Chapter Seventy-Four: Cruising on the Car River

  Wang Fan smiled and stretched out his index finger, shaking it at Ju An and saying: "Explaining is just making excuses, making excuses means there's definitely something to it, with your introverted personality, you're absolutely capable of doing such a thing."

  "Alright, I was thinking that way too. Let's continue strolling then."

  Two people followed and swayed to the Chinese pavilion, where they saw not only porcelain, but also murals, bronzes, and even a two-meter-high Northern Qi stone carving. The paintings and seals were not mentioned, and there was even a replica of Suzhou gardens. In front, an old foreigner was blowing a flute to a group of young foreigners. The two people stood aside and listened for a while before continuing to look around the Chinese pavilion.

  After walking around the entire place, they took a look at the table and it was already past five o'clock. The two of them had been strolling inside for over an hour, but this way, they only saw part of Egypt, some Chinese paintings, European sculptures, costumes, furniture, etc., which were still not seen. The two people's legs couldn't take it anymore, just as the museum was about to close, so they left the museum and headed in the direction of the hotel.

  Wang Fan looked at Ju An and said: "This museum is so American, it's big enough and has a lot of exhibits. It's worth the twenty dollars."

  "Didn't you see the introduction? There are 3.3 million pieces of art treasures in the museum, covering all five continents of the world. If we want to see them all, I think it will take some effort. Can't we come back tomorrow?"

  Wang Fan shook his head and said, "Forget it, this stroll is too tiring. Tomorrow we'll go take a look at St. Patrick's Cathedral, in the afternoon we'll stroll around Wall Street, and touch that big golden bull. We'll consider what to do the day after tomorrow."

  "Alright, big brother says so. Let's find a place to eat and then head back to rest. After that, Mike invited us to go to the bar for a drink."

  "Take a break and it'll be fine, let's find a place to eat first, then find a car rental, after we finish eating, we can drive around ourselves, it's like a night tour of the river." Wang Fan said.

  Not finished yet, Ju An suddenly let out a sigh: "Big brother, why are you like a woman, strolling around endlessly? Can't we just head back to the hotel and rest for now, and continue touring tomorrow?"

  Wang Fan haha took out his camera and said to Ju An: "Keep this pose, let brother take a photo of you, and post it online later".

  They stayed for a few seconds, allowing Wang Fan to take a satisfactory photo, then the two of them left the bustling 52nd Street and walked for a while before finding a Chinese restaurant to eat at. Since it was still early for dinner, there weren't many people in the restaurant. As soon as they entered, the waiter came over to greet them. After asking, they found out that the restaurant served Americanized Chinese food. Fortunately, the boss saw that they were two Chinese people and instructed the kitchen not to make anything that would cheat Americans' taste buds, instead serving them a authentic small bowl of boiled meat slices and stir-fried scallions with fatty intestines. The two of them started eating the rice, chatting with the boss as they ate.

  "Hey, your accent doesn't sound like you're from Fujian Province. I've met many people who opened restaurants in the US and they all seemed to be from Fujian." Ju An said with a mouthful of food.

  The boss smiled and sat down at the table for two: "I'm not from Fuzhou, I've been in the US for almost ten years. At that time, I was smuggled into the country and hid from east to west every day. I worked in a restaurant opened by people from Fuzhou. It was hard work, if you weren't satisfied, they would fire you on the spot. Some people were still working in New York this week, but next week they might be at a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles. The salary was low and the work was exhausting. Those people from Fuzhou are really desperate. Originally, our Chinese people in the US were already very hardworking, but after working for two years, I realized that the most hardworking ones were those who opened small restaurants from Fuzhou. The bosses all slept less than five hours a day and worked with others for several years before they could open their own small restaurant and get a green card. It wasn't until these past two years that I was able to take over this store."

  Wang Fan said: "That's really hard work".

  The boss nodded: "Many northerners come to work and make some money before returning, but many people from Fujian Province are entire villages coming out, with 17 or 18 people at a time, working hard to make money. Over the years, I've seen that most of those who stay in the US are these Fujian people, they can really endure hardship."

  "Hey, big brother, you're pretty impressive too! You've made a name for yourself here and even have a restaurant in Manhattan!"

  The boss smiled and waved his hand: "I dare not say that, the house is still rented, can't afford to buy a house in this place, that's world-famous number one".

  As they ate and chatted, the two of them finished their meal in about ten minutes. When it was time to pay the bill, they only spent twelve dollars, and it was authentic Sichuan flavor. After paying the bill, Wang Fan asked, "Old brother, where is there a car rental place around here? We want to rent a car and go to Central Park tonight, and take in the New York night view."

  "Once you go out the door, head left for two blocks and there's a car rental place on your left. Do both of you have driver's licenses? You look like tourists."

  Wang Fan smiled and pointed at Ju An, saying: "This one has the right to vote in the US, has a driver's license, I'm purely here on vacation."

  The boss looked at him and shook his head, saying: "He's been in the US for at most two months, doesn't seem like he's lived here for a long time."

  "Even an old master like him can see it."

  The boss smiled and said, "Looking at you two, I can tell you're from the mainland, and you've done pretty well for yourselves there, at least you're not short of money. But you don't look like you're used to living in America, brother, my eyes are poisonous, I can see right through people."

  The calm and composed old brother from Sichuan province said with a smile: "Old brother is indeed sharp-eyed".

  Following the route of the restaurant owner, after a while, they saw a car rental place. Under Wang Fan's strong request, the two people rented a Lincoln travel car and started touring the river.

  After a while, they drove onto the Brooklyn Bridge, with the Manhattan Bridge not far away. Although it was not yet fully dark, the lights on the bridge were all lit up, and the two people admired the enchanting scenery of the two bridges illuminated by the lights.

  When I got to Brooklyn, compared to the countless skyscrapers in Manhattan, it was a bit inferior in terms of image. The buildings were generally not too high. It turned out that this was a black and minority area. Due to low education levels, racial discrimination, and high unemployment rates, this is one of the areas with the highest crime rates in the United States, viewed by people as a chaotic and sinful place. However, with the development of the city, the environment has improved a lot, and the population quality has also increased significantly.

  The streets of Brooklyn are not as neatly arranged as those in Manhattan, with many streets named by numbers forming a grid pattern, so getting lost here can be a bit troublesome. The wide and prosperous commercial streets have many quiet small streets and alleys on both sides. There are also many famous people who grew up here, including basketball superstar Michael Jordan and film director Woody Allen.

  Here is the translation:

  As I drove slowly, I slowed down my speed and strolled along. One thing I learned from driving in the US is that cars always yield to pedestrians. In cities like New York and San Francisco, you can often see drivers voluntarily yielding to pedestrians, even if it's an elderly person crossing the road. The cars next to them will wait patiently until they've finished crossing before moving forward, without speeding past as soon as they're clear. So now my driving speed is similar to that of many other cars around me, which is a bit slow, but it also gives us time to occasionally appreciate the scenery nearby.

  Two people wandered around until almost eight o'clock, when Ju An prepared to take Wang Fan to the appointment. Mike asked the two to go to a bar and sit for a while before heading back to Manhattan. When they had driven some distance, there was a problem - traffic congestion ahead. Ju An had no choice but to open the navigation system to find an unblocked road to drive on.

  Following the navigation instructions, Ju An drove into a fork in the road, surrounded by small restaurants and supermarkets, with dazzling lights. There were relatively few vehicles here, and not many pedestrians either. Wang Fan looked around at the English billboards and said to Ju An, "If you don't look at the English signs, it's almost like being on a street back home."

  Wang Fan was driving attentively when he suddenly nudged Ju An and said, "There's a girl next to us who's looking at me and even waving at me."

  As soon as Wang Fan pointed, Ju An looked in that direction and saw a blonde woman wearing an ultra-short skirt, tight low-cut T-shirt, and high heels, waving at his car.

  Having grown accustomed to the strange attire of old American women, I didn't think much of it and glanced over, saying "Maybe she's trying to hitch a ride".

  Wang Fan immediately said: "Let's take the young lady home, and show that we old folks also have culture and refinement."

  "You're just saying that because you've got your eyes on someone else's daughter, stop talking about cultural refinement, you hypocrite! You're all just pretending to be something you're not, and yet you're all from the same family!" Yu An said, then pulled the car over to the side of the road.

  When Wang Fan rolled down the car window, the blonde ponytail girl leaned on the window with both hands, and her two magnificent breasts were exposed in front of the two people in her low-cut T-shirt: "Can I get a ride?"

  Wang Fan said to the girl, "We're going to cross the Manhattan Bridge, and if it's on our way, we can give you a ride."

  When Wang Fan said this, the blonde girl opened the rear door and got in.

  Juwon felt a bit strange, this girl seemed to have no manners at all, didn't even introduce herself before getting on the car, and didn't say thank you either. Juwon had never met someone like that before.

  As the girl got on the car, Ju An drove in the direction of the bridge according to the electronic navigation instructions. Ju An focused on driving, and the blonde pony who got on the car started chatting with Wang Fan. The blonde pony talked while playing with her hair, and her two breasts were almost popping out, making Wang Fan look like he was about to swallow his saliva.

  Watching Wang Fan's neck almost twisted into an 80-degree angle while chatting with the foreign horse, Ju An came up with a small idea. He casually opened his phone's recording app, preparing to record all the words that would ruin Wang Fan and the girl's relationship. Later, he would send it to everyone in the class to listen to, entertaining the other students and ruining Wang Fan's image at the same time. Even if it didn't work, he could still extort a few KFC meals from Wang Fan.

  Then I heard two people chatting, when did you come, when are you leaving, where do you live now, and things like coming to New York to play for a few days. The foreign girl said to Wang Fan: "Give me 100 yuan and take you out for fun". Wang Fan didn't understand the girl's Brooklyn accent at once, and asked: "What?"

  "Maybe he wants to take us to some bars or nightclubs to have fun, maybe it's just a bar tab like back home."

  Wang Fan said in Chinese to Ju An, "That's perfect, let her take us around tomorrow and consider it a tour guide." After finishing speaking, he took out 50 yuan and wrote the hotel phone number on a piece of paper, saying to the girl, "This is the deposit, tomorrow night bring us to play and this is our phone number".

  The foreign girl took the money and paper, then told Qiuan to stop the car, she wanted to get off. As soon as the car stopped, a group of people suddenly surrounded them, shouting: "Police, don't move!" They dragged Qiuan and Wang Fan out of the car, and the foreign girl immediately became fierce, handcuffing Wang Fan behind his back, saying: "The two of you have been arrested for illegal ** exchange!".