The Rest, Only Noise

In late May, Louis' second semester of freshman year ended.

He completed the exam and ushered in more than two months of summer vacation.

On the night of the end of the exam, he and Wu Sansheng, as well as several Asians from the same year on the campus, went to B-B-B to have a party.

They indulge in so much fun that at the end of their minds, Louie wakes up in an unfamiliar bed with a woman he doesn't know next to him.

They had breakfast together, and when they parted, he didn't even know what the other was called.

This happy-to-death life is like the famous words of John Lennon (1)

Louis wasn't sure if Wu Sansheng had lost his virginity, it didn't matter, he was going home.

He was born in Hong Kong, but he has little memory of the place because he came to the United States with his parents when he was 3 years old.

Since the family had relatives who settled in Cleveland, the family also chose to settle in Cleveland. This stay is 15 years.

If you had to find a hometown for Louie, Cleveland might be the closest answer. Although he wasn't born here, he grew up there.

The current Cleveland is not a backcountry that will be despised by James fans in the future. Today in 1977, it is the fifth largest city in the United States.

With the decline of traditional industries in the United States, and the rise of foreign industrial powers such as Japan and West Germany, they attacked the United States with better, better and cheaper products. And bear the brunt of the traditional industrial towns of Cleveland and Detroit.

The wheels of history are rolling in, and it can't be stopped, but the skinny camels are bigger than horses, and at least in the late 1970s, Cleveland was still a booming scene.

The airport is full of missionary religiousists and begging homeless people.

The problem is that these beggars are better dressed than Louis.

He went home for the beauty, but chose the most satisfactory outfit.

At first, Louis was still sympathetic to those who came to beg, but as he saw more and more beggars, and their dresses became more and more beyond his bottom line - he looked more handsome than me Are you begging you, is there no market to sell your ass? - So, when he put his hand into his pocket and took out nothing and shook his head and said "No.", the other party cursed in disgust: "Stingy Oriental!"

At first, Louie didn't know that "Oriental" was a discriminatory term covering all Asians, but now he does.

So he replied unceremoniously: "Stinky stray dog."

Influenced by Louis himself, he began to have an instinctive aversion to the term "Oriental".

The word "Oriental" comes from the Latin "oriens", which means "east" or "the direction of the rising sun". The Romans called the eastern part of their empire Praefectura—including the eastern Balkans and present-day Syria. The East as understood by Westerners extends to the Asian region where Western explorers have penetrated. Until later, Europeans used the word to refer to the vast area east of Europe that extended into the Pacific Ocean. The East accounts for a quarter of the world, including China, Egypt, Nepal, North Korea, Turkey, Mongolia, Indonesia, Lebanon, India and Japan.

The concept of "East" was popularized by Europeans when they occupied most of the East. Colonists conducted scholarly research on Eastern thinking, Eastern character, and Eastern societies, and used the results to conquer and manage occupied territories. It can be seen that concepts and conquests are closely related.

The underlying assumption in this is that the East is inferior to the West: the East is feminine and passive, while the West is masculine and bossy; the East is sensual and introverted, the West is rational and extroverted; the East is conservative, The West keeps pace with the times; the East is primitive, vulgar, and defenseless, and the West is a beacon of civilization, a benchmark of elegance, and a powerful military. The East needs civilization.

In addition to being sluggish, Orientals are submissive, very outsider-like, mysterious, and cunning, begging to be seen through. Easterners are destined to obey Westerners who are strong, rational, and energetic.

For oriental people, yellow is the skin tone that suits them best. This is the most superficial description of skin tone. And cultural interpretations of color resonate with Western perceptions of Easterners. Caucasians or Europeans are white - a symbol of purity and power; Negroes or Africans are black because they are ignorant and rude; Mongolians or Orientals are yellow, the color of sickness and cowardice.

In the United States, calling Asians "Oriental" is the same as calling blacks "Nico".

Louie was tall and strong, and the tramp dared not do anything even if he was angry, and could only watch him leave with resentment.

Louie hitches a ride home.

This summer, he will make good use of it.

Because the scouting report he has on hand is time-sensitive, John Long has graduated from his senior year, is about to enter the draft, and will be selected with a high probability. When he enters the NBA, his report will be a piece of waste paper.

As it happens, there is an NBA team in Cleveland.

Their season is over, and like many progressive teams, they're recruiting secondary scouts.

This is the lowest level of scouting, similar to a temporary worker, and can be fired if he fails to make a grade in a short period of time.

If he wants to become a professional scout, Louie needs to put his studies on hold. Although the risk is great, it is worth it. He believes that this is the only field in which he has an advantage in the contemporary era.

Before that, though, he had to get his mother's support.

The very grumpy mother I remember.

She longed for her children to stand out and have decent jobs—healthcare was the best option.

Louie's home is on 34th Street, East Euclid Street. When they moved here, it was still very prosperous. After more than ten years of renovation, the number of residents nearby has been reduced by half.

Some economists predict that in the future it will become a suburb or a slum.

However, Louie's mother, Li Xuanbing, never believed the experts' words.

Today, she prepared a sumptuous dinner to welcome her son home, who had successfully completed his freshman year.

Unlike the average American family who often eats pork chops with gravy, chicken sauce, and hot dogs in sauce, Li Xuanbing's craft is still traditional Chinese food, hearty home-cooked dishes and well-defined rice - neither she nor Louie likes sticky soft rice. Just a little bit dry and hard.

Before entering the door, Louis struggled with how to say hello.

After entering the door, it was like all the conditioned reflexes that happened to him.

Louie shouted uncontrollably, "Mom, I'm back."

Although in Louis's memories, Li Xuanbing often appeared in a violent image, but at this time, she smiled like all mothers who haven't seen their children for a long time, "Quick, put things down and eat while they are hot!"

Louie found that it was not difficult, not at all. The difficult thing was how to tell Li Xuanbing that he had given up his dream of going to medical school, so he devoted himself to becoming a secondary scout in professional basketball. The first few months were most likely because of work. Unemployment is not in place, and even if the job is stable, the monthly salary is only a little over $1,000.

This is far from being a doctor. In Li Xuanbing's eyes, scouting is definitely not a decent job.

Confessing truthfully is likely to pay a heavy price...

Physically, Louie is young.

But psychologically, it's not the case anymore, and confessing to my mother has all the harm and no benefit.

Not being able to understand her own mother will only cause trouble and distress, no matter how you picture the future of professional basketball, at the moment, she thinks, like most Americans, that it is a business with no future. It's crazy to give up the possibility of becoming a doctor for a starting salary of $1,000.

Moreover, the chances of success in this "job search" are not high, so why bother to embarrass yourself?

Under various considerations, Louis decided to give up the idea of ​​confessing in advance.

Even if he succeeds in his job search, he cannot immediately confess.

Mom better not know anything until his income is "decent" enough.

Louis was very moved by being able to eat familiar Chinese food. For the past month, he had to experience the madness of the 1970s every day at school, concentrate on preparing scouting reports, and endure delicious but greasy junk food. ...which gave him an unreal experience.

As for Li Xuanbing's Chinese food, UU reading www.uukanshu.com did not suit his taste before crossing, but now, it is the most delicious food.

Couldn't be more perfect.

Li Xuanbing felt shy when his son repeatedly praised his cooking skills.

In my impression, Louis is a very reserved person.

At most, he would say "yummy" instead of "so delicious", "I'm about to cry", and "mom I love you".

Does distance really produce beauty? After a year of going out, the whole thing has changed a lot.

She was initially worried that Louie would be blindfolded by the colorful world of Goblin County, where she had heard that nightclubs and clubs were distinctive, and that girls were generally much more unrestrained than the conservative bastion of Cleveland.

She worries that her child has gone bad.

Now it seems that after going out for a year, this kid is more mature than in the past.

"Mom, why are you looking at me all the time?" Louis smiled, "Move chopsticks!"

"Oh, I'm not hungry, this soup is cold, I'll warm it up for you..."

Seeing that Li Xuanbing was in a hurry and was afraid of poor reception, Louis felt that his decision was correct. If you confessed as soon as you got to the table, where did this scene of a mother's kindness and filial piety come from?

Let's leave it like this for now. It's important to let my mother know the truth, but if she knows she doesn't support and destroys the beauty in front of her and forces her to support things that she can't understand, how is that possible? Maybe he's been kicked out of the house by now.

⑴The teacher asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I said, "Be a happy person." The teacher said that I didn't understand the problem. I told the teacher that he didn't understand life. When I was five years old, my mother told me that the key to life is to be happy. After school, people ask me what I want to do when I grow up, and I write "happy." -John Lennon