bit stealing game

Chapter 20 People in the Chicago House

Egypt has been divided up several times by colonists in recent centuries. Those European and American countries that ate and drank from the skinny Egypt also left a lot of legacy to their descendants. In Luxor alone, there are

There are many old Egyptological research institutions such as the Faye Center, Chicago House and Polish Architecture. They were the ones who once carried out colonial plunder, and now they are the ones who conduct academic research.

Time and capital have whitewashed the shameful behavior of the great powers. The bandits continue to run rampant in the hometown of the Sun God relying on the unique inheritance of their ancestors.

The Fae center guards the Karnak Temple, and the Polish buildings face the Valley of the Kings. The Chicago house came later and missed the first wave of partition, but it couldn't hold on to its wealth, and now it has become the dominant force in Luxor. In this regard, it is

I have to say that Britain and the United States are of the same origin. Or the British are very clever. Although they are not as quick as European countries, they are good at taking advantage of others. They intercepted many ancient Egyptian cultural relics from the French, and later followed suit and funded various expeditions.

Egypt looted. The United States went one step further and built a luxury resort on the banks of the Nile in the early 20th century. This is the famous Chicago House.

This house in Chicago is like an American concession. It is obviously only separated from the life in Luxor by a wall, but it is very different. I once heard an American scholar there brag: "Archeology in Egypt is not hard at all. The reason why it is hard is because

You don’t live in the Chicago house.”

This is not wrong at all.

Americans love to be lively and hold exchange dinners for archaeological teams from various countries every Friday. Our archaeological team was once invited to a Chicago house to participate in gatherings of various "colonial archaeological teams". Later, we felt a little out of place because we had not invaded others.

I don’t want to accept the appointment. We all have different archaeological concepts, so the best policy is to keep a respectful distance.

I also went with the archaeological team at that time. Although I was full of sighs about the environment there, I only felt that behind the glamor was full of rancidity. When our ancestors were still working hard to liberate the country, they built colonial manors along the Nile River.

.And people can’t help but wonder, where did the money to build this beautiful concession come from?

This invitation to the Chicago house is for the archaeological teams from various countries who are staying in Egypt to celebrate Christmas together.

Although the crimes committed by these European and American countries against Egypt are too numerous to describe, modern archaeologists are still very dedicated. Our Chinese team will return home no matter how much we celebrate the New Year. Unless they dig out some in the Ma'at Temple

If there is any shocking discovery (fortunately, last year's underground temple does not count), then the entire archaeological team may have to squat down and wait for the Spring Festival Gala to connect.

Besides, no matter what, it is always quite comfortable to hold events in a Chicago house. And I think the Egyptian people are enjoying themselves, and it is not my turn to feel sorry for them. Anyway, everyone is parasitic in this "being robbed"

A country that has been rich for more than 4,000 years but is still rich.”

On Christmas Day, we went to the construction site without hesitation, and just before dinner, we took gifts and went to the American Concession for an appointment. When we came back from the construction site, we were all exhausted. Lou Shiqi and I almost overturned the washing machine while trying to grab it.

The boat of friendship.

We also received an invitation from 279. We set off separately and met at the Chicago house.

As soon as I entered the house in Chicago, I found that it was indeed lively. People from France, Italy, Japan, Poland and other countries who stayed at their posts and did not go home for the holidays were all here. Including relevant local personnel from Egypt, it is estimated that half of Egypt's archaeological circle gathered here

This means that the house in Chicago is big enough, otherwise it would be impossible to fit all these people in another place, let alone have enough space to socialize individually.

When our archaeological team arrived, 279 had not yet arrived. The team leader first took everyone as a team to greet other teams. The Chinese archaeological team only came to the Luxor area three years ago, and many people are actually interested in us.

After a while, I saw several teams coming to inquire about our work, and many of them were curious about the underground temple. It can be seen that the news has still leaked out.

The leader of the team is also a veteran. He actively communicates with the other party about his archaeological excavation experience in less than proficient English. Once the underground temple is involved, the only reply is: "The excavation work has not been completed yet, thank you for your concern."

After saying hello to the crowd, everyone dispersed to get something to eat.

I scanned around and found that most of the people present were serious archaeologists, and there were no suspicious people. I didn’t have any social needs, so I went to the Five Zang Temple while everyone was talking to each other. The most annoying thing in Egypt is the weather.

Other than that, there is no pork. When I found smoked pork slices on the buffet table here, I actively went over.

Someone reached out to the plate of delicious food at the same time as I did.

"Sorry, please come first."

"You go first."

We both took our eyes off the table and said hello to each other.

This is a sturdy Westerner, who seems to have been raised on red soil. Although he is a bit old, he looks in good health. When he reached for the food just now, I saw that there were ostentatious tattoos on the back of his hands. Now that we looked at each other,

I noticed that he also had it on his face, and with his gray beard, he had an indescribable sense of cruelty. However, when he gave in to me, he was gentle and polite, which made me embarrassed to judge people by their appearance.

There was no point in having to go back and forth for some food, so I kept my cool and left. It happened that the leader of the group was alone, so I went to ask him if he knew who that person was just now.

After listening to my description, the leader looked around and found the tattooed man holding the plate.

"That should be Mr. Buswell. He seems to be an independent archaeologist in Mexico. I haven't had much contact with him."

The implication is that the team leader doesn’t know where this person came from.

In fact, there are many people on site who are not members of any archaeological team, but have some academic achievements. They often join the existing archaeological team and borrow other people’s resources to do some independent research. This tattooed Booth

Weir may have the same relationship with the Chicago house. But if the team leader hadn't mentioned it, I really wouldn't have known that he was an archaeologist.

The team leader was called to socialize again. I chewed the long-lost pork and stood aside like a wallflower.

Lou Shiqi just saw that I was enjoying the meal, and went to the table to get food for us two according to my instructions. He no longer followed the archaeological team around. In his words: "My English is not very good, so I was

It’s embarrassing for foreigners to hesitate and ask questions.”

At this time, people from 279 came. He Rongchuan, who was far away in their team, waved to me energetically. The rest of the people were busy greeting each other with the people coming over. I didn’t get close.

, pointing towards the dining table towards He Rongchuan. He made a gesture of acceptance and went to join Lou Shiqi.

Gradually, there were more and more people. I looked around pretending to be casual.

According to A Tian, ​​Arno, who we had met once in London, also came to Egypt. He made a show of his behavior at the auction last time, and he may cause some trouble this time.

And I'm a little concerned about the great Yin Yuechen. Not only does he dance all over the world, he is also regarded as a treasure by the Yin family and 279. But according to what I heard from the Li family, it was Li Yuan who was transformed by the Yin family this time. Why?

Can he, Yin Yuechen, solve the Yin family's thousand-year dilemma?

What's especially disturbing is that Li Yuan has never been able to believe it. Maybe it's because I'm overthinking it, but I can't help but start to worry about whether something happened to Li Yuan.

279 people had dispersed and started talking to different people. The Mexican archaeologist with the tattoo on his face was chatting with the Japanese archaeological team. Xia Shangzhou and Guangyu passed by and were also pulled over to chat. Meng Weiqing and the team leader

They were shaking hands with Menistawi and other Egyptian officials. He Rongchuan didn't know what he was talking to Lou Shiqi, so he slapped him on the back with his big hand. Lou Shiqi was held down by him, he was quite big.

She hunched her shoulders like a cat. I couldn't help but laugh.

I was just having fun by myself, and two people who were also outside the social circle came to talk to me.

This is a middle-aged couple, the man is American and the woman is British. The relationship between these two people is only established when they leave the place where they live, such as Egypt. I am used to this.

The woman drank a little and half leaned against the American. She was a writer and came here with her American summer boyfriend who came to Egypt to do bread business.

The American was very American. When he introduced himself, he said: "I'm from Texas."

I have met countless Americans like this, regardless of education level, old or young, when the whole world cares about how many states there are in their country. At this time, I didn’t want to lose face to him, so I just said, that’s pretty good.

The Texan talked for a long time, and I responded while looking for an opportunity to get out of the conversation. The British woman who had not intervened for a long time suddenly spoke to me in a very noble British accent that made my throat hurt.

Say: "You speak English well."

My eyebrows twitched slightly and I smiled back at her: "Yours is not bad either."

The American man continued his topic: "Egypt is really a good place. Have you seen The Mummy? It's about Luxor. There's also the second part where the Karnak Temple appears." It was obvious to him.

I really like that American adventure film and praised the thrilling plots in it.

I didn’t like this kind of movie that was full of cultural appropriation, didn’t respect local history, just borrowed the shell of ancient Egyptian civilization, but was full of personal heroism, so I complimented: “Yes, O’Connor is really amazing, everyone is doing it for

He saved his wife and children one after another. He has such a charming personality."

Listening to what I said, the American seemed to have met a close friend. If his girlfriend hadn't wanted to find someone else to continue socializing during the holidays, she would have continued to chat with me. So I said goodbye to them kindly.

After the proud man and woman left, someone laughed openly.

I didn't expect that there were other people around me. Before I could turn around to look for him, there was a person standing next to me.

It's the haunting Arno. This guy came to me without leaving last time. I always felt that nothing good would happen if I met him.

I asked him why are you laughing.

"There are still people here who understand irony," Arno said beamingly.

"There are people here who don't know what it means to not hear anything inappropriate." I gave him a smile back.

The way we started was not very gentle.

After looking at each other for a while, Arnold said enthusiastically: "We meet again, Miss Helpful."

"Isn't this our Mr. Collector?" I snorted, "But unfortunately I am no longer on duty. If anything happens, please ask someone else."

Arno was not affected by my sarcastic remarks, and still had that smile on his face: "That lady just now was right, I like the way you speak English. The last time we met was in a hurry, so we didn't get to chat more."

I rolled my eyes in my mind, but said to him patiently: "Thank you for the compliment. In fact, you should listen to me speak Chinese."

This time Arno raised his eyebrows in surprise: "I thought you were Chinese?"

I nodded and said yes.

After being stunned for a moment, he laughed.

Arnold is boring and dangerous. Not long ago, he used a one-man show at the Su Shide auction to attract many forces, and now he appears like a normal person in Egypt, where 279 meets various forces.

Speaking of various forces. I just took a look around the venue and didn't see Rhea. I don't know if she didn't come at all because she didn't get the [Eternal Eye], or if she had other plans.

I didn't want to talk to Arno, but this Italian didn't know how to look at people's faces, so he just leaned in front of me to talk to me.

Seeing this, he really approached me specifically in London. I even suspected that the previous owner of the [Eternal Eye] might have some information about me that even I didn't know. That's why he came to me for no reason.

He came to me again and again, either to get some information from me or to confirm something.

However, no matter what it is, I am determined not to let him succeed.

After fighting for a long time, Arno suddenly waved happily behind me, as if he saw an acquaintance. I took advantage of the situation and was about to leave, but he stopped me.

"Yu, I have a friend here too! He is also Chinese. Can I introduce you to him?"

I am not interested in Arno or Arno's friends. If I get involved too much, I might have to be dragged in by him to "help". However, I heard Arno greet me familiarly behind me: "Lee! Come here!"

"

I was stunned for a moment when I heard this name. I couldn't help but turn around and watch Arno's friend walking over.

He was a fair-skinned young man. Although he was tall, he looked like a college student who had not yet graduated. He was somewhat out of tune with the crowded environment around him. No wonder he could become friends with Arnold. In just a few short years

Bu Lu, he has already greeted several people with a smile. He seems to be very sociable.

Although the visitor's face looked young, there was no trace of childishness in his expression, which made his youthful and mature energy particularly obvious. But when he came closer with a slight smile, the disharmony disappeared again.

.

Yanuo introduced enthusiastically: "Lee, this is Yu. We just met not long ago, but we are already very good friends." Then he turned to me, patted the little guy and said, "This is my friend Yue Chen.

, usually I call him Lee.”

Arnold deliberately mentioned the man's Chinese name and declared superfluously: "You are all Chinese!"

His friend looked at me politely with a just right smile. The smile was neither cloying nor alienating, and was so sincere that people couldn't resist.

This man really knows how to show off his superior facial features, and I was almost dazzled by his beauty.

If I didn't recognize this face.

It turns out that he is Yin Yuechen. No wonder A Tian can't find his information. The Yin family needs him to get rid of the thousand-year predicament, and 279 must be him. And just now I was worried about whether he had an accident. It's really disgusting.

Carrot is worried.

I looked at this young man's steady smile, and I could still vaguely see a bit of what he looked like when he was a child. It turns out that memory is so magical, and things I thought I had forgotten came to life in this moment.

The timid, familiar, laughing, awkward, and mischievous little kid I saw in the short summer more than ten years ago is not quite the same as the strange person in front of me who can't tell the difference between friends and foes.

They were stacked together perfectly. Only then did I realize what it was like to have mixed feelings, and I didn’t know what to say for a while.

But this person spoke first.

He smiled and said, "Long time no see."

On Egyptian soil, the exchange of wine and dinner in American territory has been reduced to the background.

This is truly a grand reunion.

I laughed too.

"Yeah, long time no see."

(End of chapter)