America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 111: America’s foreign love?
Noticing everyone's surprised looks, Luo Zhanpeng felt extremely relieved and raised his arm to put it on the shoulder of the white girl next to him.

"Let me introduce you, this is my girlfriend. You can call her Ella. Like me, she's from the University of California."

This sentence was in Chinese. Turning back, he spoke briefly to Ella in English.

Taking her eyes off Li Xiaoen, Ella nodded and waved her hand enthusiastically, "Hello."

They couldn't help but look at each other, and they smiled and nodded, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Originally it was just a gathering of international students from China, but now a white person suddenly joined in, which made them a little overwhelmed.

If they speak Chinese, it's obviously impolite for a white American to be here. If they speak English, it feels a bit strange for a group of Chinese people to communicate in English - what's more, some people's English is not particularly good and there is still some difference in accent.

"With Ella here, everyone doesn't mind communicating in English, right?"

Luo Zhanpeng laughed and said, "As an international student studying in America, just treat it as talking to other students in school."

These words were spoken in English, causing Ella, who was standing next to him, to wave her hands repeatedly and politely decline a few times in apologetic tone.

After a few exchanges, we finally had no choice but to communicate in English.

The lively atmosphere suddenly cooled down. No one dared to speak. The only girls who were communicating were Xiao Manyun and the others, who just leaned over and whispered in each other's ears.

"Sean, I didn't expect to see you here."

There was an odd silence in the air. Ella suddenly smiled and greeted Li Xiaoen, "You have quite a few fans in our school."

"Can I take a picture with you? I want to take it back to show them."

Ella excitedly pulled her cell phone out of her Chanel bag.

"sure."

Unable to think of a reason to refuse, Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's go. We've kept you waiting for so long, you must be impatient, right?"

As soon as Li Xiaoen and the other man finished taking the photos, Luo Zhanpeng immediately spoke up, walked up to Ella, put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, and led her out of the pasture.

"Oh, right."

As they walked, Luo Zhanpeng said to the boy who came up to him, "How about we just walk around, buy some things, and then have lunch in Chinatown?"

"I'm really tired of eating white people's food. Now I just want to eat some Chinese food."

Luo Zhanpeng was beaming with joy, and spoke in an extremely exaggerated tone, which prompted other students to agree with him. Perhaps it was because there was a white girl next to them, but they just smiled and nodded, and even if they spoke, they only said a brief sentence or two.

Naturally, he was left behind. Looking at the group of people walking in front with a strange atmosphere, Li Xiaoen suddenly had an urge to run away.

Li Xiaoen lowered his voice as he quickly walked to Meng Yufan's side at the back of the crowd.

"Brother Fan..."

Meng Yufan turned his head to look over, and before Li Xiaoen could speak, he sighed helplessly: "Xiaoen, at least wait until we get to Chinatown and have lunch together, right? It's too obvious if you leave now."

"Do we still need to worry about them?"

Li Xiaoen frowned, "We don't have any connection with them, right?"

"We don't have any intersection now, but who knows what will happen in the future."

Meng Yufan sighed, looked at Li Xiaoen earnestly, and lowered his voice.
"Zhanpeng's family has businesses and connections in America. If you get to know him now, when you can't find a job after graduation, you can ask him. Who knows, maybe you can get one? You can then renew your visa and even apply for a green card later."

"..."

What Sufei said before was right. The market in America is bigger, there are more opportunities, and the salary is higher than in most countries in the world. If you can stay in the United States to develop after graduating from studying abroad, almost every international student will choose to stay.

There is a saying that those who return to China after studying in the United States are those who are unable to stay there and gain a foothold.

"So, is this why you were so eager to pull me here before, without being able to explain yourself?"

Li Xiaoen's face darkened when he suddenly remembered his reaction when Meng Yufan invited him before.

"At least I'm helping you expand your network. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Meng Yufan rolled his eyes, his expression turning melancholy. "Sean, you have to understand that compared to college students back home, we international students are actually more aware of the realities of society than we are because we've come all alone to this completely unfamiliar capitalist environment where we don't speak the language, and we face high daily expenses."

"There's a saying in China that university is a small society. If that's the case, then coming to an American university, as an outsider, is like entering a full-fledged society."

"Don't worry, I already understood this."

Li Xiaoen nodded. Although Su Feier had caught him delivering food before school started, he had a similar first impression of American society, but he still shook his head.

"That's understandable, but for me, if I really can't find a job here after graduation, I'd rather return to my home country to develop."

Just thinking about something so far away already in his freshman year made Li Xiaoen feel a little emotional. "Besides, even if I get a job opportunity from them temporarily, will I be happy with it?"

Seeing Meng Yufan's stunned expression, Li Xiaoen chuckled and said, "I'm a man who wants to establish myself in Manhattan. How could I do something that flattering?"

Meng Yufan opened his mouth, but saw a figure walking towards Li Xiaoen from the other side. His expression turned strange, and he walked away and turned to look at the other side. "Ah... this wall is really red."

"..."

What the hell?

Li Xiaoen felt confused and turned around, only then did he notice that Gu Menghua had come to his side without him noticing.

"What's the matter?" asked Li Xiaoen.

Meeting Li Xiaoen's dark eyes, Gu Menghua opened her eyes a little wider, turned her head to look ahead, and smiled, "Nothing, I just happened to walk beside you."

Is there such a thing as just right?
Li Xiaoen complained in his heart, but without thinking about it, he began to look at the novel scenery around him and the graffiti of various colors and shapes on the wall.

Having arrived at DUMBO's art district, although he didn't understand art, he surprisingly found these messy colorful graphics quite beautiful. As for those artworks that were sold at sky-high prices by simply tying a banana to a frame, Li Xiaoen would never find them beautiful, let alone any artistic elements.

Gu Menghua took a deep breath and glanced at the young man beside him inadvertently, feeling mixed emotions.

She thought about the young man in the past. When he heard her say this, he would laugh and tease her, and even boast about his great charm, which attracted her to his side. Unfortunately, things have changed now.

Is it her problem?

Gu Menghua couldn't help but think hard in his heart, and his whole mood fell into a haze.

Perhaps because it was the weekend, quite a few people gathered in the DUMBO area, including people of all races holding cameras and taking pictures, and some even jumped up and danced on the spot.

Under the warm and sunny sunshine, in this autumn season, people feel cozy and a little sleepy.

Li Xiaoen yawned and realized that they had come to a large carousel.

Located on a riverbank, the massive carousel was enclosed in a large glass house. Even nearing noon, the slowly rotating seats were still filled with people, including many adults carrying travel backpacks. "Ella, let's go sit for a while?"

Luo Zhanpeng turned and looked at Ella expectantly.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Ella stopped in front of the carousel and shook her head: "No, it's so boring."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and their eyes couldn't help but look back and forth between Luo Zhanpeng and Ella. The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

"is it?"

Luo Zhanpeng chuckled, forcing an awkward smile. "I figured, since we're traveling, of course we should experience every attraction and facility. That way, the trip won't be in vain."

"correct."

Amy Mumu looked at the spinning carousel and pondered for a moment, and the boys next to her started talking.

They held their phones and recited as if from a script: "Do you know why this carousel is enclosed in a glass house? That was the creative idea that struck the designer when he was designing it."

"It's like the lights of Manhattan in the distance, the sunlight reflecting off the river, and sitting inside while spinning, you can also see all sorts of dazzling and hazy lights on the glass outside."

"..."

The carousel is covered in a glass house. Isn't it afraid that it will be damaged by wind and rain and become scrapped?

Moreover, if we are talking about light reflection, it should at least be in the evening or at night, right?

Li Xiaoen complained in his heart. Since Meng Yufan was not around, he couldn't help but look at Gu Menghua.

The girl pursed her lips with a slight smile, looked up, and then lowered her head again.

"is it?"

Amy was clearly not convinced and frowned, "But I've been to New York before and ridden this horse before, so why haven't I seen this before?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the air seemed to be sucked out of the entire space. Luo Zhanpeng and the other boys looked at each other in silence, smiled awkwardly, and shifted their gaze.

"I only saw that kind of talk on the Internet. So it turns out to be fake?"

The boy holding the phone muttered an explanation under his breath, frowning.

"Aren't you going to sit? Then we girls will go."

On the other side, Xiao Manyun and a few girls were laughing. They turned around and put their phone into Li Xiaoen's hand, "Xiaoen, take some pictures for us."

"can."

It was nothing anyway, so Li Xiaoen nodded and took it.

Anyway, we had lunch in Chinatown first. It was quite interesting to watch them all now.

Two dollars per session during the day and three dollars per session at night.

Li Xiaoen glanced at the notice in front of the glass house. After receiving the confused, anxious, and finally resentful glares from several girls, he raised his phone and took pictures of their spinning figures.

Later on, I was so bored that I just turned on the camera mode and fixed the phone in mid-air.

Speaking of which, this carousel is mostly occupied by couples. Even if there are adult men, some of them come with other women. Looking at the pictures flashing on the phone, Li Xiaoen suddenly came to this conclusion.

Imagine a group of grown men riding a carousel here. It's a bit hard to watch. Luo Zhanpeng, on the other hand, was a bit of a joke. His girlfriend thought it was boring and didn't want to ride it. He, a man, wanted to take her on a ride, but was rejected.

It seems that in their relationship, the white girl named Amy is still in the upper position.

Li Xiaoen had a subtle thought in his mind. He couldn't help but turn his head to glance at the foreign couple standing there blankly. Amy seemed to be somewhat distancing herself from Luo Zhanpeng's proximity.

"Isn't it weird?"

Suddenly, a whisper came from the other side. Gu Menghua came over without knowing when. When Li Xiaoen looked at her, she smiled and murmured, "You shouldn't be watching the group chat, right? I have some news that will surprise you even more."

"That new Chanel bag that Ella owns was bought by Luo Zhanpeng."

"..."

"So, this is what it means to be a bootlicker for money?" Li Xiaoen's face turned strange.

"Well... I guess that's the way it is if you put it that way."

Gu Menghua thought about it for a while before nodding, "But that's not the point I want to make."

Looking up at Li Xiaoen, Gu Menghua carefully chose her words: "You should have noticed how surprised others were when Luo Zhanpeng showed off by bringing his white girlfriend. Now Amy is so inconsiderate of his feelings."

"Scarcity makes things valuable, I understand."

Li Xiaoen shrugged, which brought back the issue of the romantic attractiveness and status of people of all races in America.

Even those who came to study abroad realized and accepted the fact that it was surprising that a man like Yan, who was almost at the bottom of society, was dating a white girl of the highest status, whether it was said out loud or seen by others.

Is this guy so pretentious?
Li Xiaoen was complaining in his heart, but he saw Gu Menghua beside him frowning solemnly.

"So, when studying abroad, whether you're a boy or a girl, it's best to choose someone from your own country. If you really want to date a white girl, chances are they're just after you for other things."

The black woman Gu Menghua knew that the young man would not like it, but the same could not be said for a white man. She turned her head to look at Li Xiaoen's reaction.

"maybe."

Naturally noticing the girl's inquiring gaze, Li Xiaoen shrugged indifferently, feeling a little strange at this time.

Given their current relationship, it doesn't seem like it's time to go to that extent, right?

After the girls finished riding the carousel, Luo Zhanpeng waved his hand and the group walked towards the nearby shopping street.

A dazzling array of luxury clothes and bags were displayed in the brightly lit transparent window. Perhaps it was the cleverness of the design and materials, or the lighting, but each piece seemed to be shining with golden light, conquering every girl's eyes. Even the usually quiet Gu Menghua couldn't help but walk into the store and look around curiously.

Li Xiaoen had no interest in women's clothing and came to the street outside the store.

There were a few black men who looked like street urchins standing scattered on the street. Their jeans were worn very low, even down to their crotches. At this moment, they raised their hands in front of their mouths, and some drum beats and vocal sounds came out of their mouths, with a sense of rhythm unique to black people.

Bbox on the West Coast?

Li Xiaoen thought to himself, watching the performance of the black man not far in front of him with great interest. Then, a record was quickly stuffed into his hand by the other party.

“Thank you for supporting my musical dream!”

The black guy chuckled, his body shaking up and down as if beating the beat. "Twenty dollars, thank you!"

(End of this chapter)