Chapter 53: Misunderstanding
Translated by me, edited by Kai.
“Boss, you should still go out for a stroll. It’s too loud here.” Edward yelled as he pointed to the earplugs in his ears (1).
As for Jiang Hai, he is in an even more awkward position. When he was walking earlier, he didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings. Hence he bumped into one of the workers and knocked over the stuff he was carrying all over the place. Although the stuff isn’t anything important and no injuries had occurred, for someone like Jiang Hai who doesn’t know anything of the trade remaining here will only bring chaos. Jiang Hai loitering here isn’t because he doesn’t trust Edward, but it’s because he has nowhere to go.
“But I don’t know where to go.” Jiang Hai replied embarrassingly as he scratched his head. That previous stroll was only 40 some minutes long, and the majority of that time was him following a bunch of kids around. However, after that trip he really has no clue where to go next.
Hearing this, even Edward is perplexed because he also don’t know. He normally either stays at home or is in Winthrop, hence he doesn’t know of any interesting places around here.
“Across the harbour is Little Italy. You know how good Italian food is. Not far from Little Italy is downtown Boston and Chinatown. There is a lot of restaurants and snack shops there. According to what you Chinese people call it, it’s something like a gourmet street or something.” Maybe it’s because he heard Jiang Hai and Edward’s conversation, Dalton, who was tallying the materials, came over and explained.
Hearing that there is a gourmet street around, Jiang Hai’s mouth is already watering. Taking a look at the time on his phone, it’s only 10 am, not yet time for lunch, but it’s still worth taking a look. In conformance to his ideal of not messing with the professionals, Jiang Hai left again.
The main thing is, he isn’t of any help if he remained behind. Compared to the noisy shipyard, he very much prefers a place where he can sit down and enjoy stuff. Having left the shipyard, Jiang Hai followed Dalton’s instructions and exited the harbour.
Not long after leaving the harbour, a special region appeared in front of him. According to the passersby, this here is Boston’s Little Italy. But upon entering, Jiang Hai found this place to be rather tiny. Although he is from northern China, where the people there enjoy lots of booze and meat, but he still don’t understand the practice of enjoyment. Sipping on a cup of coffee for an entire afternoon and what not, is a practice foreign to him.
Although there are some sceneries around, but it’s really so-so. As soon as he entered, he felt a bizarre feeling from the surroundings. Seeing the menus in front of him, most of the stuff listed is the same as the restaurants in Winthrop. The only difference here lies with it’s smaller portions and further intricacies. As for the price, it is pretty much the same. Not too expensive.
Since this is downtown Boston, not the suburbs like Winthrop, the streets here are in rather poor conditions. Full of holes, cracks and what not. Because Boston is one of the earliest cities founded here, later development didn’t improve the downtown area, rather they spread the city out. Comparing Boston to Beijing, this area can be said to be the second ring of the city. Add on the fact that Jiang Hai is poor with directions, so while strolling he became lost. Of course he can still go back, but it’s troublesome to find Chinatown now.
“Ai forget it, let’s just grab a drink and ask someone for directions later.” After some circling and realising that he is completely lost, Jiang Hai let out a sigh and found a nearby cafe.
Although he doesn’t understand the practice of enjoying coffee, but he still knows that a cafe is not all about coffee. In the early winters of Boston, there are rarely any people on the patio since most of the people prefered to squish into the warm cafe than stay out in the cold. Seeing this, Jiang Hai took the wise decision of not joining the crowd and took a seat outside.
“Sir, what would you like to order?” As soon as he sat down, a waitress came out from the store with a menu and asked. He is mainly here for a break and not for a drink, so everything else is irrelevant. Hence he mainly focused on the drinks portion of the menu.
“Umm, a cup of watermelon juice.” Pointing at the watermelon juice on the menu, Jiang Hai replied back.
“Uhh, sir, the watermelon juice is cold.” upon hearing Jiang Hai’s reply, the waitress is clearly stunned. Who in their right mind would drink something cold in this weather.
“I know it’s cold, but it’s okay.” Jiang Hai said reassuringly. He is like most northerners in China with their love of cold drinks during winter.
“Alright!” The customers are kings, hence the waitress confirmed and left.
A short while later, a cup of fresh watermelon juice appeared in front of Jiang Hai. Upon seeing this, Jiang Hai took a large gulp and felt the pain of a brain freeze. But this feeling just made him refreshed.
“Miss, miss! Look! There is the guy who was following us!” Just at this moment, a black kid was startled at the scene outside and yelled at his teacher inside the store.
“En? Where? Let me see, ah, it really is that uncle. Didn’t he enter that shipyard? When did he appear here?” A white girl beside the black kid asked curiously.
Hearing the yells of the kids, the female teacher also turned around from the bar and saw Jiang Hai’s figure outside.
“En? Watermelon juice?” She turned around at just the right time to see Jiang Hai suffering from his brain freeze. This clearly stunned her, then she looked at the watermelon juice in his hands and clearly is upset. Again. Originally she was already mad, but now she is on the verge of exploding.
Her original plan was bringing the kids back to Winthrop right after the tour, not remaining here. If it wasn’t because of the driver ditching them here, then there is no need for her to spend this much money on the kids. Of course she isn’t regretting her decision, but she is clearly annoyed. Now that Jiang Hai appeared in front of her again, it would be strange if she was still in a good mood.
“Louis, Susan, look after your friends. I’m going to have a nice long chat with him.” Most American girls really have an explosive attitude. Seeing Jiang Hai outside sipping on his watermelon juice, she is even more angry. Having settled her students, she picked up her jacket and went out.
“Sir if you have anything to say, then say it. If you keep on following me like this then I’m going to call the cops.” When the teacher left the dessert shop, Jiang Hai also heard it, but paid it no mind because he doesn’t know who came out. However this girl clearly has a goal in mind, she had appeared in front of him, and immediately stated.
“En? Oh. … Hi, how are you?” Hearing the teacher, Jiang Hai turned his attention from the juice in front of him to his side. As a result, saw the fuming teacher; almost causing him to choke to death. From what she just said, it appears she has mistaken him again….
“I’m not one bit alright. Sir, if you don’t tell me why you are following me and the kids, then I’m pretty sure you can explain it to the police.” The teacher said solemnly as she stared at him with her pair of black eyes.
“Uhh, I really didn’t follow you. I can only say this is mere…” Jiang Hai quickly replied.
“Coincidence? Haha, such an old story and you’re still going to say it?” The teacher cut him off. She has obviously heard this excuse many times. To be fair, the teacher is obviously pretty. 3 quarters latino makes her look nice and firm, while that last quarter caucasian makes her straight and tall. A body height of 175, a head full of black curls, 5 refined points, and an exquisite body where the big places are big and slim where it should be. It really is a package for misfortunes, however Jiang Hai can swear to god that he didn’t follow her here.
“It’s not a coincidence, but a misunderstanding! I never thought that I would meet you twice in one day. Originally I was here to buy a couple of boats. My people are still are the temple of the sea. If you don’t believe me then you can go take a look. But because I don’t understand any of that stuff, I left for a stroll. At the beginning on the destroyer, I really did follow you around, but without any ill intentions. That was my first time on a destroyer, plus you were great at explaining, so I just followed along while learning. In the end you mistook me. Now I was originally headed for the gourmet street in Chinatown, but I got lost and ended up looking for something to drink. Later I was going to ask the waitress how to get there, but now you came out….” Seeing the mad goddess in front of him, Jiang Hai awkwardly explained. Hearing the explanation and seeing that panicking expression, the girl is somewhat convinced, but still pissed.
Notes
1. Kai: I guess last chapter he didn’t instantly go to a new place, but went inside and had a chat