Being carried onto an ambulance at the start? But this is America!

The two brothers pushed their cart, walking in the slanting sunlight of the evening, idly chatting about their future.

The tall, strong Asian youth pushing a cart full of junk stood out in this neighborhood.

Not far ahead, an elderly white man, also pushing a cart full of odds and ends, seemed to have noticed the commotion behind him.

He glanced back, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately quickened his pace.

The old man had gray hair and a noticeable limp in his left leg when he walked.

He walked forward in a panic, glancing back nervously every now and then, not even bothering to pick up the empty cans and parts that had fallen off the cart.

Li Ping and Li Fan were somewhat confused, as they happened to be walking in the same direction as the old man.

Seeing that he was forgetful, and with the mentality of "why not take nature's gift", Li Fan picked up the bottle that had rolled to his feet and threw it into his car.

This scene, witnessed by old Tom who kept turning back, only confirmed his fear.

They not only followed him, but also picked up the things he had left behind.

Could it be... one of those perverts with unusual fetishes?

Old Tom was terrified by some terrible rumors about Indian immigrants. He almost ran while pushing his cart, and his limp made his posture even more awkward and comical.

Old Tom sped along, rushing into the camp under the overpass, his voice filled with panic.

"Help! Help! Devin, Fletcher, come out quickly, there are two... two perverts following me!"

When Old Tom saw the Li brothers pushing their cart and slowly appearing at the camp entrance, he seemed to regain some of his courage after returning home.

He turned around, his legs still trembling, and roared fiercely, though his voice betrayed his inner weakness.

"This is America! What do you think you're doing? Go back to the river and play with your stinking lizards!"

Although Li Fan's English wasn't good, he could still understand by half-guessing and from the other person's excited expression.

He looked at the half-bag of jars he had just picked up, which originally belonged to the other person, and roughly understood the misunderstanding. He looked at his brother with an innocent expression.

Li Ping sighed. This was outrageous enough. His third brother looked very different from them.

He stepped forward and explained in English as clearly as possible, "Hey, listen, sir, we're not following you, and we're not... uh, Indians."

"We're here to find someone, to find Roland, Adelaide Roland. Ms. Marina recommended us."

Old Tom was stunned. He squinted his dim eyes, rubbed his glasses hard, and leaned closer to examine the brothers' faces carefully.

The two men's facial features are indeed different from those of Indians... Good heavens! What did he just say?

A surge of heat rushed to Old Tom's face, making him so embarrassed that he wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

As a quiet, kind-hearted person who is usually taciturn, his words just now almost exhausted his "malice quota" for a month, and he even insulted the wrong person!

"Oh my God... I... I'm so sorry, child, I deserve to die..."

Old Tom was incoherent, and in his panic, he even subconsciously imitated the way Easterners apologized in his memory, awkwardly bowing.

Li Ping waved his hand, signaling Li Fan to return the jar he had picked up.

Although Li Fan was reluctant to lose the one yuan he had just earned, under his brother's watchful eye, he still put the bottles and jars back on the edge of Old Tom's cart.

"No, no, children, consider this... consider this my apology to you!" Old Tom hurriedly refused.

"Keep it, old man."

Li Ping spoke calmly, indicating that they hadn't reached the point of trying to take advantage of an elder.

Just then, a figure darted out from the shadows of the bridge arch, like a startled meerkat.

"What's up, old Tom?! Do we really have to call on our Black brothers? Tell me, who's the blind fool...?"

A short, thin Black youth, wearing a brightly colored patchwork shirt and with a head full of dreadlocks flying with his movements, appeared shouting.

He was Fletcher. Before he finished speaking, he saw Li Fan's imposing figure and Li Ping, who was also quite tall, standing not far away.

The two men were surrounding old Tom.

Fletcher's swear words stuck in his throat, his eyes wide open.

"F**k! Sh*t, German, German, come out here, let's get serious!"

He screamed and instinctively took a half step back.

"Shut up, Fletcher."

Old Tom quickly turned around, his face flushed, and explained, "It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! They were introduced by Ms. Marina to find Roland!"

Deep inside the bridge arch, a dark shadow, resembling an iron tower, emerged.

It was a giant black man, slightly taller than Li Fan, with frighteningly broad shoulders, a half-cold pizza in his mouth, and a broom that was completely disproportionate to his size.

He glanced at the scene in silence, and upon hearing Old Tom's words, he said nothing, silently retreating into the shadows to continue sweeping the concrete under the bridge in a half-hearted manner.

"Looking for Roland?"

Fletcher deflated instantly, like a punctured balloon, his high-spirited fighting stance collapsing. He curled his lip in disinterest and said, "Tch, you should have said so earlier. You got all excited for nothing."

However, he still walked over and bumped fists with Li Ping and Li Fan in a street manner.

"Bro, Roland is not at the camp right now."

After saying that, he sauntered back into some corner of the bridge arch.

Old Tom finally breathed a sigh of relief, and while tidying up the messy goods in his cart, he asked Li Ping curiously.

"Ms. Marina recommended you? You've come to see Roland... What do you need to settle? Bills? Traffic tickets? Tax issues? Or court summons? Detention records?"

He considered that the other person appeared to be of Asian descent, and added, "Or... their identity, driver's license?"

Li Ping was secretly astonished.

This business scope sounds incredibly comprehensive!

How could someone who can handle so many things end up in a homeless camp?

"No, we...we just need a place to stay temporarily and learn the rules of survival."

Li Ping took out the note and handed it to old Tom. "Ms. Marina said that Ms. Roland can help us get out of our current predicament."

Old Tom took the note, carefully examined the familiar handwriting and church seal, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out, revealing a truly gentle smile.

"Mrs. Marina's words of advice, children, you are very lucky, she was a true angel."

He carefully handed the note back to Li Ping: "Roland went out on an errand and should be back soon. You can wait here for a while."

He pointed to the living room area under the bridge that had been cleared out, where several old but clean secondhand sofas and chairs were placed.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances,"

Old Tom's smile held a hint of relief. "Now we have two more capable young men under this bridge."

After settling the two of them in, old Tom apologized again in a hurry and pushed his jingling little cart to a corner to tidy up.

His frantic run had left his hard-earned treasures in a jumbled mess, and he needed to disassemble some of the old appliances to inspect them.

Li Ping took the opportunity to look around his home, which was located under the overpass.

The archway was cleverly utilized, with about eight or nine tents of different colors pitched there, maintaining a polite distance between them, leaving almost no extra space.

The ground was swept quite clean, with no litter or excrement visible everywhere.

Several campers were either organizing their belongings or talking in hushed tones; some were Black, some Latino, and some were white, like Old Tom.

Although their clothes were old, it was clear that they had tried their best to keep them clean, and their eyes did not show the kind of complete numbness or frenzy commonly seen on the streets.

This improved his impression of Roland's camp even more.