【New Red Mansion】Perfect World

This Wednesday afternoon, when Lin Pin'er got home from school, Zijuan came over to take her schoolbag:

"A gentleman called me this afternoon and said that the vinyl record you ordered has arrived. He asked me to pick it up when I have time."

"I forgot to tell you that I left your phone number with him last time I went to the record store. In that case, you don't have to cook today. I'll take you out for a walk and we can eat outside."

Xueyan was happy to hear that, because she was always in the garden and seldom had the chance to go out for a walk.

"Go get dressed. I'll be waiting here. Wear more clothes and a scarf and hat."

Pin'er wrapped herself up tightly. Today she wore a white down jacket and the western-style school uniform of No. 4 Middle School underneath.

Pin'er took them on the subway and then walked to the Drum Tower. Zijuan was only concerned about whether Pin'er was cold or not, and there were no shops to visit. But Xueyan was different. She was young and curious about everything. She wanted to go into every shop on the roadside to have a look.

As she was about to walk to the door of the record store, a man came out of the record store, wearing a heavy down jacket and a mask. When she passed by Pin'er, she felt that the man looked familiar, and she couldn't help but look back. The back looked like Park Min.

Xueyan said quickly: "Ms. Lin, that person is holding your record. It seems that many people like your record."

"Did you see it clearly? It's my record?"

"Look carefully. We have that record at home. Master Li treasures it like a treasure and often takes it out to watch. I've seen it before: it has a golden background with a big traditional Chinese character for 'dream' on it. It's very easy to recognize."

As they were talking, they pushed the door open and saw Lin Pin'er's vinyl record placed in a prominent position on the shelf.

Lin Pin'er looked at it again and again, and was so happy. It hadn't been displayed the last time she came, so this place at the entrance must be the best place.

She walked inside and saw a tall, thin young man looking after the store today, but he also looked older than Pin'er.

"Hello, could you please tell me if the vinyl record of 'Dream.Unknown' is selling well?" Pin'er couldn't help but ask.

The clerk looked up and said, "We just put it on the shelves and sold a few copies in the past few days. It's okay, but not many people listen to instrumental music now. They may not know what the content is like. They are all bought by art students. I just sold one. The person said he was studying guqin and asked us how it was selling."

When Pin'er heard the clerk say that the man just now was learning guqin, she became more certain that it was Park Min.

"Would you like one too?" the clerk asked.

"No, thank you. I'm here to pick up the record I ordered today." After saying that, Lin Pin'er gave the name of the record.

The clerk took out a brown paper bag from behind and said, "I see. The boss told me to do that. The goods just arrived yesterday. Can I open it for you to see?"

After saying that, he opened the package for Pin'er.

“Is it a public auction?”

"It seems you understand. This is a public sale. It's out of print, but our boss can find everything. We can find vinyl records from 20 to 30 years ago."

Xueyan was also curious, she also wanted to know what was out of print. She had seen a lot of things in the past one or two months following Miss Lin.

The clerk placed his thumb on the outer edge of the record and used his other fingers to support the label paper on the center of the disc. Then he held the edge of the record with both hands to show them.

It looked brand new, so Lin Pin'er felt relieved. The quality of the few records she had bought before was good.

"Then pack it up for us."

"Okay." The clerk carefully put it back into the box.

After buying everything, I felt relieved. When I left the store, I asked them, "What do you want to eat?"

"I just saw a dumpling shop over there, and it was quite crowded. It should be delicious," Xueyan suggested.

"Dumplings are fine. It's cold today, so let's eat something hot." Zijuan agreed.

Pin'er took them on the way back. As expected, Xueyan was a good shopping companion. Pin'er didn't even notice this dumpling shop.

When I got closer, I saw that the store was spacious and full of people. Maybe because it was warm inside, the floor-to-ceiling glass windows were covered with steam.

"It looks clean, let's go with this one." If Zijuan said it was clean, then it was really a good store.

Wait until everyone finds a seat and sits down, then look at the menu.

"Oh, there are also spicy crayfish dumplings here." Xueyan speaks loudly and likes to be startled.

"Forget about the crayfish. I think pure shrimp dumplings are okay. I think Miss Lin will like it." Zijuan suggested.

"Well, that sounds good. Just order whatever filling you want." Pin'er wanted to pamper Xueyan.

"Wow, there are ones with stinky tofu filling and ones with pork intestine filling," Xueyan said, pointing at the menu.

This time, Pin'er didn't want to spoil her and frowned: "Forget about the ones that are too weird. They won't taste good if you buy them, and it's a waste of food." Pin'er and Shui Rong also learned some theories about not liking to waste food.

Zijuan did speak up: "Squid dumplings are also delicious, I've eaten them before. I see they have squid and chive filling here."

"Then we can order what we want to eat the most, and then we can both try each other's favorite flavors." Pin'er suggested.

So Lin Pin'er ordered shrimp dumplings, Zijuan ordered Spanish mackerel and leek dumplings, and Xueyan ordered spicy crayfish dumplings.

*

After school on Thursday, Lin Pin'er took Wu Qing to find Qin Ke'er. Qin Ke'er sent an assistant to pick them up at the door. Pin'er had been to this mansion when she first came to the capital, but she had never been to Qin Ke'er's room.

The gardens here are all Chinese-style garden buildings with beautiful scenery. Although it is winter, there is still some green because many pines and cypresses are planted.

Qin Ke'er's room is on the second floor of a large two-story villa.

As soon as the two entered the hall, Qin Ke'er was already standing at the stairs on the second floor waving at them. She was wearing a light pink professional suit woven with gold thread today, which made her look elegant and friendly.

"Aunt, come quickly. Is it cold outside? I don't even want to go out now. Just ask them to bring the documents in for me to see."

This building looks quite old from the outside, but the heating inside is turned on very high. I couldn't help but take off my coat as soon as I came in.

"It's okay, it's just windy."

"I don't want to go out when it's cloudy. If the sun is out, I'll be working in the new building over there."

Lin Pin'er brought Wu Qing to the second floor and introduced Wu Qing to her after meeting.

"We've met before in your store." Qin Ke'er was born with a relaxed and friendly feeling.

"Oh, I remember now. I came here with Mr. Wang." Wu Qing was still a little reserved for the time being.

Qin Ke'er first led them to the living room outside her bedroom suite. The decoration style here was very contrasting, and it could be seen that the host was very hospitable, because the sofas here were really comfortable to sit on. After drinking tea and chatting for a while, Qin Ke'er took them to see her cloakroom.

"When I first got married, I only had that one suite. Later, because I had a lot of clothes, my father-in-law allocated several guest rooms next to it to me for my clothes. So I said you are helping me, otherwise I would have to ask them for another room to store my clothes."

The first room he entered was the one next to Qin Ke'er's. He felt how cramped it was as soon as he entered. The difference from the red and green living room was that the walls here were dark blue, the clothes racks were gold, and there was a gold crystal lamp above his head.

It is not cramped because the room is small, but because it is filled with clothes racks. The gaps between each rack are not big. Walking inside is like entering a maze made of clothes. You may get lost at the next turn.

"All the clothes here are ones I don't wear all year round, and I rarely come in. But there is a rack of dresses and furs inside, you can take a look first. Although it has been a long time, I have put them in dust bags and maintained them very well. Many people are looking for this kind of antique clothes now."

Qin Ke'er led the way, turned a circle and walked to the deepest part of the room. She reached out and pulled open a pile of furs hanging on the clothes rack in front, revealing the dresses. They were all very heavy styles, with beads and diamonds stacked on top.

Wu Qing's eyes lit up. She could tell how gorgeous the dresses were even through the dust bags. "So beautiful." She couldn't help but exclaim.

"I knew you appreciated them. If I didn't take out these treasures, I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night. I dreamed that they were crying to me, blaming me for piling them up in this dark place."