Chapter 13 Camp Dinner
Next, the two of them chatted about the interesting things that happened to them during the day.
Zhang Ailun took the opportunity to mention his new friend Simone, but did not go into much detail, only saying that he met her while jogging in the morning.
"I didn't expect you to get to know other people so quickly." Dominic was a little surprised.
Then he said, "Simone and I have a pretty good relationship. She likes to help others and is very hardworking. But her boyfriend doesn't leave a good impression. He's lazy, has a bad temper, and is a drug addict. You'd better stay away from him."
Dominic doesn't have a good impression of guys who are addicted to drugs.
"Don't worry. Simone has cut off contact with her ex. If that guy dares to come back and cause trouble, I will help solve the matter and teach him a lesson he will never forget."
Zhang Ailun answered casually.
Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Ailun also prepared to go to Simone's residence to return the money to her.
Coincidentally, Hei Mei also sent me a message.
Simone: I'm off work and hanging out with friends. Where are you?
Allen Zhang: I'll be there right away.
Simone: Ok, remember to call Dominic.
Allen Zhang: No problem.
After replying to the other party and putting away his phone, Zhang Allen also stood up and said to Dominic: "Simone has something to talk to you about. It just so happens that I have something to talk to her about. She seems to be gathering with her friends."
"I knew they would get together sometime, and they wanted me to get drunk and make a fool of myself, so I won't go."
Dominic's face suddenly turned red, and he became unnatural. He hesitated and said, "Alan, go by yourself. I will explain to Simone myself that I am not feeling well today."
"Ok."
It's just a meeting, why are you blushing?
Zhang Ailun felt that the other party was hiding something, but he did not ask too many questions. He said hello and turned to leave the comfort zone of the bridge tunnel.
He arrived at Hei Mei's residence with familiarity. The lights were on and a bonfire was lit.
Six or seven people gathered together. Except for Simone, most of them were new faces that I had never seen before.
"Hey! Alan! You're here!"
Simone didn't mention asking for money, but just stood up and asked him to sit down enthusiastically.
Then he introduced to the people around him: "This is our new friend in the camp. You can call him Alun. He was brought here by the white guy Dominic."
"Hello guys."
Zhang Ailun greeted a few people enthusiastically and sat down in an empty seat around the campfire in a familiar manner.
"Mud howl, Alan!"
Those who participated in the campfire party in the camp also greeted him enthusiastically in Chinese, and basically they had heard about him from Simone.
After Zhang Ailun sat down, he found that the people around him were all handsome men and beautiful women, and Simone also changed into a cool short-sleeved shirt.
Of course, there was also a middle-aged white man in his forties wearing glasses, with broad shoulders and a big waist, who looked like a supermarket owner, and a white woman next to him who was also about forty years old and had wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
There was also a taciturn dark figure next to him, sitting in the corner, a little unsociable, drinking beer silently. He was dark and Zhang Ailun almost didn't see him if he hadn't looked carefully!
Little Lori.
He is two meters and one meter tall, and his reputation is well-deserved. The circumference of his arms is almost as thick as Zhang Ailun’s thighs!
Noticing that Zhang Ailun was looking at him, Lao Hei nodded at him, grinned, revealing his big white teeth, and then continued drinking silently with an expressionless face.
Why does this old black guy seem so shy?
Seems a bit autistic.
The people around him also took out glass bottles from the box and handed Zhang Ailun a bottle of Budweiser beer, saying, "Hey, man, welcome to our party. Welcome to the West Coast! I hope you have a better tomorrow!"
Zhang Allen took it and glanced at the blond, blue-eyed white man named Dave, "Thanks, man, you really made me feel warm!! I definitely don't miss home at all here!"
“New friends are welcome to join us.”
"Cheers!" Zhang Ailun raised his beer high, took a sip from the bottle, sat in front of the campfire, felt the restless flames, and felt refreshed all over.
What’s even more surprising is that there are pizza, fried chicken, Indian bread and Mexican chicken burritos next to it.
Simone greeted, "You're welcome, Alan. You probably haven't eaten yet, right? Don't worry, these are all clean meals we brought back after get off work! You don't need to pay for it this time. Next time if you want to have a meal together, you have to bring some."
"That makes sense!"
Zhang Ailun nodded. He really came in a hurry this time without any preparation.
"Then I won't be polite."
After saying that, Zhang Ailun picked up a piece of fried chicken and took a bite.
It tastes good, at least much better than the zombie fiber chicken in the shelter and Wallace!
Through chatting, I also learned that most of the people present have a part-time job.
We don’t usually get together every time, but this time we have some free time, so there are more than just these few people living in the camp, there are others who haven’t come yet.
The greasy man with glasses is a middle-aged programmer named Blitz, 46 years old. He lost his job two years ago due to the economic depression and suffered from diabetes. He spent all his life savings on treatment in the hospital and was forced to live on the streets. Now he works in a 24-hour convenience store. The beer was also expired beer he brought back from the convenience store.
The white woman's name was Sarah. She was not actually homeless. She had been married three times in her life, but all ended in failure. The third time she was kicked out by her husband and became homeless. Fortunately, she still had a car.
By chance, she drove to the Bridge Hole Campground to spend the night, but was discovered and driven away by little Lori. The two-meter-tall black man blocking the car door almost scared her. Fortunately, the girls in the camp showed up in time to resolve the misunderstanding between the two parties, and the other party stayed here smoothly.
After getting to know some people in the camp, Sarah also got used to life in the wild, so she simply sold her car and bought a food truck to sell fast food fried chicken on the streets nearby. She basically lived in the food truck on weekdays.
and Dave, the blond, blue-eyed, unemployed lawyer from France.
Redneck Jason, who graduated from a prestigious university in Texas.
Fitz, a street hottie with dreadlocks and black girl.
and Simone, the almswoman.
After introducing each other's identities, they started talking about the topic they had discussed before, which were basically some wild and imaginative things and interesting things they encountered in life.
Jason acted funny and created a good atmosphere, which also made everyone laugh.
Sitting here and feeling the lively atmosphere, Zhang Ailun felt that things were indeed a little different.
Just as Dominic said, this place is full of people who have not lost their passion for life.
Ages, skin colors, races, all are different, but everyone sitting here has only one thing in common, that is, we are all homeless poor people!!
But precisely because of this, there is no brainwashing by politicians, no hostile rhetoric against different countries, and no racial conflicts. These will not affect their communication and conversation with each other. Instead, they can talk about everything, without any restraints, and have freedom of speech, saying whatever they want.
Zhang Ailun also had some of the same feelings as when he lived in a youth hostel abroad. It was a bit messy, and it was really poor, but the spiritual richness surpassed everything, and he could make a lot of friends.
"Do you know what interesting thing happened to me when I was in school, Alan?"
Jason talked about the topic of Asians, and Alan listened carefully.
The other person continued, "I'm actually surprised that an Asian like you would end up living on the streets, because in my impression, homeless people are either white or black. You know, when we were in school, we envied the international students from Asia the most, and those people dealt us a heavy blow."
"Tell me about it." Zhang Ailun asked with interest.
"You all know that I was admitted to Oxford University and was a top student in the school. Although I messed it all up in the end, lost my job, my house, and ended up on the streets...but this has nothing to do with the story I'm going to tell next." Jason talked freely.
"A few white college students worked part-time for two months during the holidays, and finally bought a used car for $3200. They were so confident that they were ready to pick up ten white girls at the beginning of the semester! They thought to themselves, I am the coolest!!"
"As soon as the school started, guess what happened? There were a few new Chinese students in the class. They didn't know shit about English and couldn't even speak clearly, but they bought an AMG right away! It was an AMG!! My God! They are so rich."
"Do you think this is the end? No!!"
"A few international students from the next class drove their Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Aston Martins into the campus parking lot, and when they got out of the cars, they were covered in Balenciaga jewellery! It was simply blinding!"
The other person had very rich body language and expressions, with his hands on his head and a look of disbelief on his face.
"I was thinking, f**k it, how are we going to snatch pretty girls from those rich Chinese students? Relying on my 18 centimeters? I'm such a loser!!"
(End of this chapter)
