Chapter 2: The Legend of Tea Leaf Eggs

  The car roared, and Yi Feiyang got into the off-road vehicle that originally belonged to She Tou Dao Ba Lian. Pangzi Gaodabao stared at him from inside the car and asked: "A Yang, I've been friends with you for so long, how come I didn't know you were such a good fighter?"

  Yi Feiyang chuckled, "Everyone has secrets, so you don't know much!" He stepped on the accelerator, and the off-road vehicle's wheels splashed up a puddle of mud before charging out like a wild bull.

  The journey was not far, and the fat man saw a telephone booth by the side of the road. He shouted to Yi Feiyang: "Stop the car, stop the car quickly! Let's call home first to report safety!"

  Yi Feiyang made a dragon-shaped gesture with his hand, and the off-road vehicle came to a stop.

  Fat boy rushed into the phone booth, inserted coins... Yì Fēi Yáng hid aside, took out a pack of cigarettes, flicked his fingers, and a cigarette popped out. He coolly put it in his mouth...

  Smoke drifted in the heavy rain, making everything seem even more hazy. After finishing almost a whole cigarette, Yi Feiyang scratched his eyebrow with the hand holding the cigarette: "Fatty, are you done yet?"

  "No, wait." The fat man held onto the phone and cried loudly, saying he was fine, had already arrived in America, and not to worry.

  It wasn't easy waiting for him to finish his phone call, and by then, Yi Fei had already thrown away several cigarette butts.

  "Ayan, it's your turn, you also make a phone call home."

  "I'd rather not." Yi Feiyang felt somewhat unnatural towards this "family member" he had never met before.

  "What's the matter? That's your parents, they're worried sick about you now!" Without another word, Fatty helped Yifei Yang insert coins into the phone and then forced it into his hand.

  Beep beep beep beep!!!!!

  After a ring, the phone was answered.

  "Hello, is that A Yang? Why aren't you speaking? Has something happened?"

  Yi Feiyang knew that the person on the other end of the phone was probably his "cheap mom". Originally, he wanted to respond calmly with a few words, but for some reason, when he heard the other person's extremely anxious voice, a surge of warmth suddenly rushed into his body through the phone line.

  "I...I'm fine, really fine! You don't have to worry about me anymore!" Ah-choo! A gust of cold air came, and Yi Feiyang couldn't help but let out a sneeze.

  On the other end of the phone, my mom's concerned voice came through, "A Yang, what's wrong? Are you catching a cold? If you are, you need to take medicine and go see a doctor. Don't try to tough it out. It's best to go to Chinatown and see a Chinese doctor, those foreign doctors can't be trusted..." My mom started rambling on habitually.

  Facing the "nagging" on the other end of the phone, someone who was fearless and unstoppable didn't know how to respond. In his past life, Yi Feiyang was an orphan, never having experienced the warmth of family love, even in his dreams, it was hard to grasp, but now... that warm current felt even warmer.

  "Don't worry, Mom." Yi Feiyang shouted "Mom" into the phone for the first time. "I'll definitely take good care of myself, and Fei Bao and I have already arrived in the United States. As soon as we find a job, we can send money back home!"

  Yi Feiyang knew that his original "self" was because of debt and running away, this run was equivalent to throwing all the troubles to his family, I guess life on that side will be very difficult.

  "Ayan, listen to me, don't send any more money over here. Your dad has already paid off some of those debts for you..." The old mom on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, "Your dad sold his taxi, and those debt collectors are human too, they won't pressure us too much..."

  "What? You're saying Dad... he sold his own car?" Yi Feiyang was stunned.

  Yi Feiyang's dad is a very traditional Hong Kong taxi driver, who has been working hard for over a decade and finally bought his own car three years ago. Being able to drive his own car to pick up passengers gives him a sense of accomplishment.

  Unexpectedly, his own son owed usury and was forced to sell the car he had bought with great difficulty. He then continued to drive for others. It can be said that Yi Feiyang's running away completely shattered his dream!

  No choice, being someone else's dad is mostly a losing business!

  "How's your dad doing? He can still eat and drink, and he's still driving for others... The treatment of taxi drivers has improved these days, but it's just a bit tiring, especially after sitting for a long time, his waist has some problems..." My mom's voice became very soft.

  Yi Feiyang, who had never understood what familial love was, suddenly felt something welling up in his eyes. Before him, he seemed to see a man with graying temples, driving a night shift, eating cold meals, and occasionally rubbing the soreness from his waist...

  My god, it's so touching!

  Yi Feiyang muttered a few coarse words under his breath, thinking that this phone call couldn't go on any longer. He simply consoled the other party over the phone for a few sentences, then said "I'm fine, don't worry about me" before abruptly hanging up the phone.

  Walking out of the phone booth, Yi Feiyang took a deep breath outside and looked at the rain-soaked America, suddenly raising a heroic spirit.

  No matter what, I must work hard here for myself and also for the people on the other end of the phone, to make their lives better!

  "Fatty, get on the bus!" Yi Feiyang tightened his clothes.

  "Ayan, did you cry just now?" asked Fatso as he got on the bus.

  "No."

  "Why are your eyes so red?"

  "Smoky!"

  "You didn't cry, I did," said Fatso. "A'yang, I miss home."

  Yi Feiyang fell silent for a moment, patted the fatty: "A real man doesn't shed tears when bleeding! Alright, cheer up, which way to go now?"

  "Oh, let me see." The fat man regained his spirits and pulled out a crumpled map of the United States from his pocket. This was something they had prepared beforehand to avoid getting lost.

  "We are now here...... The place we're going to is here...... The current direction is......" Fatso looked at the pitch-black outside, where the heavy rain was pouring down, and couldn't see a thing.

  He scratched his head and said irresponsibly, "Anyway, just move forward!"

  Yi Feiyang stepped on the gas pedal harder, and the off-road vehicle roared even more wildly.

  ……

  A few hours later.

  Yi Feiyang's stomach started growling, "Hey, Feibao, is there anything to eat?"

  Fatso was dozing off, dazedly opening his eyes: "I have some!" He said, and then reached into his pocket to feel around, feeling around for half a day before finally pulling out three tea eggs.

  "That's all there is!"

  "Really? Can this fill our stomachs?"

  "Although it can't be eaten, it's very memorable... These three eggs were cooked by your mother herself before she left!"

  "My mom is so loving, she even stuffed three tea eggs in my pocket for me to take on the road!"

  "That's for sure, your mom's egg is no ordinary egg, your mom's egg..."

  "Stop it!" Yì Fēi Yáng hastily said, "Can you not mention my mom when you're bringing up eggs? Also, how did the tea leaf egg my mom boiled for me end up in your pocket?"

  "This... " The fatty's conscience was uneasy. "You didn't pass out earlier, did you? They were afraid you'd crush the eggs, so they took them for you!"

  "Ah, be careful!"

  "Can't be bothered, can't be bothered, haha!" Fatso chuckled and said, "Come on, have one first!" Fatso peeled an egg and stuffed it into Yifei Yang's mouth.

  Yi Feiyang drove the car and swallowed the tea egg in one mouthful, chewing for a few mouthfuls before muttering: "Why aren't you eating?"

  "I'm eating now, haha!" Chubby opened his mouth and swallowed... two eggs!

  Yi Feiyang: "!!!!!!"

  ……

  It turns out that secretly carrying three tea leaf eggs for smuggling is a very challenging task for one's stomach.

  At least Yifei Yang's stomach started rumbling again.

  The rain outside is getting heavier and heavier, driving at night in the rain is also very dangerous.

  Luckily, at this time, Yi Feiyang saw a motel next door.

  Pull over, "Come on, let's go eat!"

  "But we are stowaways..." Fatso glanced at Yifeiyang, who had already gotten off the bus, gritted his teeth and said, "Even if we get caught, it's better than starving to death!"

  Yi Feiyang pushed open the hotel's large door with a wet body, and the wind chime on the door rang out.

  In the hotel restaurant, two white men and a black customer stared in surprise at Yi Feiyang who walked in with big strides.

  Yi Feiyang wiped the rain off his face, not caring about the strange gazes, and walked straight to the counter. He plopped himself down on a swivel chair and tapped his fingers on the counter, saying to the female server who was brewing coffee: "Beauty, bring two servings of food, anything is fine! Better yet, bring two cups of hot coffee too!"

  Yi Feiyang's fluent English left the slightly chubby boy who dared to go up later very surprised.

  Ayan's English level used to be on the same level as mine, speaking with a stutter, now how... Yi Feiyang's changes have almost numbed Fatzi.

  In an instant, three sandwiches, fried chicken legs, potato chips, and freshly heated coffee were brought up.

  Fatty Wolf swallowed tiger-like, his scalded lips trembling as he drank coffee, yet this guy still finished it in one gulp. Such a fierce eating manner left the three foreign customers staring with their mouths agape.

  Yi Feiyang was also very hungry, but his eating posture looked much better. At least he sipped his coffee mouthful by mouthful, rather than tilting his head back and gulping it down.

  "Wow, this is so comfortable! I didn't expect American fried chicken to be so delicious, and even the coffee is so good... uh!" Fatso let out a satisfied burp, then turned his head to ask Yifeyang, "Ayang, have you eaten well?"

  Yi Feiyang sipped his coffee and nodded slightly.

  "Waiter, bill!" The fat man rarely showed off on the way, and stared at the waitress with a proud look.

  "That's eighteen dollars," said the waitress.

  "OK!" The fat man reached into his own pants, and in the female waitress's stunned gaze, the fat man with a very obscene gesture of fondling his crotch, finally managed to pull out a plastic bag from his pants.

  The plastic bag was waterproof and anti-theft, tightly wrapped around the US dollars exchanged in Hong Kong.

  "Here, this is twenty bucks!" The fat guy licked his lips, carefully counted out the twenty dollars with saliva on them, and handed it to the waitress. As he handed over the money, he didn't forget to wink at her flirtatiously...

  The waitress took the money, but a strong smell of urine rushed up to her nose... She hurriedly covered her nose and frowned: "Thank you for your patronage. Cough cough!"

  "Oh, you're too polite! But it seems like you haven't found the money for me yet!" The fat man said in broken English.

  The waitress was stunned, didn't I give a tip?

  Fat boy's small tip concept, for him, can save money and save money, especially these US dollars, which are not easy to exchange.

  A black guy next to them couldn't help but say, "Hey, I'm telling you, buddies, aren't you stowaways?"

  Before Yi Feiyang could cover up Pangzi's stinky mouth, Pangzi had already spoken out, "Huh, how did you know?!"

  “……？！”

  The black big brother and the white person next to him immediately changed color, looking at them as if they had seen a plague.

  At the sight of this, Yi Feiyang was quick and decisive, slapping the pistol holstered at his waist onto the table with a "bang", then turned around to smile slyly at the female waitress with the big mouth: "Trouble you, beauty, two more portions, takeout!"

  "Remember to find money!"

  ……

  The off-road vehicle restarted and rushed onto the highway in the heavy rain.

  "Sorry, Ayan, I shouldn't have spoken out of turn. Otherwise we could have stayed in the inn for a night." The fatty hung his head, like a child who had done something wrong.

  Yi Feiyang shrugged indifferently: "No big deal! Let's get moving early, and we'll be able to leave the danger behind earlier!"

  "But where are we going now? Shall we take a look at the map?" The fat man pulled out that tattered and worn-out American map again.

  Yi Feiyang snatched it away with one hand and tore the map in half, throwing it aside.

  "Ayong, what are you doing?" Fatso asked hastily.

  "Look at this thing, it's useless!" Yi Feiyang gripped the steering wheel. "I'm asking you, what is America most famous for?"

  McDonald's.

  "What else?"

  KFC.

  "Can you eat less?"

  "That's it...!" The fat man scratched his forehead, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head. "Hollywood! I love watching Hollywood movies the most!"

  Yi Feiyang smiled, "OK, then let's go to Hollywood!"

  "Hooray! We're going to Hollywood! To see beauties! To see stars!" Fatso yelled.

  Yi Feiyang's mouth corner twitched upwards, and he stepped on the accelerator fiercely. The car sped out wildly, with a wave of mud splashing up from under its wheels!