Chapter 369: Ten Years After Its Death
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the return trip to China, Fina took the initiative to request to go to sleep in the game. Since she knew the flight would not fly over Egypt, she would not waste time waiting anymore. Besides, the airplane seat was uncomfortable, and the bumping during taking off and landing was a bit frightening.
Zhang Zian was so happy because this helped him save money. Apart from himself, he only needed to buy one extra ticket for Richard.
On the flight to the United States, Richard's seat was close to the aisle. This time, it was clever enough to demand that it should sit by the window and Zhang Zian would sit beside it.
Once on the plane, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the stewardesses were good-looking, young, and slender. He wondered if it was the Thanksgiving compliments from United Airlines… he kept gazing at the stewardesses after he boarded the plane.
Jumping to its own seat, Richard looked out through the porthole at the misty Los Angeles International Airport.
Plenty of silver-grey giant birds were parked on the runway, and from time to time, there were planes taking off or landing. The airport shuttle buses carrying travelers were driving among various terminals. Even on this rainy day, the third-largest airport in the United States was still very busy.
The surrounding passengers were talking in various languages whether the rainy day would affect the normal take-off of this flight, but so far, no broadcast of delayed departure had been received from the captain.
Richard felt bored. Zhang Zian had made great progress in his spoken English during the trip to the United States, and was able to engage in ordinary conversations without its help. And he didn’t need to speak at all right now, for his eyes were busier than the airport shuttle buses.
If Richard knew this would be the case, it would also have required taking a nap in the game so that when they arrived home, Richard would have the energy to disturb Zhang Zian while he was sleeping.
...
She was sitting on a seat next to a window, quietly waiting for the plane's take-off. To her right-hand side was sitting a rude middle-aged man, looking at her from time to time with a discerning and shrewd gaze, as if sizing up something for sale—a gaze that reminded her of her ex-husband. She was certain that at some point after the plane took off, he would certainly find an opportunity to approach her and talk to her.
So, she took the laptop out of her suitcase, opened it, and put it on her lap, launching a document and acting like she was very busy. She had no plans to start her next romantic relationship, at least not for now.
The document was a roughly completed speech. She just needed to improve some of the details.
In recent years, she had become accustomed to writing such speeches for raising funds for the Alex Foundation, having been doing so even more frequently than writing her academic reports. On the contents of her speeches, some people could understand, but others couldn’t, and the accusation of her being too radical was heard oftentimes. Even nowadays, some people thought that Alex was just another joke, a parrot version of the horse named "Clever Hans", relying on unintended cues from others to answer questions. Some people even said that her insights into the animals’ brains were ungrounded.
Yes, there was no evidence to support her insights because the only "proof" had left the world forever.
There were several other excellent African grey parrots in her institute, but none of them were as good as Alex. Alex was a genius—she was increasingly sure of that after it was gone.
With Alex's deeds, she gained her fame, the funds for her laboratories had increased, and the hardships she encountered many years ago were tackled. Back in those days, she, Alex, and two other parrots were stuffed in a small room less than 6 square meters wide. Alex had left behind so many legacies, but it wasn’t able to enjoy these anymore.
She turned her head slightly, staring at her face reflected by the porthole. She wore a grey-black suit with a turtleneck sweater inside. Today's Los Angeles was a bit cold, and she was older, with more wrinkles on her face than a decade ago, and her skin had become flabby.
It had been ten years since Alex died, and she still couldn’t let it go.
Why did you choose grey parrots?
Many people had asked her this question, so she had to put the answer to this sentence in the first paragraphs of her speeches.
African grey parrots were one of the most popular pets. As early as 4,000 years ago, they had been depicted as pets in the murals in ancient Egypt. Among all pets, African grey parrots could learn and articulate human languages most easily.
Staring at the hazy Los Angeles International Airport, she could not help but recall her first encounter with Alex. She met it at a pet shop near Chicago O'Hare International Airport when it was one year old and was crouching with eight other birds in a cage waiting to be adopted. She chose it. A one in nine probability.
Not far from the runway parked a huge Boeing 787 passenger aircraft. Such a gigantic thing was generally flying international routes. She could not help but guess where the plane would fly to. Russia? China? Australia? Or another distant country? The airport passenger stairs had been withdrawn and the cabin doors had been closed. The 787 was listening to the instructions from the control tower, and would take off at any moment to vacate the runway.
The broadcast from the captain sounded in the cabin:
"This plane will soon take off, and now the cabin crew is carrying out safety inspections. Please sit back and fasten your seatbelts, put your tray table and seat back in the upright position. Please make sure your belongings are correctly placed in the overhead luggage racks and under your seats. This is a completely non-smoking flight, please do not smoke during the journey."
She pouted, closing the laptop lid and holding it in her arms. It seemed like the plane she was in would take off ahead of the 787.
Shortly after, the aircraft started to shake lightly. It taxied slowly and gradually accelerated, surpassing the 787 parked on the runway from behind.
The instant the two aircrafts were side by side, her eyes seemed to capture a familiar grey color from one of the cabin windows of the 787. She quickly turned around, trying to keep the hint of grey in her line of sight longer.
Because of the misty rainy day and the distance between them, she couldn’t see it clearly, but she was sure that it was an African grey parrot. After all, she was so familiar with their body shapes.
A grey parrot was in the passenger cabin with its owner!
If she was right, its owner was probably a scientist like her. And just like she had done many years ago, he had conquered so many difficulties and had applied for a scientific research certificate for it, so that it could accompany her without having to be kept in a cage—she felt lucky for it, because its owner loved it and was very concerned about its feelings.
For a moment, she could not help but wonder if it was Alex, but then she laughed at herself, shook her head and dispelled this crazy idea from her mind. She must have been missing Alex so much that she sprung such an unrealistic idea.
It had been 10 years since Alex died on September 6, 2007...
With another round of light vibrations, the head of the plane rose. The plane had taken off from the runway and was embraced by the sky.
The 787 on the ground was getting smaller and smaller. It seemed to have started to taxi on the runway and was about to take off.
She turned her body forward in her seat and was relieved.
It had been ten years. It was time for her to let go.
This might be her last speech, because she wanted to retire. She no longer worried about the fact that no one would carry on the legacy of Alex. Looking at the scientist in the Boeing 787, he was traveling with a grey parrot for research purposes, right? It must be a very intelligent one, probably as excellent as Alex, so intelligent that a scientific research certificate had been granted to it, allowing it to stay in the passenger cabin. Its owner must also be outstanding, probably better than she, because she never took Alex out of the country.
She was overjoyed seeing that other people and parrots were progressing on the achievements she and Alex had accomplished.
She was looking forward to seeing the grey parrot on television one day and the whole world would be surprised by it and then cheer for it. She sincerely hoped it would stay healthy and go further than Alex.
The cabin broadcast sounded again:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we've left Los Angeles for Chicago. We have prepared lunch for you on this trip, and we will let you know when the meal is ready."
She had decided that after leaving the Chicago Airport, she would go to check whether the pet shop a few decades ago was still there. If the pet shop was still open, she would select another grey parrot. This time, it would not be for scientific research, but to spend the rest of her life with after her retirement.
She smiled, full of anticipation.
...
The stewardesses had sat back in their seats, forcing Zhang Zian to stop gazing at them.
He glanced at Richard, reminding it, "The plane is about to take off—I heard the English right? So, sit down quickly! Is there something wrong with your neck? Why are you looking at the sky?"
Richard blinked quickly and said calmly, "Nothing. Sand grains in my eyes again."