Countrymate In Despair

"Of course." Ethan looked at the woman. "Do you have an ID card? A driver's license is okay too."

"I have an ID card." The Asian woman dug around in her pockets. Chen Zhao and Ethan could see that the woman's pockets were filled with scraps of change. After a while, she finally found her ID. Just as she was about to hand it to Ethan, she shrunk back. "How much will it cost to stay here for a night?"

"Ten dollars," Ethan said.

"Then I'll stay for two nights for now." The woman managed to find enough change to add up to 20 and gave it to Ethan.

"Qing Li? Li Qing?" Chen Zhao looked at the name on the ID. "Auntie, are you from China?"

The woman looked at him. "You're Chinese too?"

"Yeah. How long have you been out here?" Since she had an ID card, she'd probably been in America for quite some time.

"Eight years… Oh, young man, what is your name?"

"I'm Chen Zhao. He's my friend Ethan."

"Hi," Ethan greeted.

"Hello, hello."