When we left the theatre, the sky was dark. There was a group of people wearing strange costumes outside

. They were 

dancing and singing

 as a

 few floats carrying drums moved behind them

. 

Some burly and 

shirtless 

men were hitting the drums. Another float had a woman wearing a red costume with fox ears and a big tail. She 

was shaking 

her appealing body and 

dancing

 like a water snake. 

All of the p

eople on the street were stirred up

. They cheered and roared as they 

surround

ed

 the floats. 

I guessed it was a

 festival. Since we 

had to wait for

 Li Mazi’s 

group

, Chuyi and I went to buy oden from a food stall

. We ate and watched 

the street performance. 

The chef of the food stall talked to us. I told him I didn’t speak Japanese. He realized it

 and 

took out a piece of paper

. He 

wrote something then gave me the note.  

Although it was in Japanese, there were a few traditional Chinese 

characters

. I could somewhat understand. He said that this was the annual Inari Okami 

Festival, also known as the

 God of Rice Festival. We were lucky that we came here in this 

period

. 

I wrote a line t

hat asked,

 “Is it for 

the sake of having a

 good harvest?” 

The chef didn’t 

understand

. Chuyi took the pen and re-wrote it with traditional Chinese letters. The chef nodded

 and wrote

, “Right, do Chinese people worship Inari Okami too?”

I also used traditional Chinese 

characters

 to answer him. I often 

read

 the old books my grandpa had left me. That

 was

 why I knew traditional Chinese 

characters

. I told him 

that

 fox immortals were famous in China and that we used to worship many statues. However, after the 

Reform

, people 

stopped

believing

 in 

this stuff

, except for the villages in the Northeast. At the same time, I showed my interest and respect 

for

 Japanese traditional culture. 

The chef said, “Arigato!” 

T

hen he wrote, “I really like Chinese cuisine. There are so many techniques

 and different dishes.

 It’s different from the simple techniques we have in Japan.” 

He even expressed his fondness 

for

 Chinese soap 

operas

 like “My Fair Princess” and “Nirvana in Fire.” These were 

popular

 dramas in Japan for a while. He thought that the scenes 

in

 Chinese dramas were all spectacularly filmed, 

unlike their

 national dramas. 

Then, he replayed a scene 

from

 “My Fair Princess”. He raised his hand

 and used 

his stiff Chinese to say, “Ziwei, don’t go!” We burst out laughing

 and thought

 that this chef was 

really

 interesting. 

I wrote on the paper that I loved reading manga and watching anime. Naruto and Cooking Master Boy were my favorites. They were good memories 

from

 my childhood. 

I also wrote that

 the gaming industry in Japan 

was

 superb. When I was young, 

I often

played

 Super Mario, Contra, King of Fighters, 

and more

.

Of course, I didn’t tell him 

about the many

 JAV 

movies

on my

 computer.

..

We were chatting to our hearts’ contents

 and exchanged our interests in each

other’s 

culture

 even though there was a language barrier

. Later on, Xiao Gao told me that Japanese people used both 

Kanji

 and their own Katakana. Chinese people c

ould

read

Kanji, so there

 would be no hindrance 

to

 reading. For example, Dr. Sun Yat-sen used to communicate with Japanese fishermen by writing 

as

 we had just done with the Japanese chef. Eve

n 

Liang Qichao, 

who

 translated many Japanese books, didn’t learn or know Japanese. 

The chef gifted us two bottles of wine. I didn’t bring anything to repay this favor

, and i

t wasn’t appropriate to give him money. As such, I gave him a 

Ksitigarbha

 Talisman

 and wrote 

him a note: This is a spirit talisman that can protect you from incidents and ghosts. 

The chef held the talisman in his hands as if it was a little treasure. 

He carefully

 adhered 

it

to

 his food cart. 

“He

h

, this chef is nice

,” 

I told Chuyi.

“Yeah

.” H

e nodded. 

We drank wine and ate 

o

den

. Then, we continued

 to watch the festival as it had come to 

a

 great part. Many Japanese people were dressed like ancient deities

, shuttling 

through the crowd. I saw Amaterasu

, the

 Goddess of the Sun and Universe, as well as Princess Kaguya

 and 

Susanoo

. 

I didn’t know the rest. On a black float, 

an

 actor and actress 

fought as

 Abe no Seimei and Tamamo no Mae. Their moves were really beautiful and impressive. 

Chuyi suddenly pointed in a direction and asked me to look. I saw a float slowly moving toward us. A white fox was lying on a lotus pod on that float. A few witches were dancing gently around that fox with their magical instruments. That white fox looked the same 

as

 the fox spirit we had encountered in Osaka! 

When he saw us, he squinted as if he was giving us a mocking smile. I 

quickly

 turned and asked the chef

,

 “What’s that fox’s 

origin

?” 

The chef answered that the fox was from a shrine that was very famous here. 

He

 said that many people 

came

 to worship it. 

“Has this fox ever left Kyoto?” 

The chef was bewildered for a while. He laughed

, pointed at the float, and asked 

me to look carefully. I then recognized it was just an exquisitely made ceramic fox. 

The chef 

quickly wrote

on

 the paper. “It’s not a real fox. It’s made of ceramic. They found that fox in the ruins of a palace. They brought it into a shrine and started to worship it. It has become the spiritual mascot of Kyoto since then. We can see it outside the shrine only once a year

, and that day happens to be

 today!” 

“It’s an otherworldly item. Moreover, it’s really powerful,” said Chuyi

.

 “

It’s possible th

e white fox spirit we met 

yesterday came from here

…” 

I nodded

 and 

couldn’t believe that we were lucky enough to see an otherworldly item in Japan. An expert’s knowledge determines what he sees. It’s like how a 

g

eologist will notice the soil

and 

how a

 botanist will pay attention to the plants wherever they go. 

With such a concept, after two years in this business, I could be consi

dered 

a qualified otherworldly merchant. 

After the parade passed us, I 

felt a little reluctant

. 

After a while

, Li Mazi’s 

group returned.

 They had

 shopped around

 and 

came back 

with bags of all sizes. They looked as though they had 

a good

 time. 

I told them about the awesome event they missed. Ru Xue wasn’t convinced. “What good 

is there about

 floats? I’ve seen them 

on TV many times

!” 

“Oh yeah? We’re going to eat seafood tonight. You can just watch us 

eat

. It’s the same, right?” I shrugged. 

Ru Xue fumed

 and glared 

at me

. She asked 

Li Mazi for help. Li Mazi was reluctant. “Little 

B

rother Zhang, could you please 

go along with

 my wife so

 that

 she 

will

 feel better? You know how narrow-minded she is.” 

“Who’s narrow-minded?

!

” Ru Xue took out a wooden hammer

 and started to chase and hit 

Li Mazi. Li Mazi ran

 and screamed 

for mercy. They 

ran

 like that for a while.  

I sighe

d

.

 Sometimes, I wonder if they’re lovers and foes

.

We said goodbye to the chef then went 

to

 supper

. After that, we returned 

to the hotel to rest. 

Everybody was excited

, so w

e didn’t want to go to bed right away. 

W

e decided to visit the hotel’s bar for a few drinks.  

Li Mazi stared at the

beautiful women walking around. Ru Xue pulled his ear

 and gave 

him a lesson. Japanese women 

wore 

special makeup which made them look 

really good

. 

It was

 no wonder 

that

 Japanese makeup techniques were popula

r 

in China. 

I asked Yin Xinyue for permission. “Boss, can I watch?” 

“You can!” Yin Xinyue generously waved her hand. “I also think th

at they

 look pretty with makeup. I want to learn from them.” 

After a while, Ru Xue said that she was tired

 and asked 

Li Mazi to 

head back

 to their room to rest. The married couple wanted to spend time 

by

 themselves

, so w

e 

didn't

stop

 them. I ordered another round of cocktails and a glass of orange juice. 

I had just 

taken

 a sip 

when

 my phone rang. It was Li Mazi’s call. I thought 

that the man

was crazy

. We were staying in the same hotel, and he still made a phone call to me. He must have thought international calls were cheap 

or something

.  

Since the

 phone kept ringing, I had to accept the call. “What’s wrong, man?” 

“Little 

B

rother Zhang, 

this is bad

. We’re trapped!” Li Mazi sounded anxious. 

“You are stuck in the elevator? Don’t worry. 

I'll ask

 the hotel staff to help you right now!” I was also startled. 

“No, no. The stairs, we are trapped at the stairs!”