Chapter 164: The Emergence of a Powerful Country with Steam Engine
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Everyone in the box toasted and drank delightedly, except for Zhang Lisheng who did not touch even a single drop of alcohol.
Upon seeing him in such a manner, Tina threw herself into his arms after putting her gla.s.s down. “Baby, you don’t drink, right? Is it okay for you to drive and watch the wrestling game together? It’s the most exciting mixed-gender game so I’m sure you’ll love it!”
“I never knew that you like watching American wrestling.”
“Lisheng, every girl likes to watch two strong men who are all muscles fighting in the ring,” Sheila, who was already drunk by the side, said with a smile. “After all, not every thin boy has this mysterious charm like you do.”
“You seem to have drunken too much, Sheila.” Zhang Lisheng glanced at her and actually caused the girl to tremble for a moment. Her body suddenly shook as if she had a seizure as a cold sweat broke out of her entire body. Immediately, her brain became much soberer already. “Let us go now if we’re going to watch the wrestling game. If we continue to drink here, I’m afraid all of you will pa.s.s out right here.”
As the young man was talking, he stood up from the sofa and walked out of the nightclub. Tina was stunned for a while and quickly pulled Trish and Sheila to follow him as well. The others also had no choice but to walk out of the Cupid Bar in a disappointed manner.
Now that they had come to the dark open-air outdoors, the temperature suddenly dropped and the air had become fresher.
Zhang Lisheng took a few deep breaths of the fresh air and walked into the car while Tina followed suit and entered the pa.s.senger seat beside the driver seat. “Baby, are you angry that Trish, Sheila and I came for a drink in the club and have actually planned to not go back tonight?”
“Of course not.” The young man shook his head weirdly and said, “This is New York. It’s not like I don’t know how the young people around me live their lives. As long as you know how to protect yourself, this is no issue at all.”
“Then you must have not liked me watching American wrestling! Oh h.e.l.l! The reason I like wrestling is not like what Sheila said, it’s not that I want to ‘watch two strong men who are all muscles fighting in the ring’…”
“I’m not angry! Really, I don’t understand why would you feel so?”
“Then why did you just turn around and leave like that?”
At this moment, everyone had already quietly squeezed themselves into the car. The young man was stunned for a moment before thinking about it carefully. Then, he activated the car and turned into the highway before saying with a high alert, “I’m sorry, Maddie. If it wasn’t for you who reminded me, I wouldn’t have realized that I’ve been acting much more arbitrarily recently. Everything is going too well! Even though there are some twists and turns, everything would turn out to be good in the end, whether it’s the factory or some other aspects. Not only that, everyone whom I’ve come across recently has also been very respectful to me, they basically obey my every word…”
“What did you call me?” Tina suddenly asked in a low voice.
“Tina, of course! What’s wrong?”
“No! You said Maddie just now.”
“Oh, perhaps I’ve been absentmindedly confused. The names Tina and Maddie sound very similar,” Zhang Lisheng was silent for a moment before explaining in a low voice.
“Then have you called my name by mistake as well when you’re with her?”
“Of course I have!” Zhang Lisheng did not know how to answer and could only proceed with the flow and put a bold face as he answered.
“But I’m your girlfriend, Zhang Lisheng. How can you call out my name when you see other girls? If it was me, I would never call out wrongly no matter how close your name sounds to the others!”
“Oh, what the h.e.l.l? I merely said one wrong name. Not only that, it was when I was apologizing to you too! This doesn’t mean anything at all! It’s merely an unintentional little mistake…” Irritated, Zhang Lisheng looked at Tina beside him and noticed that the girl had become very upset now. Even her eyes had started to be br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears. “Okay, I’m sorry! Please forgive me okay?”
“My dear, Lisheng must have done that unintentionally. Since he has already apologized, don’t get angry anymore.” Hearing how the young man took the initiative to apologize rather than arguing with her, Trish, who was sitting at the backseat, patted her best friend’s shoulder and comforted her.
“Trish, a huge company that is soon going to have a net profit of more than 500 million dollars annually has just hired a secretary, who has been a New York University’s student for less than half a year, of the decision-maker. Do you think this makes sense?”
Trish froze for a moment and looked at Zhang Lisheng who was driving awkwardly, “Lisheng, please explain to Tina. Why would you do so?”
“Explain? h.e.l.l, I have never even thought about whether it’s reasonable or not for a big company with a net profit of more than 500 million dollars per year to hire a student who has just enrolled in New York University for two or three months to become the secretary of the decision maker. I won’t explain these kinds of things at all. To be honest, this is really just a simple slip of the tongue. You shouldn’t be angry at all…” Zhang Lisheng sighed.
“Maybe you really think so, Lisheng. But actually, men and women are different. This kind of thing would hurt the girl very badly,” Sheila, who was by the side, chimed in with such a grave voice that it sent a shock to Zhang Lisheng. “Many couples that I know have eventually broken up because of small misunderstandings that didn’t get explained well enough…”
“Oh shut up, Sheila Z. Beyat! I basically know all of your friends! Tell me, who has broken up just because of a simple slip of the tongue, huh?” Tina who had been silent suddenly blurted out, “Alright then, Lisheng. I’ll forgive you this time but remember, there’s no second time okay?”
When Zhang Lisheng heard the girl forgiving himself, he breathed a sigh of relief secretly. However, his mouth blurted out unwillingly, “It’s hard to say, Tina. If would become awkward if I pay special attention to such things… Oh hey! It’s time for the news now. Let’s listen to what’s new.”
In order to conceal his guilty conscience, he changed the topic and switched the radio on the center console of the car.
The radio resonated and a clear voice filled the air. “According to local observers, Cape Town, the capital of the Western Cape Province of South Africa was attacked by unidentified people driving steam-armed armored vehicles. It’s reported that these unidentified armed men were finally driven off with the cost of having more than 300 armies sacrificed. According to eyewitnesses, the weapons used by these armed men, like the air-a.s.sisted miniature javelins or the armored vehicles, had steam sound holes similar to the team whistle of s.h.i.+ps…”
To the young men, wars and games were the most interesting topic for them. When the boys in the Explorer heard about this bizarre news, they could not help but begin to talk excitedly over it. “Steam armed armored vehicles and javelins? My goodness! These Africans are really funny! They might as well just fight with spears and blow-arrows…”
“Hey, you’re too mean, Dukley! A war chariot driven by a steam internal combustion engine is always better than a sharpened head…”
“Blowing on the sharpened head of a wooden stick before the attack would make it become an air-a.s.sisted weapon when it’s thrown out, no?”
However, Zhang Lisheng’s expression turned slightly grave at this time. In his opinion, the news just now was the harbinger that the spatial door of a supernatural realm appearing in a non-militant country would be discovered soon.
Not only that, this time, it was no longer the Earthlings who voluntarily invaded the supernatural realm. Instead, it was the people from the supernatural realm who took the initiative to launch a war against the Earthlings. This was not a good sign at all.
“Lisheng, what are you thinking about?” Tina, who had been glancing at the young man’s expression from the corner of her eyes, noticed his sudden grave expression so she asked in a low voice.
“It’s nothing, Tina! Remember! Don’t ever go to those small countries with weak military powers anymore from now on! Don’t go no matter how stable their regime is! The new era has arrived, and right now, the safest choice is to stay in the metropolises of powerful countries like New York, Boston, Shenzhen, Beijing and so on.”
Tina was stunned for a moment before getting the meaning implied in Zhang Lisheng’s words. “Lisheng, you mean… The attack on South Africa’s Cape Town were those… those…”
“No matter who was the person who did this, you, Trish and Sheila better get rid of the problematic habit of wanderl.u.s.t and just stay obediently in this country!” Zhang Lisheng looked at the three girls and said.
When they heard him, they could not help but show a terrified expression.
When Dukley saw how the young man had immediately lectured the person that he liked after apologizing, he could not help but chime in, “Traveling can expand a person’s knowledge so it’s not a problematic habit…”
“But it is when the trip can kill.” Zhang Lisheng interrupted and drove the car to the front of the Madison Square Garden in accordance with the navigation.
The Madison Square Garden Stadium was located at the corner between the 8th Avenue from 33rd Street. It was situated atop Pennsylvania Station, one of the largest train stations in the entire US.
One could say that the first thing almost half of the tourists who came to New York by train would see was the huge milky white cylindrical stadium that was renovated many times and had a history of more than 120 years.
This was the main stadium of all the famous school teams of the universities in New York, the first choice for New Yorkers’ political gatherings, and the sacred place for basketball, boxing, mixed martial arts, and music concerts.
At this time, this stadium that was known as the face of New York City was brightly illuminated in the dark. Countless cars were horning and were gus.h.i.+ng into its carpark in a jam.
“We’re here.” Zhang Lisheng drove the Explorer and concentrated as he followed the traffic and moved his car bit by bit before parking. After letting out a long sigh of relief, he got down from the car.
Looking at the flow of people gus.h.i.+ng into the stadium from the parking lot in continuous succession, the young man told Tina who was holding his arm by his side. “So many people are here to watch the wrestling compet.i.tion! This is unbelievable! But, if there are so many spectators, can we still get the tickets though? You can’t possibly use your privilege of the Douglin family here in the Garden Stadium too right?”
“Baby, why don’t you guess when Barnum, the person who was named as the most successful con man in America, rented the old train station on Madison Avenue where he placed his circus, where do you think did he borrow money from when he built the house?” Tina, who had regained her calmness, asked with a smile.
Zhang Lisheng, who could clearly sense the food he ate in Hank Hotel had begun to nourish his body after several dozens of minutes of digestion, who also felt that he had yet to fully understand the transformation power, smiled right away. “Oh, the Douglin family is indeed great. Looks like we’ll be able to watch the wrestling match already! But before that, I want to eat a few hot dogs first.”