radicalducati Chapter 18 Mong Kok Audio-Visual Store
Chapter 18 Mong Kok Audio-Visual Store
After the prefabricated steel house was erected, the cement took three days to dry completely.
Li Si'an was busy for those three days. The renovation on the first floor was also nearing completion, and Lao Ma led the workers to scrape plaster, lay floor tiles, and build shelves, rushing to finish the last bit of work.
Li Si'an made two trips to the secondhand market over the past three days, buying four rows of folding chairs, and also went to the furniture store to buy two beds and two wardrobes. The folding chairs were initially piled up in a corner on the first floor, and could be moved into the prefabricated steel house once the cement dried.
The bed and wardrobe were carried up to the second floor by Lao Ma's workers.
Another day passed, and the entire first floor was renovated.
Li Si'an followed Lao Ma around the store. The floor tiles were flat, the shelves were sturdy, and the water pipes in the second-floor toilets didn't leak.
No problem, he settled the final payment and saw Old Ma off. Old Ma rode his tricycle, the chain clattering, and disappeared around the street corner.
The cement on the prefabricated steel structure in the backyard had dried completely. Li Si'an went out through the back door, stood at the entrance of the shed, looked around, and then patted the door frame with a loud thud.
The blue corrugated steel roof and gray-white asbestos tile walls, adjacent to the back wall of the house, occupy most of the backyard.
The house is finished, and the shed is also built.
Li Si'an locked the door, went back to the school cafeteria to eat a quick meal, and went to find Tang Yun that evening.
Tang Yun had just returned from the rehearsal hall, her hair still styled in a bun, and her face was covered in sweat. Li Si'an leaned against the door of their dormitory and said that the house was finished, they would let it air out tonight, and then move in tomorrow morning.
Tang Yun said it was okay.
The next morning, when Li Si'an arrived at the dormitory building, Tang Yun was already waiting there.
She changed into a white dress, and her hair was neatly combed and pinned behind her ear with a hair clip.
Two large suitcases stood at her feet, the red one was hers and the black one was hers too. Next to them were a canvas bag and a woven bag, all bulging and looking quite heavy.
Li Si'an walked over and lifted the two large boxes, one in each hand. The boxes were heavy, with the wheels dangling in mid-air, and the veins on his arms were bulging.
"What's in that box? Bricks?"
"Clothes." Tang Yun bent down to pick up the woven bag, then slung a canvas bag over her shoulder. "And shoes, and books."
"Can shoes really be that heavy?"
"Several pairs. Three pairs of training shoes alone."
Li Si'an didn't say anything more and carried her suitcase downstairs. Tang Yun followed behind, the woven bag scraping against the stair railing with a soft thud.
The two crossed the street and walked to the music store diagonally opposite. Li Si'an put the suitcase down by the door and took out her key to open the roller shutter door.
The sheet metal was pushed up with a clatter, and a fresh smell of new renovation wafted out—white lime, paint, and composite flooring mixed together. It wasn't pungent, but you could tell it was new.
The floor tiles on the first floor were shiny, a light gray, and sunlight streamed in through the shop windows, illuminating the entire room. The shelves stood neatly against the wall, but nothing was displayed yet.
Tang Yun looked around and smiled.
"How is it?" Li Si'an asked.
"That's great," she said. "You've been busy for so many days, and you're finally done."
Li Si'an didn't stop on the first floor; instead, she picked up a suitcase in each hand and went upstairs. Tang Yun followed behind, carrying a woven bag.
The door to the south-facing room on the second floor was open. The bed was new, covered with light blue sheets, and the pillowcases were also new, white, and neatly folded. The wardrobe stood against the wall, the smell of wood still lingering.
The window was open, and the white curtains billowed in the wind, revealing the treetops of Zizhuyuan Park, lush and green, dazzling to the eye.
Li Si'an pushed the two large suitcases to the corner and turned around. Tang Yun was looking down, taking things out of a woven bag, a strand of hair slipping down from behind her ear and falling to the side of her face.
The white dress she's wearing today is new. It's cinched at the waist, making her waist look very slim from behind, while her hips bulge out in a rounded shape, giving her a violin-like figure.
Li Si'an stared at her for two seconds, then couldn't resist. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, rested his chin on her shoulder, buried his face in her neck, and took a deep breath.
She had a faint fragrance, not perfume, but a subtle sweet scent mixed with the warmth emanating from beneath her young skin, like freshly washed fruit that had been left to dry in the sun for a while.
"Do you like it?" he asked in a muffled voice.
"Um."
He turned her to face him. Tang Yun kept her head down, refusing to look at him.
Li Si'an reached out and pinched her chin, lifting it upwards. She looked up, her eyes bright and smiling, her gray-green pupils appearing even lighter in the sunlight.
He lowered his head and kissed him.
When his lips pressed against hers, Tang Yun's body went limp, and she gripped his T-shirt at the waist.
Her lips were still so soft, with a slight coolness. He pushed his tongue aside her lips and teeth, and Tang Yun's breathing became disordered. She let out a very soft groan from deep in her throat, and leaned against him. Her fingers went from clenching to lying down, and she had no strength left.
They kissed for a long time. So long that they were both out of breath before Li Si'an finally let go.
Tang Yun opened her eyes, her eyes were red-rimmed and her lips were red. She was breathing slightly heavily and looked at him with a somewhat unfocused gaze, as if she hadn't come to her senses yet.
Li Si'an didn't say anything, but turned his head and kissed her hard on the cheek.
The "pop" sound was particularly loud in the quiet room.
Tang Yun shrank her neck as he kissed her, and before she could react, he kissed her on the other cheek, even louder.
"Pop—"
Tang Yun pushed him away, her face turning red to the roots of her ears.
"What are you doing...?"
Li Si'an chuckled and reached out to scratch her nose.
"Alright, that's enough."
He released her, took a half step back, and glanced at the room.
"By the way, you can take care of these things around the house. Curtains, sheets, tablecloths, buy whatever you need."
Tang Yun lowered her head to straighten her collar, which he had messed up.
"How much will that cost?"
"I won't make you spend any money. You write down a list and I'll go buy it. Or I'll give you the money and you can buy it yourself."
Tang Yun didn't reply, and straightened her collar.
Li Si'an added, "You don't need to worry about the pots and pans. We don't eat at home, and we don't have a kitchen. I even arranged for someone to come and install a water heater this morning. We have a toilet at home, so we can shower at home from now on and won't have to squeeze into the school's public bathroom."
Tang Yun looked up at him.
"Where should I put it?"
"There's a good spot on the wall next to the toilet to hang it."
She nodded.
Li Si'an glanced at her watch.
"They'll be here soon. I'll go downstairs and wait. You can take your time packing."
"Um."
He turned and went downstairs. When he reached the top of the stairs, he looked back once more.
Tang Yun was standing by the window, pulling the curtains slightly before letting them fall back open. Sunlight shone on her face, and she squinted, smiling to reveal a hint of her teeth.
Li Si'an smiled and went downstairs.
In the afternoon, my uncle Zhou Weidong arrived.
His slightly worn Santana was parked in front of the shop. He got out of the car, but didn't rush in. Instead, he stood by the roadside and looked up at the small gray brick building.
Li Si'an came out of the store.
"uncle."
Zhou Weidong nodded and pushed the door open to go inside.
I walked around the first floor, patted the shelves, and squatted down to look at the grout between the floor tiles. I walked around the second floor again, stood for a moment at the door of the south-facing room, and saw a towel hanging on the balcony, neatly folded and draped over the railing.
He didn't say anything and went downstairs.
"It's not badly installed." He stopped in the middle of the first floor and patted the shelf again. "This wood is sturdy."
"Old Ma is the one who introduced her to me. She's good at it."
Zhou Weidong didn't reply. He turned around, went out, took a brown paper envelope from the car, and handed it to Li Si'an.
"Business license. Your aunt's name is in it, and the approval document from the Cultural Bureau is also inside."
Li Si'an took it, opened it, and glanced at it. The business license was pasted on a piece of cardboard, with black lettering on a white background and a red stamp. It read "Mong Kok Audio-Visual Store, HD District, Beijing City," and the legal representative was listed as "Ma Xiaoqin."
"Mong Kok?" Zhou Weidong repeated the name. "Why did you come up with such a name?"
"A Hong Kong name sounds sophisticated," Li Si'an said. "Besides, Mong Kok has a lucky character in its name. Isn't the point of opening a shop to have a prosperous business?"
Zhou Weidong glanced at him and smiled.
"You little rascal."
"Thank you, Uncle."
"No need to thank me." Zhou Weidong took out another business card from his pocket and handed it over. "I've found you a supplier. His surname is Hu. He runs a video store in Wudaokou. There are a lot of students from Peking University and Tsinghua University there. He knows what young people like, and he has a wide network."
Li Si'an took the business card, which read "Wudaokou Audio-Visual Supermarket - Hu Jianhua" and had a landline number at the bottom.
"Go directly to him and say I introduced you." Zhou Weidong paused. "He wouldn't dare lie to you."
Li Si'an carefully put the business card away.
"Okay. I'll contact him later."
Zhou Weidong stood in the shop for a while, looked around, and his gaze fell on the door at the back of the shop.
"Have you bought the equipment for your video arcade yet?"
"Not yet," Li Si'an said. "I was just about to tell you about this. Uncle, do you know where I can buy a cheaper TV and VCR? At least a 29-inch one, bigger would be better."
Zhou Weidong thought for a moment.
"I'll try to find out for you. Smuggled goods are cheaper, but you have to be lucky; they're not always available."
"Okay. Thank you, Uncle."
"No trouble at all." Zhou Weidong waved his hand, opened the car door, got in, and said, "Let's go."
The Santana started up and drove east along the road.