Chapter 139: Worshipping the West
Watson climbed into the carriage and clapped his hands, lying down on the wooden box. He is looking forward to the adventures ahead.
Although it was the height of summer and the weather was very hot, the wind generated by the train was still very strong, so Watson did not feel uncomfortable, but was still cool.
He didn't know where the train was going, and he wasn't worried that he would get lost, because what he wanted was this kind of complete self-release.
"To hell with the papers, to hell with the classroom, to hell with the lab, to hell with the academic seminars, to hell with the academic seminars, to be free! hahahaha!"
As the train moved faster and faster, Watson's laughter soon became inaudible.
Professor Watson had expected the train to reach its destination in a day at most, but he had a serious miscalculation. The train ran for two days and two nights, passing several platforms along the way, but it only made short stops before continuing on its way. If it weren't for the refueling, it is estimated that the train would not have stopped at all.
On the morning of the third day, Watson ate the last packet of beef jerky he had brought out of the hotel, drank the last bit of cold boiled water in the kettle, and his mood changed from excitement and anticipation to apprehension and confusion.
Watson was really excited at first, and whenever he saw a wonderful landscape, he would pull out his camera and take pictures of it. It wasn't until he saw more and more mountains that he realized he might be heading towards a desolate place.
The desolate place meant that it was difficult for him to communicate with people, unlike the big cities, where although there were not many people who knew English, but he could still find it by looking for it. If you go to a very desolate place, it will be difficult to communicate with people, and many new problems will arise with it.
The nearly three-day and two-night journey had completely extinguished the impulse in Watson's heart, and he began to wonder if he should get off the bus early to finish the work of inspecting the students. Although the scenery along the way is beautiful, you can see green fields and majestic mountains from time to time. But seeing such scenery is always the same, and no matter who you are, you will feel bored.
After some thought, Watson finally made a decision. He was going to find a place that looked more prosperous to get off the bus, then have a beautiful meal and take a shower, and then carry out the investigation work after resting.
The wait was until five o'clock in the afternoon, and when the train stopped to refuel in a seemingly bustling city, Watson slipped off and slipped out of the train station by jumping over the courtyard wall.
Although it is already five o'clock in the afternoon, the summer sun sets late, and there are not too many pedestrians on the street due to the hot weather.
Watson has been eating sparingly these days, only maintaining the minimum needs, otherwise he would not have been able to last for three days and two nights. At this moment, he really wants to find a restaurant and eat a beautiful Chinese meal.
Finding a restaurant was not difficult for Watson, and he didn't even ask anyone, but he saw a somewhat upscale restaurant on the side of the road. Of course, the so-called high-grade here is only relative to China, if it is placed in the United States, such a low-end hotel is embarrassed to open for business.
In fact, this is not an ordinary hotel, but a city-run guest house, which receives people from enterprises and institutions with some status, and ordinary people can't enter. Even if they are allowed to enter, they cannot afford the consumption inside.
Watson didn't know anything about this, and before he walked through the door of the guest house, he pulled out the English-Chinese dictionary he had with him, ready to use it to communicate with the waiter.
Behind the counter sat two chubby girls, and by their figures, it was clear that the food in the guest house should be good. After hearing the footsteps, the two girls didn't even raise their heads, and still looked at the "Story Club" in their hands with relish.
It wasn't until Watson walked to the counter that one of the girls spoke, "Swallow, it's your turn to receive you this time." ”
Swallow reluctantly agreed and put down the "Story Meeting". She raised her head and was just about to speak, when she suddenly saw that the other party was a foreigner, and the words she wanted to say immediately swallowed back, but she would only stare at the foreigner's cheeks in a daze, and her brain was blank.
The other waiter felt that the atmosphere was a little wrong, and turned his head a little impatiently and asked, "Swallow, what the hell are you doing?" Why don't you answer...... Reception ......"
Before he finished speaking, he saw Watson scratching his ears and cheeks, and she immediately stared at Watson like a swallow.
This was the first time in their lives that the two had seen a living foreigner, and it was no wonder that they behaved like this.
Watson was a little embarrassed, although he had prepared an English-Chinese dictionary before coming to China, but when he really wanted to communicate with people, he found that the actual situation seemed to be a little different from what he imagined.
He hadn't used this thing before, and now he was cramming it temporarily, so it was inevitable that he would be a little blind. Seeing two chubby Chinese girls staring at him in a daze, Watson, a computer science professor at a top university, couldn't help but blush, and tentatively greeted the other party: "Hello?"
The two girls came to their senses, and they all stood up in unison, and retreated to the corner to stand, both looking at Watson with frightened eyes. As for what Watson meant by Hello, they didn't understand what it meant.
Watson had never had private contact with Chinese and did not know what kind of attitude ordinary Chinese had towards foreigners. The waiters he had seen at the Great Wall Hotel were not very afraid of foreigners because they were in constant contact with foreigners, and they would smile at him.
But the two fat girls in front of them are obviously different, and the way they look at them is very much like they are looking at ...... Look at the monsters, what's going on?
The feelings of the Chinese people in 81 years towards foreigners are somewhat complicated and contradictory.
On the one hand, because of the long-term education in the past, the Chinese people are full of disdain and hostility towards foreigners, especially Westerners, and feel that they are very unfriendly and paper tigers.
Later, when the reform and opening up began, public opinion naturally changed, and after learning about the economic situation of developed countries, the attitude of the Chinese people towards foreigners changed 180 degrees.
Many people revere foreigners and think that everything is good in foreign countries, even the moon is rounder in foreign countries. It was at this time that the atmosphere of admiring foreigners was formed, and many people sharpened their heads and wanted to go abroad, even if they went to a poorer and more backward country than China.
When these people talk to their fathers and fellow villagers about their status as overseas Chinese, they all feel that they have a good face, and it seems that eating bran vegetables abroad is much better than eating white rice at home.