America 1881: Legend of the West

Chen Jianqiu glanced at the young man in front of him and couldn't connect him with the round-faced President of the United States.

I also grew up in an elite white family environment.

No matter where little Astor goes, he always dresses up beautifully, and his every move is filled with the aura of a nobleman.

And the young man in front of me.

Wearing an off-white coat and a wide-brimmed cowboy hat.

The edges of his coat and trousers were caked with mud, and his face was covered with dust.

His current image is no different from an ordinary western cowboy.

Chen Jianqiu took out Astor's letter from his arms and handed it into Roosevelt's hand.

Roosevelt glanced at Chen Jianqiu and took the opened letter.

He adjusted his glasses and began to read the contents of the letter.

"Um, are you Mr. Chen?"

After reading the letter, Roosevelt raised his head and looked Chen Jianqiu up and down.

"Well, I am Chen Jianqiu."

Roosevelt's face broke into a smile.

He stretched out a hand towards Chen Jianqiu.

"Astor told me about you. He told me a lot about you."

"He said that you are different from other Chinese people he has seen. You are brave, wise and strong."

Chen Jianqiu did not shake the hand. He calmly said to the person in front of him:

"Sir, I am no different from other Chinese."

Roosevelt retracted his hand in embarrassment:

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything else."

He pointed to the horses behind him and said to Chen Jianqiu:

"Let's go back to Shepherd Town and talk as we go."

At the same time, he turned his head and shouted at a law enforcement officer carrying a gun who came with him.

"Pink! Go get these corpses on the horses, we are ready to go back."

The police officer named Pink nodded towards Roosevelt with a cold expression.

"Is he always like this?" Sean asked Pink with his mouth nuzzled.

"Well, it's always been like this, but he's a pretty good shot." Roosevelt walked over to his horse.

After a while, Chen Jianqiu and the other three set off on their way back together with the police officers from Mugou Town.

Roosevelt and Chen Jianqiu rode at the front of the team.

"Um, New Mexico, according to the letter, you traveled across the entire United States to the Dakota?" Roosevelt asked.

"Yes." Chen Jianqiu replied briefly.

"Actually, I just mentioned it to Astor in the letter. I didn't expect that he would actually entrust you to come here. It's really hard work."

Roosevelt adjusted his glasses.

"You can definitely send some detectives here. There is no need to go there yourself."

"I'll feel more at ease if I do it myself."

Chen Jianqiu held the reins in his hand.

Black Carrot walked forward slowly and leisurely, the horse's back rising and falling together with its owner.

"By the way, why did you come to me? Astor didn't go into details in the letter. He just said that you were in some trouble." Chen Jianqiu used his little finger to pick out his ear piercing and asked.

Roosevelt sat up straight on his horse, turned his head and said to Chen Jianqiu:

"It's like this. Since last year, some pastures around the town have been attacked one after another, and the methods are very cruel, and no one is left alive."

"I have been clearing out gangs that may have committed crimes nearby, but I have caught some and killed some, but attacks still keep happening."

He pointed at the bodies being carried on horseback behind Pink.

"I have been keeping an eye on this group of people. According to my investigation, they have been wandering around the badlands and making a living by robbing ranches."

"This matter was most likely done by them." Roosevelt said with a smile, "I didn't expect that the matter was solved by you."

Chen Jianqiu glanced at the body on the horse and said nothing.

Along the way, Chen Jianqiu and Roosevelt chatted frequently.

Roosevelt was knowledgeable and wise.

Like other white elites Chen Jianqiu has met, he speaks in a very educated manner.

These people have similar attitudes towards themselves.

They regard themselves as a heterogeneous elite among the Chinese and give them a certain degree of respect.

This is a kind of respect for the strong, which Chen Jianqiu earned by relying on his own abilities and actions.

But at the same time, they maintained an imperceptible sense of distance.

This is doomed by the white supremacist education they received since childhood.

Of course, there is only one exception.

That was little Astor.

Chen Jianqiu still hasn't figured out this guy's brain circuitry.

The group soon arrived at Shepherd Dog Town.

This town doesn't look much different from other western towns.

A muddy and dirty main road ran through the town.

The main buildings of the town are located on both sides of the road.

Chen Jianqiu noticed that there were still some railings broken by bullets on the buildings at the entrance of the town that had not been repaired in time.

Roosevelt noticed Chen Jianqiu's gaze.

He shrugged:

"Well, as you can see, everything sucks."

"Gangsters, gangsters, uh, and..."

He turned his head, glanced at the flying bird behind Chen Jianqiu, and lowered his voice:

"There are also Indians. The southeastern part of here is their reservation area."

"That's because they have been cornered and have no choice."

Chen Jianqiu glanced at the hilly grassland in the distance.

"This place is not suitable for farming, and the bison that the Sioux people depended on for survival were also slaughtered."

"I have my own opinion on that."

"I don't think it's wise to maintain armed opposition to the Indians. It serves no purpose other than creating more hatred."

Roosevelt drove his horse toward the town.

"Similarly, I am opposed to the slaughter of bison, which is a kind of ecological damage."

"However, the advancement of civilization is inevitable. Indians must accept their destiny and integrate into American society. This is the future of their race."

He whispered to Chen Jianqiu, his words full of the embryonic form of Darwinism and its "Americanism".

Chen Jianqiu had no intention of arguing with him.

Some things cannot be achieved by just arguing.

Roosevelt led the crowd on the road to town.

The residents in the town were busy with their own business, and some stopped to say hello to Roosevelt.

But when they saw the flying bird riding behind him, a look of disgust appeared on their faces.

When the team passed by the door of the police station, Roosevelt turned his head and gave an order to Pinker and several others behind him:

"You go back first, I will take Mr. Chen and the others to my ranch."

Pink's face was still slumped, as if the whole world owed him money.

Chen Jianqiu found that no matter what happened, he would always be like this.

Keep walking forward and you will reach the town entrance.

"What is that?" Chen Jianqiu asked, pointing to a camp outside the town.

The camp was built on an open field, with several tents outside.

Next to these tents were two fully loaded caravans.

There were many people busy in the camp. They were unloading things from the caravan and building a stage that seemed to be used for performances.

"Oh, that's Buffalo Bill's circus. They come here every once in a while." Roosevelt said, "I just got here this morning and should stay for a week."

Chen Jianqiu said nothing.

His eyes swept over the camp.

Those who are setting up the stage seem to be both staff and actors.

Because their dress and appearance are so unique.

To describe it as bizarre is not an exaggeration at all.

A bald man was unloading planks of wood from a caravan.

He hardly needs anyone's help. He carries a board several people long on one shoulder. He is shirtless, with strong muscles, fierce eyes and curses.

An old man with only one arm was holding a brush and brushing something on a wooden background board.

There is also a baby-faced female dwarf with twin ponytails.

A little taller than a dwarf, a little shorter than a normal person.

At first Chen Jianqiu thought she was a little girl.

Until he saw her taking out a cigarette from her pocket and holding it in her mouth, while revealing the revolver on her waist.

When Chen Jianqiu and others passed by, these people also raised their heads and paid attention, and their eyes were not friendly.

Chen Jianqiu and the other two rode behind Roosevelt for about ten minutes, and soon saw a pasture.

This ranch is much larger than Chen Jianqiu imagined.

The wooden fence framed a large circle on the grass, and it was almost impossible to see the end in the distance.

A large number of cattle, sheep and horses wandered in groups inside the fence.

"The family is big and the business is big." Chen Jianqiu said to Roosevelt with a smile.

"It's not bad, I came here to relax." Roosevelt's answer was more Versailles.

"Dad! Daddy!"

While they were still chatting, a little girl in a pink dress ran out of the pasture.

Roosevelt's eyes behind the glass lenses were full of kindness, and his face was full of smiles, as if all worries disappeared.

He picked up the little girl and introduced to Chen Jianqiu and the others:

"This is my daughter, Alice Roosevelt."