Chapter 276 Alone in a Foreign Land as a Stranger

During the period of studying in the UK, Meng Li tasted the taste of loneliness.

It is true that from a physical and biological point of view, he is not alone. He has a school, teachers and classmates during the day, and a warm and considerate host family at night, but none of these can replace a real home. Wandering in a foreign land, breathing foreign air, eating foreign food, and hearing foreign languages ​​in his ears, all this made Meng Li very uncomfortable.

Before he left China, he was full of ambition and made up his mind to stay in the local area to find a job as much as possible after successfully studying abroad, instead of returning to China. What's so good about the country? Food safety, air quality, social chaos that has not been resolved for a long time... However, when he really came to a foreign country, he missed those things that he hated-no matter how bad the air quality is, he is familiar with it, and the food safety is no matter how bad it is. Poor, at least delicious, what does social chaos have to do with him?

He wasn't the only one who couldn't adapt to the environment. Among the people who came out of the same group, several lost themselves because of the sudden change of the environment.

The host family is very welcoming. Although he was still unable to blend in, he had to admit that the family was very hospitable and did not treat him as an outsider. It was just that he confined himself, always felt separated, and always felt that they were looking at him with strange eyes.

There was a puppy in that family, but he didn't care about it at first, because there are so many pets abroad, it's too common. In addition, he didn't know what kind of dog it was, and he had never seen it in China. It wasn't until he asked that it was called Julie, and it was a cocker spaniel.

The family of the host family was really nice. They probably saw that Meng Li was a little unhappy, so they assigned him a task - to take Julie for a walk outside every morning and evening.

This task is easy but time-consuming. Cocker spaniels are hunting dogs, more lively and energetic than ordinary dogs. Each walk takes a long time, and at the same time, it has to shoulder the heavy responsibility of picking up shit.

Meng Li has never had a dog before, and he has no expectation but does not reject it, but he hates the feeling of stepping on dog poop while walking on the street. But when he came to the small town in England where he lived, he realized that due to the large number of dog owners, the dog poop situation in the UK is not much better than in China.

Julie looked a lot like the one in the display case, with big, round brown eyes and chiseled cheeks that gave her the look of a stern old philosopher when she wasn't barking. Meng Li often forgot that it was actually a young female dog, and always called her "Old Zhu".

The Cocker Spaniel has very long hair and is very active. It likes to drill around. This caused Julie's hair to be caught in the grass and thorns when she was walking the dog outside, causing her to whimper and whine in pain. When Meng Li untied its entangled hair, it would happily lick his hand to express its gratitude, and then quickly forgot the pain, and continued to crawl around in the weeds.

at the very beginning,

Meng Li only walks the dog near the host family, and gradually walks farther and farther, even all the way to the outskirts of the town. After coming and going, the residents along the road also know him. People who are familiar with him often greet him, and occasionally someone leads a dog to catch up with him and walk with him.

The days went by like this, and nothing memorable happened until the end of his studies. After graduation, he changed his original intention and decided to return to his motherland, which is not perfect but familiar. The night before boarding the plane, the host family held a lively farewell party for him on the lawn in the backyard, and many town residents who knew or had never met attended.

He prepared a lot of gifts, hugged and thanked the family one by one, and said goodbye to Julie. Julie probably didn't know that he was leaving, and she bit his trousers and dragged him out, urging him that it was time to go for a walk. He patted it on the head, pulled the bottom of his trousers from its mouth, and said goodbye to it in Chinese, which it couldn't understand anyway. Julie didn't continue to pester him. She took a look at him and ran to the farewell party to chase and fight with the dogs brought by other people.

Early the next morning, because he was going to the airport in a big city to take a plane, he got up early in the dark, quietly dragged his suitcase out of the house, took a taxi and left.

There is no reluctance, only the expectation of returning to China occupies his heart.

It wasn't until he boarded the plane, sat on the seat of the plane, and looked at the busy airport through the porthole, that he felt a little bit disappointed. I really want to leave...

The stewardess is doing the final inspection and announcement before takeoff, reminding passengers that the plane is about to take off, please turn off your mobile phone.

At this moment, his mobile phone rang, causing the surrounding passengers to look sideways. The stewardess smiled at him friendly and reminded him to turn off the mobile phone.

Meng Li was so embarrassed that he hurriedly turned off the ringtone. In fact, this is not the ringtone of the phone, but the alarm on him. At this time of the day, it is the time for him to take Julie out for a walk-he sometimes forgets when he is buried in his homework, even if it is only a few minutes late , Julie would be restless and wander around the house, and the host or hostess of the host family would knock on the door unceremoniously, reminding him to finish his work. Maybe it's the British rigidity and punctuality?

After coming and going, he was also very embarrassed, so he set the alarm on his mobile phone in case he forgot again. When the alarm rings, as long as there is no wind, frost, rain or snow outside, he will put down his homework, change his clothes, take the leash and shit shoveling tools and go out on time, and Julie will also wait happily at the door. After fastening the leash on it, rather than saying that he was leading it for a walk, it might be better to say that it couldn't wait to drag him away from the house...

Meng Li apologized to the surrounding passengers with a smile, and canceled the alarm that must ring every day, because there was no need to ring it anymore.

His finger was on the power switch, and he was about to press and hold to turn off the power when he received a message from the male host of the host family. There is a photo in the message. Julie is squatting at the door of his room, sticking out a paw on the door, looking back at the camera, eyes full of confusion. There is a very short sentence attached to the message: it is still waiting for you to go out.

Until this moment, the emotions that had been suppressed for a long time broke out. He thought of the long-term meticulous care of his host family, the friendliness and enthusiasm of the residents in the small town, and the time when he took Julie for a walk every day, and he suddenly shed tears.

The passenger next to him thought he was sick and uncomfortable, so he hurriedly called the stewardess, but he could only smile through tears, saying that he was fine, but he was just reluctant to leave.

Meng Li has always believed that he has not integrated into life in the UK. In fact, he is the only one who thinks so. Whether it is Julie or the host family, they have regarded him as a member of the family, and they have not regarded him as a guest. Do this and that.

He suddenly regretted that he should have at least said goodbye in the morning, that he must have acted like a coward.

Under repeated reminders from the stewardess, although he wanted to reply, he still turned off his phone.

The plane took off, left the once unfamiliar and now familiar country, and flew to the once familiar and now unfamiliar motherland...

At this point, Zhang Zian heard the phone ringing in Meng Li's pocket.

Meng Li took out his phone and turned off the alarm interface.