Chapter 24
Master Qiu and his servants are sprinting towards their home in Shanghai-a bustling place filled with the usual structures a commerce center has.
Schools, houses, hospitals, factories. Tanashiri is just beginning to marvel at what is around him.
"I never thought that I would see Shanghai with my two eyes in the 1930s. This looks more picturesque than what I saw in school textbooks!"
Master Qui's energy preserved and only allotted for use for one day is beginning to be drained. It is like, he is carrying Tanashiri's body in his back.
He is filthy, and Master Qiu's beautiful and expensive changshan dress is soiled with his own dirt.
The people around him stare at him like he is an exotic animal worthy of display in an animal museum. They are laughing, pointing their fingers at him, and covering their noses with their spare handkerchiefs.
"Master Qiu, that traditional dress is brought from a faraway town. You really did
Chapter 25 They are staring at the array of clothes around them, from fancy suits and traditional clothes, there is so much to choose from. Tanashiri's head is spinning because the clothing is colored brightly. They are in the most expensive men's store in Shanghai, to choose what will Master Qui will wear. Each of the salesmen working in the men's store holds a Western-style designed suit in their left hands and Chinese traditional men's clothes in their right hands. They have been that like for approximately two hours. They are sweating a lot despite the bad weather. He's been treated like a Master even if he looks like a beggar. He smells bad, too. The salesmen are sweating, too, because they are fighting the urge to cover their noses. They had to endure the awful smell that is polluting the store; they cannot do that in front of Master Qui. It will make them look rude. "Master Qiu, you should choose now. We are running late with yo
Chapter 26 The venue of the meeting with the British businessmen is made in one of the most expensive places in Shanghai, at the heart of the city. It was agreed upon by locals and foreigners that the place is one of the finest views in Shanghai that is overlooking the view of the deep blue sea and busy port down the road. The restaurant is the structure that replaced the former temple where the people gather and pray during special occasions, especially birthdays and new years, and almost made up for the destruction of the charming holy place a few years before. It looked like a mix of Western-style that is sort of made for convenience and Oriental enigmatic marveled because of simplicity, oozing with enigmatic aura around the red-bricked structure. Other structures beside it look like oversized glass outhouses, not suited with the theme of the place beside it. Master Qiu braced himself as he entered the restaurant, walking through a narrow corridor
Chapter 27 This is not truly the Philippines. There is no winter in the Philippines. Philippines is a tropical country, near the equator. When I was young, I wanted to feel and experience real snow-touch it with my skin. I said to myself that I want to stay in a place with a winter season and stay there, forever. But now that I am in a place that has a snowy season, I deeply regret my childhood wish. It is really true, that the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. I am now trembling in the cold, I am not used to it. Tanashiri fell asleep for a few minutes because of the intense feeling he had with the encounter in the restaurant. It is so stressful for him that he fainted with fatigue in Master Qiu's body. He had a nap in the cold concrete inside the body. He thought that napping for a while will bring him back to his body. Or that he is just having a weird
Chapter 28 This is such a beautiful mirror, exquisitely made. "Where did this mirror come from? Master Qiu asked Li Jhie. "It came from the rural areas, made by the workers. Pretty, isn't it? Decorated with precious stones and gold, made with raw hands. What a sight to behold, a thing to cherish and take care of." Master Qiu nodded in agreement and did not utter a single word. Tanashiri felt a little bored when he realized that he did not see a work of art made like this when he was conscious. He bought different kinds of jewelry as a gift for the wives and mistresses of the stockholders, to be taken as a bribe to be at his side and make them leave his father. He hadn't done enough diplomacy and business deals like any usual businessman will do in the past, only bribery, from the start. But those tricks always worked, especially if the pieces of jewelry came from a world-renowned jeweler. The women of the stockholders can coax their hus
Chapter 29 The girl lying in the streets is coughing vigorously. Some people did not mind her, lying down on the cold concrete. Some gave him bread. Both warm and cold. Newly-baked, and leftovers. She ate all of it and laid her wounded body in the concrete. She tried with all her might to make herself comfortable but to no avail. Every part of her aches and she cringes and wails every time she moves her body. "These tastes okay." A middle-aged lady motioned to his son and the child walked near her. He stopped and bowed down to her. Mother and child's POV: "Mom, that girl looks pitiful. Shouldn't we do something to help her?" He said, holding his mother's arms endearingly, massaging her fingers. "Of course, my dear son. But you only got some cookies now, and I have some money. What should we give her now, that we can see that she cannot walk on her own?" The mother got hold of some of her money and counted it in front of
Chapter 30 "Let us go, Li Jhie. I need to do something. Quick!" Li Jhie and the servants looked and talked to each other and agreed that the other servant will pull the rickshaw. "You are now really impulsive Master, aren't you? In the past, you don't always bother us when you have something in your mind, and now, you do." "People change, Li Jhie. In the past, I do not care what I have on my mind, as I won't say it. But now, I decided that I should change for the better. I should not bottle up my emotions, as it will bother me eventually, in the future." "And it won't make sense if I will be meek, as I have someone clever and noisy with me. It is as if he hypnotizes me into doing something I should not do. And, being silent and meek about certain things will make my plans fail, and my time here is running out. I should do my best to make things right. I should make difference when I came back here. Being myself as I am in the past will make my tri
Chapter 31 The lotus root and pork soup are now cooked, but it was finished late. The flowers are also already wrapped neatly in the paper. "Let us now go to the girl." Master Qiu rose from his seat. He already finished his tea. Let us now go to the girl I love. "No, Master Qiu. We cannot go out at this wee hour of the morning. Sleep first, and we will re-heat the soup for the poor girl. I should have known that you had some pity for the girl." Li Jhie entered Master Qiu's room and readied neatly his bed. The bedroom looks decent, except that it has uncozy pillows to sleep on. "Hey, Master Qiu, this is your bedroom, right?"Tanashiri asked as they walked towards the room. There are pillows and a bed. The room looks grandiose, as expected of an only son of an elite family. Tanashiri seems sort of pleased at the aesthetics of the room, getting used to the bright colors everywhere, including
Chapter 32 There is someone. I cannot see his face this time. It is sort of blurred. You can see that he is a human, a guy, but his face is slightly unclear to the eye, like what is shown in PG-18 movies. She put her palms on her forehead. "I have a little fever." She felt a tinge of sticky liquid flowing from the inside of her nose. Some of it came flowed into her lips. She put her index finger on her lips. "Well, come on. I am bleeding, too?" The bleeding from her nose shows no signs of stopping. Maybe because I am still a little feverish, and still having some nosebleed. Why am I still alive after losing so much blood? He wears the usual Asian clothing, like the ones I commonly see in movies whenever I open and watch N*****x during my day-offs. It involves a long dress, overcoat, fedora, and scarf. He is bald, but there is some hair in the back of his head, braided and tied at the very end. It looks i