Chapter Ninety Traveling Companion

  He stopped the car and followed the two girls into a restaurant, which was decorated with a strong Western flavor. In the West, when you say that a restaurant has a strong Western flavor, it actually means that it's very ordinary, as everyone is similar, with only minor differences - either a cowboy at the entrance or a head of cattle. At first, you might think it's stylish, but after staying for a while, you'll find it quite common. On the wooden walls hung some old photos and old Western movie posters, dark floors, a long service counter, behind which stood two waitresses, one looking at least forty years old, the other a young girl.

  There weren't many people in the restaurant, it was quite empty, and the area wasn't large either. There were about ten tables neatly arranged, although the space was small, it was absolutely clean. This is one of the impressions I got from living in the United States - even a small, unassuming store would be spotlessly clean, with not a single stain on the tablecloths.

  Three people found a place to sit down, and the waitress said: "Welcome, Diana, Jasmine, and this gentleman. Good afternoon, what would you like to eat?"

  He picked up the menu by the table and said casually, "A steak, thank you."

  Waiting for Diana and Molly to finish ordering, the waitress turned around and walked back to the service counter.

  "Looks like you often come here to eat, the waiters all know you."

  Jasmine smiled and said, "Diana and I used to come here for meals when we were in school, we were still in elementary school at that time, Miss Annie was already here, it's been over ten years now. This small town doesn't have many people, basically everyone knows each other, after living here for a few years, everyone will know you too, and when you walk on the street, everyone will call your name and greet you."

  "Diana smiled and said, 'An, the things here are really good. When we were reading books, this place was always the most popular. The beef and mutton chops here are very authentic, and Miss Annie's ice cream is made very well. You can try some later.'"

  "Alright," said Ju An with a nod, "by the way, Jasmine, is Los Angeles fun?"

  Jasmine smiled and said: "It's okay if you go traveling, but wanting to be an actor is too stressful."

  Living in peace and quiet, asked: "There should be many opportunities there, the holy land of world cinema". Looking at Molly, big eyes, deep blue eyes, long eyelashes, goose egg face, plus a head of bright golden hair, and fiery figure, even in the crowd can be recognized at a glance, and slightly thicker lips, making Molly more charming. Indeed worthy of the HOT that everyone says, which is our Chinese spicy.

  Jasmine shook her head and said, "Although there are many opportunities, all the handsome men and beautiful women in the world are concentrated in Hollywood, fighting for chances. Before, I had a neighbor who was an 18-year-old girl from Sweden who came to Hollywood to try her luck, but after six years she was still just an extra. Recently, she switched careers and started shooting adult films."

  "Ah, this competitive pressure is indeed very big, it's quite stressful, actually you can just change to a different job."

  Jasmine smiled and said: "I don't love farm work, I like acting, I've been in Hollywood for two years now, basically familiar with the scene".

  Diana smiled and said, "Don't listen to her pitiful tone, actually her godfather is the boss of a small production company, has some connections in Hollywood, she's doing much better than many people, at least can get some roles, and just acted in a low-budget film."

  Suddenly enlightened: "It turns out I'm already the heroine, it seems that from now on when I read magazines, I can tell others, hey buddy, I've even had dinner with this big star Mo Li."

  The two girls both burst out laughing, and Jasmine said: "Wait until I become famous, then I'll send you a signed photo. If this film can gain some small reputation, I'll be satisfied. If it can give some directors an impression of me, that would be even better. Although my godfather has a small production company, Hollywood is full of production companies, and the help he can give me is limited."

  "Hey, that photo has to be bigger and the signature must include my name. I'll hang it at the entrance so every time someone comes over, they'll say 'Hey, buddy, you know Mulan?' And then I can brag about how we met."

  Jasmine smiled and said: "When I become an actress like Natalie Portman, I will definitely sign a life-size photo for you."

  "Then your family must be very proud of you."

  Jasmine's eyes dimmed, shaking the ice water in her hand: "My father opposed me to be an actor, he thought it was not a decent job, he hoped I could stay at home, help with the ranch work, and then marry a cowboy, but I want to be an actress, I like performing".

  "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

  Jasmine smiled and said, "It's okay."

  Diana comforted, laughing: "Don't mind, Molly. Fathers are all the same. My father is like that too. He still has opinions about my two sisters who live in New York. In his eyes, nothing but being a cowboy counts as a real job. Even cowboys who perform he looks down on, thinking they're just show-offs and clowns, not real cowboys. Last time, Rachel's dad even told Rachel that he didn't think her boyfriend was suitable for her, complaining that he couldn't even change a tire."

  Jū ān has somewhat understood, just like old Thomas and people of his age might think this way. Taking old Thomas as an example, he can endure hardships, but he thinks that nowadays kids are useless, don't know how to do anything, and it's good that Jū ān already knows how to change tires and build a simple frame.

  Jasmine also burst out laughing: "I heard from Diana that you're from China, coincidentally I'm planning to travel to China and see the Great Wall, do you have any good suggestions?"

  "Capital has the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Thirteen Tombs, many scenic spots. I myself have never been to the capital, haven't played at the scenic spots, so I'm afraid I can't give you any suggestions. However, the ones I mentioned above are still worth playing. In a couple of days, I plan to return to China for my friend's wedding, if you're also planning to leave at that time, we can keep each other company."

  Diana said: "Jasmine goes out once a year, last time was France, this time is preparing to go to China, applied for the embassy more than ten days ago, and just got it yesterday."

  Jasmine listened to Ju An's words and became happy: "That's really great, I'll follow you together at that time. I'd rather try some snacks. People who have been there say that the capital of China has better snacks. They all come back and boast about how much they love the oil sticks."

  Jū ān nǎ mèn le yī xià, wèn dào: "Yóu gùn zi?"

  Jasmine thought for a moment and explained, "My friend told me that it's a small food stall in the morning, with a big pot of oil. They take a piece of dough, stretch it into a long thin strip, and then put it in."

  "Ah, I get it now: 'You're talking about youtiao, not youbingzi. We often eat that for breakfast, and you can find it at most breakfast stalls.' These foreigners are really something else, still calling it youbingzi - like that thing could knock someone on the head! Then he continued, 'We'll probably set off in three days, taking a plane from San Francisco straight to the capital. At San Francisco airport, I'm going to wait for a friend, and we'll all travel together. He's been living in the capital since he was little, so maybe he can show you around when we get there.'"

  "Thanks a lot, it's just in time for us to have a tour guide," said Jasmine hastily nodding her head.

  When it came to this, the waitress brought up the things that several people had ordered, and everyone started eating. The steak at Jū ān was not bad, all organic beef, also known as free-range beef, very fresh. It's just that a round, cooked potato in the plate made Jū ān feel hard to swallow. Good guy didn't even cut it, and there wasn't much flavor. Jū ān had eaten skin that wasn't peeled before. When eating ice cream, the taste was not bad, with several blueberries on top, and half a strawberry or something fruit.

  After finishing the meal, Ju An paid the bill and gave a $5 tip. Everyone left the restaurant and exchanged phone numbers with Molly. Then, Ju An got into the car and watched as Diana's car drove away. After that, Ju An entered the space and brought out two small things that were crouching under the tree eating an apple. At the same time, he also picked up a yellow apple and put it in his mouth to chew on.

  Started the car, and this road was quite lucky, didn't encounter a wave of wild animals crossing the road, arrived at the ranch in about twenty minutes, moved things into the house, and put guns, ammunition, etc. into the iron cabinet at the door.

  Carrying a book, brewing a pot of tea, I sat on the sofa in the living room and opened WeChat to see that my classmates were all discussing how to attend the wedding. Classmates from several cities were planning to take action together.

  I opened the collection forum of yesterday's post, looked at my own posts, and found that they had already covered several hundred floors. I went through each reply one by one, hoping someone could tell me what was written on these bamboo slips. After flipping through countless floors, apart from ridiculing the original poster (me), most of them were scolding, with no good words to say. I patiently read on until a response caught my attention - it was from a netizen named Haohanwenhai, who wrote: "These texts are from the Warring States period. I can only recognize about ten or so characters, probably including Mozi and some ghostly things. It seems to be a transmission of ghostly gods and spirits. Now I'll send these texts to my teacher for him to take a look. If the original poster is interested, you can add me on QQ."

  Copied and pasted directly, searched for this guy's QQ, and added a sentence in the application: sent bamboo slips. Waited for half a day without anyone adding, thought about it and forgot, now it's midnight at home, of course no one would be there, so started putting some recent photos on his own QQ space