Ling Yu felt that this place was exactly as the notebook described. She also felt that using scenery like this in her own paintings would surely produce something different.
She simply committed it to memory. This time she didn't draw everything in her favorite notebook. The scenes had already taken shape naturally in her mind; perhaps lifting her brush now would merely fix the painting in place.
She liked flights of imagination, not this kind of stillness.
As she thought, the car crossed the bridge. A jolt quickly brought her back to herself. Bracing against the window, she heard Chen Mo say, “It was like this when I came yesterday. They say the transport links around here aren't very good.”
Ling Yu was growing tired of being bounced around. He was right. Getting about here was even harder than she had imagined. Almost every road they entered was a little country lane.
Most country lanes these days were probably better than this one.
At last they reached the entrance to town. Its shopping district had developed differently from those elsewhere. Outside the shops stood sculptures much like the one in Chen Mo's car, row after row of them in different sizes.
They looked less frightening now.
Chen Mo parked on an open stretch of grass nearby. Someone seemed to be watching the place, which explained the many cars parked there. There were even local people guarding it.
“Let me pay for this,” Ling Yu said, getting out first and offering to cover the bill. Chen Mo waved her off. “Don't worry about it. It's my car, so I'll pay. No need to trouble you. Parking here is cheap. It won't cost much.”
He took the slip as he spoke. Ling Yu leaned over to look. Parking for almost twelve hours cost only thirty yuan.
It really was cheaper than she had expected. And in a commercial district, they probably needn't worry about someone coming specifically to steal the car.
“Make sure you collect it on time. If you're late and the next person wants this space and starts making trouble, don't expect me to stop them,” the elderly attendant declared sternly. Without raising his head, he handed over the payment code and the slip.
Chen Mo knew the routine. Smiling, he took the slip, scanned the code, and paid. Once the old man saw the money arrive, he hurried off to deal with something elsewhere.
As soon as he was gone, Chen Mo turned to complain to Ling Yu. “He's always like this. Nobody actually comes looking for trouble. He hires people to do it. Then... you end up paying compensation. Who knows how much that whole gang will squeeze out of you.”
One day here had shown him how elaborate the scams were. You couldn't predict them or untangle them. In the end, you simply got cheated.
Worse, there were no dependable police here. The officers came from the village and would inevitably side with their own people.
Ling Yu smiled. “People around here tend to be like that. We'll do our best to get back in time and give them no chance to cheat us.”
Chen Mo nodded, then said, “The place where I bought the sundial isn't far. We can walk over in no time.”
Ling Yu wasn't in a hurry. She followed him to the shop where he had bought it. It was crowded, and the people working there appeared to be a family.
Judging by their ages, they were probably a mother, an older sister, and a younger brother. They wore the area's best-known traditional clothing.
As soon as the two entered, the little boy approached and addressed Ling Yu sweetly. “Miss, would you like to buy something?”
Ling Yu wasn't taken in by the shop's little sales tactic. She merely looked around. “I'd like to speak to one of your parents. I have a business proposition.”
“What sort of business?” the boy asked.
Ling Yu handed him her card. He took it with a puzzled look. He was probably still in primary school and didn't quite know what to make of it. Nimbly threading through the crowd, he slipped behind a curtain into the back room.
Chen Mo watched the card change hands, privately marveling at who knew what. Before he could ask anything, the boy returned the same way.
He invited her in respectfully. “Miss Ling, my dad would like to talk to you.”
“Chen Mo, wait outside. If the discussion goes well, I'll come out to sign the contract. If I don't come out, just wait a little longer.”
At first Chen Mo looked thoroughly baffled. Then he quickly realized it was a strategy. His confusion vanished, replaced by a professional nod worthy of an agent.
The boy glanced at Chen Mo with a touch of disdain, but smiled again as soon as he looked at Ling Yu.
“This way, please, miss.”
He addressed her so sweetly that it was pleasant enough to hear. Still, Ling Yu wasn't about to place all her trust in a boy she didn't know.
She followed him toward the curtain. She had no idea what lay behind it, so she needed to be properly prepared.
She concealed the small knife she carried in a fold of her clothing, ready in case someone lunged out from behind the curtain. The boy could probably duck out of the way, so the main thing was to guard against an attack from above.
As she considered this, the boy lifted the curtain. Ling Yu stood in the doorway and looked inside several times. Most of the room seemed to be filled with aromatic spices. Even from the threshold, the fragrance was strong.
It was strong enough to sting her nose. Rubbing it helplessly, she drew several deep breaths. By then the boy had sat in a chair beside the window and was watching her, swinging his legs.
He spoke first. “Don't worry, miss. My dad's very nice. He won't do anything to you.”
Her unease exposed, Ling Yu touched her nose guiltily. With a strained smile, she used the movement to slip the knife back into her bag.
“That's not what I meant. I was just wondering why all these lovely spices are kept back here.” Pressing her lips together, she finally managed an excuse.
Then she looked toward the man sitting at the far end of the room. He was tucked right into a corner, apparently busy with something in his hands, and didn't immediately look up.
The air-conditioning couldn't have been set very low. After only a few minutes, heat seemed to be rushing through her whole body.
Enduring it, she took a few steps forward and stopped before him. At last he raised his head. Her first glimpse of his face brought an indescribable shock. Almost all its skin appeared to have been damaged. The grafted skin didn't fit the rest of his face at all, giving him a strange appearance.
“Sorry. I didn't know I'd have a visitor today, so I hadn't prepared a mask. I may have frightened you.” Seeing her surprise, he immediately took sunglasses and a mask from a cabinet beside him and put them on without hesitation. “What would you like to discuss, Miss Ling? Paintings? Sundials? Or these insignificant spices?”
Ling Yu explained, “As my card says, I'm a painter. I'd like to discuss a project with you. Assuming there are no difficulties, a profit-sharing arrangement should work perfectly well.”
She thought she had made herself quite clear. She even took a contract from her bag and handed it over. Surely most people would be interested in a contract like this, provided it made money. Wouldn't they?
The man accepted it and glanced down. Across it was written: [Acquisition]. Ling Yu hadn't actually specified what she intended to acquire. It was simply a blank copy left over from the last time she had signed an agreement with her agent.
She assumed these people wouldn't understand and hoped a little bluffing might get her the answers she wanted. After reading the first page, the man looked up. With his mask on, his tone was her only guide to his response. “Miss Ling, I know you want the rights to the sundials outside. But I must tell you... If you've come here, you surely know what those sundials really are. As someone born here, I advise you to think carefully. Don't be foolish.”
Ling Yu nodded. “I know. Aren't those legends just stories you made up to attract tourists?” She gave a deliberately affected smile, playing the “ignorant” artist they might imagine, a grand artist interested only in making money.
The man laughed coldly. “Do you really think they're made up, Miss Ling?” Without hurrying, she replied, “Of course. Most stories in places like this are fake. You just want to earn more money, don't you? Besides, you get no fewer tourists here than the big destinations.”
At that, the boy who had brought her in interrupted. “Miss Ling, those things are all true. They're not made up.”
Ling Yu narrowed her eyes. “Made up?” She paused, then laughed. “If they were made up, you shouldn't have invited me in to discuss an acquisition contract. And you certainly wouldn't have been so eager to meet me.”
She had ideas of her own about the situation. Perhaps a better bluff would draw something out of them.
When the man said nothing, Ling Yu wiped her neck with a tissue from her bag and asked quietly, “Don't tell me those legends... you're saying they're real?”
The boy jumped down from his chair. “Of course they're real, Miss Ling. They say this sundial can help the people in our village find—”
Before he could finish, his father snapped, “You foolish boy! What are you talking about? Those stories are made up. How could they be real?”
Hearing his father's anger, the boy immediately lost his confidence. He only muttered, “But they are real...”
Who didn't know what happened around here?
Hearing the man speak, Ling Yu exhaled and patted her chest. In a way, she felt he was finally being less evasive than before.
She didn't press him, merely waiting for him to explain at his own pace. Instead, he too sighed deeply and set the contract down heavily on the table.
“You foolish boy... Go and help your sister outside.”
Ling Yu had expected to learn something. She hadn't expected him merely to send the boy out. Still, she didn't lose heart. She waited to see what he would do next.
The boy didn't want to leave. But when he met his father's almost entirely black eyes, he visibly shuddered. At last he slipped around behind Ling Yu and went out.
“Miss Ling, I know why you're really here. But I think I still need some time to prepare. If it proves possible, I'll sign with you. I can't give you an answer today.” The man glanced at the contract again.
Ling Yu pretended not to be discouraged. “We artists like an answer right away. If you sign with me, you can start making money today.”