America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 265 The Man Jumping into the Sea

Huang Qingyun looked at the guns and bullets in front of him, a little stunned.

"What if the police want to search?"

Chen Jianqiu smiled.

"That's because you didn't have a gun, so they searched you. If you really had a gun, it was up to you whether they would search you or not."

He took a bullet out of the box and placed it in the sun.

Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the copper casing of the bullet sparkled.

"Unless the U.S. Army wants to cause trouble for you, the police, unless you burn down San Francisco's City Hall, they are not willing to show up in Chinatown."

"In their eyes, their lives are worth much more than ours."

Chen Jianqiu looked at Huang Qingyun: "And, Uncle Huang, don't forget what we did before coming to the United States."

He pointed in the direction of Chinatown: "Those people still have a way out. At worst, they will go back to the messy Qing Dynasty. We don't have any."

Huang Qingyun is like a god enlightened.

He suddenly felt his blood surge, and his past was unfolding before his eyes.

He seemed to be back when he was young again, and his whole person was full of vitality again.

Under Chen Jianqiu's arrangement, Hanif and Downey took the carriage gun to the dock.

"Sifu, tell the others to pack up and prepare to leave. We will meet outside the city at 8pm." Chen Jianqiu turned his head and ordered Li Sifu.

The twenty or so armed men were too eye-catching, so after last night, Chen Jianqiu did not let the Long Xiang group return to the city, but found a place to stay outside the city.

"Check the watch." Chen Jianqiu took out his pocket watch.

Li Sifu adjusted the pointer of his pocket watch to be consistent with that of his boss, then got on his horse and left the yard, heading out of the city.

He knew that his boss would most likely be wandering around the city alone for a while.

Chen Jianqiu planned to take a tour of the city before leaving San Francisco. Later, he wanted to visit the "site" of the dock union.

He rode on the black radish and headed towards the dock.

The union has now been burned down to its foundation, a pile of dark ruins just like those abandoned buildings in Chinatown.

The San Francisco police pulled a cordon around it, so it looked more like a "ruin."

The crowd of onlookers had dispersed.

The citizens were quite willing to believe Carney's version of conspiracy, kidnapping, and arson, which sounded quite interesting.

Therefore, in their minds, at least for now, this case is temporarily closed.

Chen Jianqiu looked at the ruins for a while, then mounted his horse again and continued to move forward along the coastline.

Night has fallen.

Darkness once again spread to the city's coast, and the wind from the Pacific blew from the sea, brushing against Chen Jianqiu's face.

Not far away, a little light appeared.

That's a fishing port.

Thirty years ago, a timber merchant built a pier of about 170 square meters there to facilitate his timber business.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the dock was built, it attracted many workers, cheap restaurants and bars were also built one after another, and business was very booming.

Active there were some of the first Italian immigrants to come to San Francisco.

With their excellent fishing skills, they turned Fisherman's Wharf into a distribution center for aquatic products in San Francisco.

So this place is also called "Fisherman's Wharf"

Huang Qingyun told him this. He told Chen Jianqiu that if he wanted to taste the freshest seafood, he could go there.

Do not miss passing through.

You know, since he crossed over, he has been traveling inland, and later he plunged into the desert of New Mexico.

It's been a long time since he's seen what seafood looks like.

The lights of the pubs and restaurants on the pier were on, and laughter came from the windows.

It's very lively inside.

Chen Jianqiu had no intention of disturbing these Italian immigrants.

He walked into one of the restaurants and asked the owner with a strong Italian accent for a grilled sea bass.

Chen Jianqiu found an open-air table and tasted his dinner alone while listening to the sound of the waves.

In the distance on the sea, the sound of steam turbines of ships can be heard from time to time, and the lighthouses on the coast are also guiding the ships on the sea in the direction of returning to port.

The sea bass on the plate soon had only one head left.

Chen Jianqiu wiped his mouth, stood up, and was about to turn around and leave.

However, at this time, a middle-aged man on the trestle not far away caught his attention.

This middle-aged man was holding a bottle of wine in his hand, leaning over the railing of the trestle, facing the dark sea.

The light from the gas lamp beside the trestle could only illuminate his back, not his front face.

Suddenly, the middle-aged man raised his legs, ready to cross the fence and jump into the sea.

Chen Jianqiu took three steps at a time and rushed to the middle-aged man's side in the blink of an eye. He stretched out his hand and pulled him off the railing.

The middle-aged man, who had yet to die, leaned against the fence and sat down on the ground.

A gust of sea breeze blew, and he sobered up a little, and at the same time he could clearly see Chen Jianqiu in front of him.

He collapsed on the ground, tilting his head with a look of despair on his face.

Tears fell from his cheeks.

The collapse of middle-aged people is often more desperate than that of young people.

If the cry of young people is like spring rain rushing through the soil, it will soon disappear and regain its strength;

The silent tears of the middle-aged man are like the autumn rain that destroys the leaves. Perhaps inadvertently, it makes people no longer have illusions about the world.

But it's better to cry than not to cry.

Chen Jianqiu thinks so.

"Hey, friend, what can't you think about?" He squatted down and patted the middle-aged man on the shoulder.

"I failed, a complete failure." The middle-aged man said calmly, "That bastard ruined me."

"Well, who ruined you?" Chen Jianqiu was confused.

"Thomas Edison."

Chen Jianqiu is very familiar with this name.

The first Americans he met before time travel were named Franklin and Edison.

Both of these people appeared in his primary school textbook before time travel. One flew a kite to attract thunder during a thunderstorm, and the other used mirrors to reflect light to perform surgery on his mother.

After traveling through time, he asked Holmes and others to verify the authenticity of this matter.

The answer was only two words, oh no, one word: "bullshit!"

"Well, what did he do to you?" The middle-aged man's words aroused Chen Jianqiu's curiosity, and he continued to ask.

"I am a businessman in New York who runs a gas lighting production company. I am also an inventor. I have improved gas lamps and have many inventions." The middle-aged man said.

"However, in the U.S. municipal lighting bid two years ago, Edison used all the dirty and despicable means you can think of to defeat me."

"He also used all his connections to force me to sell my company and make me bankrupt." The middle-aged man took a sip of wine.

"Then why are you here?" Chen Jianqiu was a little confused.

According to this guy's description, he should be active on the East Coast. How did he cross the entire United States and come to the West Coast?

"Because I thought that when I got here, I could escape that bastard and make a comeback." The middle-aged man muttered, "But I failed and no one was willing to give me a chance."

"Well, you should go to Europe to look for opportunities." Chen Jianqiu interrupted.

"I have nothing left, and I still owe a lot of debt." The middle-aged man said in a calm tone, "If I die, maybe my family can be exempted from debt."

"So, you borrowed a loan shark?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

The middle-aged man nodded.

As a veteran in this industry, Chen Jianqiu originally wanted to tell him a cruel reality.

In the West, there is no such thing as loan sharking, and there is no such thing as debt cancellation after death. His death has no other purpose except making his family more miserable.

Regarding this matter, Chen Jianqiu was helpless. He could not persuade a person who wanted to die.

"Friend, I suggest you live strong, maybe everything will be fine." Chen Jianqiu patted him on the shoulder.

Just as he was about to turn around and go back, he suddenly remembered something.

Chen Jianqiu turned his head: "By the way, what's your name?"

The middle-aged man raised his head and sighed:

"Hiram Maxim"

First update, second update later

(End of chapter)