42: Chapter 42: Countdown to the 10,000-Person Rifle Tournament!
The young ticket inspector finished checking their tickets, then looked at the two young girls traveling alone with a very strange expression, even glancing around a few times.
After all, it was a night train, and there were pitifully few passengers.
But when the two stepped into the carriage, they were instantly dumbfounded.
"Anna, are you sure we got on the right train?"
Elizabeth rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
Even the usually fearless Anna was stunned on the spot.
This carriage was completely different from what she had ridden before!
Where were the soft sleeper beds? Where was the smiling steward uncle?
Actually, one couldn't blame them.
Given the financial resources of the Edison and Elizabeth families, they always traveled in first-class compartments.
The two little heiresses always thought trains were naturally magnificent and had no idea that things like hard-seat carriages existed in the world.
Just as they were dazed, a lazy voice suddenly came from behind.
"Make way, please!"
Elizabeth turned her head subconsciously and bumped into a bald man covered in filth with yellow teeth.
The man was grinning stupidly at her.
Elizabeth was so scared she trembled all over as if she had seen a ghost. With a "pop," the suitcase in her hand fell to the ground, and she hurriedly dodged to the side.
"Hehehe, good evening, little beauty!"
The yellow-toothed man gave a weird laugh at the two girls and squeezed past them.
The two little girls were completely shaken.
Their tightly clasped hands were trembling.
After the man walked away, Anna looked at Elizabeth with a pale face and, suppressing her fear, comforted her: "Don't be afraid! With me here, I will definitely protect your safety!"
"Mm, Anna, I'm okay!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Elizabeth looked down and found a large, dark stain of machine oil on her white lace skirt.
It was exactly what had been rubbed on when the man passed by just now.
The clean-freak young heiress felt the world go black, and almost fainted on the spot.
The carriage was filled with the pungent smell of sweat and inferior tobacco.
The two girls gasped, suppressing their nausea, and finally found their hard seats.
"Don't worry! I checked the route, as long as we endure twenty-one hours, we can reach Chicago! Bruce will definitely come to the station to pick us up!" Anna clenched her fists to cheer Elizabeth up.
"Mr. Bruce!"
Hearing this name, Elizabeth's panicked heart finally calmed down a little.
This Chinese prodigy had become her only spiritual pillar at the moment.
...
In the carriage, the two little girls hugged each other tightly.
Because before the train started, a drunkard carrying a wine bottle squeezed into the seat opposite them.
As soon as the drunkard sat down, he let out a loud hiccup, exhaled a strong smell of alcohol, and fell fast asleep.
The suffocating smell of alcohol drifted over, and Elizabeth's stomach churned, almost vomiting up all the snacks she had eaten that evening.
Honestly, Elizabeth regretted it in her heart.
But as the "clatter-clack" sound rang out, the steam train blew its whistle and slowly started moving.
Now, even if she regretted it to the point of her intestines turning green, she couldn't get off the train.
Fortunately, there were very few people boarding at the New York station.
In the whole carriage, besides the drunkard and the sloppy man who had dirtied her skirt earlier, there were only five young white men in trench coats and top hats.
The train sped along.
After enduring for a few hours, the two little girls couldn't hold back their sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep, leaning against the hard wooden chairs.
In the blink of an eye, it was the next evening.
Chicago train station.
Lin Tian stood at the exit.
He had received Anna's letter in advance, which said they would arrive on time this evening.
Lin Tian had always thought that when two heiresses went out, their family must have sent a bunch of bodyguards and elders to follow them.
Who would have thought that when all the passengers were gone, he would only see two lonely little girls standing in the cold wind.
"Didn't you say you were coming with your family? Why is it just the two of you? What's the deal with this miserable look?" Lin Tian was full of confusion.
Upon seeing Lin Tian, Anna felt like she had seen a savior, immediately ran over, forced out two tears, and complained:
"Bruce, mine and Elizabeth's suitcases were stolen on the train!"
Elizabeth also walked forward with her head down; although she was full of grievances, she still politely bowed:
"Mr. Bruce, we have caused you great trouble. Can you take us to buy some clean clothes first?"
"Yes, yes, yes! I'm covered in a stench, I must change my clothes!" Anna hurriedly agreed.
Looking at the two, their clothes wrinkled and stained with dark machine oil spots, Lin Tian nodded helplessly.
He hailed a carriage and took the two little girls away from the train station.
Just after the carriage drove away.
In the corner of the platform, five young men in top hats walked out quietly and stood where the two little girls had just been.
The leader stared in the direction the carriage had left and spoke in a deep voice:
"Go send a telegram, report to the boss, the young lady has arrived safely!"
The person behind him nodded.
Looking closely, what this person was carrying was the very suitcase that Anna and Elizabeth claimed had been stolen!
"How did you handle the guy who provoked the young lady on the train?" someone next to him asked casually.
The young man carrying the suitcase curled his lips, full of disdain: "Dare to make the young lady unhappy, I definitely broke his hands and feet and threw him halfway!"
"Alright, hurry up and send the telegram, the boss must be worried sick at home!" the leader urged again.
The subordinate took the order and turned to run to the telegraph office.
...
At the same time, Manhattan, New York.
In a luxurious office in a building.
A middle-aged man held the telegram that had just been delivered and breathed a long sigh of relief.
Although he had arranged for top bodyguards to secretly escort them all the way, accidents were inevitable when traveling.
Now that he had confirmed his precious daughter had landed safely, his hanging heart could finally be put down.
Recalling this morning.
His wife, Laura, pushed open her daughter's bedroom door and found she was missing, nearly fainting on the spot from fright.
It took the man a lot of effort to explain it clearly.
Only then did Laura understand that her daughter hadn't been kidnapped, but had run away from home on her own.
But as a mother, she couldn't understand why her well-behaved daughter from a prominent family would run to a strange city in the middle of the night for a boy.
When she found out the boy's name was Bruce Lin, Laura suddenly realized.
She often read the newspapers and knew that this Chinese teenager had a good brain and had made a bunch of great inventions.
Most importantly, last time on the train, it was this teenager who shot and saved the wife and daughter of Edison's family, and later donated a large reward to the poor.
Based on this point alone, his character was absolutely trustworthy.
However, mothers look at things from a different angle.
Her precious daughter traveled so far to find someone, was she perhaps experiencing first love, falling in love?
"Are you really not worried at all?" Laura stared at her husband in front of her and questioned.
The man sitting on the leather chair was a business tycoon whose every move could shake the entire USA.
He smiled and said in a very relaxed tone: "As long as our daughter likes him, even if she wants to marry a country bumpkin working the fields, I would give my full support."
"What's more, this little Bruce is indeed a talent, right?"
Laura rolled her eyes at her husband.
She knew clearly in her heart that her husband was just saying nice things.
If her daughter really brought back a pauper, her husband would definitely break the person's legs and throw him into the sea.
However, it could be heard from these words that her husband appreciated Bruce Lin very much.
"Fine. John, when you have time, just send an invitation and call this child to our home in New York for a meal!" Laura conceded.
"No problem, I reckon this kid will come to New York to make a big splash soon!"
The man speaking was none other than the famous oil tycoon — John Rockefeller.