Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 9 Divorced Families
Stanford University is located in Palo Alto, in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is about 60 kilometers away from Chinatown in San Francisco. Most of the roads are highway kilometers. It takes less than an hour to drive, and Frank drove for nearly two hours.

Don't ask, just pay attention to safety.

Frank wanted to cry without tears. He felt that his new Ferrari 288GTO was insulted. Such a sports car drove so slowly on the highway, and was constantly overtaken by cars worth tens of thousands of dollars. Many drivers who passed him all looked sideways. , Looking at themselves, they might have thought it was a female driver driving, but when they found out it was a fat man, they all chose to kick the accelerator and left disappointed.

No, no, it's too embarrassing.

Slowly drove the car into Chinatown, turned eastward and westward, and stopped in front of a Chinese restaurant named Baekweitang.

Parking in Chinatown is not easy, and it is not safe. Ordinary San Francisco people really dare not drive into Chinatown. Although Chinatown at this time is not as messy as the black neighborhood, it is not very good.

Of course, a Ferrari like Frank will attract the attention of many people on the street, but Frank doesn't care. He solemnly said to Li Weisi who was unbuckled his seat belt: "Weisi, you should really think about it and learn to drive by yourself. I can't give you a lifetime, can I?"

After unfastening his seat belt, Li Weisi opened the car door, walked out, and said to Frank who was still sitting in the driver's seat, "No, it's too dangerous to drive by yourself. Also, didn't you say that everything except basketball is yours? What about you? You can’t count your words!”

Afterwards, Li Weisi closed the car door. Frank, who was sitting alone in the car with a mournful face, slapped himself hard, then opened the car door, and followed Li Weisi into the Chinese restaurant in front of him.

This Chinese restaurant with a name like a pharmacy looks a bit dilapidated in appearance, and the mottled wall is like a person who tells the history, like the guests who walked in here telling the history of the restaurant.

Walking into the store, since it is not yet 11 o'clock, there are not many customers in the store. They are sitting in twos and threes, and they can't order two dishes at a glance. They are all drinking and bragging there.

Behind the counter, an aunt who was doing the accounting saw Li Weisi who came in at a glance, quickly dropped the account book, walked out from behind the counter, and said with a smile: "Hey, Weisi is here, have you eaten? Old Li, Your son is back."

Li Weisi nodded at the aunt and said, "Aunt Niu!"

This Auntie Niu, named Niu Caixia, also came to the United States in the early years. Two years ago, her wife passed away, and the family had a heavy burden, so she came to Baiweitang. Since she is from Quanzhou, Fujian, Li Weisi’s communication time is increased because of her Hokkien accent. Fortunately, the few words she said were not difficult to understand.

Knowing that his father was at home, Li Weisi immediately went to the back kitchen, and happened to bump into his father Li Wantang head-on.

His father, Li Wantang, is a traditional Chinese. He is quite tall, with a face full of dimples, and his skin has been darkened by oily smoke all year round.

His education level is not high. He came to the United States in the 60s to join his second brother. Later, like most Chinese, he opened a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, San Francisco. The business is not good but not bad. , has been living like this for decades.

"He came back right after he came back. It's not that he doesn't have long legs and wants me to pick him up. What are you shouting for?" Li Wantang wiped his hands with his apron and patted Li Weisi's arm after he finished teaching Aunt Niu who was screaming. , said: "Come back from school? Have you eaten? If you haven't eaten, I'll make you something?"

"Well, yes, wait a minute, it's not time yet." Li Weisi nodded.

Li Wantang was obviously aware of Li Weisi's almost strict work and rest schedule, what time to eat and what to eat, all strictly stipulated, so Li Wantang didn't try to persuade him any more. At this time, he also saw Frank behind Li Weisi, and waved his hand to greet Frank.

"Here we go, Bruce!"

"Hey, here we come, Uncle Li!"

"Come, come, sit down." Li Wantang found an empty table nearby, and beckoned them to sit down.

Although he said he didn't care, Li Wantang couldn't stop smiling when his son came back. The slow-witted Li Weisi might not have noticed it, but Frank on the side saw it all.

Li Weisi's parents divorced. When Li Weisi was eight years old, the week before he met Frank, which was his birthday, his parents divorced.

On that day, Li Weisi, who was still young, thought that it was no different from previous birthdays. The family of three ate dinner made by his father together.

However, there were only Li Wantang and Li Weisi in the store that day, and the mother was not there, and the customers were not there. It was closed that day, and Li Wantang cooked a large table of dishes for Li Weisi to celebrate Li Weisi's birthday.

During the meal, his father also gave Li Weisi a birthday present, which was a basketball, because Li Weisi accidentally mentioned that he played basketball with his classmates when chatting with his father a few days ago, and he thought it was very interesting.

Li Weisi's unintentional words were secretly recorded by his father and bought for him on his birthday. This made Li Weisi very happy throughout the dinner until her mother came.

Li Weisi's mother is Teresa, who is not of yellow race, but Jewish. In the early years, her father's business went bankrupt and she committed suicide by jumping off a building. Plates survive as waiters.

Later, for some unknown reason, Teresa married Li Wantang, which caused the neighbors, relatives and friends to look sideways, secretly speculating, what kind of luck did the honest Li Wantang have?He actually married a big ocean horse.

After getting married, Teresa gave full play to her tossing spirit as a Jew. First, she reviewed and was admitted to the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation, she successfully entered a Fortune 500 company as an accountant.

The values ​​​​and worldviews of the two people are completely different. This may be the main reason for the two people to quarrel and divorce.

After the divorce, the court sentenced Li Weisi to Teresa. Li Weisi seriously suspected the court's racial discrimination. After all, in the United States in the 70s, racial discrimination against yellow people was more serious than black people. Even Bruce Lee could not save the discriminated yellow people. Not to mention the honest Li Wantang?
So, no matter how hard Li Wantang struggled, he could only watch his son being taken away.

However, living with the present is still good for Li Weisi. At least he can enjoy good living conditions and educational environment. This is probably an important reason why Li Wantang finally chose to accept the reality.

In this way, after having the last supper with his father, Li Weisi hugged the basketball, got into the car of his mother Teresa, said goodbye to his father outside the car window, and was driven by his mother to his new home.

And this Baiweitang has also become a safe haven in Li Weisi's heart, and it has become the most nostalgic place in his heart, so Li Weisi often comes here during the holidays to eat a meal cooked by his father.

After going back and forth, Frank, a tool man as a driver, also became acquainted with Li Wantang. Of course, this has a lot to do with his liking for the authentic Chinese food here, but Frank will not say this.

(End of this chapter)