I was taken home by the Americans.

I went to the U.S. to live for a few months and went out shopping alone.

As I walked, I got lost.

Oh no! My phone didn’t have international roaming enabled. I couldn’t call anyone, and I didn’t speak the language. Several elderly people around me only spoke Spanish. I was confused...

I drew a picture of my residence, wrote down the address in English, and looked around anxiously.

I saw a woman nearby who had just gotten out of her car. She placed the meat she had bought from the supermarket onto the back seat and paused for a moment. I handed her the note and said: I’m from China, I’m lost, please help.

The woman took the note and smiled. She said: You can’t find your way, huh? The surroundings here look similar, it’s easy for foreigners to get lost.

Then, she invited me to get in the car.

I hesitated—why didn’t she just give me directions but instead asked me to get in? My instinctive Chinese sense of caution kicked in.

I didn’t have more time to hesitate. The woman opened the car door and gestured for me to get in, so I did. There wasn’t much to talk about. I took out my wallet and opened it, letting her take money if she wanted. The woman immediately became unhappy!

She said: Either get out of the car, or don’t do that.

I was intimidated and didn’t know what to do. The woman pushed my wallet back down and said nothing.

About seven or eight minutes later, the car pulled over. The woman got out and stopped another passerby, also a woman. She said: Please take this Chinese person back to the address up ahead. She showed the note I had written to the second woman, then told me to get out and bid me farewell, saying: God bless you!

I followed the second woman for two blocks.

Then, an elderly man who seemed to live near my place recognized me. Seeing the second woman, he greeted her and said: The Chinese person lives just ahead.

That way, I was relayed by a third American and finally brought home. During this time, I asked all three of them: Do I need to pay you?

They all replied: No.

I got home safely.

I was treated warmly by ordinary Americans. I had no way to repay them! At last, I wrote this down in words to share my luck and blessings.