Chapter 952 in the United States
Zhang Hao has been living and studying in the United States for more than a year.
Since Zhang Hao's English was good before he went abroad, and he specially found a foreign teacher to practice his spoken English, he did not feel any discomfort after arriving in the United States and quickly adapted.
Currently, Zhang Hao is studying electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. He is the only Chinese student in this major, which is a brand new major and a subject that Zhang Hao is particularly interested in.
Zhang Hao's academic performance at MIT was very good. Thanks to his thorough preparation, he had basically no language barrier after arriving in the United States. After a period of time, even his accent gradually became indistinguishable from that of his American classmates. Now he speaks fluent English and if you just listen to him, you can't tell that he is an international student from China.
Zhang Hao's family was not short of money. When he went out, Zhang Jianguo and his wife gave him a lot of money, which was deposited in his Citibank account. According to the consumption level in the United States, this money was not only enough for Zhang Hao to complete his studies, but also allowed him to live a very good life in the United States.
However, Zhang Hao did not spend the money. He received a full scholarship when he enrolled, and then applied for a dormitory from the school. In addition to studying, Zhang Hao also worked in a nearby fast food restaurant. Although the salary was not high, it was definitely enough to ensure his life.
In addition, Zhang Hao often went to Song Chaoyuan's company in California for an internship during the holidays. His main job as an intern was to serve as an assistant to laboratory researchers. Because of Song Yuanchao's care, he was paid as an intern. Of course, this salary was only calculated on an hourly basis, and the standard was only that of an ordinary laboratory assistant. But even so, Zhang Hao could have a good income and learning experience. In addition, the laboratory could reimburse his round-trip air tickets, so he did not spend a penny of the money his parents gave him during the more than one year in the United States, and even saved some money on his own.
Some time ago, Zhang Hao took the opportunity of a holiday and went to work in a laboratory in California as he did before. He was so busy that he just came back today.
After getting off the plane, Zhang Hao, who was tired, dragged his suitcase and picked up the car from the airport. This was a second-hand old Ford, which was manufactured in 1979. It has been more than ten years now. Zhang Hao spent 870 US dollars when he bought it, and then sent it to a repair shop to replace parts and used it as a daily means of transportation.
Although the car is old, it still drives well after replacing parts, except that the fuel consumption is a bit high. However, Zhang Hao doesn't drive it very often. Except for going to school, work, and the supermarket, he rarely drives it around, so for Zhang Hao, this car is enough for transportation.
After putting the luggage in the car, Zhang Hao got in, started the engine, and drove out of the parking lot.
On the way, Zhang Hao turned on the radio and lowered the car window. The early summer breeze blew from outside the window, and country music sounded in the car. Humming the tune along with the rhythm, Zhang Hao held the steering wheel with one hand and put the other hand on the left car window, heading towards the apartment where he lived.
An hour later, Zhang Hao returned to the apartment.
This apartment is a dormitory apartment of the school. American universities are somewhat different from domestic universities. American universities are large in scale, and they don’t have walls or anything like that. The entire university is like a small town. Except for the core part of the school, the rest of the place is no different from an ordinary town. There are communities, hospitals, shops, supermarkets, restaurants, cinemas and other entertainment venues, as well as police stations, etc.
The apartment is a grey building, not very high, and a few years old. But the house is well maintained, and because it is a dormitory apartment of the school, it is located near the core area of the campus, so the public security here is definitely not a problem. Zhang Hao has lived here for more than a year and is quite satisfied with the environment here.
After parking the car in the parking lot in front of the apartment, Zhang Hao took out his luggage and walked towards the apartment.
Along the way, I met a few familiar alumni and greeted each other warmly. Speaking of this, Zhang Hao was not used to it when he first came to the United States, because people here would greet each other when they met, whether they knew each other or not, and they seemed very enthusiastic. At that time, Zhang Hao was a little flattered. Later, after staying for a long time, he realized that this was just a habit of others. Moreover, although the person who greeted Zhang Hao just now seemed very friendly, in fact, everyone still kept a distance. Such politeness and friendliness were just a habit.
Zhang Hao's dormitory is on the third floor. It is a two-bedroom, two-living-room apartment.
There were two people living in this apartment, one was Zhang Hao and the other was his classmate Jimi. Jimi was about the same age as Zhang Hao, a chubby blond boy. At first, the two were not familiar with each other and had some unpleasantness because of their different Eastern and Western customs. But not long after, the two young men gradually became familiar with each other and became friends, and very good friends at that.
Carrying his luggage upstairs and arriving at the dormitory door, Zhang Hao took out the key and opened the door. As soon as he opened the door, he heard a ding-dong sound coming from inside.
"Jimmy! I'm back, come and help me!"
"Wait a minute, I'll be right there!" Jimmy's voice came, and the ding-dong sound continued. Zhang Hao dragged the luggage to the living room with difficulty, and his eyes swept towards the TV. As expected, this guy was playing games, holding the controller of the red and white game console in his hand and having a lot of fun.
Speaking of the Famicom, this is Nintendo's classic game console. Since its launch in 1983, it has become one of the best game consoles in the world.
The sales of Famicom are very high in the United States, and there are many people who like to play Famicom games. Jimmy is a loyal supporter of the Famicom. The game he is playing now is called "Drug War", which was launched last year. The sales of this game in other regions are not very good, but it is very popular in the United States. Perhaps it is because Americans' appreciation of game culture is somewhat different from that of people in other regions.
Finally, Jimmy's game character died because of a mistake. Jimmy put down the remote control in his hand regretfully, climbed down from the sofa, and helped Zhang Hao carry the suitcase in and open it.
"Why is it so heavy? What did you bring?" Jimmy felt the suitcase was heavy as soon as he picked it up. Zhang Hao smiled and said that you will know in a moment. He opened the suitcase and took out things from it. He put several large bags of food bought from Chinatown on the coffee table one by one. Seeing these things, Jimmy's eyes lit up and he couldn't help drooling.
"Is this the seasoning you mentioned before?"
"Yes! I managed to get these authentic Chinese seasonings with great difficulty, thanks to a trip to California. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get them." Zhang Hao said proudly. During the year that he and Jimmy were roommates, Zhang Hao sometimes cooked Chinese food for himself.
Although Zhang Hao worked in a restaurant, the restaurants he worked in were McDonald's and Burger King, and there was not a single Chinese restaurant around the campus. There were Italian and French restaurants, but other than that there were only American restaurants and fast food restaurants.
Living here, eating is absolutely no problem, and the restaurant where Zhang Hao works has free hamburgers and cola every day. This kind of thing is considered a good thing in China. You should know that when the first KFC in Shanghai opened, it caused a sensation. There were crowds of customers going to try it. Zhang Hao had been there before and his mouth was full of oil after eating fried chicken. The mashed potatoes with chicken sauce were also delicious. It was a pity that it was too expensive. Even though Zhang Hao's family was not short of money, he couldn't afford to go there often.
But in the United States, this kind of stuff is so common that it can’t be more common. It’s okay to eat it for one or two meals, but if you have to eat it for three meals a day, and eat it every day and every month, how can Zhang Hao, who has a Chinese stomach, bear it?
So not long after Zhang Hao arrived in the United States, he began to think about making his own food to change his taste. When Zhang Hao was in Shanghai, he was not only good at cooking at home, but he was also good at lighting a coal stove. He had watched Zhang's mother and his mother cook countless times since he was a child, and sometimes he often helped them. In addition, he was smart, so he had no problem cooking home-cooked meals. So he bought some pots and pans and started to cook by himself. As a result, a "Chinese chef" was born.
Because the Chinese food Zhang Hao cooked became more and more delicious, Jimmy, who lived with him, was gradually influenced by him and his taste became heavier. He started to eat Chinese food with Zhang Hao every other day and loved it more and more.
Sometimes, Zhang Hao is too busy to cook, and Jimmy is unhappy about not having eaten Chinese food for several days, so he shamelessly reminds Zhang Hao that he can change his taste to Chinese food. Sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, and grilled chicken wings are really boring.
However, there are no good seasonings available at school. If you want to buy Chinese seasonings, you have to go to a big city like New York. After staying here for so many days, Zhang Hao has almost used up all the seasonings. How can he cook Chinese food without seasonings?
So this time when Zhang Hao went to California, he made a special trip to Los Angeles and did some shopping there. He brought back a lot of seasonings. When Jimmy saw these things and thought about having dinner tonight, he couldn't stop smiling.
After packing up happily, Zhang Hao looked at the refrigerator and was speechless for a moment. Jimmy, the lazy guy, had eaten most of the things stored in the refrigerator during the days he was away. There were not even a few eggs left.
Without saying a word, Zhang Hao took Jimmy to a nearby supermarket to buy groceries. More than an hour later, the two returned to the dormitory carrying their things. Then Zhang Hao rolled up his sleeves to cook, and Jimmy helped. After another two hours, a table of sumptuous home-cooked meals was placed on the table.
Looking at the tempting food, Jimmy's appetite grew. He couldn't help but start eating before Zhang Hao picked up the chopsticks.
The chopsticks first went for the braised pork. Jimmy took a bite and his mouth was filled with the aroma of meat. He swallowed it comfortably and then moved on to the sweet and sour spare ribs on the side. He looked like a starving ghost reincarnated.
"Eat slowly, kid. You've already eaten before I even started eating?" Zhang Hao put down the bowl of soup and looked at Jimmy, who was not like a foreigner at all. He used chopsticks very skillfully and couldn't help but complain.
"Eat...eat!" Jimmy pointed at the food in front of him and said incoherently, "You've been gone for several days. Do you know how I managed to survive these days? It's the same food every day. I've become thinner. Fortunately, you finally came back, otherwise I would have fainted from hunger."
"Fainted from hunger?" Looking at Jimmy's round face which was even fatter than before he left, Zhang Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It would be strange if this guy fainted from hunger. He usually ate more than a pig and didn't like to exercise. What's more, the refrigerator that was filled when he left was empty when he came back. Could it be that the things inside were stolen by ghosts?
