On the way back, Fina took the initiative to enter the game to sleep. Since it knew that the flight would not fly over Egypt, it did not want to waste any more time. The seats on the plane were not comfortable, and taking off and landing made it even more frightened.
Zhang Zian happily agreed. He could save a plane ticket and just buy a seat for Richard.
When they came to the United States, Richard's seat was near the aisle. When they went back, it learned to be smart and asked to sit by the window. Zhang Zian sat next to it.
As soon as he got on the plane, he was surprised to find that the flight attendants were of good quality. They were tall and young, and their looks were tolerable. He wondered if it was because of United Airlines' Thanksgiving Day promotion … So, ever since he got on the plane, his eyes were not willing to leave the flight attendants.
Richard jumped into its seat and looked through the porthole at Los Angeles International Airport in the misty rain.
A silver-gray giant bird was parked on the runway. From time to time, there were planes taking off or landing. The airport shuttle bus carried passengers between the terminals. Even on a rainy day, the third-largest airport in the United States was still a busy scene.
The surrounding passengers were talking in various languages about whether the rain would affect the normal departure of the flight, but so far, there was no announcement from the captain that the departure would be delayed.
Richard felt a little bored. Zhang Zian's oral English had improved a lot during this trip to the United States. He could communicate normally without it, and he was not talking at all. His eyes were even busier than the airport shuttle bus …
If it had known this would happen, it would have simply asked to go back to the game to sleep. When it got home, it could take advantage of Zhang Zian's nap to make a fuss.
…
She sat by the window and quietly waited for the plane to take off. On her right was a boorish middle-aged man with sharp, shrewd eyes. From time to time, he would look at her critically, as if he was sizing up goods for sale. This kind of look always reminded her of her ex-husband, and she was sure that at some point after the plane took off, he would find a chance to talk to her.
So, she took out her laptop from her suitcase, opened it, and put it on her lap. She opened a document and pretended to be very busy. She had no plans to start her next relationship, at least not now.
There was a mostly completed speech in the document. She only needed to edit a few small details.
In recent years, she had become accustomed to writing this kind of speech, even more frequently than writing her academic reports. She ran around to raise money for the Alex Foundation. Some people could understand the content of her speech, while others could not. There were also voices accusing her of being too radical. To this day, some people still thought that Alex was just another joke, a copy of the horse named "Clever Hans", who answered questions by relying on other people's unintentional hints. Some people said that her understanding of the animal brain was a castle in the air, without any evidence to support it.
Yes, there was no evidence to support it, because the only "evidence" had left this world forever.
There were several other African grey parrots in her research institute. They were all excellent, but none of them were as good as Alex. It was a genius. After it left, she was even more certain of this.
As Alex's deeds made her famous, the laboratory's funds were gradually relaxed. It was no longer like many years ago, when Alex, two other parrots and a living person were squeezed together in a small room of less than 6 square meters. These were all Alex's legacies, but unfortunately, it had no chance to enjoy them.
She turned her head slightly and stared at her own face in the reflection of the porthole. She was wearing a gray and black suit with a turtleneck sweater inside. It was a little cold in Los Angeles today, and she was a little old. There were many more wrinkles on her face than ten years ago, and her skin was weak and loose.
It had been ten years since Alex died, but she still couldn't let it go.
Why a grey parrot?
So many people asked her this question that she had to often put the answer to this question in the first paragraph of her speech.
African grey parrots were one of the most popular pets of human beings. As early as more than 4,000 years ago, they appeared as pets in ancient Egyptian murals. They were the easiest to learn and express human language clearly.
She stared at the Los Angeles International Airport in the misty rain and couldn't help but recall the first time she met Alex. It was in a pet shop near Chicago O 'Hare International Airport. At that time, it was only one year old, squatting in a cage with eight other birds, waiting to be adopted. She chose it, with a one in nine chance.
On the runway not far away, a huge Boeing 787 was parked. Such a behemoth usually flew international routes. She couldn't help but guess where the plane would fly to? Russia? China? Australia? Or some other faraway country? The airport passenger elevator had been evacuated, and the cabin door was closed. The 787 was listening to the instructions of the control tower, ready to take off at any time to vacate the runway.
The captain's broadcast sounded in the cabin.
"The plane will take off soon. Now the cabin crew is conducting a safety check. Please sit down, fasten your seat belt, and put away your seat back and small table board. Please make sure that your belongings have been correctly placed in the overhead luggage rack and under the seat. Smoking is prohibited on this flight. Please do not smoke during the flight. "
She smiled, closed the lid of the laptop, and held it in her arms. It seemed that her plane had to take off first.
After a while, the plane trembled slightly, glided slowly, and gradually accelerated, overtaking the 787 parked on the runway from behind.
The moment the two planes passed by, her eyes seemed to catch a familiar touch of gray in one of the cabin windows of the 787. She let out a soft sound of surprise and quickly turned her body, trying to let the gray stay in her vision for a second or two.
Because of the misty rain and the distance, she couldn't see it clearly, but she was very sure that it was an African grey parrot. After all, she was too familiar with their body shape.
A grey parrot that followed its owner in the cabin!
If she guessed correctly, its owner was probably one of her fellow scientists. Just like she had done many years ago, he had gone through a lot of trouble to apply for a scientific research certificate so that it could accompany her and not be locked in a cage. She was very happy for it. This meant that its owner loved it very much and cared about its feelings.
For a moment, she couldn't help but wonder if it was Alex, but then she laughed at herself, shook her head, and dispelled this crazy idea from her mind. She must miss Alex so much that she had such an unrealistic idea.
It had been ten years since Alex died on September 6, 2007 …
The plane trembled slightly again, tilted its head up, and left the runway lightly, into the embrace of the sky.
The 787 on the ground became smaller and smaller, and it seemed to have begun to taxi on the runway, about to take off.
She turned her body straight and leaned against the back of the seat in relief.
It had been ten years, and it was time to let it go.
This might be her last speech, because she was going to retire. She no longer worried that no one would inherit Alex's legacy. For example, the scientist in the 787 just now, didn't he bring a grey parrot for scientific research? It must be very good, maybe as good as Alex. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to get a scientific research certificate to accompany it in the cabin. Its owner must also have done a good job, even better than her, because she had never taken Alex abroad.
She felt extremely gratified that other people and parrots continued to move forward on the road that she and Alex had opened together.
She was looking forward to the day when she could see the figure of the grey parrot on TV, and see the news that the whole world exclaimed for it. She sincerely hoped that it could stay healthy and go further than Alex.
The cabin broadcast sounded again:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have left Los Angeles for Chicago. During this journey, we have prepared lunch for you. We will inform you through the broadcast when the meal is served. "
She had decided that after leaving the Chicago airport, she would go to the original site of the pet shop from decades ago to see if the pet shop was still there. If it was, she was going to choose another parrot from the shop, a grey one. This time it was not for scientific research, but to accompany her for the rest of her life after retirement.
Full of longing, a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
…
The flight attendants also sat in the exclusive seats of the flight attendants. Zhang Zian's line of sight was blocked, so he reluctantly withdrew his gaze.
He looked sideways at Richard and reminded him, "The plane is about to take off — did I hear this correctly? Hurry up and sit down! Did you get cervical spondylosis as soon as you arrived in the United States? Why are you looking up at the sky? What's in the sky? A gray plane? "
Richard blinked quickly and said calmly, "Nothing, sand got into my eyes again."
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