Chapter 54: Goal! Motherland!!

  Spent a pleasant evening at Shirley's home, the last night in Washington was spent like this. Sun Xiang lay on the sofa, savoring the hot kiss that Shirley had just given him. Rita looked at Sun Xiang with envy, but since they were in Shirley's home, they had to be mindful of their behavior. Sun Xiang could only give up.

  The next morning, Old Deng Kun announced his decision. Luosi's eyes were red as she watched Xue Li pay attention to her body, and a simple notice was sent to relatives and friends in Washington.

  Eric and Andy rushed to join Sun Xiang and they all gathered at the Huayuan Hotel, where two tables of guests were seated. Old Deng Ken announced the engagement of Sun Xiang and Sherry during dinner, while Rita sat at the table gazing enviously at Sherry.

  Just as we were halfway through our Chinese meal, the roar of an engine came from above, and an F4U landed next to the hotel. The surrounding area was packed with onlookers, and a guy wearing a leather hat and sunglasses walked towards the engagement party.

  "Hey Hughes, I thought you weren't coming!" Sun Xiang exclaimed happily as he hugged him.

  Hugh punched Sun Xiang with a fist: "I just got up in the morning and received your call, which made me have to give up Catherine's gentle village and rush to attend your engagement banquet. You must help me explain it to Catherine." He said, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket.

  "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Howard Hughes, the best man and witness to Steve and Sherry's love. As their closest friend, I'd like to offer my warmest congratulations and a gift to them. May God bless their marriage, Amen."

  Sherly's family and friends were all abuzz with excitement, it was clear that Hughes' great name was known to everyone.

  At Hughes' snap of the fingers, three waiters carrying trays walked in. Hughes went to the first tray and picked up a box. He opened it and pulled out two rings: "These two rings are engagement gifts for Steve and Sherry."

  After finishing, he stuffed the ring into Sherry's hand and walked towards the second tray to pick up a key. A brand new Bentley was parked at the door: "This is for Uncle and Aunt, thank you very much for entrusting Sherry to Steve."

  Then he took the papers on the third tray and handed them to Sun Xiang: "This is 71% of Lockheed's shares in arms manufacturing, some necessary equipment has been transported to China and has been handed over to Drake for management." After finishing speaking, he patted Sun Xiang's shoulder.

  Hughes sat down between Rita and began to enjoy his lunch. Duncan and Rose looked at the billionaire with a smile, apparently this guy gave enough face to his family.

  At the banquet, Hughes secretly handed Rita a small box. Rita was taken aback and suddenly understood, secretly opening it to find a diamond ring shining brightly inside, and suddenly felt her eyes getting moist.

  "Thanks, Hughes," Rita said quietly.

  Hux shook his hand: "Originally it was prepared for you three, the style is the same."

  In the afternoon, after bidding farewell to Shirley's family, Hughes flew back to New York in that F4U. Eric and three others followed Sun Xiang to Washington Airport, where H.S. Company had already prepared a plane, and the six of them took off directly for Los Angeles.

  At the port of Los Angeles, six people boarded a cruise ship. They will set foot on Chinese soil five days later. (Note: For the sake of time arrangement, many voyages have been shortened. Let's just assume that it takes only 5 days to travel from the US to China by boat.)

  A warm sea breeze blew across the deck, June sunshine shone on the water's surface, creating a sparkling wave of light. Andy wore oversized tortoiseshell sunglasses and lay on the railing to sunbathe. Richie held a fishing rod on the lower deck, fishing. Shelly and Rita lounged in beach chairs, enjoying their leisure time.

  Sun Xiang took care of Eric who was seasick in the room. This great guy, Eric, actually got seasick, which all 5 of them found unbelievable.

  Eric spat out a mouthful of water, weakly waving his hand: "Dude, I really can't hold on anymore, how much longer do we have to go? My god, I feel like the boat is spinning nonstop right now."

  Sun Xiang chuckled and patted Erik's back.

  Five days later...

  The cruise ship sailed across the entire Pacific Ocean and arrived in Shanghai on June 3rd. The whistle sounded, and Sun Xiang looked excitedly at the Chinese mainland 70 years ago. Shanghai was already within sight.

  The cruise ship docked slowly, and a big fat man with a protruding belly on the pier was particularly eye-catching.

  "Hey! Boss, over here!" Drake yelled loudly.

  Six people carrying luggage went down to the harbor, Drake made a bear hug but missed, and when he was confused, Sun Xiang had already shaken hands with a bald skinny man behind him, muttering a string of Chinese that he couldn't understand.

  "Hey Drake, it's great to see you," said Shirley in a soft voice.

  Drake looked puzzled: "Does Steve know that bald guy?" Then he saw Sherry also had a confused look, so Drake shut up.

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  Sun Xiang tightly grasped the hand of the man in front of him, who was bald, spirited, with a beautiful small mustache, wearing a well-ironed suit, and looked very happy.

  "Mr. Chiang, nice to meet you! I'm Sun Xiang, a lieutenant in the US Army Air Forces, and it's great to be back serving my country!"

  Chiang Kai-shek smiled and replied: "Mr. Sun, don't be so formal, we've been old friends for several months now."

  Sun Xiang nodded in agreement; then Chiang Kai-shek introduced his wife Soong Mei-ling to Sun Xiang. Soong Mei-ling was a woman with great charm, and Sun Xiang could clearly feel the aristocratic air about her, which was definitely not something that an ordinary family could cultivate.

  Sun Xiang also introduced a group of 5 people including Drechsler to Chiang Kai-shek.

  "These are my comrades-in-arms in the US, all of them are great pilots. These two ladies are my wives, and this gentleman is the head of H.S company's Asia division, also a good friend of mine."

  As soon as Sun Xiang finished speaking, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling's faces changed, and Soong Mei-ling quickly pulled Drecker: "I'm really sorry, Mr. Drecker, are you Morgan's superior? This time's military procurement really owes to you, 50 aircraft have been transported to Nanjing, and those guns and ammunition, I know they were sold to us at a very cheap price, on behalf of Chiang Zhongzheng, I would like to thank you."

  "Soong Mei-ling's standard American English made Drake feel at ease: 'Dear lady, we should have met earlier. Morgan is my subordinate. For the past two months, I've been building a factory in Sichuan and couldn't negotiate with you in person. I apologize for that. As for the cheap price, it's entirely because Steve is my boss, so whatever he says goes.'"

  Drake is a clever man. He easily gave Sun Xiang a big favor, and in just one month in China, he also understood many ways of doing things for Chinese people.

  Xun Xiang smiled: "These three are Eric, Andy, and Richie, flying skills that are not inferior to mine, and will be responsible for training our domestic pilots in the future."

  Then Sun Xiang said to the three people: "This is the President of the Republic of China."

  Chiang Kai-shek shook hands with the three men separately. When they found out that the person shaking their hands was the leader of such a big country, even Americans couldn't help but feel a bit stiff. Soong Mei-ling smiled and told them not to be nervous. It's clear that Soong Mei-ling, this president's wife with quite some charm, is very approachable.

  Finally, Soong Mei-ling also gave Sherry and Rita a pair of jade bracelets each, made of icy green jade, which Sun Xiang found very pleasing. The more expensive the gift, the more it showed Chiang Kai-shek's esteem for him!