Free heart

As the birthday music fades away, there's a brief pause inside the outdoor terrace of The Peninsula's trendy rooftop bar.During this period of time, almost every young man and woman present has found an online friend of the opposite sex or the same sex who is willing to chat with them.Groups of two or three happily occupy a corner of the outdoor terrace with their respective wine glasses, and communicate with each other in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere about the countries, regions, people they are interested in, or what is currently popular thing.

A candle has been blown out, and a refined and small birthday cake is placed on the small coffee table in front of the sofa.Zhou Lin, who had just passed her 27th birthday, picked up the "Linglong Commander" cocktail in front of her, which was made of Absolut Vodka, lychee liqueur, a few fresh mint leaves, lychee juice and passion fruit juice, and was looking sideways in ecstasy. The stunning view of New York's Fifth Avenue at night.

She looked back at Shen Xiaoxiao's various Internet friends who were almost standing on 2/3 of the outdoor terrace, and said softly to the sister-in-law beside her: "Xiaoxiao, I think this is the most special time I have ever spent in my life." A birthday."

Just at this time, a young, slightly immature Caucasian boy waiter walked up to Xiao Xiao with a tray in one hand.Smiling and laying down a glass of tanghu in front of her, garnish with a slice of lemon, a Thai red pepper, add ice cubes and make with mango puree, lemon juice, a little PommQGinger wine, 2 ounces (about 56.7 grams) Rio Silver Tequila Cocktail.

"Thank you." After Xiaoxiao smiled and said in English, she turned her head and asked Zhou Lin in Chinese: "Really? Well, the most special birthday? What do you mean?"

"Wait a minute, why did the American boy who served you drink leave without a tip?"

"Zhou Lin, the $5000 I spent tonight already includes tips. What did you want to say just now?"

"I mean, I don't know any of these people who came to the party tonight except you and two of your friends."

"I don't know either. Of course, there are a small number of friends I chat with on Facebook and Twitter."

"You don't know me either? I really don't understand what you're thinking. You invited a group of strangers to your party."

"No, it's your Zhou Lin's party. Actually, I think these people should be friends of my netizens or friends of friends. The purpose of attending a party is to meet new friends, drink and chat happily. I think they There's no reason not to come. Unless some guy gets put in jail by the police or dies."

"Hey, I think I still don't quite understand the thinking of these Americans. Xiao Xiao, if a friend of your friend had a birthday party on the west coast of the United States, would you go across the United States to attend?"

"Of course I will. I will drive for days and nights. Maybe I will meet a high-level figure from the US government or a mysterious intelligence agency at the party."

Zhou Lin glanced at her in disbelief, and smiled and said, "What about high-level people!? Cowhide, you have to blow it up!"

Shen Xiaoxiao didn't seem angry, but just smiled lightly: "I'm sorry, I haven't learned how to brag."

Zhou Lin glanced at Luo Siyu who was chatting and laughing with a group of strange men and women in front of her on the right, and then glanced at Yang Manqing who was also chatting and drinking with strangers in front of her on the left, turned her head and whispered to Xiaoxiao: "Hey, two of your friends are chatting with other people, why don't you go?"

Xiao Xiao took a sip of the mixed silver tequila in the glass, looked at her and said, "What if I told you that I was waiting for those two stripper girls to come to the party?"

"Hey, you little girl, you are getting more and more crazy!"

"Why not? I'll tell you directly what I want to say. Is there a problem?"

"No problem. It's just... I think watching this kind of performance always feels guilty."

"Heck, don't be afraid, this is the United States. Zhou Lin, do you know that some American police officers occasionally go to a few strip shows after work."

"The police also went to see it?? Is this impossible?"

"Why can't the police go and see? Police are human too, and they have the emotions and desires of ordinary people. Don't you let these policemen who are always worried about being shot dead by robbers, terrorists or gang members live like puritans all day long?"

"Okay, okay, I know I can't speak to you. At most... at most we can keep today's secret from each other."

"I see, you want to see it too. Yes, you want to know how these girls dance and take off."

"Go to hell! I...I'm not as boring as you!"

Xiaoxiao leaned on the sofa with a smile on her face, took another sip of wine from her glass, and said, "However, I still want to thank you, Zhou Lin. Actually, you don't have to hide what happened at the party tonight for me." .If the folks at home ask, I'll tell them the truth."

Zhou Lin didn't understand why she would say that, especially when she called Shanghai's parents and Shen Ying "guys", and quickly asked: "It is indeed a good quality not to lie or hide. But, how do you treat you? What do your loved ones call 'guys'?"

"Why, don't understand? Let me tell you, in spoken English, you can use the plural word 'guys' when you address a group of men or women. Note that women can only be called in plural, and men can be both singular and plural. Simple To put it bluntly, when people in China gather for a dinner or hold a certain event, the host will usually say: 'Guys, what's going on today...'. The 'guys' I'm talking about refers to the word 'everyone'."

"It makes sense. But you can't call your relatives that way, right? It sounds a bit... disrespectful to the elders."

"Please, how come? I think calling each other like this will make them appear closer to each other."

When Zhou Lin wanted to continue chatting on this topic, Yang Manqing walked back to the two of them with a smile on her eyes.Sitting heavily next to Shen Xiaoxiao, she approached Shen Xiaoxiao's face with her lips full of the taste of Partida tequila cocktail and said in English: "Hey, honey, I really love you so much. You know, I just told those guys I'm your new girlfriend."

Xiaoxiao leaned forward and put down the wine glass in her hand, and said to her in English with a smile: "Really? Patricia, we haven't officially started dating yet. I remember, I didn't seem to say that you are my new girlfriend .”

Zhou Lin seemed to understand some of the meaning of the conversation between the two, her eyes opened wider and wider, and she felt a strong sense of strangeness and fear of the ABC sister-in-law beside her.

Suddenly, there was a burst of laughter and whistles directly in front.When Zhou Lin focused her eyes on the front and wanted to know what happened, Yang Manqing put down the wine glass in her hand, embraced her small face with both hands, and kissed the other party's lips fiercely.