Amused and assured, my friend, you won't regret it. This is truly a one-of-a-kind dog food bowl in all of New York. Bringing this bowl back, your beloved pet will adore you endlessly. As for me, my Pipi has already departed along with that one. I have no use for this bowl anymore, so it's yours for a bargain.
This gentleman in black assumed that Jin Muchen also owned a dog, hence his interest in this dog food bowl. In his view, exchanging such a broken bowl for a $35 meal was undoubtedly a great deal.
However, Jin Muchen was muttering to himself at this moment, thinking, "Damn it, you clearly traded a dirty dog food bowl for a meal. You're taking advantage and pretending to be innocent."
It's just that I, sir, want to verify my suspicions. Otherwise, try taking this broken bowl out and see if anyone is willing to pay a penny for it?
But Jin Muchen had no time or patience for further chatter with this fellow. He only wished to return home with this bowl quickly and confirm his suspicions.
If his conjecture proved correct, then he would never have to resort to manual labor or delivering takeout again.
Jin Muchen bid farewell to the old black man swiftly, left the premises, and headed back to the takeout shop. He even paid for the meal himself, too preoccupied to even think about supper, hurrying back to his place of residence.
Upon his return, he headed straight to the kitchen, took out a new sponge and dishwashing liquid. Before scrubbing, he soaked the bowl in hot water for a while, allowing the accumulated residues from the evening to soften before gently scrubbing them away.
Over half an hour later, the once grimy dog food bowl revealed its true appearance.
It was a beautiful yellow-ground famille rose bowl with a five-clawed dragon motif, Jin Muchen measured it with a tape measure, diameter 14.80 centimeters, height 7.00 centimeters, bottom 6.80 centimeters, belonging to the category of practical utensils rather than decorative items.
However, if this bowl was genuine, then its price would certainly not be low. Based on Jin Muchen's judgment, this bowl should be a product of the official kiln during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty.
However, turning the bowl over and seeing the seal script on the bottom of the bowl, Jin Muchen felt somewhat puzzled.
According to his scant knowledge inherited from his grandfather, he judged that this bowl should be from the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. But why does it say "Made in the Chenghua reign of the Ming Dynasty" on the bottom of the bowl?
It's truly regrettable that Jin Muchen didn't learn more about antiques from his grandfather back in the day.
Unconsciously, it was already midnight. Jin Muchen checked the time and then went to bed, thinking, "Alright, I'll take this bowl to Fangbo's place over the weekend and have him help me figure it out!"
***
"Hey! Muchen, it's the weekend tomorrow, right? You're off duty?"
On Friday evening, Jin Muchen had just finished his work at the delivery center when Paul approached him.
It was payday, and everyone had received their wages. While others enjoyed going to nearby taverns for a few drinks, Jin Muchen, who was diligently saving money, had little interest in such pastimes.
"Yes, I'm off tomorrow."
As soon as Paul approached, Jin Muchen could almost guess what this fellow had in mind.
"Hehe, how about coming to my place for a barbecue tomorrow? Sam and I are planning a party, join us. There'll be plenty of hot girls tomorrow!"
Paul winked suggestively at Jin Muchen.
Indeed, what he said matched Jin Muchen's expectations. He couldn't help but recall the first week when he started working here. Relying on his diligent work attitude, strong physique, and the courage to challenge bullies like Joey Brindle, he intimidated these rough guys.
So, from that time onwards, Jin Muchen was quickly accepted by everyone. Therefore, during his first weekend after joining, they held a party at Paul's house together.
Jin Muchen couldn't refuse and went along, it was a typical American-style party with barbecue, beer, marijuana, and many burly African-American women.
Such parties were actually a cultural norm in the United States. Back when he was in college, almost every weekend, his foreign classmates would have such parties. It was just a bunch of hormonally charged young men and women finding various excuses to get drunk and then find a partner to have casual encounters.
Jin Muchen had attended a few times, but quickly grew tired of it.
After attending Paul's party once, he lost interest. The food and drinks were coarse, and most importantly, the quality of the girls inside was too low. It couldn't compare to the parties he attended during his college days.
Those burly, strong-smelling black girls didn't interest him. It wasn't discrimination, he just couldn't appreciate their type of beauty.
"Sorry, Paul, I have something to do tomorrow. I can't make it to your party."
"What? Are you kidding me! Muchen, you're as strong as an ox, working so hard every day, I've never seen you tired. Don't tell me you have no needs at all? Why don't you want to go to such a good party? WTF, are you telling me you have orientation issues? Could it be you like my black butt?"
Paul suddenly grinned lewdly at Jin Muchen, who then turned serious and addressed Paul.
"I'm sorry, Paul, I should have told you earlier..."
With a flexibility that didn't match his body, Paul leaped to the side, his face full of horror.
"Hey! Buddy, I understand, you have such preferences, and that's understandable... You know, now in America, same-sex marriage is also legal..."
Watching Paul's incoherent appearance, Jin Muchen suddenly burst into laughter. Seeing him gasping for breath, Paul then playfully patted his own chest, larger than any woman's, and said.
"Buddy, you really scared me just now. I knew it, how could a guy like you, full of male hormones, be a, well, you know..."
"Alright, I won't joke with you anymore, Paul, sorry, but I really have something to do tomorrow and can't make it."
"Well, buddy. But I'm curious, you're so young, you should know better about enjoying life than I do. Why do you live your life like a monk? No drinking, no women, what are you working so hard for?"
Paul looked genuinely puzzled, and Jin Muchen smiled and patted his shoulder.
"I won't say much, buddy. Tomorrow I'm going to Flushing."
"Wait, you said Flushing? Chinatown?"
"Exactly!"
"I really don't understand you Chinese people. How come you're so fond of your junk food? Your food is high in oil, high in salt, it's all poisonous. You like making these toxic foods to harm us Americans."
As Paul said this with a hippie smile on his face, Jin Muchen wasn't angry, just turned and walked away, with Paul following closely behind, grinning.
"By the way, could you bring me some General Tso's Chicken and those sausages from SC Restaurant when you come on Monday? Honestly, those sausages taste peculiar, definitely not made from quality meat, but I've been craving the flavor of those 'poisonous' sausages for a long time..."
"Really? General Tso's Chicken? Alright, alright..."
Jin Muchen was speechless about the taste preferences of these foreigners. It wasn't until he came abroad that he learned that there was such a soulful dish in American Chinese restaurants, General Tso's Chicken.
And almost every American Chinese restaurant couldn't do without this dish, which was essentially a concoction of sweet and sour sauce thickened with cornstarch, paired with chicken coated in a batter and deep-fried. That tantalizing flavor was only loved by these foreigners...
New York has two famous Chinatowns, one in Manhattan's Chinatown, mainly inhabited by early Cantonese immigrants, but now it has expanded to the adjacent Brooklyn area.
The Chinatown in Manhattan now primarily caters to high-end clientele, with restaurants and the like mostly being upscale. The Chinese here are mostly early immigrants from the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi. Most of them have now integrated into mainstream American society, and their circles are conservative and exclusive. They look down upon the recent influx of mainland Chinese immigrants in recent years.
To be honest, these people are the ones who exploit new immigrants from China the most. Jin Muchen had a very bad impression of them.
The other Chinatown is in Flushing, Queens, which began to rise in the 1990s as another Chinese enclave. The immigrants here mainly come from Taiwan, mainland China, and also Korea.
With the rapid development of mainland China in recent years, a large number of ethnic Chinese immigrants have flooded into the United States. However, these new immigrants, compared to the early Cantonese immigrants in Manhattan's Chinatown and the Taiwanese immigrants, clearly don't measure up. Most of them choose to settle in Flushing, which has caused the commercial atmosphere in the area to grow rapidly.
With Flushing's economy booming, a large number of Korean immigrants have also begun to flood in, making the commercial atmosphere in Flushing even more vibrant. Later on, even immigrants from India, Pakistan, and Greece poured in massively, quickly turning it into a very Asian community with rich Asian flavors.
A new bustling business district has swiftly formed here, alongside the financial center. Within just half a mile, there are more than forty banks, making it the second financial center of New York, second only to Manhattan.
The highly prosperous economy has also benefited New York City from here, so almost every mayor of New York City after the 1990s has attached great importance to the public safety situation here. Therefore, this area has become the safest neighborhood in Queens, without exception.
The place Jin Muchen is going tomorrow is there because Fangbo's antique shop is located there.