Chapter 3892 3894 [Try to Adapt]

"This is our home, it's more beautiful than Yiwu's home." Qiaogu couldn't help but praise.

Xiang Nan nodded, "That's because Yiwu hasn't developed yet. Let's see in another 20 years, Yiwu is not bad either."

Now that the country has just opened up, it is normal to lag behind. But the development speed of the mainland is much faster than that of the United States. Especially for economic leaders like Yiwu, the development is even more rapid.

In 1984, the GDP of Yiwu County was only 380 million. By 2004, the GDP of Yiwu City had reached 26 billion. In 20 years, it has increased 68 times.

In 1984, the GDP of the United States was 7.1 trillion US dollars. By 2004, the national GDP reached 13.3 trillion US dollars. In 20 years, it has only doubled.

So although Yiwu started slowly, it was able to catch up with the rapid development. Like Chen Jianghe and Luo Yuzhu in the play, they also drove luxury cars and lived in villas in 2005. In terms of living conditions, they were no less than the wealthy class in the United States.

Qiaogu smiled and nodded.

"Come, sit down and rest first, I'll go cook, let's try American steak today." Xiang Nan said with a smile.

"Brother Daguang, let me do it." Qiaogu said quickly.

"No, you've been on the plane for a day, let me do it, sit down and watch TV for a while." Xiang Nan pressed her on the sofa and said.

Qiaogu had no choice but to nod, and then looked at the TV in confusion and said, "Hey, Brother Daguang, how do I turn on this TV? Why can't I see the switch?"

I saw that this TV was very different from the TV at home. First of all, it was very big. The TV at home was 14 inches, and the TV here was 21 inches, which looked much bigger.

And the TV here actually had no buttons or dials, so she didn't know how to watch TV when she wanted to, and she stood there completely at a loss.

"The TV here is controlled by remote control." Xiang Nan smiled and picked up the remote control, pressing the switch of the TV, "Look, it turns on when you press this button."

"Oh, that's it." Qiaogu nodded, "Hey, why is this TV in color? The leaves are really green, and the clothes are really red..."

"This is a color TV. People have invented it for a long time, but we have just developed it in the mainland and it has not yet begun to be popularized." Xiang Nan explained.

The United States developed color TV in 1940, and the first color TV in China was produced in 1970, so there is a time gap of 30 years.

However, the development speed of domestic color TV is extremely fast. After the new century, three-quarters of the world's TVs are produced in China.

And Japan, a traditional powerhouse of home appliances, its home appliance brands such as Toshiba, Panasonic, Sony, Sanyo, Sharp, etc., are either bankrupt and reorganized or acquired.

So it is just as the old saying goes, being fat first is not considered fat, but being fat later will crush the kang.

...

In the following months, Qiaogu tried to adapt to life in the United States.

Xiang Nan had long been accustomed to life in the United States, so after arriving, there was no discomfort. For Qiaogu, America is simply another world, which makes her feel very uncomfortable.

For example, in America, clothes cannot be hung out to dry, even if the sun is good outside.

This is because clothes dryers were already popular in the United States in the 1950s. Hanging clothes outside to dry means that you cannot afford a clothes dryer, which means that the family is poor. And poor people living in the community will affect the overall housing prices of the community.

Moreover, hanging colorful clothes out to dry is also unsightly. Therefore, Qiaogu, who used to like to hang clothes, was forced to change her habit.

For example, the diet in the United States is relatively simple, almost every day is bread, salad, fried chicken, hot dogs, steak, etc., eating it once or twice is still fresh, but eating it often is very greasy.

But she wanted to eat stir-fried dishes, but there was no decent seasoning and no suitable vegetables. Many vegetables in China are not available in the United States, such as leeks, cabbage, lettuce, winter melon, etc. And the seasonings such as oil, sauce, vinegar, etc. are also very different.

For example, in the 1980s, Americans' clothes were already very bold. Navel-baring tops, backless tops, hot pants, suspenders, etc. are everywhere on the streets, not to mention the beach.

Qiaogu had just come from the mainland, and she was really shocked when she saw this scene. So she adapted for a long time, so that she would not cover her eyes, turn her head, and blush every time she saw it.

...

In order to help her adapt to life in the United States, Xiang Nan not only took her out for a walk frequently, but also specially invited a fellow villager from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who could speak English and Mandarin from Chinatown in San Francisco to teach Qiaogu.

The fellow villager's Chinese name is Lin Shuangshuang, and her English name is Selena.

Their family also came from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but they first went to Taiwan and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. Therefore, she can speak English, Jiangsu and Zhejiang dialects, and English, which can be said to be just right to help Qiaogu.

"Your husband came to the United States to study last year, and he can buy such a beautiful villa. It's really not easy." Selena said to Qiaogu.

"Why, is this house expensive?" Qiaogu asked puzzledly.

"Of course, this house is worth $150,000." Selena explained, "This is a famous middle-class area. The people who live here are company executives and white-collar workers."

"I don't quite understand." Qiaogu waved her hand and smiled.

"Let me put it this way. My family immigrated to the United States for almost ten years, and we still live in an apartment in Chinatown." Selena explained.

"Isn't that great? There are so many Chinese in Chinatown. Wouldn't it be better to live together?" Qiaogu said doubtfully. She would rather live in Chinatown. With so many compatriots, she wouldn't be uncomfortable.

"Of course not. Only poor Chinese live in Chinatown. If they were rich, they would have moved out long ago." Selena waved her hand and said.

Many Chinatown communities are old buildings that have been built for decades. The buildings are old and the supporting facilities are insufficient. Moreover, many Chinese come to the United States with nothing in their pockets, so they will first live in the old buildings in Chinatown.

This also leads to the fact that Chinatown is a mixed bag of people, mud and sand, and it is more complicated. Therefore, the rich and powerful Chinese who have made a name for themselves in the United States usually move out of Chinatown and will not live there anymore. Of course, those who are poor and powerless can only stay.

Selena's family has been in San Francisco for ten years, but they have not saved enough money to buy a house, so they cannot move out of Chinatown for the time being.

Therefore, she admired Xiang Nan very much. He bought such a beautiful house just half a year after coming to the United States, and even drove a new Cadillac. It was really not easy.

"So that's the case. I didn't know it." Qiaogu shook her head.

"In short, you are really happy." Selena smiled, "I don't know how many people I have seen who leave their other half and look for a second spring after coming to the United States. Your husband actually thought of bringing you here, which is really rare."

Many people choose to break up and divorce their lovers who stay in China after coming to the United States.

First, long-distance relationships are very painful, and not many people can stick to it; second, after they come to the United States, they think they are superior and look down on those who stay in China.

After Xiang Nan became rich, he not only did not divorce, but also brought his wife from the mainland, which is really rare.

"Daguang has always been very good to me." Qiaogu smiled happily.

Selena nodded enviously.