Chapter 64

  Cost Chapter (20 points)

  Dinner time was also when Fang Mo Nan and her two friends exchanged stories, shared their joys and sorrows.

  "As for going back to our country, I won't be able to go back this summer either," said my aunt. "The professor asked me to help him collect materials and organize the papers that need to be published." She shrugged her shoulders in frustration, this summer is ruined.

  "Hmm... you all have things to do, what about me? I don't care, anyway I'm going home." Fang Mo said that winter break was short, so it didn't matter if no one came; but summer break was different, after such a long time someone should come and report back. He really missed them."

  "But no one will accompany you back." Xiaoyi frowned and said.

  "I can, flying a plane is simple." Fang Mo Nan said, as for Stacy's illness, apart from changing the dressing, this Andres should also know how to do it, and the rest has nothing to do with her. Wait, it's just time for the next step of treatment.

  Fang Mo Nan looked at them firmly, expressing his strong desire. Unable to dissuade her, Xiao Yi and the others surrendered, but before that, Xiao Yi made a call home to make preparations, so when the time came, someone would go to the capital to pick them up.

  "I won't be around for a while, if anything happens and can't be resolved, call Allen. Fang Mo Nan continued to say that Xiao Yi can live with Mo Bei, her place is bigger and more convenient to take care of, here just needs Jenny to keep an eye on things." She went on to remind them of many things to pay attention to, "Don't talk to strangers, don't swim alone, don't go out at night, don't go to bars, don't attend parties alone..."

  "Alright, Mother, I think neither of us will be acting alone this summer, and also..." Little Aunt interrupted her.

  "That's good, do you have anything to bring back for your family?" Fang Mengnan asked.

  "It seems like we don't have any either. Oh, here are two photo albums for you to take." Little Aunt said, "Our family doesn't seem to lack household appliances, so let's just give them to others to assemble."

  "I have a few records for you to take." Fang Mo Bei said, "These are practice recordings of the songs, and there's also a file bag here, give it to Brother Han if you see him." She handed them over and said, "And sister, don't sneak a peek." These were her new compositions, with lyrics written by Mo Nan. At the time, Mo Bei had tricked her into thinking they were school assignments, saying that national music was world music, and wanting to surprise everyone, so she had given her the lyrics.

  "Xing" Fang Mo Nan said with a baby-like tone. She put away all the things she was going to wear. Still not at ease, she asked again, "Alright, Xiao Bei, what about that little brat you beat up? The lawsuit has been over for so long, I almost forgot."

  "Ah, that kid has transferred schools. Your trick of turning stone into sand scared him silly, and he ran away quickly." Mo Bei's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked, "Sister, your magic skills have improved!"

  Fang Mo Nan raised his head and put down his chopsticks, "Why ask this?" He picked up the bowl and took a sip of porridge.

  Fang Mo Bei looked puzzled and said, "I vaguely remember you conjuring up a lot of delicious food out of thin air. You said it was magic."

  "Cough...cough..." Luckily, the porridge went down her throat, otherwise she would have to scatter flowers like a heavenly maiden. "Your magic has improved again." Fang Mo Nan said in response to her words.

  Packed up and set off from Philadelphia to China, carrying only a small backpack, got on the plane.

  The sky was just bright, Ye Lao Si's hands were placed on the armrests of the seat, looking left and right, his buttocks still shaking constantly. "No wonder it's first class, really comfortable, much better than when I came." He pouted and complained, "Just one thing that makes me dissatisfied. Eldest, it's really not the airline's fault, there's a partition in the middle of the seats."

  "After a while, someone sat down and adjusted the seat. It's all messed up." He Yujun said, "Look at you, muttering to yourself like that, from the moment you got on the plane, I haven't heard your voice, just like a mute."

  "Alright, the person has arrived, you watch and handle it later." He Junyao saw a big and small figure walking towards this side, he narrowed his eyes, could it be them? To avoid awkwardness, he quickly put on his sunglasses that covered half of his face.

  "In the plane's aisle, "It's here." Xiaoyi pointed to the empty space between two big men. "Let go." She looked at Ye Laosi and said."

  Ye Lao Si's body was weak, Fang Mo Nan walked in and sat down facing her, saying "It's all right, Xiao Yi has already been sent to the plane, you can go back now."

  Xiao Yi muttered to herself, "Sitting between two big men, it's really awkward." "Nan Nan, be careful on the road. Once you arrive in Beijing, you must give me a call, and when you arrive at the county town, also report back to us safely. And..."

  "Alright, I'll make sure to report back to you all. Don't worry." Fang Mo Nan cut her off, "You're also not at ease when I'm not around, Uncle Sam's place isn't safe, the security is not good."

  "Hmph..." Ye Laosi heard their conversation and laughed.

  “Ha?” Fang Mo Nan Bai looked at him sitting next to her and said, “Is the security here good? Guns are rampant, and you can buy them with money.” She continued, "In the United States, one in every 100 people is in prison. According to the latest survey by the American non-governmental organization Pewter, the United States has the largest number of criminals in the world. Experts analyze that in a country known as a model of democracy and justice, such a large number of criminals not only shows that state laws are cruel but also proves that the crime rate is extremely high and the number of drug addicts is numerous.”

  "Our country's crime rate is not low either, otherwise it wouldn't be strictly cracked down," said Little Aunt.

  "When one is well-fed and warm, they think of lust; when hungry and cold, they think of stealing. Moreover, the population base is large," said Fang Mengnan.

  "Alright, what's the point of discussing this with you? You don't have to worry, I spent most of my summer vacation at university with Mo Bei, so you don't have to worry." Xiaoyi looked at their faces and asked hastily, "Is this person also from China?"

  He Junyao didn't wait for Ye Laosi to respond and said, "We are Huaxia people." His low and steady voice, as stable as a mountain, inspired trust.

  "That's great, I'll have to trouble you to take care of my niece on the way, she has someone picking her up at the capital airport." After a pause, Auntie said "We are all children of China, descendants of Yan and Huang, when we go out, let's help each other out."

  "Alright, no problem, I'll take good care of her on this journey." He Junchao said, even the descendants of Yan and Huang had come out, he didn't know what other "grand words" she would say next, so he hastily interrupted.

  "That's great, thank you." Xiaoyi stopped her nagging words when she heard his words. "Nan Nan, I'll get off the plane now, take care of yourself on the road."

  "En, I'm done." Fang Mo Nan said with a smile as he watched her leave. He let out a heavy sigh and finally walked away.

  "Are you taking a plane?" Ye Laosi looked at her in surprise, then glanced at the distant figure, "Your family really trusts you."

  "There's something unsettling about him." Fang Mo Nan looked at the man in front of him, wearing a floral shirt and black pants, with a radiant smile on his face.

  "Your family is still so irresponsible," He Junyao said coldly.

  Fang Mo Nan glanced up at the person beside him, who was wearing a striped short-sleeved shirt and black suit pants, with an exaggerated sunglasses covering half of his face. His facial expression couldn't be seen clearly, but from his tone, it seemed like he was standing up for her.

  "My name is He Junyao, a citizen of Huaxia's capital city. I'm here in the US to take care of some personal matters. And you?" He Junyao looked at her with interest. Originally, he hadn't recognized that she was the little girl he had met two years ago in the luxurious suite of the White Swan Hotel during his most embarrassing moment.

  He Junyao recognized his little aunt, unchanged, only to recognize Fang Mosou's, two years without seeing her still being so cold to people. They were strangers, okay? She had grown a lot taller, with baby fat on her face, round and cute. But the tone and demeanor were still so unlovable, definitely muttering in her heart that he was meddling in other people's business.

  Ye Lao Si's mouth was wide open, as if he could swallow an egg whole. "My goodness, their eldest actually took the initiative to take on this task and even greeted us proactively." "Eldest, should we...".

  He hadn't finished speaking when He Junyao said, "The plane is about to take off, fasten your seatbelt, Old Fourth sit tight." He looked at Fang Mernan and asked, "Do you need my help?"

  "No need, I can do it myself, thank you." Fang Mo quietly fastened his seatbelt but still thanked him politely.

  Fang Mo Nan really didn't recognize who he was, and it wasn't a big deal anyway. The other person's face was also covered up, so who would carefully observe him? After the plane took off and stabilized.

  "My name is Ye Zhenhua, a native of Huaxia's capital city. I'm the fourth child in my family, so people who know me call me Ye Laosi." Ye Laosi thought for a moment and smiled, taking the initiative to speak up. Seeing the eldest brother's 'out-of-character' behavior, he had originally wanted to change seats, but unexpectedly was vetoed by the eldest brother, which completely piqued his curiosity. His family's eldest brother was notorious for being cold-blooded and unfeeling, especially after being baptized in the battlefield, he had an even more intimidating aura about him.

  "Don't hit a smiling face, said Fang Mo Nan succinctly, 'The Chinese people are like that'."

  "It's really cool." Ye Lao Si muttered, "It's a match for my family's eldest." He continued, "You are an American-born Chinese or an overseas Chinese."

  "No, I'm here to study." Fang Mo Nan said briefly.

  "So young and already studying abroad, isn't it tough? Not skipping a beat. Ye Laosi continued, "Your family is really at ease with you." The one just now was your aunt, university student, is she also studying abroad?"

  "Yes," Fang Mengnan said.

  "Are you planning to emigrate? Even such a young child has gone abroad to study." Ye Laosi asked curiously.

  "I won't," Fang Mernan said.

  "What's wrong?" Ye Lao Si said that rich people all want to get a green card, and those who come to study abroad don't have any family property to support themselves.

  "There are first-class citizens who don't do it, why should second-class citizens do it?" Fang Mo said with a slanted glance at the two of them. "Although they got Uncle Sam's green card and returned to China as super-citizens."

  "He's really daring to say that," He Junyao said with a smile, shaking his head. Although she was telling the truth, people in this country would often curse the "beautiful empire" and "capitalism", but deep down they were actually envious.

  Ye Lao Si rubbed his eyes, unbelievably seeing a smile at the corner of Lao Da's mouth. It was as if the sun had risen in the west.

  "Although what you said is partly true. Rich people's families are not like that after going abroad, getting a green card and then looking down on others with their noses upturned, always saying 'we Americans...'". He Jyun-yao frowned as he spoke, disapproving of those who had only drunk a few days' worth of foreign water yet pointed fingers and drew pictures, forgetting where they came from.

  "The dog is not ashamed of its poor home, and the child is not ashamed of its ugly mother." said Fang Mennai.

  He Junyao and others are also helpless, people go to high places and water flows to low places, can't stop it, frowning obviously very annoyed but powerless.

  "Judging from your accent, you speak Mandarin very fluently. Where are you from? What do your parents do? They must be capable of sending you abroad." Ye Laosi continued to ask relentlessly, at this time, being able to go abroad not only depends on relationships but also requires a huge amount of financial resources.

  "You?" Fang Mo Nan gave him a cold glance. "I suppose your family conditions aren't good either."

  "That's right, you guess what I'm doing." Ye Lao Si leaned back in his chair, looking at her sideways.

  "It's a soldier." Fang Mo Nan guessed. From Ye Lao Si's surprised look, it proved that she had guessed correctly.

  "You." Ye Laosi asked curiously.

  "Just now I passed by you, saw the callus on your hand from holding a gun for many years." Fang Mo Nan paused and continued, "In Huaxia, if you want to play with guns, either become a soldier or have someone in your family be a soldier, and that person's position is not low."

  "Isn't that the public security?" Ye Laosi asked curiously.

  "You don't look like it." Fang Mo Nan said casually with a tilted head.

  "Why? I don't look like it." Ye Lao Si rubbed his face.

  "Intuition."

  "What about him?" Ye Laosi pointed at He Junyao.

  "I don't guess, I can't guess." Fang Mo Nan evaded this question.

  He Junyao, however, saw through her and realized that she had not only guessed it but also guessed more accurately.

  He really said it right, Fang Mo Nan's sharp eyes saw the murderous aura he tried to conceal, and smelled a faint bloody smell. It's better not to guess, with a soldier by her side, her intuition told her to stay away from danger.

  He Junyao gave Ye Laosi a look, signaling him not to continue the topic, but he still asked insistently: "What does your family do? They can afford to send you abroad for further studies."

  "We can't get a scholarship" Fang Mo said with a sideways glance at him "You check the household registration"

  Ye Lao Si was stunned, "I do want to investigate the household registration, but I need your cooperation." He saw a flash of sharpness in her eyes, and shuddered at the sharp gaze.

  "No, it's still a long way to Huaxia, just chatting and chatting." Ye Laosi smiled slyly.

  Fang Mo Nan raised an eyebrow, "There's an interesting behavioral study on airplanes. Passengers in different cabins have distinct habits when it comes to what they do on the plane. 'First-class passengers often read books, business-class passengers mostly work on files, while economy-class passengers tend to read newspapers, magazines, play games and chat more.'"

  Ye Lao Si looked at her with interest, "So?"

  Fang Mo Nan joked, "We're sitting in first class, we have to look the part."

  Ye Lao Si suddenly realized, "You're just teasing me, truly scolding someone without using dirty words." While speaking, he was more concerned about his dry tongue and wanted to rest quietly.

  "Habits determine status." He Junyao said with emotion.

  He looked at them with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, put on his earplugs, and pulled out an original German edition of Arthur Schopenhauer's "The Wisdom of Life". Clearly, he was not interested in chatting with them.

  He Junyao glared at Ye Laosi and thought it was easy to investigate her background, did he need to ask like this? He didn't know if she wasn't just an ordinary little girl.

  Ye Lao Si glanced at He Junyao, shrunk his head, and seemed to have done something good with bad intentions. He asked in a low voice, "What's she looking at? It doesn't look like English."

  "German, 'The Wisdom of Life'," said He Junyao. "She... she... can understand." Ye Laosi quietly pointed downwards with his hand, pointing at her.

  "It's clear she understands, this isn't nonsense, or else why would they bring it out?" He Junyao said with a bad tone.

  "Life Wisdom" is Schopenhauer's later work. It discusses things that are very close to our secular life, such as health, wealth, fame, honor, and the principles of interpersonal relationships. The worldly human emotions that were previously confusing became clear and simple after being discussed by this great thinker in a profound and thorough manner.

  Fortunately, he was able to see through the complex and noisy illusions and told us frankly. Due to his wisdom and incisiveness, as well as his personal life experiences, his views are inevitably somewhat pessimistic and world-weary. However, whether to continue watching the show or leave is still our decision. As the book says: "The kind of world a person lives in ultimately depends on their understanding of this world, which varies from person to person due to differences in individual minds and spirits." Therefore, each person's world can be barren, shallow, and superficial, or rich, colorful, interesting, and full of meaning - it all depends on the individual's mind.

  He Junyao looked at her and obviously didn't want to be with them, casting a resentful glance at Ye Laosi.

  Ye Lao Si was very innocent, with a guilty conscience, he clasped his hands together and begged for Lao Da's forgiveness. It was not easy to see Lao Da smile, it was truly rare, no wonder he treated this little girl so well. Lao Da was notorious for being cold-faced, cold-hearted, and aloof. Especially this time in Maryland, it further confirmed that he would never want children in his life, unless a miracle happened.

  It all started with that chaotic incident, when the eldest was still young and our family members were persecuted. The specifics are unclear, but after the turmoil ended and our parents were rehabilitated and returned to work, the eldest had a physical examination by chance, and it was discovered that this life would have no children unless a miracle occurred. As a result, the news spread unintentionally. The eldest became a laughing stock in the city of 49, and in a fit of anger, he joined the army and even went to the battlefield. Originally a promising young man, he became what he is today - a half-dead person. Although his career was successful elsewhere, he was unsuccessful at home. At a young age, he had already achieved many military merits. However, as he grew older, his family could no longer hold on, and they urged him to get married. But with this matter hanging over him, the eldest's reputation of being 'infertile' spread again.

  The old man was unwilling to delay others. This trip to the United States was made possible because Maryland has the most federal and private biotech research centers and facilities in the country, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its various medical research centers, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, etc., making it well-deserved to be called the Biotech State. But look at the test results, which are disappointing.

  Ye Lao Si comforted himself by thinking that in a few more years, medical technology would be even more advanced, and maybe they could cure it. After all, the first test-tube baby wasn't born until '78 either.

  Although active-duty soldiers cannot go abroad, that is for ordinary people; there are ways for people like them.

  But Ye Lao Si was puzzled, after the result came out, he was still a bit disappointed at first, but now he's very happy, could it be because of her? Ye Lao Si glanced at the little girl beside him, perhaps Ye Lao Da might not have children in this lifetime, so seeing little kids made him especially fond of them.

  It is by