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Chapter 219: Professor Dugan's Defense Breaks

Lot Dugan was puzzled, especially for an old man like him who had experienced the most glorious era of the empire.

Even during the heyday of the empire he experienced, there were still vagrants, or homeless people, on the streets.

The most popular American TV series at that time was "Growing Pains". As shown in the show, a family could maintain a relatively decent life with a single income.

The entire society was not as divided as it is now, and overall it was positive and optimistic.

But even so, there were many homeless people in the downtown of that era, doing nothing on the streets.

Lott Dugan remembered this very clearly, because at that time he lived in the international metropolis called Xinxiang by the Chinese.

He was also in his rebellious period. He once lost his temper because his father, Old Dugan, did not allow him to attend a party held by his classmates downtown at night, and then sneaked out of the house.

That night, something happened that he didn't want to recall, and it taught him a hard lesson.

However, as an old Chinese saying goes, "A blessing in disguise"? It was also that unbearable experience that made him say goodbye to some things and start studying hard.

Later, he rejected the invitation from Xinxiang University and chose Princeton because communities dominated by well-known universities like Princeton are not like big cities like Xinxiang. Although it is impossible to completely prevent homeless people from staying there, their number is very small, at least much less than that of Imperial Xinxiang.

So Lott Dugan even thought that the driver who came to pick them up was not credible. He planned to go and see for himself.

In order to see the most real situation, he did not intend to alert any official personnel from China. In his impression, Chinese people are very concerned about their reputation and like to show their best side.

So he spent an entire night looking for someone, and successfully rented an ordinary private car and driver through personal connections for two days.

It's not that he doesn't want to drive himself, but he knows that his driver's license cannot be used directly. He needs to go through the relevant procedures to apply for a temporary driver's license before he can drive on the road. But he doesn't have the time.

He felt that he owed them a favor because the price was very cheap. The total cost for two days was only $300. And it did not include any other additional expenses.

He does not need to be responsible for fuel, insurance, parking fees, taxes, etc., and he does not even need to give the driver extra tips.

You should know that in Princeton, theoretically you only need to pay a 10% to 20% tip to the driver if you rent a car for a day. But in reality, you have to pay at least 15%, or even more.

Not to mention that in New Jersey, where Princeton is located, renting a car requires an additional 7% tax, but in China, all this money is included in his $275.

So Lot Dugan didn't even feel comfortable asking for the type of car. After all, the price of renting a car with a driver was already very affordable.

But what surprised him the next day was that the car that came to pick him up was a tram. Although he had never seen the brand before, it looked pretty good. Not only was there a big screen on the car, but there was also a refrigerator with drinks prepared for him.

Even the driver could speak fluent English, so at least the two of them could communicate without any problems. This made the smart translation software he had prepared on his phone yesterday useless.

This made Lott Dugan feel that he owed a big favor. After all, the car had a large screen and a refrigerator, which were only available in luxury cars in the United States.

With the money he paid, he might not even be able to rent a car as good as this one, let alone one with a driver.

So as soon as he got in the car, he couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, how much does it cost to buy this car?"

Driver: "Well, about 23? But the price has dropped recently, and there are subsidies, so it's said that it can be bought for about . Oh, by the way, this is the price in RMB, if converted to US dollars, it's about K.

But I heard that you are more pragmatic and it is popular to buy used cars, so it is even cheaper. In the used car market, you can buy an 15% new car for at most K US dollars, which is very cost-effective. "

Lott Dugan was surprised...

You can buy a second-hand luxury car that is 1.5% new, has a large screen and a refrigerator, and looks very high-tech for only $?

His current annual salary is $30, and after paying various insurances and taxes, his annual income is about $18. In other words, can he buy such a car with just one month's salary?

The Chinese are simply crazy!

Really, after staying in the United States for a long time, he first realized the strong purchasing power of the US dollar. Don't those car manufacturers need profits?
Well, all of a sudden he didn't want to discuss it.

"By the way, you know what I want to see, right? Dennis should have talked to you about it, right?"

“I know, I know, the first time you came here, you just wanted to travel around the whole capital, but you didn’t want to go to those places that foreign tourists particularly like to go to.

Don't worry, I'm an old Beijinger, I know everywhere, and I can be your tour guide. If you ask me, you know how to travel.

Those tourist hot spots are all hype, and real Beijingers don't care about those places. You found the right person this time.

I planned the route for you last night, and I guarantee that you can see every aspect of it after going around..."

There is no doubt that the driver my friend helped to contact was very talkative. He chattered all the way...

But Lot Dugan didn't need such a talkative driver. After all, he mainly wanted to see it by himself. For this reason, he opened the navigation and marked all the places he had been to.

The main purpose is to see if the driver has been to most places as he said, rather than deliberately avoiding some areas. If there are areas that he avoided, he will check and fill in the gaps the next day.

In this way, Lott Dugan spent two full days driving around the capital, and also visited some community parks near the bustling areas.

You never say it, you never say it, but hard work paid off and Lot Dugan really saw a homeless man begging on the street.

However, the homeless man's clothes didn't seem to be too bad, just a little dirty. And unlike what he imagined, he was holding a QR code sign in his hand...

Although it was his first time in China, after eating a few meals in restaurants and going to a few stores, Lott Dugan already knew that the QR code was for people to scan and pay.

But it doesn't matter. He has prepared cash on him just for this moment.

"If you answer a few questions for me, this money will be yours." Lott Dugan started communicating with the homeless man with his mobile phone and a hundred-dollar bill that he had withdrawn from an ATM.

This software is very convenient. He only needs to speak English into the phone, and after the translation, click the play button, and it will be automatically translated into Chinese and read out using AI voice.

The same goes for the other side, just speak Chinese and it will be translated directly into English.

“Are you a foreign journalist?”

"No, I'm not. I'm just curious about your living environment. For example, where do you sleep every night?"

"Of course I'm going back to the house I rented!"

"You still rent a house?"

"Isn't that necessary? Where else can we live if we don't rent a house? The rent is very cheap. The house I rent is 500 yuan a month, and it even has a toilet."

"Then why don't you find a job?" "Because I like a free life."

"Have you been in the capital?"

"No, it's still warm in the capital now. I'll go to the south when it gets colder in two months. And I can't stay in one place for too long, or I'll be sent back home. I don't want to be sent back, because it'll cost me money to come out again."

Lott Dugan: “???”

"You can only ask this much for the money you gave me. If you ask more, I'll charge you more!"

Lott Dugan had no choice but to take out another hundred-dollar bill...

"Can you afford the journey to the South? Where will you get the money?"

"You gave it to me! Don't you know? The money you gave me today, if I add a few dozen more, will be enough for my trip from Beijing to Shenzhen. Of course, I can only take the green-skinned train, and it will be very tiring to sit for a whole day."

Lott Dugan had heard of Shenzhen, which was also a megacity in China and very close to Hong Kong Island.

But these are not important. After some communication, Lot Dugan discovered that the homeless people in China seemed to be completely different from those in Xinxiang.

After the chat, he even felt that this guy was living a pretty comfortable life.

This made him feel complicated...

But once we got in the car, the chatterbox driver started again: "Hey, Professor Dugan, you shouldn't have given him money. In China, whenever we meet a beggar, we are willing to give him food instead of money!"

"Oh why?"

"Because most of them are fake! They beg simply because they are too lazy to work. And you see that man just now has hands and feet, so he can do anything.

If you really want to help some people, you shouldn't give to these beggars. If possible, we would rather help those who are willing to work hard despite the injustice of fate, rather than those who take advantage of people's kindness to make profits. "

Well, Lott Dugan didn't want to say anything more.

There was no way. After two days, his overall understanding of China was completely overturned. His driver was also an important part of his understanding of China.

Then he found that although both were capitals, life in the Chinese capital was obviously much easier than life in Washington, D.C. in the United States.

Even though the rent on both sides is relatively expensive, there are at least places for low-income people to rent in the capital of China.

Moreover, the prices in Beijing are obviously much lower than those in Washington, D.C. There is no consumption tax as high as 6%.

There is also an extremely developed, efficient and shockingly cheap public transportation system, which allows people to enjoy convenient travel services without owning a car.

This also made Lott Dugan think that he had found the reason why Huaxia cars were so cheap.

After all, the poor public transportation system in the United States makes cars a necessity for people to travel.

But in China, according to the driver, almost all urban and rural public transportation systems are similar, and the prices of most local bus systems are cheaper than those in Beijing.

This also means that for ordinary people in China, they do not need a car and still have the right to convenient travel, and it is much more cost-effective than buying a car.

In this case, if you want ordinary Chinese people to buy cars, cost performance is indeed very important. Even if there are special needs occasionally, there are taxis and online car-hailing services, and the prices are ridiculously cheap...

The intercity transportation system has the world's largest high-speed rail and railway network, which is also much more cost-effective than driving.

Therefore, if cars were sold at the same price in China as in the United States, there would be no room for survival.

Lott Dugan couldn't understand why Chinese car companies didn't spend some money to lobby the government not to invest heavily in public transportation systems. After all, it was a well-known fact that large interest groups in the United States lobbied the government in order to make money.

Moreover, China's automobile industry seems to have developed very well, and there should be enough driving force to do this.

But when he asked this question, the way the driver looked at him almost made him depressed again, as if he was looking at a lunatic.

"Professor Dugan, what you said... Why does it sound like legal bribery? Car manufacturers lobbying our boss not to build a public transportation system? No, you must be kidding me, right?

Which car company would dare to do this? If the news gets out, wouldn't they be scolded to death? It would be strange if they didn't go bankrupt immediately. Hehe, you Americans are really humorous. "

These words made Lot Dugan, who was already in a complicated mood after wandering around for two days, completely want to shut himself off.

He suddenly realized why Pierre Delini had said that even if he knew the reason, there was nothing he could do.

The thinking patterns of ordinary people on both sides are completely on different channels.

He has become accustomed to it and does not think there is anything wrong with it, but for the Chinese people it is inconceivable.

If you think about it carefully, it is obvious that the US system design is not very reasonable for ordinary people. Of course, for those wealthy people, it is another feeling.

He thought again of the complaints of his assistant and secretary.

Well, although the necessities of life for ordinary people in the United States have become more and more expensive compared to other countries in recent years, the luxury goods favored by the rich are cheaper than in other countries.

It's really a fucking joke from hell.

……

When Lott Dugan was already feeling unwell, Qiao Yu had already transformed his new thoughts into the content of his speech at the meeting.

Although there were only two days, Qiao Yu said hello to Mr. Yuan and Director Tian, ​​and immediately started to refuse visitors behind closed doors, thus ensuring his high efficiency.

In fact, as long as we abandon the mathematician thinking of pursuing absolute perfection and pursue another kind of relative perfection, it is indeed a more natural thing.

Allowing the system’s own driving force to seek the optimal path is the best option for simulating quantum behavior.

So all he had to do was design a path weight function and then let the system choose.

It immediately solves the problems of infinite-dimensional complexity, lack of openness, and the limitations of mathematical expression of non-locality and entanglement.

No matter what others think, for Qiao Yu, Peter Schultz is definitely a good comrade!

(End of this chapter)