RBCT Chapter 31 Xiushui Street, Japanese Housewives' Pink
Chapter 31 Xiushui Street, Japanese Housewives' Pink
May 5th, Sunday, Sunny
In May, the weather in Beijing is neither too hot nor too cold, and the wind feels just right on your face.
Tang Yun lingered in bed for a while in the morning. After getting up, she wandered around the second floor of the music store wearing Li Si'an's T-shirt.
While having breakfast, Li Si'an asked, "Have you ever been to Xiushui Street?"
Tang Yun shook her head.
"Then let me show you around."
The two tidied themselves up and went out.
Li Si'an was about to hail a taxi when Tang Yun stopped him. "The weather's so nice today, why don't we ride our bikes?"
So Li Si'an had no choice but to get on his old bicycle. Tang Yun sat sideways on the back seat, one hand around his waist, the other gently patting his back.
The May wind blew her hair up and brushed against the back of Li Si'an's neck, making it tickle.
"Ride slowly," Tang Yun said.
"It's already very slow."
"Slow down."
Li Si'an slowed down. She rode her bicycle eastward along Chang'an Avenue.
As they passed Tiananmen Square, Tang Yun said, "Look at those people flying kites."
Li Si'an glanced over and saw a group of old men flying kites in the square. The kites flew very high, becoming just tiny dots in the sky.
Xiushui Street is located outside Jianguomen, right next to the embassy district. Although it is called a "street", it is actually a narrow alley, more than 200 meters long, with stalls crammed on both sides and the sidewalk in the middle so narrow that only two people can walk side by side.
They sell all sorts of things—silk, tea, calligraphy and paintings, handicrafts—but the most common items are clothes.
T-shirts, jeans, jackets, and trench coats hung together, their vibrant colors creating a lively scene under the May sun.
There are many foreigners. The US and British embassies are nearby, and foreigners come to shop after work, haggling with the vendors in broken Chinese, while the vendors retort in even broken English.
Every time Li Si'an came here, she felt that this place had an indescribable vitality; it was chaotic, but interesting.
He locked his bicycle at the entrance of the alley and pulled Tang Yun inside.
Tang Yun wore a white dress he bought for her today—it wasn't a big brand, just something from Xiushui Street, but on her, the dress looked at least two levels higher.
Standing at 1.72 meters tall, wearing a white dress and with long hair flowing down her shoulders, she walked through the narrow alley, looking like a scene from a fashion magazine.
"You go ahead of me," Li Si'an said.
Why?
"Because you're in front, I can see who the hell is looking at you from behind!"
Tang Yun turned around and glared at him, but her steps became much lighter.
They first went to a familiar shop. The owner was named Wen Kai, in his early thirties, a tall, thin man from the south, who spoke with a Jiangzhe accent.
Li Si'an had bought clothes from his store many times before, so the two were somewhat familiar with each other.
Wen Kai's shop mainly sells casual wear—jeans, T-shirts, and sweatshirts. The styles are more fashionable than other shops, supposedly based on designs from Hong Kong magazines.
"Oh, you're here?" Wen Kai was squatting on the ground organizing the crates when he saw Li Si'an and Tang Yun come in. He stood up and dusted off his pants. "Long time no see."
"It hasn't been that long, has it? I bought several items from you before the Spring Festival." Li Si'an walked around the store, looking at the sample garments hanging on the walls. "Do you have any new stock?"
"Yes, they just arrived." Wen Kai took a few T-shirts off the shelf and handed them to him. "Take a look at this style. It's modeled after Armani's designs, and the fabric is much better than the last batch."
Li Si'an took it and looked at it. It was a solid-color crew neck T-shirt made of thick fabric with a good drape, unlike ordinary T-shirts that clung to the body in a soft, floppy way.
He checked the label on the collar—it wasn't Armani, not even a high-quality replica, just an unbranded item.
But in Xiushui Street, who cares about brands? A nice style, comfortable fabric, and cheap price are enough.
He picked out three pieces—one black, one dark gray, and one navy blue.
Then he looked at the light gray long-sleeved T-shirt he was wearing, hesitated for a moment, and then put the black one on over it.
Tang Yun glanced at him: "You're dressed like this?"
"Let's give it a try." Li Si'an walked to the half-person-high mirror at the entrance of the store and looked at herself.
A black short-sleeved shirt is worn over a light gray long-sleeved shirt, with a section of light gray trim peeking out from the collar and cuffs, instantly creating a sense of layering.
With dark colors on the outside and light colors on the inside, the upper body appears to be slimmer, making the shoulders appear wider and the waist narrower.
He was already tall, standing at 1.82 meters, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His face also bore a striking resemblance to Takuya Kimura. Dressed like this, he looked like he had stepped right out of a Japanese drama.
He turned slightly to the side and looked at himself. The layering was just right, neither bulky nor thin. He reached out and pulled down the collar of his black short-sleeved shirt, revealing more of the light gray underneath.
"How is it?" he asked Tang Yun.
Tang Yun leaned against the shelf, crossed her arms, looked him up and down, and finally said, "He's handsome."
Li Si'an smiled.
Wen Kai also came over to take a look, nodded, and said, "When you wear this, the clothes are of a completely different class. Let me tell you, if you stood in front of my store as a model, I could sell twice as many of this batch of goods."
Just as Li Si'an was about to say something, a chattering sound came from the shop entrance—it was Japanese.
Four middle-aged women, with permed hair, exquisite makeup, and floral dresses, carrying large and small bags, looked like Japanese housewives visiting Beijing.
They stopped at the store entrance, and one of them pointed at Li Si'an with her mouth wide open, speaking a long string of Japanese in a tone that Li Si'an couldn't understand but was extremely emotional.
All four women turned to look at him.
"Kimura? Takuya Kimura?" Another woman took two steps forward, tilted her head, stared at his face for two seconds, then covered her mouth with both hands. "Kimura-san?!"
Li Si'an was stunned for a moment, then realized that they had mistaken him for Takuya Kimura.
He looks seven or eight parts like Takuya Kimura. When he was running the store, customers who came to buy tapes often said that to him. Girls at school also said it to his face.
But in a place like the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy, where there are handsome men and beautiful women everywhere, everyone is used to seeing him like that, and no one would really think of him as Takuya Kimura.
These Japanese housewives are different—they come from Japan, and in their minds, Takuya Kimura is the man who starred in "Long Vacation" and whose haircuts can make the news.
Suddenly seeing a young man who looks like Takuya Kimura on a clothing street in Beijing felt like seeing a living Buddha on the street.
"No, I'm not Kimura," Li Si'an waved her hand and said in English, "I'm not Kimura. I'm just a Chinese student."
But four women had already surrounded them. Cellphones—no, there weren't cellphones with cameras in 1996. They pulled out cameras, those point-and-shoot cameras that used film.
One of them had already raised it and snapped a picture of Li Si'an.
"Ichizao's photo album?" The woman at the front clasped her hands together and looked at him eagerly.
Li Si'an glanced at Tang Yun. Tang Yun leaned against the shelf, suppressing a smile, her expression clearly saying, "You got yourself into this mess, so you'll have to deal with it yourself."
He sighed and nodded.
Four women took turns taking photos with him, and when they weren't satisfied, they dragged Tang Yun along for a photo as well.
Tang Yun was a little embarrassed when she was pulled over, but once she stood next to Li Si'an, the four women started chattering in Japanese again, their tone even more excited than before.
After taking the photos, they started looking at the clothes in the store. One of the women pointed to the black T-shirt Li Si'an was wearing and asked Wen Kai how much it cost.
Wen Kai held up three fingers: "Three hundred." Without saying a word, the woman took out her money and bought two items—one black and one navy blue.
The other three also bought several items each—T-shirts, jeans, and dresses—stuffing them into their bags like they were free. In no time, Wen Kai had a wad of RMB in his hand.
Li Si'an counted, and the four of them bought more than twenty pieces of clothing in total. When they paid, Wen Kai's hand was shaking a little as he pressed the calculator—more than six thousand.
These people didn't haggle at all; they took everything at the original price.
Several women left carrying large and small bags. Before leaving, they turned back to look at Li Si'an and chattered for a few more minutes.
Li Si'an couldn't understand, but she could roughly guess that he was saying something like, "He's so handsome, he looks just like Kimura-kun. My life is worth living."