The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of vitality in the foggy city. Chapter 205 Portland
Chapter Subtitle: This chapter has no subtitle
Wednesday morning, April 27, 1921.
Portland Union Station, Portland, Maine.
I have to point out here that this Portland is not the Portland where the NBA Trail Blazers are located in later generations.
Portland, where Yuan Yanshu had arrived, is the largest port city in Maine and the economic center of northern New England. The latter is the most populous city in Oregon, on the west coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific coast.
These two cities with the same name are actually separated by an entire America.
In addition, why are there so many train stations in the United States called Union Station? For example, there is one in Washington, D.C., and one in Los Angeles .
In fact, these stations are shared by several railroad companies, so they are called "Union" stations. However, if you only say "Union Station" without the place name, it usually refers to the Union Station in Washington, D.C., which was built in 1908.
Of course, except for the locals, if you tell a taxi driver in Los Angeles that you want to go to Union Station, he won’t be stupid enough to drive you to Washington.
" You are... Mr. Yuan, right?"
Our Master Yuan walked out of the station with his suitcase carried by his driver Kang. As soon as he walked out of the door, someone came to greet him.
It's easy to imagine that anyone calling him "Second Master" must be from Seres, and perhaps a member of the gang. He's in his early twenties, of medium build, dressed in a suit. He's quite good-looking, with a very refined demeanor. Like the Nintendo sage, he doesn't look like a gangster at all.
Just as Master Yuan was about to agree, a graceful figure jumped out from beside him and said in a crisp voice, "Xiao Jinzi, are you asking this even though you already know the answer?"
The young Seres woman's eyes sparkled as she extended her hand enthusiastically, "Hello, Mr. Yuan... You're even more handsome than in your photos! I absolutely adore your novels!"
Yuan Yan's spirits suddenly lifted when she heard this, and she took a closer look... In front of her was a rare oriental beauty in America.
She was short, with a young face and a pair of bright, large eyes. She looked like a teenage high school girl, a well-developed one at that.
Our Master Yuan couldn't help but raise his hand to wipe the saliva flowing from the corner of his mouth.
This baby-faced young lady was wearing a Western dress and a bright red "French hat" on her head, which was the kind of flannel hat with a small tail on the top that is often worn by literary and artistic people of all ages.
And under this hat is a very short hair. According to the hairdressing standard of women these days that "the shorter the hair, the more revolutionary", this woman must be extremely revolutionary.
This kind of attire naturally made her look even more playful and adorable, and it couldn't help but bring back many memories of the later life for Yuan Da the time traveler...
When Mr. Big Bad Wolf saw such a cute Little Red Riding Hood, he felt half softened.
He immediately stepped forward, shook her hand, and asked very kindly, "Hello, hello. Miss... what do you call her? Is there any man... from where?"
"Second Master, my name is Gu Mengmeng." The high school girl pointed at the elegant man with her left hand and said, "His name is Jin Dianfei. We are both from San Francisco."
Our Master Yuan has never been very interested in those obscure men in history. Without even turning his head, he just kept muttering, "Gu Mengmeng...what a good name, what a good name. The name really suits the man. It's really very cute, very cute, very cute..."
"Ahem...Second Master? Second Master!"
"What's the matter?!" Master Yuan, whose interest was interrupted, turned back and looked at his driver unhappily.
Xiaokang had been with him for some time and knew that this sage master had a common problem among great artists: he was often obsessed with his love affairs. So at this critical moment, he dutifully reminded the absent-minded Master Yuan.
"Oh..." Yuan Yan shyly withdrew her hand, coughed, and explained to the somewhat shy Gu Mengmeng: "Miss Mengmeng, I'm sorry, I just became...that out of control. It's just that when I saw you..."
Our Master Yuan finally remembered his identity and said solemnly with a serious expression, "I am the 'Tobacco Pi Rui A Xun'!"
That's right, Master Gu Hongming came to Inspiration just to smell bound feet, so it was normal for him to feel that a high school girl came.
"Mr. Yuan, can I still be your muse?!"
Being a master is great. The cute girl immediately forgot about his "gaffe " and asked with sparkling eyes, "Mr. Yuan, what inspiration did you get?"
An unfathomable smile appeared on Yuan Yanshu's handsome face. He shook his head and said, "Buddha said: It cannot be explained, it cannot be explained. I just had a flash of inspiration..."
Actually, his flash of inspiration just now... you know what he meant. It was all about sailor uniforms, plaid skirts, and swimsuits... Anyway, if the Buddha knew, he would definitely be furious.
"So it's not quite ready yet. I'll tell you when it's ready," he said casually, then turned to ask, "How did you get here from San Francisco? And why are you the one picking me up?"
Jin Dianfei, who was standing by, immediately said with gratitude, "We are able to come here thanks to you, Second Master..."
It turns out that these two are the second generation of overseas Chinese in Los Angeles. To be more precise, they are the first generation of banana people who are not so bananas yet.
Just because we are Seres doesn't mean we should praise the Seres. In fact, in terms of the so-called "nationality", the Seres also have many bad points.
However, the level of attention that the Seres pay to the education of their offspring is probably only comparable to that of the Jews.
Jin Dianfei and Gu Mengmeng’s ancestors were all “piglets” from Guangdong, and of course they were genuine poor and lower-middle peasants.
However, after one or two generations of hard work, their family can now be considered at least well-off, and by American standards, which means they have been upgraded to the black five categories.
The wealthy Seres spared no effort in educating their children. These two, like many other children of overseas Chinese, received a good education.
Then it is inevitable that young intellectuals who are educated and have no worries about food and clothing will have some artistic pursuits.
In the 1920s, along the original historical line, with the advent of the golden age, many drama troupes, dance troupes and jazz bands composed of overseas Chinese disciples appeared in California.
Unfortunately, firstly, due to the discrimination suffered by the yellow race, it has never been recognized by the mainstream, that is, the white race. Secondly, the number of Chinese in the United States is far less than that of black people, and the older Chinese do not like this, so even from a commercial perspective, it is not cost-effective.
Let me say it again, the reason why black people can occupy half of the American pop music scene is that in the 1920s, the record industry lost a large number of customers to the newly emerging radio. At the same time, they found that black people could not afford radios and had to continue listening to phonographs, so these major record companies turned to producing a large amount of black music.
In comparison, the Chinese do not have this "blessing".
Therefore, these Chinese pop culture groups were ultimately short-lived, and the Chinese people did not ultimately enter the American pop culture circle, even a hundred years later.
Fortunately, our Master Yuan arrived in 1920.
The last time he met with Situ Meitang, he asked the Anliangtang boss to find some young overseas Chinese who were art enthusiasts, and Situ Dalongtou really did so.
Naturally, he stuffed all these people into the crew of "Orphan of Famine", letting them learn something from the "Father of Film" and the team below, so that they could be used by him in the future.
"Oh, everyone is so busy that you two are the only ones free to come pick me up."
"Oh, Mr. Griffith is very... uh, manic right now."
"Oh, your filming encountered great difficulties..."
Yuan Yan suddenly smiled slightly after learning more about the filming progress from the two people, and said confidently: "Miss Mengmeng, and that guy. Don't worry, I'm here!"
