America 1881: Legend of the West

There are various things on the grid behind Chen Jianqiu, including ceramics, knives, and even animal skulls, all of which are famous products.

But most of them remain empty.

These empty grids look like there are gaps in the middle of a row of teeth, and they look really ugly.

"Mr. Chen, why are the grids behind you empty?" Hanna looked at the grids and couldn't help but ask.

"Those grids will soon house a batch of things from my hometown." Chen Jianqiu said calmly while scalding the tea cup. "Some bandits will kidnap them from their original place."

"I don't want them to be like children without a home, wandering away. These grids are their home. They will stay here for many years, and then return to their hometown one day in the future."

Hanna and McKinley seemed to understand.

This Chinese man talks so eloquently, like, a prophet?

Chen Jianqiu poured a cup of tea for each of the two guests in front of him.

He himself turned around, took out a delicate small box from a grid behind him, opened the lid, and took out two sticks of incense.

He took out the match, lit the two sticks of incense, gently put them into the box in front of him, and closed the lid.

A wisp of green smoke floated out from the cutout on the lid.

The whole room was suddenly filled with a refreshing aroma.

Hanna sniffed:

"What kind of fragrance is this? Mr. Chen?"

"This is a handmade incense stick. In my hometown, people grind the fragrant leaves into powder, add some Chinese medicine, and then go through more than ten processes to reshape it into a finished product. It can refresh the mind."

Chen Jianqiu took a sip of tea and said slowly.

"These two sticks of incense can burn in just ten or twenty minutes, but they may take several years to make."

McKinley lamented:

"The wisdom of the working people of the East is truly unparalleled."

He took his eyes away from the exquisite incense box.

"Mr. Morgan mentioned you to us and praised you highly; Mr. Roosevelt did the same, but he told us that to see you, we need a little, um, 'fate'?"

McKinley considered his words.

He chose to use the word "luck."

However, Chen Jianqiu still had an enigmatic smile on his face and shook his head slightly:

"No, Mr. McKinley, what we Easterners call 'fate' is not the same as what you call 'luck'."

He put the tea cup in his hand on the tea table.

"'Luck' is luck and chance, but 'fate' is inevitable in chance." Chen Jianqiu said with a smile.

"We Easterners talk about 'karma'. Causes and conditions create the world and causes and conditions destroy the world. There must be a cause if there is a destiny."

"It's fate that you and I can sit here drinking tea. Mr. Morgan is the reason, Mr. Roosevelt is the reason. But the two of you can become the leader of the Republican Party through your own efforts. It's also the reason. Everything is the reason. Everything is fate.”

Chen Jianqiu said leisurely.

Hanna's head almost exploded.

This man looked too much like a fortune teller from the East, not a prince like Morgan said.

But McKinley on the side was thoughtful.

"What about 'destiny'? Destined?" After thinking for a moment, he changed the word.

"It's somewhat similar, but not exactly the same. 'Fate' is accidental but also inevitable. It is the unity of the two." Chen Jianqiu said.

He continued to pour a cup of tea into the three empty teacups, and then said without raising his head:

"Several new states in the West joined the Union."

"Utah is influenced by California and is the territory of the Democratic Party; Republicans in the Dakotas and Montana have not yet figured out their positions; Wyoming is a wallflower, Colorado is a rebel, and as for New Mexico, it is even more of a In the Chinese state, the Democratic and Republican parties took turns taking power, and the two of them couldn't be sure."

Chen Jianqiu's tone was calm, but in the ears of the two of them, it sounded like thunder.

Is this man really not interested in politics at all, as Morgan and Roosevelt claimed?

Chen Jianqiu put down the teapot, but continued:

"Even within the Republican Party, the two of them have not yet reached a consensus with most people; except for the two rebellious guys in New York and Pennsylvania, there are also a group of supporters of the silver standard in the western states who argue about the gold standard system. thing."

He paused, raised his head, and glanced at McKinley.

"Your election campaign is full of difficulties."

Hanna and McKinley were stunned.

Chen Jianqiu's words can be said to be to the point, and every sentence hits the point.

These problems are the main problems they face outside of this period of time.

However, these problems did not appear at the same time, but gradually emerged during more than a year of campaign preparations.

The Chinese man in front of me could speak clearly and clearly in very short language.

This is so evil.

Unbelievable, but quite shocking.

McKinley's mind was racing.

The lingering aroma of tea still lingers in the mouth and nose.

He stared at Chen Jianqiu, but found that the enigmatic Chinese opposite him closed his eyes and stopped talking after finishing speaking.

Is it really like what this person said, that meeting him is the so-called "fate", the "result" in the past and the "cause" in the back.

Is the appearance of Chen Jianqiu an indispensable condition for him to ascend to the throne of president?

McKinley finally made up his mind.

He followed what the Chinese people he had seen in Chinatown did before, cupped his fists and said:

"Please sir, teach me."

His words and actions startled Hanna next to him.

The old man is old, his reaction is slower, and his brain is still dizzy for the time being.

He put his hand under the tea table and subconsciously tugged at the corner of McKinley's clothes.

But McKinley turned a blind eye and still maintained his hand-over posture:

"Please teach me, sir!"

Chen Jianqiu still looked like he was in trance.

The wisp of green smoke floated out from the incense box and rose in front of him, adding to the mystery.

After a while, Chen Jianqiu opened his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I entered a meditative state just now. What do you guys have to say?"

McKinley raised his hand again without hesitation:

"Mr. Chen, what you said is correct. Is there any solution?"

Chen Jianqiu waved his hand:

"I'm just a Chinese who came to the United States across the ocean. I had good luck and made some money. How dare I speak nonsense about the internal affairs of the Republican Party."

After saying that, his eyelids drooped again, as if he was about to fall into trance again.

McKinley was anxious.

If the person in front of me falls into samadhi again, I don’t know when he will open his eyes again.

"Mr. Chen, you are wrong. The United States of America is a free country. Every legal citizen has the right to express his or her own opinions. This has nothing to do with skin color," he said eagerly.