Liu Yutong turned her head and saw seven or eight men and women pouring out of the alley. They all looked haggard, but their expressions were unusually excited.
These people varied in age, from their early twenties to their forties. Many of them were carrying backpacks. Their clothes looked as if they had been soaked in water and then dried out, wrinkled and looking very miserable.
One of them, a young man in his thirties, had just arrived at the pier when he dropped to his knees with a thud, raised his hands high, and roared at the sky, America! I am here! I am finally here!
A thin young man behind him also knelt down, weeping tears of excitement, Big brother, we did it! We made it to San Francisco and escaped the border patrol! It is worth it! It is all worth it!
Hahaha...
The group gathered together, weeping tears of joy, and excitedly discussed their beautiful future lives.
According to the information I read online, America's GDP per capita is ten times that of Dragon Country, and the minimum wage is twenty times higher! Even if we wash dishes here, we can earn in a month what takes a year back home!
More than that! My cousin came here five years ago, and now she works as a nail technician in Los Angeles. She earns three thousand dollars a month, which is over twenty thousand in our currency! When she worked in a factory back home, she only made eight hundred a month!
The group grew more and more excited as they spoke, completely ignoring the strange looks from the tourists around them.
Especially the looks from some white people, which clearly carried a hint of disgust. Yet, not only did they not find it strange, they even mistook those gazes for friendliness.
Let me tell you, I watched a lot of documentaries and bloggers' videos about America back home. In their supermarkets, a huge steak is only a few bucks, milk is cheaper than bottled water, and every family lives in a big house with a lawn and drives a car!
Yes, yes, yes! And the welfare is so good! If you lose your job, there are unemployment benefits; if you get sick, there is medical insurance; when you get old, there is a pension. This is the life meant for human beings!
More importantly, there is equal opportunity. As long as you are willing to work hard here, you can make a mark for yourself!
So true! This is the true land full of freedom, equality, and hope!
So we definitely made the right choice coming here!
One of the young men stood up, raised his arms, and shouted to the crowd, Starting today, we are going to begin our new lives on this land of freedom!
A new life!
A new life! the crowd chanted in unison, extremely thrilled.
Liu Yutong watched this scene quietly, her expression complex.
In this day and age, the grand illusion of the American Dream was still so tempting to some people.
Look, were not the people before her willing to give up everything they had and smuggle themselves over just to take a bite of that imaginary pie?
Yun Cheng and Chu Yang exchanged a glance, both seeing the disdain in each other's eyes.
Generally, the first ones to be slaughtered were exactly these kinds of idiots who knew nothing about reality yet thought they held the ultimate truth.
At this moment, a man in the crowd, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old with an exaggerated head of dyed blonde hair, began to give a speech. The guy was even wearing a T-shirt printed with the Stars and Stripes and the letters I NY.
Everyone! Everyone! Listen to me!
Congratulations on finally stepping onto this land of freedom! As a senior who arrived a month earlier than you, Brother Wei has already figured out the ropes. Do you want to hear about it?
Brother, you have been here for a month? What kind of work are you doing now? someone asked.
I was originally working at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown for twelve hundred dollars a month, and then I quit.
You quit over twelve hundred? The crowd was stunned.
They instinctively did the math in their heads; this was roughly equivalent to an income of nearly ten thousand back home.
How could he just quit such a high-paying job?
Why would I not quit?
Ah Wei put on an expression of you guys do not understand at all and continued, Most Chinese restaurant owners are from Dragon Country. They are extremely stingy and specialize in scamming their own people. If you want to work, you have to find a shop run by locals. The hourly wage is high, the benefits are good, and they never delay paying your wages!
The crowd suddenly realized, So that is how it is!
Then what do we do if we do not speak the foreign language? another person asked.
Learn it!
In America, even the old ladies sweeping the streets can speak a few words of a foreign language. The educational resources here are the best in the world. The community has free foreign language courses, and you can walk right into public libraries. All of these are free! Free! Understand?
Ah Wei grew more and more agitated as he spoke, When I was back home, I had to apply for a card to go to the library, and they would not even let you borrow some books. But here? You can just walk in! Enjoy the air conditioning all you want! Read the books all you want! This is the difference! This is civilization!
The welfare here really is good. I was a foreign language teacher back home, and my monthly salary was only two thousand. Coming here, I heard that substitute teachers start at an hourly wage of thirty dollars, another person sighed with emotion.
It is not just teachers!
Let me tell you, what does America lack right now? They lack labor, especially hardworking labor like us. Construction sites, farms, and restaurants are hiring everywhere. Why? Because they are unwilling to do these jobs. They are too lazy, so they need us!
Ah Wei's words were highly inflammatory, making everyone's blood boil. They felt that this place was full of high-paying jobs just waiting to be taken, completely forgetting that they were illegal immigrants working under the table.
That is right, the American people need us!
We are here to fill the labor shortage!
This is a win-win! We make money, and America develops!
...
Just as they were getting more and more excited.
Woo! Woo!
Suddenly, the urgent wail of police sirens came from a distance.
Several white SUVs marked with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) sped over and stopped at the edge of the pier plaza.
As soon as the car doors opened, over a dozen uniformed immigration officers jumped out and charged toward them.
Nobody move! Immigration inspection!
Obviously, it was because they had been too high-profile and carried away just now, arousing the dissatisfaction of some tourists. Someone had called the police, and they had specifically called ICE, which handles illegal immigrants.
When Ah Wei and the others saw those heavily armed officers, they instantly panicked.
Fuck! It is immigration! Run!
Motherfucker, who told you to yell so loudly? You brought the cops here.
Split up and run! Split up!
...
As a game of cat and mouse unfolded, the pier instantly fell into chaos.
This group of stowaways put on quite a show of desperate escape. Some jumped straight into the sea trying to swim to the opposite shore, some hid in public restrooms, and some squeezed into the nearby shops... It was an incredibly pathetic sight.
These immigration officers were clearly very experienced and quickly caught most of them.
After being caught, those people squealed like pigs, screaming desperately.
America needs labor! You cannot deport us!
I am a skilled worker, I know how to fix cars, the auto industry needs me!
My cousin is already a citizen, and I am a citizen too, you cannot arrest me!
Freedom! Freedom! Give me back my freedom!
...
However, no matter how much they shouted, the result was the same. They were ruthlessly dragged away.
Those who resisted fiercely were even met with the merciless iron fists of ICE.
Liu Yutong witnessed the entire ordeal. Yun Cheng and Chu Yang stood guard at her sides, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings to ensure they wouldn't be caught up in the chaos.
Miss, should we leave? Yun Cheng asked.
Liu Yutong shook her head. There is no rush.
She looked toward a figure buried under a pile of fishing nets. Someone was hiding there, having managed to escape the notice of ICE.
Only after ICE had completely left did the person finally crawl out from the nets.
It was none other than the yellow-haired Ah Wei.
Still visibly shaken, he darted his eyes left and right. Once he confirmed that he was truly safe, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Then, he fished a half-empty bottle of mineral water out of his backpack and gulped down a few large mouthfuls. Next, he pulled out a small half of a donut that had long been squashed flat and wolfed it down.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, that inexplicable, arrogant energy of his seemed to return.
He yelled out into the distance.
Donuts are so damn delicious!
A hundred times better than the steamed buns back home!
Hearing this, Chu Yang clenched his fists, finding it hard to hold back. Miss, I want to beat him up!
Forget it, Liu Yutong said. There is no need to waste our time on someone like him. Let us go.
But just as she stood up, preparing to lead Yun Cheng and the others away, the man named Ah Wei, whose eyes had been darting around aimlessly, suddenly noticed their familiar fellow-countrymen faces. His eyes lit up, and to their surprise, he excitedly started walking toward them.
From his demeanor, it seemed he had mistakenly assumed Liu Yutong and her group were just like him.
