The Pentium Era - South to North

Xiaohu and Zhang Xiangbei each drove a car. Ding Yousong and Yin Tao sat in Xiaohu's car. Xiangnan and Zheng Xinxin sat in Zhang Xiangbei's car. Xiaohu asked Zhang Xiangbei to follow his car.

They turned right from Fifth Avenue to East 65th Street, drove forward to Second Avenue, turned left onto East 62nd Street, and drove until they reached Roosevelt Road and turned left. On the right side of Roosevelt Road, there were buildings and buildings with different postures. On the left side of the park is a river with a long and narrow island in the middle. Zhang Xiangbei and Xiangnan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said this was Roosevelt Island.

After walking forward for a while, Zhang Xiangbei and Xiangnan said, "Did you see the building on the right in front? This is the United Nations Building."

Xiang Nan lowered his head slightly and looked outside. Zheng Xinxin in the back row said:

"So the United Nations Building is here. I knew it was in Manhattan, but I don't know where it is yet. Zhang Xiangbei, are we going to cross the Brooklyn Bridge and leave Manhattan Island next?"

Zhang Xiangbei was right, he crossed the Brooklyn Bridge in front and entered Brooklyn.

Brooklyn is very big and has the largest population among the five major boroughs of New York. It was first an independent city, Brooklyn, and later merged with New York City. Earlier, Xiaohu asked them if they dared to go to Brooklyn. Zhang Xiangbei Just know that he should take them to Brooklyn, to Grand Legion Square or the black area of ​​​​East Flatbash.

It wouldn't be near Sunset Park, Chinatown on Eighth Avenue, or the residential areas of Italians and Jews, otherwise he wouldn't have asked them if they dared to go. These places are all areas with good security, and there is no question of whether they dare to go or not. of.

They drove for nearly an hour and arrived at Fleibash Avenue. When they turned from the Jewish Quarter into the Black Quarter, they seemed to be in another world. Even the street lights on the roadside began to become sparse and dim. The streets outside the car On the street, almost all of the people coming and going were black people.

The further we drove, the dimmer the lights became, and there were more graffiti on both sides of the street. There were also more people standing and doing nothing on the street, and there were more motorcycles.

There were more and more cars driving on the street, old cars and cars that were colorfully painted or decorated with strange-shaped objects. From time to time, cars passed them. When they passed them, several heads stuck out from the car windows and pointed at them. Yelling strangely or making various gestures.

"Are we going to take risks here?" Zheng Xinxin asked.

"It's okay. This place is a little better than East Harlem, not so exaggerated." Zhang Xiangbei and Zheng Xinxin said.

The houses on both sides of the street began to become low and dilapidated. This was about to enter the hinterland of the black area. The streets became darker, with street lamps, lamp poles and lamp stands but no lights.

After driving for a while, there was a light stand across the middle of the street, and the lights were on. But when they drove closer, Xiang Nan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, exclaimed "Ah". They saw that from the light stand, A dead cat was hung down with a rope. There was also a piece of cardboard hanging on the dead cat's body, with writing crookedly written on it.

The cardboard was only about one meter away from the roof of their car.

Zhang Xiangbei drove over without paying attention. He was curious and reversed the car again. He saw the words on the cardboard clearly and couldn't help laughing.

"What are you writing about?"

Even Zheng Xinxin didn't understand the meaning of the words on the cardboard. Zhang Xiangbei said to her:

"This is a warning to villains who report to the police that they will end up like this cat."

"Come on, come on, what a crappy New York, I don't think it's as good as Hangzhou." Xiang Nan cursed angrily, "Look here, it's not even as good as Yongcheng."

Zhang Xiangbei and Zheng Xinxin both laughed, and Xiangnan asked: "Why are you laughing, aren't you?"

"Yes, people from China will say this now." Zheng Xinxin said with a smile, "When we get to New York, we say that New York is not as good as Shanghai and Beijing. When we get to Chicago and Boston, we also say that it is not as good as Shanghai and Beijing. We Chinese, now It’s awesome, but I feel weird.”

"What's weird?" Xiang Nan asked.

"You say that a banker like Li Gou, Mr. Politeness, is so familiar with the black area?" Zheng Xinxin said, "Shouldn't he be very familiar with Long Island and Times Square?"

"You can ask him yourself later," Zhang Xiangbei said, "But I am also very familiar with it. I am more familiar with East Harlem than Brooklyn. These places are the most exciting."

"What are you doing here?" Xiang Nan asked.

"I'm curious. They say these places in New York are very messy. When I have nothing to do, I come over to see how messy it is." Zhang Xiangbei said.

"You're looking for death." Xiang Nan cursed.

Zheng Xinxin chuckled: "Zhang Xiangbei, it's a good thing that you are graduating and going back soon. Otherwise, when Xiangnan returns from the United States this time, she will be worried to death every day, and she might wake up from her dream."

Zheng Xinxin's words were a little sour, but Xiang Nan didn't say anything after hearing it. She thought it was true. It turned out that in Yongcheng, she imagined that Zhang Xiangbei in the United States should be in places with bright lights or antique buildings. If he had known that this guy would go to a place with a dead cat hanging on a light pole, he would have been worried to death if he had known that he would go to a campus with a green lawn.

When Xiangnan was thinking this, she turned to look at Zhang Xiangbei, who was also looking at her. Their eyes met, and Zhang Xiangbei smiled.

"Look ahead, look ahead, Zhang Xiangbei. You have to make eye contact. You guys will do the same later. Now look ahead and drive carefully. Otherwise, if a drunk man suddenly appears on the side of the road, you will be in trouble." Zheng Xinxin shouted from behind.

Seeing that the street had reached its end and there were no houses on the roadside, Xiaohu turned right when he reached the front, and Zhang Xiangbei followed suit.

After turning around, the three people were surprised. They saw a large scrap car landfill in front of them, with a mountain of broken cars piled inside. In the open space in front, a circle of iodine-tungsten lights shone brightly, lighting up the entire landfill. An open space was illuminated like daylight.

There are many cars and motorcycles parked at the entrance. Beyond, there is a dense mass of people. There are always hundreds of people. Most of these people are mainly black young men and women, with a few white youths mixed in between. men and women.

At the end of the crowd was a stage with two large speakers erected on it, but otherwise it was empty.

Xiaohu stopped the car, and Zhang Xiangbei also stopped beside him.

Everyone got out of the car and walked towards the front of the stage. Yin Tao asked Xiaohu: "What are they doing here?"

"Today's weekend is their hip-hop competition here." Xiaohu said.

Zheng Xinxin thought about the problem in the car. She asked Xiaohu: "Liugou, how come you are so familiar with this place? You even know that they have a rap competition today?"

"We sponsored it," Xiaohu said. "Not only their hip-hop competitions, but also their street basketball games are sponsored by us. There is a Taiwanese who works as a pastor in a church here. He found me and I So we sponsored them. If we didn’t sponsor them, they wouldn’t even be able to pay the electricity bill.”

Zhang Xiangbei and Xiangnan explained that the United States is different from our country. In the United States, the construction of community facilities depends on the community’s consumption tax. Poor communities like this do not have much tax revenue, so their roads and public facilities are becoming more and more dilapidated.

"It's a vicious cycle. The less money there is in a poor community, the more shabby it is, and the shabby it is, the less money there is. The first thing those who have a little money to do is to escape from this kind of community." Xiaohu said, "On the contrary, Over here, in affluent areas like Long Island and Upper Manhattan, the communities are getting richer and richer, and the richer they are, the better their communities are built and the more they attract rich people.”

"It's really evil capitalism." Ding Yousong said.

Zhang Xiangbei smiled and said, "It's true. In the United States, if you take the wrong highway exit, you may be shocked. Maybe you will enter the third world."

"Can this still happen?" Ding Yousong asked.

"Yes, and the wealthy areas in the United States are different from those in our country. When developing real estate in China, we must emphasize the convenience of transportation. For example, subway housing is a selling point. But in the United States, the richer the area, the more convenient the transportation. It’s underdeveloped, the subway is inaccessible, and even buses are inaccessible,” Zhang Xiangbei said.

"Why?" Zheng Xinxin asked, "Even I have been in the United States for such a long time and I don't know about this."

"I'm afraid that outsiders, especially the poor and homeless, will take public transportation and enter their communities. Anyway, they themselves drive luxury cars," Zhang Xiangbei said.

"Come on, it's about to start, let's squeeze to the front." Xiaohu said to them.

The six of them pushed forward together, and the few Chinese were like rare animals in situations like this. Look at those black youths, they were all yelling at them to get out of the way, as if they were deliberately pushing them to the front of the stage. Some people almost had their faces pressed against the faces of Xiang Nan, Yin Tao, and Zheng Xinxin, whistling and blowing marijuana smoke in their faces.

The three girls half-closed their eyes, holding each other's hands. The one in front, Xiang Nan, held Zhang Xiangbei's hand. Zhang Xiangbei was tall and was leading the way. Although compared with those black people, he was not as tall as him. It was considered too high, but the words he spouted seemed to be very useful to these people. Yin Tao asked Zheng Xinxin, what are Zhang Xiangbei talking nonsense?

"They are all swear words, very dirty," Zheng Xinxin said. "He probably learned them from the kitchen."

Xiaohu, who was walking at the back, laughed and said, "Zhang Xiangbei is a language genius."

Yin Tao was surprised and asked: "He scolded them, but they still smiled at him and didn't beat him?"

Xiaohu said no, and he scolded them happily.

"By the way, let me tell you, when you go to the black area, especially in the subway station, black people are very casual. People will often come to you and ask you for change or cigarettes. If you have it, give it to them. If you don't have it, just say no. Also, They especially like to talk to girls. If you don’t want to talk to them, just ask them to go away. Remember, don’t let them feel that you are afraid, otherwise, they will take advantage of you.”

Xiaohu told them.

Soon, they squeezed to the front of the stage. Several young men who had their arms lying on the stage actually stepped aside with a smile when they saw them, giving them the good seats in front of the stage.

Ding Yousong felt strange. He asked Xiaohu: "Do they know you? Do they know you are a sponsor?"

"How is it possible? What kind of sponsor? We just give the pastor a sum of money every month and he pays the expenses. Who would know me?" Xiaohu said.

"Then why did they let us?" Yin Tao asked.

"I don't know either." Xiaohu said.

Thank you, Jing Shen, for the reward at three o'clock in the middle of the night! Thank you to Romantic Sakura Qin Fan Shu, xiongtj, Cai Yilei, Da Zhi Lao, and book friend 20190118025224314 for your monthly votes! Thanks for all the votes and reading! Have a good evening everyone!