Chapter 2 Primer

In the spring of 2010, my wife Jennifer Allen and I flew to Beijing from New York—no, now her name is Jennifer Go.Because of the Sichuan earthquake and the H1N1 flu, this trip was delayed for three years.We first traveled by car in more than ten states in the United States, and even reached the remotest corners of the United States—Key West, a small island in Florida.Hemingway once "drifted south" here for ten years and completed such masterpieces as "For Whom the Bell Tolls". When the Boeing 777 landed in Beijing, it happened to be sunny and sunny, and I felt relieved. If a sandstorm was used as a windbreaker for my wife, the big lie that I have repeatedly boasted about "Beijing is the most livable city on earth" will be unfounded. .I saw the sprawling city beneath the belly of the plane, unfolding like a pile of Jenga toys, mechanisms, and miniature bonsai; the endless traffic of the highway crawling like a worm, shining with broken highlights like a beetle.This behemoth is getting bigger and bigger, like an out-of-control crustal thyroid and bone hyperplasia.

After eight years in Beijing, this city crushed me like a millstone, but in front of the "barbarian people", my insane megalomania still broke out.I said to my wife like a long-term worker showing off the property of an old rich man: "Look, that's Terminal 3, which was built before the Olympics. On this earth, it's the only one!" My wife followed my fingers and exclaimed, "Amazing!" The foreigners who were close to the cabin also gave out a lot of praise. "There are few cities on this earth that can compare with Beijing. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago are small cases (things, cases)." I said, and my wife nodded in confidence.

"Beijing is the biggest pancake in the world." I continued to babble, and my wife was confused. I explained that this is a metaphor. China uses one-third of the world's steel and half of the cement. Beijing has taken another big piece, and it is getting bigger and bigger, like spreading a big pie... "It's like America before and after World War II." "I've lived here for eight years." "Wow——, your territory." "Yes, my millstone." I had a sore nose, lowered my head, and covered my eyes.The plane began to dive, and the ears roared and ached.In an instant, an invisible force suddenly invaded my body and separated my spirit orifice.