Huayu: Returned Overseas Chinese

At six o'clock in the evening, Chen Jingming, dressed in casual clothes, waited quietly at the entrance of the New Century Hotel.

About ten minutes later, the doorman opened the door, and Liu Yifei came out. She was wearing a black floral dress, a pink Prada nylon bag slung across her shoulder, and black leather shoes with lace socks peeking out from her ankles. To an unfamiliar person, Liu Yifei looked like she was seventeen or eighteen years old, exceptionally youthful and beautiful.

But in Chen Jingming's opinion, this outfit looked a bit outdated. After all, he had seen all sorts of stockings and long legs in later generations, and he was already somewhat immune to them, but those fair calves looked like they could be played with for a long time.

"Brother Jingming!" Liu Yifei called out cheerfully, as if the unpleasantness of the afternoon had never happened. But if you looked closely, you could see a hint of smugness in her eyes—she had seen the way Chen Jingming had stared at her earlier.

Chen Jingming responded softly, and then the two walked side by side down the street. When they reached a crowded area, there were many stalls set up along the roadside. Liu Yifei's eyes began to wander around, showing curiosity about many things. Occasionally, she would stop to look or squat down to ask questions.

"Jingming, what do you think of this? Isn't it cute?" Liu Yifei held up a plush toy shaped like a kitten and asked Chen Jingming. She even made a scratching motion with one hand and softly imitated a cat's meow.

"It's cute, buy it if you like it." After what happened in the afternoon, Chen Jingming didn't know how to interact with her for a moment, so he spoke bluntly.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei glared at him and said reproachfully, "Brother Jingming, you answered without even looking properly. Are you just trying to brush me off?"

Chen Jingming was immediately at his wit's end, and managed a forced smile: "It's really cute. Look, it matches the bag you're carrying today perfectly, they're both pink, and it looks good hanging on the bag."

Liu Yifei held up the cat plush toy against the side of her crossbody bag, thought it was really nice, and then turned around to haggle with the shopkeeper. It seemed to be a woman's innate skill; the two of them went back and forth over a dollar or two.

In the end, Liu Yifei was the one who came out on top. She triumphantly took out five yuan and handed it over, then hung the cat toy on the zipper of her bag.

"Jingming, I'm thirsty. I want to drink Mochi peach juice."

Liu Yifei turned around and looked at Chen Jingming with a smile. Chen Jingming slapped his forehead, looked around, and didn't see a shop, only a bicycle in the distance with a wooden box tied to the back. He had seen this kind of outfit a few times and knew it was for selling water, so he said:

"They might not have Mochi peach juice. Let's go check over there."

Liu Yifei didn't say much and followed Chen Jingming. Chen Jingming walked to the bicycle and asked, "Boss, do you have Mochi peach juice?"

"No," the shopkeeper shook his head slightly and introduced, "We have Huiyuan juice, would you like some?"

Chen Jingming turned to look at Liu Yifei, who nodded slightly. Chen Jingming took out some money and handed it to her: "Two bottles."

Chen Jingming unscrewed the cap and handed her the juice. Liu Yifei took it, took a small sip, and then stopped drinking.

Chen Jingming tilted his head back and gulped down more than half the bottle in one go. Seeing this, Liu Yifei whispered, "You can't drink water like that; you have to drink it slowly."

Chen Jingming smacked his lips, a slightly sweet taste in them, and casually replied, "I'm a man, how can I sip like you little girls?"

Liu Yifei glared at him, turned around and walked forward, leaving Chen Jingming with only the back of her head with a ponytail.

The two strolled along, occasionally stopping to look around. Suddenly, a catchy children's song drifted from ahead:

"Two tigers, two tigers, running fast, running fast..."

Chen Jingming was so engrossed in listening that he accidentally bumped into Liu Yifei, who had stopped in front of him. Seeing the longing look on her face, Chen Jingming's heart tightened. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "You don't want to sit here, do you?"

Liu Yifei turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling, as if to say, "I want to sit here." Chen Jingming glanced at her, then at the rocking horse swaying happily over there, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.

"This is for little kids. Look, these are all four or five-year-olds. It's not really suitable for you to sit here."

Liu Yifei didn't reply, but just stared blankly at Chen Jingming, looking like she wouldn't leave unless he let her sit down.

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Chen Jingming could only compromise: "Then shall we sit here once?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Liu Yifei pulled him forward, squeezing through the crowd. She stood outside the rocking horse, looking at this and that, hesitating for a moment.

As Chen Jingming approached, he discovered that there were quite a few rocking cars here. In addition to the one that sang "Two Tigers," there were also the theme songs of "White Dragon Horse," "Calabash Brothers," "Black Cat Detective," and "Ikkyu-san," all of which were the most popular cartoon theme songs of that era.

"Which seat do you want to sit in?" Chen Jingming asked as he watched her head turn around.

"Any of them is fine. There are no seats available right now. I'll wait until the kids are done," Liu Yifei said without turning her head. Chen Jingming then realized that it wasn't a matter of having trouble choosing, but rather that there were no seats available.

The two stood aside and waited. During this time, Chen Jingming went to exchange some coins with the shopkeeper. After the "Clever Ikkyu" toy stopped swaying and the child was taken off by his parents, Liu Yifei immediately went over and sat down, then looked at Chen Jingming.

Chen Jingming steeled himself and walked over, dropping in a dollar. The rocking horse immediately started playing a tune:

"Giggle giggle giggle giggle giggle giggle giggle, we love you..."

Chen Jingming moved to the side, standing at the edge of the crowd, pretending to be just an observer. A few minutes later, the music slowly stopped, but Liu Yifei didn't come down; instead, she turned her gaze to him.

Chen Jingming swallowed hard, slowly moved over under everyone's gaze, and tossed in another coin. Soon, the theme song of Ikkyu-san started playing again.

This time, Chen Jingming didn't leave. He stood by the rocking horse listening to the "clucking" sound, and to be honest, it was actually kind of fun.

After rocking for a few more minutes, Liu Yifei stood up and left when the music stopped. As soon as a seat became available, a parent immediately sat down with their child.

"Let's go." Liu Yifei's voice rang out, and Chen Jingming finally came back to his senses, his mind still filled with the "geji geji" melody.

The two squeezed through the crowd, and Chen Jingming asked curiously, "Kidney horses have been around since the early 1990s, how come you seem to have never ridden one before?"

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes and said irritably, "I used to live in Wuhan. Where are there any kiddie rides there?"

Chen Jingming nodded; he truly didn't know where Liu Yifei had lived as a child.

He glanced at the time; it was almost ten o'clock. He then asked, "Should we go back to the hotel? It's getting late."

Liu Yifei asked about the time and then nodded. She had already arranged to talk to her mother on the phone at 10:30 when she arrived, and if she was found out she was still out, her mother would probably rush back from Europe.

"Should I buy you some snacks to take back? You slept until after six o'clock and just ate something. Will you be hungry tonight?" Chen Jingming asked as the two walked side by side back to the hotel. He had called Liu Yifei to invite her to dinner that night, but no one answered.

"No need. I won't eat anything tonight. I'm already learning dance, and my teacher said I need to maintain my figure." Liu Yifei shook her head and refused, a hint of longing flashing in her eyes. But for her dream, for becoming a trendsetting superstar like Audrey Hepburn, she firmly rejected Chen Jingming's suggestion.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingming didn't think much of it, assuming that Liu Yifei was full and didn't want to eat anymore. The two returned to the hotel, one on the seventh floor and the other on the ninth floor. In the elevator, they said goodnight to each other and then parted ways.