Chapter 1591: Underground City
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du marveled as he tip-toed to check out the underground food city: “This place is so huge, and there are so many people.”
“It’s the largest air-raid shelter in Seattle right now,” Lu Guan laughed.
During World War II, a large air-raid shelter had been built below Pike Place. After the war, the shelter was reconstructed several tis but no good projects ca out of it.
Later, the governnt gave up its jurisdiction over this place, and gradually it beca a gathering place for the holess.
Even holess people had to eat. Hence, so of the budget food trucks ca over to provide cheap high-calorie food.
Seattle was originally a second-tier city. Later, it seized the opportunity of the Internet boom and gradually developed. Many Internet giants settled there. Hence, more and more young people ca to find jobs and live there.
These people were the very first IT n. At that ti, the internet had yet to be so popular and the salary for the industry was low. They had to think of all sorts of ways to save money.
They eventually found out about the budget food in the underground mall and ca to buy food.
The holess people ca from all parts of Arica and even the world. There were people of all skin colors, Africans, Japanese, Chinese, Europeans, Middle Eastern people, South Aricans, etc. There were multiple nationalities.
As they ca from everywhere in the world, they brought over the delicacies from every country. The IT n, too, ca from all areas of Arica and had an extensive list of foods they ate. However, regardless of what kind of food one wanted, one could find it there.
After so ti, as the IT n started to make their pots of gold off the internet, they started to beco more affluent and picky about what they ate.
After so subtle changes, the standards of the food stalls improved. The hawkers and chefs started to pay attention to sanitation and at the sa ti rolled out so comparatively more expensive food.
With that, more foodies were attracted to the place. The underground food city ford a positive cycle. More and more people ca to eat there, the hawkers made more money. With that increased profit, they could improve the environnt of the dining areas, increasing their attractiveness. Then even more people ca to eat there...
Finally, a wonderful underground food city was ford. Food vendors and their followers had changed the traditional market, creating an independent food carnival night.
Now, not only were there food stalls in the underground food city, but there were also music performances.
That place used to be a gathering spot for holess people. To date, it has beco the grounds of holess singers and artists. They were able to enjoy so benefits when eating at the food city, and so could even trade for food using their talents.
For example, the holess singers were able to busk at particular stalls. As long as the hawker was happy with the performance, they would provide the singers with a al.
The holess artists would find a place to hang up their drawing board and create caricatures of the foodies to make money. While the foodies were waiting, they would browse and buy so snacks, beer or beverages to spend ti.
As a result, all of that subtly helped the hawkers and stall owners to increase their profits. To thank them, the owners would treat them to food and drinks.
In fact, so of the shops even had a partnership with holess artists. So of the outstanding holess singers would often perform at a few stalls. The owners of those stalls would pay them so money on top of providing food and beverages.
Li Du and his group were walking amongst the crowd, checking out the happenings casually. They found it all quite interesting.
Chinese food was very popular in the underground food city. That was because the preparation ti was short and the food was high-calorie. Eating such als in winter was very satisfying for most people.
Li Du held a grilled pork skewer and heard soone say in the familiar Northeastern accent, “Co on, Old Iron, don’t stand on ceremony. Here’s a large skewer, and this, this is a top favorite, the best. Eat up, eat up...”
Li Du looked across the crowd and saw a young man busy grilling at a barbeque stall. There were a few people standing in front of his pit. The young man had been addressing an old black man in shabby clothes.
With a look, one could tell that the old man was holess. His hair was ssy, so were his beard and clothes. His skin looked rough and there were calluses on both of his hands.
The old man was holding onto a few at skewers. Although he did not understand Chinese, he could guess what the stall owner was saying. Hence, he shook his head as he ate the at. “Okay, okay, thank you, buddy. That’s enough for , I’m good with just this. You are a good man, God bless you. I don’t want any more food, you go and help others. God bless.”
Li Du walked over to queue up for a few at skewers. The young man looked up at him and smiled. “From China?”
“That’s right,” Li Du replied in Mandarin, “You’re a fellow countryman from the Northeast?”
The young man removed his gloves and extended a hand. He smiled even wider and said, “Yes, that’s right. Hello, hello. You’ve ordered quite a bit. My skewers are quite large. Will you be able to finish them?”
Li Du gestured behind him, “Your skewers are huge, but I have a lot of people with . My last na is Li. How do I address you?”
“Yang Dong. That’s because I was born in winter and my dad used that character to save trouble. Haha, hence, he gave this na,” the young man laughed.
Clearly, bumping into a fellow countryman made him very happy. Very quickly, he went to clear one of the tables and invited Li Du to sit down. “Co, brothers, sit down and have so drinks. I will give you guys a discount.”
Li Du laughed. “I thought that you would give us a treat. I saw that you gave that old man a free al just now, right?”
Yang Dong rubbed his nose and said, “Hey, I can tell with one look that you are a rich man. Would you care about a free al? That old man was holess. I won’t take money from a holess man. When I first arrived in Seattle, I had also been holess once. I know how bad it feels. Now that I can, I will help others a little.”
His at skewers were huge and flavorful, very pleasing to the Aricans’ palates. Very soon, there was a queue forming in front of his stall.
Yang Dong pointed at Li Du and said, “Mate, you go ahead and eat up. I will keep busy for a while. Let’s chat later.”
Li Du poured out the beer to show that he would be comfortable. That young man had a character similar to a classmate of his back in the Northwest. He was outgoing, generous and a straight talker.
After being busy for a while, Yang Dong returned and pulled up his pants to sit down. After pouring himself a pint of beer, he asked, “Are you here in Arica for leisure or planning to settle down here?”
Li Du thought for a bit and said, “How should I put it? I’m not based in Seattle. I’m here for work. I am usually in Los Angeles. I have a green card but am not a citizen yet. I’m still a citizen back in China.”
Yang Dong rubbed his nose. “You did right, old mate. You’re in Los Angeles? The City of Angels, a big city. I had also wanted to go there, but it’s not easy.”
Li Du asked as he ate, “What’s not easy? Is your English poor?”
Yang Dong said, “My English is fine. If not, why would I leave my hotown and co to Arica? I’m speaking in Mandarin because, one, I love that tongue. Two, it makes feel like ho. Three, it’s a type of promotional technique, to let custors know that I’m a legitimate Chinese.”
“When I say it’s not easy, it just ans there is no aning in being there. Even if I go there, there are no job opportunities for . In Seattle, at least I have a place to sell my skewers. If I go to Los Angeles, I would have to start over from scratch.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)