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墨書 Inktalez
Zhang Qiu and Lucia turned to K, and Lucia shrugged, asking, "Are you sure you want to try it?"
"Yes, I'm sure," K nodded calmly.
Lucia walked over to help K order, and fifteen minutes later, a plate of ripe food was brought over. Lucia smiled and said, "This dish is the only one served by the waiter here; the others must be self-served. From this point alone, you can see how unique this dish is."
Zhang Qiu looked at the dark food on the plate, the fishy smell hitting him from a distance. Just smelling it was unpleasant, let alone eating it. If Lucia hadn't ordered it in advance, he wouldn't have been able to tell what that pile of dark stuff was. Zhang Qiu and Lucia pinched their noses while K seemed indifferent, examining the ripe dish for a while before picking up his knife and fork.
K cut off a piece, speared it with his fork, and lightly chewed it in his mouth, nodding with a smile, "It tastes pretty good." He then cut another piece and put it in his mouth. Zhang Qiu and Lucia watched in astonishment until K finished every bit of ripe food on his plate. Zhang Qiu looked at Lucia, who was making faces at him. Zhang Qiu had lost his appetite and said, "I'm full."
"So am I," Lucia replied.
Zhang Qiu looked at K, expecting him to be full as well; however, he was mistaken. K showed no signs of stopping. Before eating the ripe dish, K had already devoured a Giant Burger and was now taking big bites of another burger. Zhang Qiu had reason to suspect that K might have been mistreated at the research institute and not given enough food.
With no appetite, Zhang Qiu and Lucia sat at the table watching K eat heartily. After finishing his meal, K returned to his cold demeanor and simply said, "Let's go."
Zhang Qiu and Lucia stood up and continued along their planned route. As they walked along, Lucia suddenly let out a sharp scream. Zhang Qiu tensed up and looked around while K scanned the surroundings warily. Zhang Qiu didn't notice anything unusual and asked, "Lucia, what's wrong?"
"You can rent cars here," Lucia pointed to a nearby shop with excitement written all over her face.
Zhang Qiu looked at the shop Lucia was pointing to; indeed, there were cars depicted on the signboard along with a bunch of capital letters. Zhang Qiu felt indifferent towards capital letters; he could quickly recognize letters when they were lowercase but had to mentally convert them one by one when they were uppercase.
Being able to rent a car was great news, but problems soon followed. Zhang Qiu didn't have a driver's license; K might have one, but it would be from his own country. Lucia took a few steps forward and turned back to see Zhang Qiu standing still. She said, "Come on, let's go rent a car."
"I don't have a driver's license."
"I do."
"You have a driver's license?" Zhang Qiu was surprised. Lucia smiled and replied, "Yeah, I got my license last year."
"Was that when you were seventeen?"
"Yes, I was seventeen. You can get a driver's license at sixteen." Lucia explained as she walked over and pulled Zhang Qiu toward the car rental shop.
K quickly caught up and said, "But we don't have a local driver's license."
"Tanzania is a signatory to the United Nations Road Traffic Convention, and so is the United States. My driver's license can be used here."
Lucia led Zhang Qiu inside, and the three of them chose a slightly worn silver pickup truck. In Lucia's words, this vehicle had more of a spirit of adventure compared to the others. The paperwork went smoothly, and ten minutes later, Zhang Qiu was already sitting in the car while Lucia drove straight to the palace.
Eswatini drives on the left, and Lucia adapted quite well. Soon, Zhang Qiu spotted the domed building in the distance. Lucia pointed and smiled, "We're almost there; that building is the palace."
Lucia pressed down on the accelerator and sped forward. After crossing a street, she suddenly slammed on the brakes, leaving a long black mark on the ground. The street ahead was blocked by a dense crowd of people dressed in traditional attire, either standing or sitting while shouting slogans. White, red, yellow, and blue banners were held high in the air. Lucia looked at the scene before her and said, "The road to the palace is blocked by demonstrators; we can't get through."
Zhang Qiu took a deep breath and said, "Find a place to park."
Lucia turned around and parked the car within the white lines outside the nearest building. The three of them got out, and Zhang Qiu gazed into the distance. The imposing palace was now clearly visible—tall white marble buildings, giant archways, gilded glass windows, and a golden dome adorned with various animal sculptures on its eaves. The entire palace reminded Zhang Qiu of an ancient European castle seen in movies.
Lucia asked, "What should we do?"
"Since we're here, let's go in!"
Zhang Qiu looked at the dense crowd ahead—truly dark-skinned due to their ethnicity—and resolutely chose to enter. Zhang Qiu knew that Tanzania had erupted into large-scale protests but hadn't expected them to last this long. It had been some time since she last checked the news; she couldn't help but admire how persistent these people were.
Zhang Qiu and Lucia chose a less crowded area to move forward but were stopped by K. K spread his arms wide, keeping his gaze fixed on Zhang Qiu as he shouted, "You can't go in!"
"Why come here if we're not going in? Do you think we're just here to watch?"
"Come over and take a look."
"That's right," Zhang Qiu nodded, "but if we don't go in, how can we see?"
"Anyway, you can't go in!"
The argument between Zhang Qiu and K attracted the attention of nearby demonstrators. Two of them approached, eyeing the three clearly foreign individuals with suspicion, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
K turned around to find a stern-looking man almost face-to-face with him. He quickly stepped back and said, "Traveling."
"This place isn't safe. The police and military could take action at any moment. You should leave as soon as possible." The intimidating man spoke kindly.
K said to Zhang Qiu, "Did you hear that? We should head back to the hotel."
Zhang Qiu ignored K's comment and directly addressed the man, "Sir, I'm very interested in what’s happening here. Could you tell me about it?"
The man looked at Zhang Qiu with curiosity and asked, "Are you a journalist?"
"No, I'm not a journalist. I'm just a recent high school graduate traveling here with my friends. However, I enjoy writing and have had articles published in newspapers. I want to write about what’s happening here."
"Oh," the man said, elongating the sound as he nodded repeatedly. Finally, he smiled broadly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and said, "Then I'll tell you about it."
The man adjusted his animal skin pants and sat down on the ground. Zhang Qiu smiled at Lucia, who nodded slightly, and they both sat down in front of the man. K remained standing, coldly watching Zhang Qiu. Zhang Qiu smiled and said in Mandarin to Wen Dao, "I didn't go in; you won't hold that against me, right?"
"Do as you wish."
The man glanced at K and asked Zhang Qiu, "Is your friend not going to sit down?"
"He prefers to stand. Go ahead, sir."
The man sighed deeply, hesitating to speak, his dark face filled with reluctance. Zhang Qiu did not rush him, quietly waiting. After a long while, the man finally stopped sighing and began to speak.
"How should I put this," he instinctively looked towards the distant golden dome, "the contradictions have been building up for a long time, but they suddenly erupted this year. Since I can remember, my family and the families around us have lived in terrible conditions; this is not our first time taking to the streets. Back in 2003, there was a massive protest that I participated in, where we demanded the king implement reforms and punish corruption. That year, the king ordered the implementation of an economic growth strategy. Yet now, the poor remain poor, and the rich remain rich."
Zhang Qiu looked around at the tall buildings; although not very developed, it shouldn't be as bad as what the man described. It seemed as if he sensed Zhang Qiu's thoughts and said, "Bam is beautifully constructed and quite prosperous, but that's all for the rich; it has nothing to do with us. Among those sitting here quietly, many have come from nearby villages, and many others have traveled from other cities to support us despite the hardships."
"Are your demands this time still the same as before?" What he said matched perfectly with what Zhang Qiu had seen in news reports. However, Zhang Qiu worried for them; if things didn't improve last time, how could they expect it to change this time?
"Generally speaking, yes. This time we will demand that the king relinquish power and establish a British-style constitutional monarchy." At this point, a smile appeared on the man's lips as if he had already achieved it. Zhang Qiu wondered where he got such confidence; getting a king to relinquish power would not be easy. Throughout history, how many countries have developed without bloodshed? Looking at the dense crowd in front of the palace made Zhang Qiu feel both proud and sorrowful for them.
"This time we will definitely succeed; we cannot let it be like before." The man's eyes sparkled with idealism. "Just last month, the king actually boasted abroad about how wealthy our country is while accompanied by his twenty-two wives. You must know that thirty percent of people in Bam are struggling on the brink of survival. In other cities, that figure can reach fifty percent. In other words, half of Tanzania's citizens worry daily about survival while the king and nobles live extravagant and decadent lives."
"Twenty-two wives?" Lucia exclaimed in surprise; she couldn't believe such a country still existed in the twenty-first century. Zhang Qiu felt equally astonished; this was clearly a feudal dynasty.
"Surprised, aren't you?" The man seemed to anticipate their shock. "King Muwadis IV holds a grand selection ceremony for wives every year. Since he came to power, he has married twenty-two wives. Even more astonishing is that everyone in the country—from the Prime Minister to the Minister of Defense to local judges and tribal leaders—is appointed by the king." He paused for a moment before continuing, "But that's not what matters most to us; generations have grown accustomed to this way of life."
"What is most important then?" Zhang Qiu and Lucia asked almost simultaneously.
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