Time Travelers from the Umbrella House

Chapter 39 New Friends and Old Friends

Ronnie fell asleep in the midst of his rambling thoughts. It was four in the afternoon when he woke up, ate something, and went out of the house. He also wanted to make some friends. Outside was a corridor twenty meters wide and three hundred meters long, twenty meters straight ahead was a one meter high glass balustrade, and below the balustrade was the "Sea of Dreams". He stood on the twenty-fifth floor and looked down at the water where a dozen people were swimming. As he looked down, he saw a young girl reading a book on one of the seats, so he decided to go over and meet her. He approached quietly, sat down next to the girl and said, "It's so hot today, it must be summer."

The girl looked up at him, "What did you just say?"

Ronnie didn't realize that she was actually a little deaf, so he shouted loudly into her ear, "I said it's hot, there are lots of mosquitoes, and that summer must be here soon."

The girl also shouted in his ear, "I'm not deaf, you don't have to be so loud."

Ronnie's face heated up and he quickly changed the subject, "I'm Ronnie, can I get to know you?"

"I'm Peggy, nice to meet you," the two shook hands.

They chatted back and forth with great enthusiasm, as if they'd met before. Ronnie learned that Peggy was a City-state science researcher, twenty-one years old, born in the City-state, received the most formal City-state education, and now lived in room thirty-five on this floor. Just then, two boys came by and asked Peggy if she wanted to go swimming. Peggy refused because she was talking to Ronnie, and the two boys muttered as they walked away, "Peggy actually got so involved talking to a 'black onan'," they said this as if they wanted Ronnie to hear them.

Ronnie did hear, and he asked Peggy, "What's a 'black onan'?"

Peggy was a little embarrassed, but explained, "'Black onan' means hillbilly," seeing that Ronnie still looked confused, she went on to explain, "In the city-state, people who come from the 'free world' are called 'Black Onan', and the most respected people in the city-state are the researchers, the men usually work as city guards and emergency personnel, most of the women are paramours, and there are also garbage collectors, station guards, and guardians of the House of the Three Wolves. When the city-state was first founded, and everyone was from the 'free world', there was no such problem. Now that 80% of the City-state's personnel are indigenous, and most of them are researchers, teachers, and healers, this problem has arisen over time."

"Oh! no wonder they call us 'Black Onan'," listening to her explanation, Ronnie came to a realization.

"By the way, you're so smart, what do you do?" Peggy asked suddenly.

Ronnie scratched his head and laughed, "They guys are right, I am a city guard."

Peggy's face immediately dropped when she heard that he was a city guard, "I can't believe you're a city guard too, I'm sorry I have to go, bye!"

Ronnie hadn't expected her to react so strongly when she heard that he was a City Guard and that she was leaving. He could only reply politely, "Bye!"

He shrugged and laughed to himself, "Looks like a date gone wrong, forget it, let it go, too deliberate instead of finding it," he thought to himself and turned to go back to his room. At that time he remembered Professor De Silva, he was eager to see himself when he was at the Baron's house and said to the butler, "Help me add the number SH9819-2546 as a friend. "A few moments later, the other party went through the friend and sent a message, "Ronnie, you finally came to the city-state, very happy about your arrival, I'm in block 9819 in You City, I'll look for you in block 9822 on the weekend."

"Looking forward to your arrival," Ronnie replied. Momentarily bored, he wanted to go over to Alice's side. As he passed room thirty-five and bumped into Peggy again, she saw him too, but she just nodded her head and went into the room. Ronnie said in his heart, "That woman is really annoying. He took the elevator to the fourteenth floor and found Alice's room. Just as he was about to knock on the door, it opened automatically, "Ronnie, what are you doing here? I was just going out, it's the first time you've come to my place, come in," Alice invited him in.