Garen stopped overthinking and began sorting things out . He took off his clothes and blew out the oil lamp . He then went onto the bed and covered himself with a blanket . In the darkness, he calmed down and fell asleep .
Dong… Dong… The morning bell kept ringing .
Bright sunlight was shining over the white bed . Garen was sleeping face up and he opened his eyes slowly . Still a bit dizzy, he took a deep breath and looked outside the window . He then slowly removed the blanket and got off the bed .
The peeling light red paint on the walls and floors revealed the pale-yellow colored lumber underneath . A silver framed painting of a wheat field was crookedly hanging on the wall . The window on the right was half-open, and the chilling wind whistled nonstop through it .
Ka-ta Ka-ta . . .
Amplified by the wooden floors, Garen could acutely hear Ying Er’s footsteps from the living room . He tried to clear his head by rubbing his temples several times . Garen grabbed the loose part of his oversized grey-white long sleeved pajamas, but there was not much he could do about the bagginess .
"I haven’t thought too much about it, but why am I still wearing my mother’s pajamas? It just doesn’t feel right…" Garen said as he walked towards the window and quietly closed it .
Below the right side of the window was a street in the district . Several people wearing thick coats were walking by, and one of them even had a boater hat and scarf on him . There was an empty ground behind the buildings on the left side with more cars parked in it than usual . Some of the cars were black, others were white, and the headlights of these antique cars were similar to the eyes of a goldfish .
"Cars like those look nice, but they have to be cooled down every forty miles…" Garen said as he shook his head . He sniffed several times and he could smell the mixed fragrance of fried egg and warm milk . Garen left the window, opened the door of the bedroom and walked into the living room . On the right side of the room, he saw the yellow-white window curtains billowing in the air due to the strong wind coming from outside . On the left side, Garen could see his sister, Ying Er, carefully flipping fried eggs in the kitchen .
She had changed into a short one piece with a black apron on her waist . Garen could see the white lace on the edge of her skirt and the thick tights underneath; Ying Er also wore a dark purple shawl on her back . Her burgundy pupils intently stared at the fried eggs being cooked in the pan .
"Just woke up? Go brush your teeth . Breakfast will be ready soon . I bought some fresh white bread and warm milk . Making the fried eggs right now," Ying Er said as she looked at Garen .
"They are not coming back?" Garen wiped his oily face with his hands and walked towards the washroom . He turned the tap on in front of a mirror .
Splash!
Water rushed out of the tap . Garen grabbed his red towel and soaked it in the water . He then wrung the towel and pressed it on his face .
"I told you before, right? They are on a business trip," Ying Er answered .
"Do you know where?" Garen asked .
"I think they are going to Delin City . . . It would take three days for them to get there by the train . Plus the time they will spend on their way back…" Ying Er answered while turning the stove off . She put the fried eggs on a plate and brought them to the table .
"They won’t be back until next week . It’s you and me again this weekend . " Ying Er sat down, putting the bread, milk and fried eggs on the table .
"Let’s eat," she said .
After rinsing his mouth, Garen put his wooden toothbrush back into the glass and then turned back and left the washroom . Ying Er sat across from him . The rectangular table was made of redwood, and they both had a silver-colored metal plate in front of them . There was a triangle-shaped piece of bread in each plate, and there were some tiny characters marked on them .
Garen grabbed the silverware and cut off a small piece of the bread . It tasted a bit hard and dry, but there was a hint of sweetness .
"It’s Saturday . You got any plans for today?" Ying Er drank some milk and asked .
"Yeah… I want to go to the new antique store in the southern part of the city . It opened on the old Pennington Street," Garen said while eating the fried egg .
"It’s pretty far from here… We are on Bluetree Street and need to pass through downtown . Then, we need to walk another half an hour . It’s like walking from one side of the town to the other . Why are you interested in the new antique store?" Ying Er was confused .
"If it’s not important, can you go to the fruit market with me? I also want to check out the pet shops on a street beside the market . You can carry the bags for me," Ying Er said as she took a subtle glance at Garen; she seemed to be looking forward to spending time with him .
"I want some white pears, my favorite fruit," she added .
"White pears?" Garen stopped for a second; the old Garen used to love white pears too .
"Sorry, I really need to check out the new antique shop . It’s important," Garen said .
"Fine…" Ying Er nodded and stopped talking . She decided to focus on the food .
"It’s fall now, make sure you wear enough clothes . Don’t catch a cold," Garen reminded as he put the rest of the food into his mouth . He gulped it down with a few sips of milk .
"I’m leaving . " Garen stood up and went back to the bedroom to change .
Ying Er listlessly sat by the table as she watched him leave . She kept stabbing the bread pieces in her plate with the fork .
Garen changed from his pajamas to a thick black coat and dark blue pants with a black and white scarf around his neck . He looked like a handsome teenager and was no longer thin and weak . However, his gaze looked deep, and his eyes looked like two pure gems with a sparkle of burgundy in the middle . Now, he looked totally different and more mature with the changes to his eyes .
"When will you be back? How long do you plan to stay in the shop?" Ying Er raised her head up and asked .
"I will be back before dinner . I have to go now," Garen said as he tidied his scarf . He walked to the door and put on his black leather boots .
He opened the door, walked out and saw that his neighbor’s door was open . A middle-aged man with glasses turned back and looked at him for a second, but did not say anything . The man was holding a black bag in his hand and closed his door without greeting Garen . Garen knew this neighbor; the tenant, Boris, was the middle-aged man Garen had just met . He never saw the man’s wife, but he knew that the man lived with a 7 or 8 years old boy . Garen barely talked to them and they never greeted him if they saw him around . Garen had only talked to them once since his family had moved here . He introduced himself and greeted them, but they did not have any further conversation . Garen’s family was irked by how impolite the man and his son were .
Garen carefully closed the metal door, then he rubbed his hands together for warmth . He walked down the stairs and followed the path towards the left, entering a grey road lit by black street lights .
Outside the district, the streets were between yellow buildings and had black railings protecting pedestrians on the sides . An antique car was driving along the road, and Garen could see the white smoke coming out of the exhaust . There was an ox cart full of fruits following behind the car, and the coachman whipped the ox while yelling from time to time .
While glancing at the yellow buildings beside him, Garen walked by the railings; each of these buildings was around 7 floors tall and some had their windows open . Others closed their windows tight and put barbed wire on them . The edges of the buildings were round rather than sharp right angles .
A chilling autumn wind blew through Garen’s hair . He lowered his head and felt his skin numbed by the cold . There were young trees planted next to the railings, however, they were bereft of leaves . As such, Garen could only see the dark, bold branches .
After walking for about twenty minutes, he started to see more people and cars on the street . He walk passed a bronze sign labeled ‘Garden Street’ .
Garen turned left at a crossroads, and instead of yellow, the buildings became grey and white with complex designs . These buildings looked luxurious, and there were tall round poles around them . There were also some beautiful sculptures by the buildings, and the black street lamps were decorated with white ornaments on top .
The sidewalk was almost empty . There was a woman wearing a thick white dress walking her dog, and there were also two old men holding canes sitting on a black metal bench talking in hushed voices .
Garen tightened his scarf and looked over the building on his left . Garen’s uncle lived on the fifth floor of that building; this uncle of his was the one who helped him and Ying Er get into the Shengying Nobles Academy .
Garen’s uncle started his business from nothing and worked very hard to build up his reputation . He was one of the richest merchants in Huaishan City, and he treated Garen very well . However, he did not care about girls, so he barely talked to Ying Er .
"I should visit my uncle on my way back…" Garen thought as he walked faster towards the end of the street . He passed a bronze road sign standing beside the sidewalk that read ‘Pennington Street’ . There was a small store at the corner by the end of the street . The arched door of the shop was wide open, and there was yellow light coming out of it . A bespectacled old man was sitting by the yellow shelves, carefully looking at the object in his hand with a magnifier .
Garen glanced at the top right corner, towards a triangle sign hanging on the white wall . It read ‘Dolphin Antiques’ . Garen walked into the shop and looked around the place . There were more than ten tables in the shop, and there were red fabrics strewn all over the tables and walls, but he was the only customer . Many strange items were put on the tables .
After entering the shop, Garen stepped on the dark yellow floor and was startled by the ‘person’ to his right . He looked over and saw an incomplete body sculpture of a kid with curly hair; it only had the head and the shoulders . There was a cuboid stone pole supporting the sculpture from below .
"What do you need?" asked the old man, who put down his magnifier when he saw Garen enter . The old man’s skin was gray and yellow, while his wrinkled face was full of black freckles .
"Let me see…" Garen panicked for a second, trying to think of a reason for being there…
"Don’t mind me, I am just looking around," he answered after calming down .
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