Chapter 3
Monsieur An’s Donghu and Gubei shops are doing well financially, which has helped to alleviate some of their pressures.
As a result, they have also decided to open a garden area outside of the Xuhui shop.
One day, I was waiting for their meeting with a refreshing mint tea from Joy under their new umbrella. Monsieur An and Joy approached me with a serious expression on their faces, leaving me wondering what had happened.
Monsieur An informed me that there had been a small jet plane crash on his father’s farm. The piolet got killed inside the jet plane.I was shocked by the news and felt dizzy in front of them.
He continued to explain that the jet plane belonged to the Mafia and was involved in drug trafficking. Confused, I asked them what they were talking about.
Joy couldn’t help but laugh at my reaction as she explained that Monsieur An’s father owned a farm with a small airport in South America, where staff recently discovered the crashed jet plane with the pilot fatally injured. Oh my goodness!
Monsieur An shares with me that his parents have been divorced since he was a child, and he currently lives with his sister and mother. His father is an investor who has remarried to his stepmother, but they do not have any children together. Their family owns some forests near the countryside of Paris which has a shooting club inside for autumn duck season.
I was surprised and asked him if he could help cover the cost of my new car. We had a great time laughing at jokes together, including those from the wealthy kid at the cafes. It made me realize that only the rich can afford to open restaurants in another country. Maybe I should be cautious around these “young masters” in case they send me their 007.Hahaha.
Another day.I’m planning a family trip to Paris for the summer holidays in 2019. I mentioned this to two friends, Mathild and Monsieur An. Mathild kindly offered to show me around and suggested we do a family trip together since he also plans to visit Paris with his family. I was grateful for his offer.
After submitting our visa applications, I informed them that we would be coming. However, later on, Mathild apologized as he realized he would have work commitments during his family trip and wouldn’t have time to spend with us. He drinks a lot. Thats why Im not surprised by the changes.
In the meantime, I was unfortunately rejected for my visa application. I asked Monsieur An if he knew anyone who could help me out in this situation. He explained that it may have been my fault for applying too late, as many French citizens are leaving for summer holidays, including the officers at the French consulate in Shanghai. Feeling lost, Monsieur An called me to bring all of my visa documents and meet him at his restaurant.
There, he kindly offered to write an email for me in French using his laptop.Then he kindly asked me to send that email to his consulate for one final push. It’s not magic, but it feels like magic coming from such a gracious French gentleman.
I’ve gotten to know most of his new friends in this little group - Laurant, Chip, Davide, and Xavi. What an honor!
Monsieur An and Joy know that I enjoy playing soccer as a form of exercise, so they decided to give me a “gift”. They introduced me to their new friend Silva, who plays soccer in the Chinese super league.
Silva is currently facing some HR issues as he waits for his last month’s salary and release letter from He Bei Peacock City soccer team. At the same time, he is preparing for an interview with the Shanghai Shang Gang team.
However, there is a time constraint as his visa will expire within 10 days. He got a visa issue like Victor before.
We had a chat at Monsieur An’s place and I reviewed all of his documents. It was tight on timing, but we managed to go to immigration xuhui the next day with the help of an officer.
We needed to prepare an explanation letter and his training invitation from Shanghai Shanggang team, but thankfully the government was reasonable and granted the renewal of his visa. This will help Silva continue with his professional career in China.
We are still in contact, although he has left to play in Bahrain. There is a possibility that he might come back to China for kids’ soccer training in the future.
Amazing people.