"Dear gentlemen and ladies, welcome to the Pan Am airliner, please fasten your seat belts, we..." The big screen in front and the small screen in front of them played the precautions over and over again, but Angela But the attention is completely not on it.
The girl wore a white wide-brimmed hat and hid her hair. Although she played with her sunglasses from time to time, her eyes stared at the airport outside through the small window without blinking.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" asked Natalie, who was sitting beside her and noticed her expression.
"Mom must still be looking at me there." The girl replied softly without looking back.
A hint of surprise flashed in Natalie's eyes, and she asked again jokingly, "Hey, Angie, how old are you? Or do you want to tell me that this is the first time you've traveled without your parents?"
"No, Nat, I'm just... well, I don't know what to say, anyway, if I'm going to Europe, I'm definitely not going to... This way..." Angela gestured with her hands, frowning as if trying to find a more Good words, but in the end just shook his head and spread his hands.
"Well, let me guess." Natalie looked at the girl carefully with one hand on the chin, the other hand on the armrest of the chair rhythmically beating, and finally waved gently, "I think You might be a little nervous, because no matter how much you know about China through books, it's still a completely foreign country - inside and out, and it's different from Europe!"
Speaking of this, she suddenly laughed: "When you face the unknown and have instinctive fear, do you always think of your mother's arms first?"
"What's wrong? I'm not trying to hide in my mother's arms." Angela rolled her eyes at her, then shrugged: "Maybe like you said, I'm just a little nervous."
Yeah, just a little nervous. The girl sighed softly in her heart, maybe it can be called the timidity of being close to nostalgia, although she has always longed to go to China to see, although she wisely hid this longing in her heart, but it has never been extinguished. When she really wants to embark on the journey, she begins to be at a loss again. Perhaps in addition to being nervous, she is... confused and at a loss
Angela looked at the airport outside the plane window again. Of course, she knew that even if her mother looked this way from inside, she wouldn't see it, but she still couldn't help but look for it.
Since agreeing to her travel request, her mother has never objected again, and when Natalie agreed to Angela's invitation and the girl began to pack her things cheerfully, her mother would always be by her side. You will feel like something is blocking your chest, not to mention the days before.
Even if you find your original family, and maybe even your original self, what's the point of that? Angela asked herself in her heart, her career, her love, and everything about herself are here. She knows that there are certain things that she must do, and it is worth doing, but... Is this thing worth it
The plane slowly left the airport and drove onto the runway. With the increasing speed, it finally raised its head with a huge roar and flew into the blue sky. Los Angeles was getting smaller and smaller until the plane entered the stratosphere and was no longer visible.
Angela finally withdrew her gaze, no matter how she has a Chinese soul, she should go to the land of China, as for the next thing... let's talk about it.
At this point, the plane was flying smoothly, and the first-class passengers started their entertainment activities, either watching movies or chatting, or taking off the insurance and taking a drink at the bar. After all, the journey lasted about 12 hours. Angela had planned to listen to music or something, but when she turned her head, she saw Natalie flatten the seat, asked the stewardess for a blanket, and took out the blindfold to put it on for herself to sleep.
"Hey. Nat. It's only 2 o'clock." The girl was a little strange.
"Yeah, because it's only 2 o'clock, I have to hurry up and get some sleep." Natalie lay down.
"Go to sleep later, we are chasing the time now, I want to fly over the line of change sober." Angela pushed her, "Will you not accompany me?"
Natalie, who had already pulled the blindfold down, had to push it back up again, then turned her head to look at her: "Angie, why do you think your father arranged this flight for us?"
"Why?" The girl blinked, she really hadn't thought about this question.
"I see, Dad wants us to get to our destination as soon as possible," Angela said suddenly, "We took off at 2 o'clock on June 18th, and then arrived at 5 o'clock on June 18th, wow, it only takes 3 hours across the Pacific!"
Natalie rolled her eyes, as if she was too lazy to tell you, she pulled on her blindfold and turned over to sleep. Angela couldn't help scratching her head depressedly, it was just a joke, why... She suddenly slapped her head and woke up, it was jet lag!
Jokes aside, the 12-hour journey is a real existence. I got on the plane in the bright sun. After 12 hours of fatigue, I got off the plane drowsy, but the sun has only become smaller, that is not the case. Generally uncomfortable, the 8 hour time difference from New York to London is already very tiring, let alone 12 hours!
Of course, it's not that you can reverse the jet lag by taking a nap on the plane. What's more, you won't be able to sleep for a long time even if you sleep according to your biological clock, but at least you can adjust your sleep situation in a small range. After arriving in Shanghai, it will be much faster to adjust, otherwise it will take a few days just to get rid of the jet lag, so what else can you do
The father was also very troubled. Angela, who had figured this out, slightly raised the corner of her mouth, but then she was disappointed again.
Forget it, don't think about it, let's talk about it later. The girl shook her head gently, and after asking the flight attendant for a blanket, she put down the seat and put on the blindfold, and began to take a nap.
The Pan Am passenger plane landed at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on time. The sun, which had already slanted to the west, still radiated golden rays of light on the cloudless blue sky, reflecting on Angela's hair. It was very beautiful. The girl looked back. The airport hall was crowded with people, although his face was tired, he had all kinds of feelings in his heart.
"It's the first time I've seen so many Chinese people." Natalie, who was also tired, said with emotion beside her.
"Me too." The girl replied softly, followed by adding a sentence in her stomach, the first time in this life.
"Miss, let's get out of here first." Pu Guanshui had already stopped two taxis at this time. He and Buckett were both well-trained people, and their energetic appearances showed no signs of tiredness.
The taxi took them straight to the Jin Jiang Hotel on Maoming Road. This is one of the best hotels in Shanghai. It has hosted many heads of state and witnessed the birth of the Joint Communiqué, so it naturally became the first choice.
After spending one night and half a day in the presidential private room of the Jin Jiang Hotel, the two girls finally started sightseeing in Shanghai. However, in 1996, the urban area of Shanghai was not much better, although it was the economic center of China, and It is as prosperous as the big cities in Europe and America, but for Natalie, who lives in New York, it is still not enough to see.
And Angela can find a more beautiful and prosperous Shanghai in her memory, and naturally she has no interest in Shanghai, which has just begun to develop Pudong, and even the Suzhou River is still terribly dark. Naturally, she focused her attention on several scenic spots with Chinese characteristics, such as the Chenghuang Temple, Chenxiang Pavilion, and Yu Garden.
"How much did you say? This one costs 60 yuan? No way!" At the open-air market outside the Chenghuang Temple, Angela asked the stall owner with a small big red Chinese knot funny and angrily - a dry, thin, smiling one. old man.
"Wu Teng Gang, Xiao Jia, there is no difference. One is that the ancestors of Allah have nothing to do. Seek good fortune and avoid evil, and the old man will test it!" The old man said with a smile, but unfortunately he spoke Shanghainese to Anji Lalian Meng took a guess to know the meaning.
"Forget it, I'm not being taken advantage of." The girl shrugged and put down the Chinese knot in her hand.
"Non, give me a price." The old man's business was about to turn yellow, so he quickly stopped Angela. Although he couldn't speak a few Mandarin, he still had no problem listening. He knew that the ghost girl in front of him was not someone who could be fooled casually.
"Generally speaking, the price of Chinese knots is around 20 yuan, but yours is a double bow and is inlaid with green jade. Unfortunately, it is too small. 30 yuan is fine." Angela cut it in half.
"Xiaojia, this can't be done..." The old man still complained, but seeing that the girl was about to turn around and leave, there was no negotiation, so he agreed: "Okay, at this price, alas, there is no profit at all. "
It seemed that the old man had no choice but to sell it at the lowest price, but his heart was already blooming with joy. This small Chinese knot costs at most 18 yuan, and the price of 30 is already sky-high!
The reason for this is that Angela never bargains for one reason, and another reason is... The price she was referring to was after 2000, and the RMB at this time was worth more than that at that time!
However, even if the girl finds out, it doesn't matter because—
"How is it, does it look good? For you!" Angela smiled and passed the Chinese knot in her hand to Natalie's hand, "Don't tell me you just looked at it because you hated it."
"Okay, thank you." Natalie was also polite. "Unfortunately, I don't know what to buy for you. It would be nice if I knew Chinese."
"It doesn't matter, if you are interested, you can learn it slowly, and there will be opportunities in the future." The girl said and pointed to the Chinese knot in her hand: "This is called the Chinese knot, it has a long history, and there are many meanings in it. ."
"Really? You talk about it." When it comes to this aspect, Natalie is always very enthusiastic.
"Don't worry, let's find a place to have lunch first, and then tell you slowly." Angela said, and greeted the two bodyguards dressed as tourists who followed behind to go to Chenxiang Pavilion to eat vegetarian dishes.
No way, as a strict vegetarian, Natalie has strict requirements on the oil used in food. Although she has been able to taste the delicious Chinese food in the Chinese restaurant of Jin Jiang Hotel, she still strictly abides by her own rules, such as noodles For the famous Shanghai fried dumplings, she would not eat them even if they had vegetarian dumplings because the soup contained lard. Of course, Angela had a lot of fun eating a lot of food—she had been looking forward to this day—so this time I came to Chenxiang Pavilion to taste the famous vegetarian dishes here.
But even so, Natalie still had doubts in the face of the dishes on the table.
"Ah, they're just tofu, they're made into this shape." The girl picked up her knife and fork angrily, and pretended to be the chicken on the plate for her, "See? Do you see it clearly?"
"But...they smell..." Natalie said hesitantly.
"This is someone else's ability, they can use tofu to make chicken and duck taste." Angela pointed to the monk who occasionally passed by outside the restaurant, "Buddhism does not allow killing, so they had to come up with this method instead. "
Although one of the two girls is a Christian - well, a pseudo-Christian, and the other is a Jew, this does not prevent them from entering and leaving the monastery, just as a sightseeing tour, but it is like the second largest Catholic church in East Asia on Sheshan anyway. You can't even go in. Even if Angela doesn't take her Christian identity seriously, she should take care of her grandfather or grandpa's mood. Who says they won't know
Well, this topic has gone too far. When I returned to Chenxiang Pavilion, the little disturbance finally calmed Natalie's doubts after the girl invited the chef to explain it to Natalie in person.
Later, when visiting Yu Garden in the afternoon, Angela began to explain Chinese knots for Natalie. In fact, she didn't know much about Chinese knots. She knew a little bit in general, but it was more than enough to confuse people.
"So what are the most common types of Chinese knots?" Natalie asked after hearing the classification of Chinese knots.
"I don't know everything. I only know that there is a Fangsheng knot, which means a safe journey; a wishful knot, which means good luck and good luck..." Angela said with a finger, but when Natalie asked her what kind of knot she gave her in her hand At that time, the girl said she didn't know, because the double bow meant that she would fly with each other!
"So did you give it to your parents?" Natalie suddenly asked again.
Angela was stunned, and quickly replied: "Of course, a reunion knot means a happy reunion; or a long knot means longevity!"
"Okay, let's go and buy one later, you have to help me reference, you know, I don't understand." Natalie looked at the girl, then smiled: "Okay, if you want , how about I also buy a reunion knot for you."
"Let's talk about it later." Although Angela's expression did not change, her heart stirred up waves again. She had a good time these two days. She didn't have her parents by her side, and she could walk around the streets without any disguise. , so it is logical to leave some things behind, but these things can never be thrown out of my heart.
Reunion knot? The girl meditated in her heart for a moment, then go, even if she took a look.
Angela suddenly raised her head and looked at Natalie: "Nat, shall we go to Hangzhou tomorrow?"