NOVPUB
Chapter 362: 352
After playing in the park until after two in the afternoon, the group finally left, all so hungry they could feel their stomachs sticking to their backs.
"Let’s go, today we’ll dine out, Dad’s treat," Li Hongjun declared as he led his family toward the most bustling street in S City.
It was said that there were several state-owned restaurants there, all quite decent. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
They had only heard about them and never had the chance to try. Today was the perfect opportunity to see for themselves, and a rare outing like this shouldn’t be considered a waste.
Li Hongjun carried his daughter while holding his wife’s hand and leading his son, strolling along until they found the place.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too far, just over a ten-minute walk.
However, once they reached the main street, Li Hongjun immediately became alert when he noticed two people surrounded by a crowd, with onlookers pointing and talking.
"I’ll go check it out, hold the kids and wait for me here," Li Hongjun told his wife as he handed over Manman, instructed his son to stay with his mother, and he set off with a stern face toward the crowd.
Shen Yunfang also saw that something was happening. While the two individuals being surrounded were facing away from her, she saw that their hair was brown, indicating that they were likely not locals.
After a moment’s thought, Shen Yunfang decided to take her children and walk over as well.
"What’s going on?" Li Hongjun asked as he approached.
The spectators turned around and saw a man in military attire approaching, and they seemed to instantly find assurance. They began speaking all at once, explaining the situation.
After listening to them, Li Hongjun summarized the issue in his mind; basically, three foreigners of unknown identity had been spotted standing on the street without moving. The public, being cautious, feared they might be spies from abroad and thus had corralled them. The main issue was the language barrier. Everyone who asked the foreigners questions was met with incomprehensible responses, so they considered calling the police for assistance.
Li Hongjun looked at the two adults and one child who were surrounded, who were clearly foreigners and appeared to be a family.
The foreigners also noticed Li Hongjun’s uniform and looked at him as if seeing a savior, speaking to him urgently in their language.
Li Hongjun didn’t speak but frowned, as not understanding them really made things difficult. It seemed he had no choice but to seek help from the police station.
"Hello, do you need help?" Shen Yunfang said to the two foreign adults with a smile.
Of course, she was speaking English.
Li Hongjun didn’t need to look to know that it was his wife speaking. He was well accustomed to the sound of the "bird language" at home; although he couldn’t speak it, he had heard it enough to know that what the two people were speaking earlier didn’t sound like English.
"Oh God, finally someone understands what we are saying," the man exclaimed extravagantly, stretching out his arms as if wanting to embrace someone, "You should know, we’ve been trapped here all afternoon and were losing hope. You truly are an angel."
Li Hongjun frowned at the man’s indecorous gesture. What did he mean, wanting to hug his wife? But then, the man was speaking "bird language" again.
"Hehe, you’re exaggerating. The Chinese people are hospitable and kind; it’s just the language barrier that causes these issues," Shen Yunfang humbly replied, then asked, "May I ask why you are here and what you are going to do?"
Li Hongjun had already whispered in her ear to pry for information.
Upon hearing Shen Yunfang’s question, the man hurriedly gestured with his hands and feet, explaining his identity and why they were there.
It turned out that they were a family of three: the man’s name was William, his wife’s name was Lucy, and their child was named Adam. They had come from Germany and were invited to the Capital for an inspection. The past few days had been without issues; according to their itinerary, they were supposed to come to S City today, but the car they were riding in broke down on the road. With no other option, the family of three, along with a translator, got out and started walking to the municipal government of S City, while the driver stayed behind with the car.
After arriving here, the translator said he had to go do something—he wasn’t very clear, and William didn’t understand him fully. He just knew that the translator told them to stay put and that he would come back for them. So after the translator left, the family of three just stood on the street waiting, but before long, they started to attract a crowd of onlookers. At that time in China, seeing foreigners was still quite a rare sight. Initially, the family of three could still greet the crowd with smiles, but as time went by, they became uncomfortable and anxious.
William was trying to communicate with the strangers around him, but it wasn’t very successful until Li Hongjun and Shen Yunfang appeared.
Shen Yunfang translated William’s words, and the couple looked at each other, not expecting that a simple outing would lead to such an event.
Now the issue was to take them to the police station, though it wasn’t guaranteed that anyone there could communicate with them in English. Considering their disheveled appearance, they had likely had a rough time being surrounded. What’s puzzling was the intention of the translator who abandoned them; it seemed like he didn’t want to do his job anymore.
"What should we do?" Shen Yunfang asked Li Hongjun. At the time, not just anyone could take in or come into contact with foreigners, and with some people holding extreme views, if they weren’t careful, they might be accused of ’fraternizing with foreigners,’ which was not a trivial matter.
After pondering for a while, Li Hongjun suggested, "You take the kids to the restaurant first, and I’ll take them to the police station." It wasn’t appropriate for an individual to handle this situation.
"Okay, be careful and come back quickly," Shen Yunfang replied. Then, she explained with a smile to William and his family that she would take them to a police station shortly.
So the small commotion vanished after the couple’s intervention, with Shen Yunfang heading to the restaurant with the child and Li Hongjun taking the international friends to the police station for assistance.
Shen Yunfang entered the restaurant with the child, marveling inwardly at the service in big places; the attitude here was incomparable to the small diner back home. Look, not a single waiter was giving her the stink eye.
"Sweetie, what do you want to eat?" Shen Yunfang moved a stool for Pangpang to sit on by himself, and she sat beside him holding her daughter, Manman.
"Meat," Pangpang clearly answered his mother’s question.
Shen Yunfang playfully tapped the boy’s little head, thinking he was just like his father, never getting enough of meat.
After looking at the menu, Shen Yunfang discussed it with Pangpang, and eventually ordered braised pork with vermicelli for him. She ordered an egg custard for Manman and a homestyle cold dish for herself. Seeing a sign at the entryway that said dumplings were available today, she also ordered a pound of pork and Chinese cabbage dumplings.
When paying, the server, noticing there was only one adult and two children eating, kindly reminded her that one serving of braised pork with vermicelli would be enough for them.
Shen Yunfang thanked the server for the thoughtfulness and said coyly that there were still others yet to arrive. The server then understood.
Shen Yunfang felt somewhat chagrined; as a woman, it really was a bit embarrassing to admit eating so much.
