When I first came to Doncaster I stayed at Tony'shouse. Tony was Vicky's friend. He was in his forties and still looked like abig boy. He did nothing all day long and liked to drink. He lived by rentingout houses. Because of Vicky's relationship, Tony had never regarded me as atenant. If I tried to give him money, he firmly refused. If I tried to push himfurther, he would get angry. But when we had meals or drank, I always rushed topay the bill. Tony never shirked, which made me feel better. I asked Vickyprivately about Tony. Vicky said that Tony had been married once. The couplehad a house, a car, and a farm, and they lived a very happy life. But somehow,after they got divorced, Tony changed. It was like this now.

Tony and I were both night owls, sleeping during theday and partying at night. The streets of Doncaster were full of bars. Tonyliked to take me from house to house, showing off to his friends that I was hisChinese best friend, as if having me around was a matter of great honor to him.I was also happy to be able to give Tony a face.

Vicky had been in her hometown for less than a yearand went out to explore the world again. Tony said that she went to New York todevelop. I saw Vicky post a photo on Facebook. It showed huge floor-to-ceilingwindows on a high floor with the bright night view of Manhattan in thebackground. It seemed like Vicyi was living a pretty good life.

Tony's home was a three-story old townhouse, which wasleft to him by Tony's parents. In the UK, except for a few high-rise apartmentbuildings in big cities, most residents live in terraced houses, each with itsown door number and corridor, and a unified architectural style and color. Itlooked small up closely, but spectacular when seen from a distance. The firstfloor of Tony's house is the kitchen and living room, and there were thebedrooms on the second and third floors. There were two rooms on the secondfloor to live in, and two rooms on the third floor are rented out. Tony couldlive a tight life just relying on the rent. I suggested that Tony change it toa backpacker hotel. Although Doncaster was not a tourist city, it had a lot oftourists. To the north is Leeds, and beyond Leeds is Scotland; to the west isShiffield, and beyond Shifield is Manchester. There were also many backpackersgoing to Scotland or Manchester who chose a place to transit because there weremany bars and rich nightlife. Doncaster was the best transit place.

When I went to Doncaster for the second time, I wasstill staying at Tony's house. When Tony saw me, he was as affectionate asseeing me as a real brother. He hugged me and spun me around twice beforeputting me down. Tony listened to my words and put two bunk beds in each of histwo spare rooms on the third floor, priced at ten pounds per bed, and made adouble room on the second floor, priced at twenty pounds per bed. Postadvertisements on Booking and Airbnb, people were booking every day, and the incomewas several times higher than before. Tony pulled my luggage into his masterbedroom, took out a folding bed from the storage room and made it, saying itwas specially prepared for me. I was touched by Tony's attentiveness.

Tony said he would treat me to a big dinner. There wasa new French restaurant in town. The T-bone steak was delicious. As we weretalking, we heard someone knocking on the door. The door was open. We could seethat the person knocking on the door was a girl wearing a white headscarf. Tonyasked, Emma, was something wrong? Emma said the toilet was blocked. Tony saidhe got it and would go right away. Tony put on his leather gloves, took thetools, and went to the bathroom to unclog the toilet.

I looked at Emma, she nodded to me, then turned andwent back to the next room. I noticed that Emma was very beautiful, with longlegs and hips, big black eyes, many and long eyelashes, a high and straightnose, and a face that was both Chinese and Western, a bit like Dilireba. Whileeating at a French restaurant, I mentioned Emma casually. Tony said that thisgirl was from Turkey and had just moved in. It was said that she had a friendhere who introduced her to a job opportunity, and she came to take a look. Ijoked with Tony that for such a beautiful girl, you had a good chance ofgetting out of singles. Tony said that he did not want to convert to a Muslimand would be better off as a Christian.

Halfway through the meal, Tony's phone rang. Afteranswering the phone, he told me that a guest had arrived, and he had to rushback to make arrangements. He couldn't help himself now, so he asked me to takecare of myself. I said it was okay and let him do what he wanted. Although Tonydoesn't have much time to play with me anymore, I was still happy that Tony hadhis own career.

After coming out of the restaurant, I went to thesupermarket next door to buy daily necessities. I met Emma and her friend whowere also shopping. Emma’s friend also wore a headscarf, was a little chubby,and was not as good-looking as Emma. Emma also saw me, nodded and smiled as agreeting, and I returned the greeting. When I passed by them, the scent waspungent. Emma didn't use perfume, so the scent should be emanating from hercompanions.

There were a lot of chores in the hostel, and Tonycouldn't accompany me to the bar in the evening. He could only buy beer andsome peanuts, dried fruits and pizza. Stay in the living room to eat and drink.Some guests also liked to come to the living room to read guides or play games.We were happy to let them join. Tony's living room was much cleaner thanbefore. It was carpeted and everyone could sit directly on the floor. Emma alsocame down to the living room and opened the refrigerator door to get a drink.Tony asked her to join us, but Emma declined. Emma greeted everyone with asmile. We all agreed that Emma was a well-educated and good girl. We advisedTony to seize the opportunity and not to mind the religious barriers. Tony saidthat religion was not the main problem, but that he could not live withoutalcohol, and praying five times a day was too much. After speaking, heshrugged, looking helpless. Everyone knew that Muslims could not drink alcohol,and his serious look made us all laugh.

I stayed in Doncaster for three days, and Tony didn'thave time to accompany me, so I didn't want to go out. I turned on the computerin the living room and wrote some things. Helped Tony tidy up the room, andreceived tourists, but I didn't feel bored. Tony went out to the supermarket tobuy food in the morning. I finished cleaning the first floor. When I took themop to the second floor to mop the floor, I found that someone had alreadymopped it. The bathroom and floor were clean, even the edges and corners,without a trace of dust, more delicate than I sweep. I went to the kitchenagain, and it was just as clean. The kitchen utensils and supplies were neatlyplaced, and the kitchen floor was mopped. There was no greasiness in sight, andit felt much fresher. I thought it was Tony who did it, but I didn't expectthat a hotel would change him so much. After Tony came back, I gave Tony athumbs up and praised him as a good man. Tony was confused. After I explained,Tony denied that it was not him. He guessed that it was Emma. When he went out,he saw Emma making breakfast in the kitchen. I said to Tony, you were lucky tohave found a good tenant. If I were Tony, I wouldn't mind religion, giving updrinking, praying five times a day, pursuing Emma, and living together in asmall town.

When I left, I picked up my luggage and walked out ofthe room. Tony was waiting downstairs to take me to the station. Emma seemed tosense it. She opened the door and waved to me goodbye.

It was two years after I visited Doncaster again.Vicky had already found a boyfriend in New York and settled down. She wasoriginally a professional model, and staying in New York, the fashion capitalof the world, was more conducive to her career. Tony still ran his backpackerhostel, and his financial situation had improved a lot. He had replaced his oldclassic car with a Golf. Last time I asked Tony to lend me his classic car togo to Manchester, but Tony refused firmly, rather than die. There was more thana hundred miles from Doncaster to Manchester, passing through a wilderness.There was no cell phone signal, and Tony was afraid that the car would breakdown in the wilderness, which would cause big trouble. Now Tony had no excuse,I could take that silver Golf car on the road any time.

When I asked about Emma, Tony said she moved outshortly after I left. I asked him where she had moved, and Tony said he didn'tknow. I felt sad for him. We changed the topic and continued talking about thecar. Tony said that he agreed to lend it to me, but only after installing theGPS locator. He was always worried that I would get lost in the wilderness.

After the GPS was installed, I drove the Golf aloneand spent two or three days visiting some northern cities such as Boston,Leeds, and Sheffield, and finally arrived in Manchester. The styles ofManchester City and London were very different. If London was a lady, thecity's buildings were majestic and majestic; on the streets of London,pedestrians were always rushing past, racing against time. Manchester City, onthe other hand, was a small town, the streets were full of old red-brickhouses, which made people feel friendly. There were bars everywhere on thestreets, and people came out to drink, listened to music and watched footballmatches.

Originally, I wanted to spend one more day inManchester City. I was afraid that Tony would be worried, so I drove back. Itwas already nine o'clock in the evening when I got back to Doncaster, whichcoincided with happy hour on Friday. There were many people on the road andthere was some traffic jam. Golf followed the traffic flow moved forwardslowly, and several beauties on the roadside were teasing the pedestrians anddrivers passing by. These street girls were blond, blue-eyed, and dressed incoquettish clothes. Most of them came from Eastern European countries. As Idrove slowly, I looked at them from the corner of my eye. Suddenly, I saw afamiliar face. I was surprised. Looking carefully, the girl had black curlyhair, big black eyes, and her face looked like that of DeLireba, but she wasnot wearing a headscarf. She was completely different from those EasternEuropean women wearing heavy makeup. She was Emma.

I turned the car into the parking lot on the roadside,locked the car, walked across the street, and looked at Emma from a distance. Isaw a middle-aged man approaching her, chatting for a few words, and shefollowed the man away. An ugly looking Eastern European woman raised her middlefinger behind Emma's back and called her a bitch.

Seeing Emma's current state, I felt uncomfortable, asif there was always something stuck in my throat. I drove back to Tony's house,and I asked Tony, be honest with me, what happened to Emma? Tony told me thatEmma came to England just to make money. It was said that her family was introuble and needed a lot of money. Tony added that Emma's friend told him thathe had patronized Emma's friend.

After listening to Tony's words, I felt more and moreheavy. In current world, this kind of thing was very common, especially in theMiddle East countries. There were many things worse than this. The country wasin turmoil, and it was the people who suffered. We were all ordinary people andthere was nothing we could do.

I left the next day. Due to work adjustments, Ihad fewer opportunities to go to the UK. I had never been to Doncaster again. Ihad kept in touch with Tony who had recently closed his backpacker hostelbusiness. I asked him what his plans were, and he said it was boring to stay inhis hometown all the time, and he wanted to go out and try something new. Itold him, come to China, you can be an English teacher in China. Tony was veryinterested in this proposal, but in the end, he did not come to China.

Note: the article is from Loves In Singapore that co-launched with M/ARTS electric toothbrush.