Golden Greenery

The flight from Beijing, China to the United States does not fly east across the Pacific Ocean, that is too exaggerated, but all the way north. East Asia and North America are not separated by the Pacific Ocean, but by the Arctic Ocean. In other words, from our perspective, the United States is actually north of China.

Contrary to the impression of most Chinese people, Europe is not to the west of China. From a geographical point of view, it is more accurate to describe it as "northwest". Direct flights from Beijing to Europe basically go through Inner Mongolia and then Outer Mongolia before exiting the airspace, and then diagonally across the vast Russia, it is almost time to arrive.

Take Xi'an and Luoyang, which are basically located between the north and south of China, for example. The latitude of these two cities is similar to that of the African city Tripoli on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In Italy, which is located at the southernmost tip of the European continent and is isolated on the Mediterranean Sea, Milan and Harbin have the same latitude.

However, in addition to the three Scandinavian peninsula countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway) that extend into the Arctic Circle, the European continent including the British Isles is favored by the warm Atlantic current and wind direction. Winter is by no means like Northeast China and Siberia at the same latitude. So cold and cruel, but much softer and warmer in comparison.

The west wind blows in both winters, but the treatment is obviously different. Other people's winds bring the warmth and moisture of the ocean to Europe, but our winds take it all to the depths of the Pacific Ocean, away from the East Asian continent.

The latitude of Hannover (52°22′n) is almost the same as that of Mohe (52°20′n), the northernmost city in China. However, in the same month of November, you have to bring a stick with you when urinating in Mohe, and knock and spit while urinating. The spit is like driving nails into the ground. The temperature of -25C is unimaginably cold for people in the south of North China. However, the lowest temperature in Hannover at this time is still above 0C. The municipal sprinklers are still working and the ground will not freeze. Despite the traffic and pedestrians, the fragrant Phalaenopsis is still blooming in the roadside flower beds late at night.

Alexander Barrett, a janitor and security master working the night shift at the Kiesmann School of Business in Hannover, was yawning out of boredom. The warm heating in the room was so comfortable that he had no intention of reading the stall literature in his hand. On winter nights, coffee and chocolate are obviously more suitable for heating.

It's past one o'clock in the night. The main door of Keithman Business School has been closed and locked. The side door next to the main door and the duty room is also locked. Mr. Barrett only needs to walk out of the duty room every two hours and check in at the main door. After wandering around for a few minutes, before the cold air penetrated into the velvet windbreaker, he quickly retreated to the warm duty room and continued to taste his beloved Bavarian dark chocolate.

Mr. Barrett likes his current job very much. He has two days off after one night, which is like a vacation. The salary and benefits are high. Although the students here are as proud as roosters, they are still polite and easy to deal with on the surface. They are not like those pheasant universities who beat the campus guards until their noses were black and their faces were swollen at the slightest disagreement.

The guard duty is the best position in the security work of Keithman Business School. At least it is much less busy than Barrett's colleagues who need to patrol day and night. Mr. Barrett, who is in his fifties, is getting older. The young security director is very considerate. He transferred Barrett, who had worked for thirty years, to the duty position two years ago.

Looking at the clock, it was almost time. Barrett stood up, grabbed a windbreaker and put it on himself. He reluctantly drank two sips of coffee, and then picked up the four-in-one rubber electric baton that combines lighting, alarm, electric shock, and strike. He pushed open the door to the duty room. Suddenly, a cold wind hit his face, and Barrett was shocked.

Suddenly, there was a crackling and popping movement! ! …’ Barrett, who had just stepped out of the room, was frightened by the sound of firecrackers outside the door and almost had a myocardial infarction.

Setting off firecrackers is not uncommon in Hannover, which can be regarded as a ‘firecracker city’.

A grand International Fireworks Festival is held every year, and firecrackers are indispensable for weddings, funerals, and businesses. But it’s the middle of the fucking night, so what kind of cannons are there!

‘… crackling and popping! ! ...Move for the second time! ……move! ’ The two-thousand-ring marle had been ringing for a while, and then Barrett came back to his senses, stroking his heart. Who the hell is this stupid boy who stays up late at night and runs out on the street drinking like crazy!

Just after calming down the frightened old heart, it started to crackle and pop! ! …’. The firecrackers went off again, even louder, as if two two thousand firecrackers were lit together. They were slightly farther away from the previous location, but still near the gate.

Mr. Barrett was angry: These brats just needed training. They made noise in the middle of the night and made the neighborhood restless. They have to go to work tomorrow! You bastards, now that Uncle Barrett is here, there will be no naughty kid in Hanover that I can’t teach you.

He was very professional. He turned around and closed the telescopic sliding fence leading to the school, and then took out the key and opened the side door. The guard uniform and trench coat he wore gave him great courage. Barrett walked out of Kissman Business School with an electric baton in his hands.

‘…Crackling, banging, banging…’. The lights outside the school gate were dim, and you could see the colorful confetti on the ground after the first wave of firecrackers were set off. The crisp air was filled with the pleasant smell of gunpowder smoke. Not far away, in the middle of the dark street, firecrackers were still blasting happily, and the thunder and lightning spread far away in the silent city night sky.

‘...Move for the second time! ……move! ’ When the 4,000 blasts of cannonballs were completely finished, Mr. Barrett slowly moved towards the smoke-filled area and shouted angrily in a deep voice: “Who is there? No cannons are allowed here late at night!”

There was no sign of anyone, and no one responded.

"Come out! I am Alexander Barrett, a senior security guard at the Kissman School of Business in Hanover, the school's outstanding employee in 2001, the top ten civilized model in Hanover West City Character Community in 2002. I have seen you, come out immediately."

A gust of icy breeze swept away the smoke released by the firecrackers. The smoke dissipated, and there was not even a ghost there.

"Ten streets east of the river and west of the river, find out who the father is! Come out immediately, otherwise Uncle Barrett will be unhappy!"

Still silent, the dark streets in the middle of the night were like the entrance to an unknown world. Barrett stopped. He felt a little guilty. As he got older, he was no longer as courageous as when he was young, although he was not very bold when he was in his twenties.

Barrett didn't dare to go forward. What if a few bad boys went out in the dark and gave him a beating? There's nothing a drunk middle school teenager wouldn't dare to do!

Mr. Alexander Barrett is a qualified campus security guard, but he obviously lacks military knowledge. He was not even aware of such an obvious plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain. He easily left the fortress he was guarding and went into danger alone. It was really amateurish. No wonder he has been doing this all his life. The security guard didn't even get a squad leader.

Just as Barrett stepped forward and introduced himself majestically, a flower-picking thief in black clothes, black hat, black pants, black shoes, and a black mask, carrying a dark blue backpack, quietly entered the open side door from behind him. , jumped over the retractable fence with one hand, and was as agile as a soft black cat. The figure of the flower picker quickly disappeared into the deep university campus.