Hello, everyone, I’m in Yokohama by invitation.
Just now, I discovered something amazing.
I have, like, crossed over?!
As for how I found out about this, I owe it to my friend, who is a science student, let’s call her Xiaoli. Yokohama is a port city by the sea, with beautiful scenery and fresh air, and the largest Chinatown in Japan and even in Asia – Yokohama China Town.
Ah, China Street is inherited in the Chinese culture, profound and long-standing, that is the root of our nation, the soul of the nation, I am proud of the Chinese culture…ahem, sorry, sorry, the student’s occupational disease.
On our way to China Street for dinner, we met a young man who was lost. To be honest, he didn’t really look like he was lost, but he had the temperament of a child, so maybe he was really lost. And he was really good looking (emphasis really), so we decided to take him back.
Two Chinese people, new to Japan, gave a lost local a ride home. As weird as it sounds, and things didn’t go too well, after all, we didn’t think we’d be that far from our destination, how did he do it?
Along the way, I found him to be a peculiar person, obviously childish and still lost, but I always found him unexpectedly keen, and I don’t know why I thought so, but since I couldn’t quite tell, I didn’t want to, so I put it down to a woman’s intuition.
He said we had a problem and could come here to find him, and without waiting for us to reply, he went upstairs and left. Back on China Street, I have been thinking, his eyes have been closed, how he was watching the road with his eyes closed. Ah, I see, no wonder he got lost.
Back to the topic at hand, after dinner we went to see two iconic refurbished buildings in Yokohama – Yokohama Pier and the Red Brick Warehouse, both great, but the modern style has a clear view of the past, which is pretty much what Yokohama is all about.
What impressed me the most was that there was a fashionable teenager standing at the pier, wearing a small black dress, looking out over the distance, looking young but with white hair.
We said goodbye to the teenager, we returned to the street, ready to go to the hotel to rest. It was already late in the evening, and the dusk enveloped the city, adding a touch of magnificence. Neither I nor Xiaoli spoke, walking slowly and enjoying the silence.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise from afar, like an explosion, mixed with the anger and cursing of someone. I couldn’t help but look over. I don’t have good eyesight and don’t have my glasses on, all I could see was smoke rising, as if there was a shadow passing through the sky.
I didn’t take it seriously, but Xiaoli was suddenly very excited, and she said she saw a man flying in the sky? !
People are flying? I am very surprised that my BFF has finally been gone crazy by physical chemistry?!
She was very interested in it, but given the lateness of the day, the two foreign girls were not safe to be outside alone, so we went back to the hotel first.
The next morning, she set off in high spirits to find out what was going on. I didn’t say anything about it, but I didn’t stop her, and it was nice to do something we each enjoyed today.
I was intrigued by the Japanese originals here, so I packed up and headed to the bookstore. Then I had the most confusing day of my life, more confused than if I had written an 8 hour paper on literature.
As soon as I entered the bookstore, I went straight to the shelves of literary masterpieces and turned around, netting books and authors I had never heard of, and I wondered, is there such a big cultural difference between China and Japan?
When I didn’t find what I wanted, I went over to the bookstore owner and asked him, “Do you have any books by Dazaiji?” The boss shook his head. I ask again, “What about Ryuunosuke Akutagawa?” The boss shook his head again. I asked seven or eight Japanese literary giants in a row, but the boss said no and looked at me more and more strangely.
After realizing that the boss seemed to want to throw me out, I walked out of the bookstore myself. Looking at the red sun, I pinched myself again. Argh! Ouch! Then I’m not dreaming!
In disbelief, I went to several more bookstores and got the same response. A terrible suspicion arose in my mind, and to verify it, I ran straight to the library here…
After I came out of the library, I sat muddled in the street for an afternoon until Xiaoli found me.
Xiaoli said to me with a serious expression, “If Newton’s coffin is still in good condition, then we have crossed over.”
I replied to her with a trance-like expression, “What is a coffin, maybe even Newton is gone1.”
1 Ah. I just got it. Cause Newton doesn’t exist anymore, get it? I feel slow.