard to get by. When I was in China, I couldn't stand doing this either. At that time, when I was a teaching assistant at school, there was another guy in our research group who always followed the leader closely. Every time something good came up, he would get it, and I would be left with all the hard work. We argued several times, and he would always try to make things difficult for me. In a fit of anger, I quit my job and came here to study with some money. When I first arrived, I washed dishes in a restaurant for several hours every day. At that time, it was still an underground job, but the Chinese boss treated us pretty well and paid us decently. After washing dishes for over two years, things gradually got better after I started working on my thesis with my supervisor. Then, I borrowed loans to continue studying. When you were in school, your wife would often bring food for me and other guys to eat. In China, we never suffered like this. The other day, some alumni had a gathering in San Francisco, and I happened to run into my former research group director. I walked up to him and said directly, 'I'm so fed up with you.' It felt great! A bunch of people around us were stunned, and you didn't see the look on that bastard's face."

  "Still talking about me like that, you're also this kind of person."

  Liu Chao said, "Now, more than 70% of my graduate school classmates have gone abroad. The United States and Canada account for more than half. Last time at the alumni gathering in the US, I surprisingly knew almost half of the people at the San Francisco alumni gathering."

  "Are all those fellow disciples around? I haven't even met a single Chinese person."

  Liu Chao smiled and said, "Then you haven't been to Vancouver in Canada. As long as you can speak Chinese, it's fine. Now there are also several small towns in San Francisco where everyone speaks Chinese, no different from back home."

  "This is great, it won't take many years before the US and China become one country. In the future, when Americans elect a president, they must use Chinese, otherwise no one will understand what he's saying."

  The two of them pulled over and drove into a small town on the outskirts of San Francisco, which was no different from any other typical American small town, with rows of two-story houses. As they entered the neighborhood, at the entrance, Ju An noticed that three little girls were selling lemonade, with a sign in front that read "Lemonade, 25 cents per cup, we do not accept checks." The names and ages of the three little girls were also written on it, with the oldest being 8 years old and the youngest being 6 years old. Seeing a car coming over, the three little girls immediately shouted in unison: "Lemonade, lemonade, the best lemonade, every cup is 25 cents!"

  Let Liu Chao make way, then took out a steel coin from his pocket and handed it to a small gap-toothed girl: "Come two cups of lemon water, no change, the rest is tip."

  The lovely little girl said, "Thank you, sir." Then the other two little girls handed Ju An two disposable cups of lemon water and handed one to Liu Chao.

  Liu Chao took a sip of lemon water and smiled at Ju An, saying: "You still have this hobby, like drinking lemon water".

  "Once I saw a family selling things from their garage and I thought it was great that the kids were selling some small items, whenever I see them, I'll support the little ones."

  At this time, a little girl inside said: "Steven, hello."

  Liu Chao smiled and replied: "Hello, Erica, lemonade is really delicious." The three little girls were delighted when they heard someone praising them.

  "Damn! You know it, why didn't you buy?"

  Liu Chao spread his hands: "You've already bought it, why should I buy it?" This left Ju An speechless.

  After driving for a while, they finally arrived at Liu Chao's house. His sister-in-law, Zhao Nan, was already waiting at the door. They stopped the car in front of the garage and Ju An got out, calling out "Sister-in-law, hello!" Zhao Nan happily took Ju An's luggage and led him into the house, up to the second floor, and opened a room, leading Ju An inside. Ju An looked around and saw that the walls were ocean blue, there was a big bed, a desk, and everything else he needed. He quickly said "Thank you, sister-in-law, this is more than enough." After finishing speaking, he opened his suitcase and took out his laptop and clothes, arranging them neatly. Zhao Nan watched as Ju An put away his clothes, then retreated and closed the door.

  When Deng An arrived downstairs, Zhao Nan and Liu Chao were already sitting downstairs watching TV.

  "Brother-in-law, is sister-in-law also going to the celebration today?"

  Zhao Nan looked at Liu Chao and smiled, saying: "Didn't you tell him that only people from your company are allowed?"

  Liu Chao scratched his head and said, "Your sister-in-law isn't going. The neighbors invited her to dinner tonight. Everyone who's going is from the company. I'll bring some beer over later and we can have a lively time."

  "Alright, I'll follow the organization's arrangement," said Ju An with a nod. After chatting for a while, Liu Chao looked at his watch and said to Zhao Nan, "It's getting late, let's go." He kissed Zhao Nan and stood up, waving his hand: "Let's go, Anzi."

  Arrived at a separate place, Ju An followed Liu Chao onto the car and headed in the direction of the company. After a while, Ju An felt something was wrong: "Why are you always driving around outside the city? Shouldn't the company be inside the city?"

  Liu Chao smiled slyly: "Who told you the company is definitely in the city? We'll be there soon."

  Living in a place that's getting more and more disappointing, it was not easy to hear Liu Chao say they were almost there. When they arrived, Yu An took one look and thought, "This place doesn't even need to be looked at, there isn't a single decent house."

  When they arrived in front of an old wooden house, Liu Chao stopped the car and said to Ju An: "We have arrived at the company, please inspect it as a shareholder."

  If it were another time, Ju'an could still cooperate with Bei to recite this poem, humming a couple of times. Now he can only frown. The exterior wall made of brick and concrete has some peeling paint, the whole thing looks like a horse stable left behind by Japanese devils during the war. As they walked to the entrance, Liu Chao opened the big door, Ju'an noticed a sign next to it that read "Something Something Software Company".

  As soon as he entered the house, Ju An felt a bit better. The inside was very clean, with a sofa, a coffee area, and several office desks. When Ju An went in, there were already two people inside. One was a white man in his thirties, and the other was a woman in her fifties who looked like a cleaning lady, and Ju An wondered if she was the one who cleaned the place.

  Liu Chao introduced them: "This is our investor An, this is partner William, and this is the company's secretary and receptionist Kayla." An saw that the big mom was a receptionist and thought to himself, "I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it."

  Liu Chao's next sentence was even more unexpected: "Alright, everyone is here, so let's start our company's first business celebration!" He led the applause, and Ju An almost fainted when he saw that there were only four people at this celebratory gathering.

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