Chapter 192: On the Way Home

The long-waiting Lady He Ben opened her arms in welcome, saying, "Audrey, my dearest friend." The lady in the wheelchair affectionately shared a cheek kiss with her dearest friend.

Then came the handshake between Lady He Ben and Robert.

Meanwhile, Henry was handling exit procedures with customs officers, as this plane was leaving the United States for Europe.

In Henry's previous understanding, the privilege of using a VIP lane or a diplomatic lane at customs was the highest standard of treatment.

Who would have thought that departing on this Mellon family plane meant customs officers personally came to the tarmac to handle the procedures. There were no extra checks; they just grabbed the stamps and started stamping away.

This opened Henry's eyes, letting him witness true privilege.

The lady, rising from her wheelchair, was helped up onto the Gulfstream jet by the two men she loved. The interior was filled with flowers; if someone with hay fever saw this, they wouldn't even need nasal allergies—just the scene alone would make them shudder.

Henry, who had carried the wheelchair onto the plane, sighed at the romantic ways of foreigners. No matter the age, one could still play wildly, as long as romance remained between the two.

After helping Lady He Ben onto that specially made hospital bed and raising the front half so she could sit comfortably, Henry and the flight attendant, who held nursing qualifications, checked the safety belts on the bed together. These necessary restraints could not be missing.

However, the roar of the plane engines still made Audrey He Ben feel uncomfortable, causing her to frown.

Robert noticed that expression of discomfort and asked, "What's wrong?"

Audrey He Ben said helplessly, "The engine noise is a bit loud. Maybe it will be better after takeoff."

In fact, the soundproofing and sealing of the Gulfstream plane were already excellent, but Lady He Ben, with her frail body, could not withstand even this little trouble.

Prepared in advance, Henry took a pair of over-ear headphones and a Walkman from the luggage, hung them over the lady's ears, and pressed the play button.

Henry asked, "Is it better?"

Audrey He Ben was surprised by the effect of the headphones, and naturally, she also couldn't hear clearly what Henry was saying due to the headphones' function. She only gave a wide-eyed expression of shock.

Helplessly, Henry could only move one ear cup aside and ask, "After putting on the headphones, has the engine noise improved?"

"Yes, much better."

"Then, what music do you want to listen to?" Henry opened a small handbag in front of the lady, which was full of cassette tapes. There were classical ones and pop ones.

Shaking the Walkman in his hand, which was already playing Mozart's music, slow and stress-relieving, Lady He Ben said, "This one is fine; we can switch after it finishes."

"Okay." Saying this, Henry let go of the lifted ear cup, allowing the lady to sit comfortably leaning against the hospital bed.

Both Lady He Ben and Robert were amazed by the effect of the Walkman Henry brought out and asked, "Can listening to music during flight really reduce the discomfort caused by external noise? Why didn't I feel any effect when I did this before?"

Seated, Henry pointed to his ear and replied, "It's not the effect of the Walkman or the music, but the function of the headphones. Do you know that the cockpit of a plane or helicopter is very noisy, and pilots communicating and contacting the tower is a major problem?

"To ensure pilots can communicate with people, their headphones are specially made with noise-canceling functions. This is a technology patent from '34, applied to headphones in '78, and mass-produced three years ago.

"The headphone manufacturers only supplied them to the military and never produced them for civilian use. I thought they might come in handy, so I made a set for myself to keep ready."

Since this technology already existed, it wasn't an unprecedented event. Therefore, Lady He Ben and Robert, who were not people of science, did not think this matter was that impressive. They only asked with concern, "Can't you buy them on the market?"

Thinking for a moment, Henry said, "Maybe in a few more years. Besides, wearing noise-canceling headphones for a long time isn't good either, because the types of sounds the brain hears for a long time decrease, and without sufficient external stimulation and training, it will affect the ability to filter sounds.

"At that time, it becomes easy to happen that when multiple people are speaking, one cannot focus on listening to what a specific person is saying, or cannot distinguish the distance or position of sounds.

"But as long as one doesn't wear them for a long time, there is no such trouble. It's also quite good for listening to music, although it still isn't as good as listening in a concert hall. Are you interested? If you are, I can make one for you when I have time."

Hearing the drawbacks, Lady He Ben and Robert immediately lost interest. Actually, the noise on the plane wasn't that unbearable. So they each found a seat and waited for takeoff.

The exclusive flight attendants on private jets did not have the pre-flight educational briefing like regular commercial flights, unless the guests had some special fetish and specifically requested it.

So very quickly, the plane lifted off and headed towards the European continent.

The lady was dozing off, but the three men on the plane were not so cold; they chatted here and there. Henry was even playing chess with Lady He Ben, just playing blindly without thinking about the best moves.

Robert, who was flipping through a newspaper, suddenly asked, "Have you two been following that rumor recently?"

Another riddle person. Henry wanted to hit someone, what to do? But he still cooperatively asked, "What rumor?"

"I heard that the United States, inspired by Audrey's speech at the UN, decided to increase its interference in Somalia and send troops to resolve the local civil unrest. Otherwise, the famine problem there will never be improved."

"They should have acted long ago." "Oh." Lady He Ben and Henry's answers were one hot and one cold.

Robert and Lady He Ben looked at Henry at the same time, feeling strange, and asked, "Don't you think this is a good thing?"

Henry put down the chess piece, put on an indifferent expression, and said, "The First Gulf War was won, the Red Empire collapsed, and the momentum of the United States as the world hegemon has returned. Do you think this is a good thing?"

Robert, who was more chatty about political issues, asked, "Isn't it?"

Henry countered, "Since the Second World War, where has any place that was helped by the United States, or to put it plainly, interfered with by the United States, achieved true peace?"

Robert thought for a moment and couldn't think of a counterexample. He asked, "Really none?"

Henry stated bluntly, "Regional conflicts, civil unrest, poverty, and corruption; these items always have at least one. Moreover, when the US military acts, there is no such thing as working for free. Every time, they sneakily grab some benefits to take home.

"Being able to speak of robbery with such self-righteousness is probably something only the British Empire before the World Wars could do. Come to think of it, these two countries are truly father and son. If he really wants world peace, he should just leave the whole world alone."

The two listeners burst out laughing and couldn't stop.

Who could blame them? One was French, the other Dutch; Henry's self-deprecating joke as an American hit exactly their spot. They just never could have imagined that Henry was a fake American, actually an alien and a time-traveler freak.

Meanwhile, Lady Audrey He Ben, who was dozing, could not hear the conversation of the three big men because of the noise-canceling headphones. At this moment, she could only look at the group laughing foolishly with confusion on her face.

(End of Chapter)