Chapter 3 How Did You Become Half of Yourself?

"I told you this morning that my adoptive parents who passed away were Chinese, so I can speak Chinese and need to make money to support myself, so I thought about going to Chinatown to see if I could find a job teaching Chinese to Chinese.

If you can walk to Chinatown, ask around, and then walk back to the orphanage, it will take at least four or five hours.

If I miss the dinner at the orphanage, I will have to starve all night.

Dude, although we've only met for a day, I'm also a friend with a strict mouth, right? "

"That's it", probably the word "friend" moved Frank. After hesitating for a few seconds, he reached into his pocket and took out some coins and a one-dollar bill.

Then he looked at Li Changheng carefully and asked, "When are you going to pay me back? And remember to give me the interest."

Li Changheng didn't care about how much interest he could get for borrowing one dollar, but he muttered with a look of displeasure on his face, "You want to make money, are you crazy, you want interest on one dollar?"

Bank deposits and loan interest are very high these days. According to Li Changheng's memory, the loan interest at this time can be as high as 15% per annum.

Frank smiled solemnly and said, "It costs 9 cents a year to open an account in the bank, so friends are friends, but why can't I ask for your interest."

"OK, OK, I'll give you 5 cents a month," Li Changheng stretched out his hand and put it in front of Frank, but the guy only gave him a 50 and a 25-cent coin in the end.

"It should be 25 cents to go to Chinatown by car, 50 for a round trip, and I will leave you 25 cents to buy a piece of bread."

"FK, YOU".

Putting up his middle finger, Li Changheng cursed unhappily, but after walking a few steps, he turned his head and said, "I'm different from you. Although I'm poor, I keep my word. I'll pay you 75 cents of the principal a month, plus 5 cents." interest".

Frank stared blankly at Li Changheng who was leaving quickly, and suddenly felt in his heart that he had gone too far?

And all day today I was worried that Li Changheng would make a small report and expose him as a teacher.

But one day passed, and he was fine. Although he was forced to borrow 75 cents, what Li Changheng said just now made it difficult for Frank to think in the direction of being blackmailed.

And even if you want to blackmail, no one will see that you don't want the one-dollar bill, just take away two steel coins, right?

Feeling that he was about to lose a friend he had just met for a day, Frank hurriedly chased after him, muttering beside Li Changheng like a younger brother,

"I'm just kidding, Henry, if you need it, I'll lend you all my pocket money."

Li Changheng felt happy. To him, he had no money, but now he had the hope of making money, so he didn't need to spend money from a kid like Montfranc.

On the contrary, he should show his backbone and ambition, so as to leave a deep enough impression in the heart of a young man like Frank who has no friends.

In the future, in the relationship between the two of them, they will naturally occupy a dominant position.

"Don't worry, Frank, I'm not angry with you. After all, you can lend me money, which is the greatest help." Li Changheng stopped and said to Frank seriously, "And you are right, 75 cents is enough for me. .

And I'm not trying to blackmail you, don't need to borrow more money, and when I get a job and get my first paycheck, I'll buy you a Burger King."

"You said it." Frank nodded happily immediately, and then secretly glanced at Li Changheng's expression, seeing that there was already a smile on his face,

He also wanted to make some money, hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Then, can I go to Chinatown with you?"

Li Changheng was taken aback, "Partner with me to earn some pocket money?"

"That's right, that's right," Frank said with a sad face, "As you have already guessed, my family has some financial problems, and I just moved to this block, and you are just a friend, so go home so early Meaning nothing."

"Tomorrow." Not wanting to be in front of Frank's mother, he took her son to Chinatown just a day after they met. Li Changheng looked at the blue second-hand car on the street,

"You just transferred to another school, and if you hang out with me on the first day, your parents will definitely think that I am spoiling you.

Moreover, since you don’t speak Chinese, I’d better go to Chinatown to familiarize myself with the situation first.”

It is not easy for the Chinese to live these days, so it is easy to form a special group. This kind of black group does not care about ordinary people entering Chinatown, but it is likely to focus on Frank, a hollow boss who wears a private school and a famous school uniform.

"Drip, drop, drop".

A series of trumpets sounded, Frank looked at his mother who was waving to him, and could only bid farewell to Li Changheng unhappily.

He, who hadn't suffered a lot, suddenly felt that compared with Li Changheng, who was still a teenager and wanted to make money, he was like a child who didn't grow up.

Li Changheng smiled and waved to Frank in the car on the side of the road. He watched the blue car leave before getting on a bus.

After spending about 30 minutes in a traffic jam, the car came to Duban Street, got off the car and asked for directions, and walked for a while to see the archway covered with green tiles.

Just as I was about to enter the archway, I was stopped by a few Chinese in black exercise suits.

Hearing a question in unfriendly English, "Who are you looking for?"

'No entry? ’ Li Changheng was taken aback for a moment, and suddenly remembered that on the way by bus, he saw protesters in the park and several streets.

I can't help thinking that it was only August 1968, and it was the most intense period when Americans protested against the Vietnam War. It was inevitable that the Chinese, who were treated specially in the United States, would become nervous.

And seeing that none of the people passing by the archway was a foreigner, Li Changheng cursed secretly, and said in pure Mandarin, "Don't be nervous, my adoptive parents are Chinese, and I came here to find a job."

Hearing Li Changheng's Mandarin, which was more standard than many of them, the young Chinese relaxed and complained,

"Since you are a child raised by the Chinese, you are considered half of your own, you can go in,

But these days, not everyone of us has a job, and you still want to come to Chinatown to grab a job, beware of being beaten."

"I,..." Li Changheng scratched his head depressedly, and asked tentatively, "I plan to be an English teacher for those Chinese immigrants who have just immigrated. Is this not stealing other people's jobs?"

"Don't think about it," the young man in the lead said with a smile, "Even if you are half of your own, rich Chinese will not ask you, an ignorant brat, to be your tutor. a teacher teaches.

As long as you are willing to learn, there are plenty of people around you who are willing to talk in English for free. After a year or two, ordinary conversation is no problem at all.

As for the children who are eager to go to school, we have our own schools and teachers."

Hell, Li Changheng suddenly thought that the situation of the Chinese in the United States is worse these days than it will be in decades, and instinctively guards against people who don't know and don't know their origins. Even if they want to hire a teacher, they will find a Chinese teacher to teach them.

But if Li Changheng doesn't find a job these days, he won't be hungry for a while, but let alone the quality of life, he doesn't have the money to eat a hamburger or a Coke.