Faintly feeling that the tone of Guo Caiying's last sentence was a little different from usual, Zhang Lisheng curled his lips and put away his phone.
When he started the car and was about to turn around, he suddenly saw Maddie, whose hair was still blown by the chilly sea breeze of early spring, walking out of the office building and waving at him gently with a happy smile.
An indescribable feeling rose in his heart. After being stunned for a few seconds, the young man finally drove the car backward and turned towards the factory gate.
After leaving the slaughterhouse, he walked for a while in the long line of trucks before turning onto the spacious road that led straight to New York City.
Suppressing his messy thoughts, Zhang Lisheng began to plan in his heart that the first thing he would do after returning to Western Sichuan was to go back to Guawo Village and read all the ancient Chinese books in his ancestral house from beginning to end. It would be best if he could ship all of them to the US or the foreign world's island so that it would be convenient for him to study them at any time in the future.
"Square characters are different from letters, especially since many of those ancient books are accompanied with pictures. If I study them carefully, I might have new gains from time to time. However, speaking of which, those books can be considered as cultural relics, right? I'm afraid that I'm going to ship them out of the country through ordinary channels …" As he muttered to himself, he was suddenly dazzled by a red light that suddenly appeared on the side.
Subconsciously, the young man looked at the window that was illuminated by the soft red light. With a dumbfounded expression, he saw a red light wall that seemed to stretch to the end of the world and towering into the sky in the distant ocean that was sometimes strong and sometimes weak, flashing in the distant ocean.
Within a few seconds after the appearance of the light wall, the traffic flow on the road had completely stopped. However, there were still the sound of rapid braking and loud bangs of cars colliding in the distance.
Zhang Lisheng stepped on the brake to the lowest point and stopped the car in the middle of the road. Then, he walked out of the car together with the US people on the entire road and stared blankly at the red light wall that was slowly dimming as time went by.
At the same time, he listened to the words, "Damn it! W-What is this strange thing …"
"Is it the work of the aliens? It must be the aliens! First it's the foreign world, then it's the aliens! The Earthlings are really lucky …" Curses and "God bless us …"
"Lord, please forgive the arrogance and greed of humans …" A layer of frost gradually formed on his face.
Once again, the image of a dark-skinned old man who always appeared to be knowledgeable and polite appeared in his mind. An ominous thought grew stronger and stronger in Zhang Lisheng's mind, forcing him to stride back to the car. Crazily turning the steering wheel, he stepped on the accelerator pedal and rushed out of the road, speeding towards the seaside. Finally, he managed to reach the beach before the light wall disappeared.
He hurriedly pushed open the car door and ran to the beach while stepping on the sand. Looking at the direction of the new New York port without any obstacles, Zhang Lisheng could clearly see the blue sky and white clouds in the sea diagonally facing the new port in the distance. There were signs of cracks on the edge of the crack, which clearly appeared on the continuous red light wall. That direction coincided with the spatial door leading to the Shrimp World No. 2.
Staring at the distant sea without blinking, Zhang Lisheng let the waves wash his trousers and waited until the light wall disappeared in a daze. Then, he stroked his sparse short hair from front to back and turned to enter the car. Turning on the radio, he turned the car around with a blank expression and continued to drive towards the direction of JFK Airport.
On the way, he looked through the front windshield at the crowd who were still at a loss of what to do on the highway, who was still discussing in panic. With a cold gaze, he muttered, "Looks like this is the 'page' that has been unfolded.
The collapse of the spatial door and let the 'worlds' divide the Earth into pieces? This is your ultimate goal, isn't it, Dr. Tubalin? "
Nobody in the empty car with only the driver answered the young man's question. All that filled his ears were the speculations of the radio host and the listeners about the sudden appearance of the red light wall that was said to have penetrated the entire coastal area of the ocean.
There were all kinds of conjectures, ranging from the most old-fashioned light wall being a special astronomical phenomenon to the most ridiculous but most likely closest to the truth that the red light wall was the fence separating the two 'worlds'. There were all kinds of conjectures.
When they arrived at the airport, the several large-screen TVs in the waiting hall for the passengers to kill time were even broadcasting the farcical content with pictures and texts, as well as the game of 'you ask and I answer' that was getting weirder and weirder.
"This world is really crazy! Everything can be used as entertainment!" Walking on the clean and bright walkway of JFK Airport, Zhang Lisheng, who had already calmed down, smiled wryly when he looked up and passed by the huge TVs. Then, he went straight to the VIP lounge.
The staff in the VIP lounge of JFK Airport were already very familiar with the young man's thin and pale Asian face. Even the tall and sturdy guards in uniforms automatically retreated to the side when they saw him walking over and took the initiative to greet him, "Good afternoon. Welcome to JFK International Airport, Mr. Zhang."
"Thank you." Zhang Lisheng nodded and walked into the airport's VIP lounge. He directly sat down on the brown leather sofa next to the glass wall that could overlook the take-off and landing of the plane from afar and asked the beautiful ground attendant who served him iced Coke, "Miss, may I know how long it would take to book a private flight to Boston?"
The distance between New York and Boston by road was only over 600 kilometers. It would only take four hours to get there by taking the US bus that could take as long as 15 dollars. However, if he were to use a private plane, the cost would undoubtedly increase by at least 10,000 times. Not only that, even if there was a flight that could be used immediately, after deducting the simple mechanical inspection, boarding, and disembarkation time before takeoff, the time taken would not be much faster than taking a bus.
However, spending the most money and using the most complicated but comfortable way to complete a very simple thing had always been the lifestyle of the super-rich. The exclusive ground attendant in the JFK Airport VIP lounge showed eight teeth and replied with a smile, "Please wait for a moment, Mr. Zhang. I'll check it for you."
"Thank you."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhang. Due to the sudden abnormal weather, you can't apply for a flight from New York to Boston for the next 48 hours."
"48 hours, huh? Oh, it doesn't matter. Help me book a first-class ticket on the nearest flight to Boston then." The reason why the young man planned to take a plane instead of flying directly to Boston was that he felt that after disappearing for two months for no reason, he should at least be active for a period of time. For this reason, he did not insist on using a private plane.
"It's rare for such a short-distance flight to have a first-class cabin. If it's a business class, you'll be able to take the American Airlines AR098 plane to Boston in 45 minutes." The ground service lady, who had long been prepared, maintained a smile that showed her eight teeth as she said.
"Business class it is then. I'm not that picky." Zhang Lisheng casually took out a credit card from his pocket and received his boarding pass a few minutes later. Two hours later, he took off on a United States Airlines Airbus plane and flew directly to Boston without any problems.
Boston, the capital and largest city of Massachusetts, was located on the east and west coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. More than 200 years ago, it was the people here who had rioted because of the harsh 'tea tax' issued by the King of England. They dumped the tea leaves on the British merchant ships and set off the prelude of the American War of Independence. For this reason, Boston was once regarded as the symbol of freedom and resistance of the US in history.
Now, this international metropolis had evolved into the center of higher education in the US. There were more than 100 universities in the entire metropolitan area and hundreds of thousands of students, causing this place to be known as the 'center of the universe' and the 'Athens of the US' by the academic community. It sounded like the air that one breathed when walking on the streets would involuntarily be filled with the smell of knowledge.
However, to Zhang Lisheng, the air here was no different from other cities. After exiting Logan International Airport, he took a taxi to Boston City and saw that both sides of the streets were already brightly lit.
He handed the driver a hundred-dollar bill and said, "You don't have to keep the change, thank you." He opened the door and walked out of the car. Looking around, he saw skyscrapers that were similar to the streets of New York and could not help but curl his lips. With a strange tone, he blurted out, "This is Boston …"
"Beep, beep …" After a long honk, a middle-aged black man with a fat head and big ears appeared in the taxi. "Hey, young man, thank you for your tip. Because of your generosity, I'll give you a suggestion. Go west along this road and go to the Charles River. That's the real Boston.
Even though the temperature is still a little cold, the weather these days is good, so the young people should have already started to move. Maintain your good habit of being willing to spend money, there'll be plenty of fun in the future. "
"Oh, thank you." Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment before waving at the driver. Watching the taxi drive away, he took out his phone from his pocket and hesitated for a moment before putting it back into his pocket again. Muttering, "I'd better let Tina sleep a little longer. Anyway, I've already said that I'll only see her tomorrow." Then, he strolled along the street to the west.
After walking through two streets, the young man could clearly feel that the air was gradually becoming more and more moist. He could even faintly hear the noise mixed with music and human voices.
After speeding up his pace and walking forward for another seven to eight minutes, a wide river suddenly appeared in front of him.
Looking left and right along the river that was illuminated by the lights along the shore, there was a huge open-air performance stage surrounded by green lawns and a ribbon riverside park in the distance.
At this time, there were more than ten casually dressed young people forming a band on the stage, working hard to accompany the two men and three women singers. Zhang Lisheng, who did not have much artistic talent, could not tell whether their performance was good or bad. However, judging from the densely packed audience who were either lying down or sitting on the lawn below the stage, the standard should be pretty good.
"Enjoying the cold wind by the river while lying down and listening to live music? Now this feels a bit like the Athens of America …" Upon seeing the scene in front of him, Zhang Lisheng smiled in astonishment. Following the flow of people to the performance stage, he suddenly heard a solemn voice with a slightly familiar accent resonating from the river. "You actually want to buy a real ruby bracelet with just 15 dollars?
Young lady, I can only say that your age makes you not know how to appreciate a beautiful piece of jewelry. "
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