A Mysterious Encounter with the Past

—Mr. Huang, wait for me! My heart is sold!

—Run, you can. We’ve only made a little progress. —Huang Yang answers.

—Sir, you say that because you have a good physique.

—If you didn’t eat so much…

—It’s just that I can’t resist the delicious food that my mother prepares.

—You’re right, there is nothing comparable to what parents prepare.

The ladies who sell their products in the square greet him. The street is cobbled from the Qing and Ming heritage and there are very old places with wooden and brick houses. Huang Yang drinks water and stops for a moment.

—Mr. Huang, tell me about France and those places that you have known. Your grandparents have talked a lot about you, and since I studied, I would also like to become very important.

—You know how I did it, with effort and discipline.

—Is it true that there are big ships that look like cities?

—No, what I will tell you is that to achieve anything in life, you must believe.

He walks a bit:

—Have a nice day, Mr. Huang.

—Sure…

—What a boy to talk a lot, —Huang thinks and looks at the hours. He rings his phone:

—Grandma, what’s going on? —he asks.

—Son, I want you to stop by Mrs. Lee, I need some mugs.

Huang Yang lightens his pace and comes to a place with many antiquities. He knocks on the door and greets:

—Mrs. Lee! —How are you?

The woman looks him up and down.

—Who are you?

He lets out a laugh.

—Ma’am, I’m Huang Yang.

—What are you saying? Are you the child who was taken to another country?

—Yeah.

—Your grandparents talk a lot about you, but how big you are, boy! Look no more… how you changed!

-Yes ma’am. My grandmother sent for the bowls that she ordered.

—Yes, of course,—and she takes out some pots, and wraps them up.

—How much is it?

—It’s no big deal. Your grandparents had ordered them, and they are already paid for.

—Thank you.

—Come back this way!

A figure catches his eye. It’s like it’s alive.

—Mrs. Lee, is this piece for sale? —Which one is that? He asks, pointing to a painting.

I thought I would never sell it. A long time ago, when my parents had this place, a man from a remote province told my father to buy it for him, that in time it would help a lot, but we did not understand what the man was saying and much more time has passed. In which we could not sell it. Are you sure he wants her? She says, looking at the painting again.

—Yes, I’m sure, —he replies and gives her the price.

He takes out the sum of money while he thinks about the painting that caught his eye. It was as if he knew her.

—Don’t forget to come back, eh? —she says as he leaves the store.

After making some investments and working for a long time, Huang Yang arrives and greets his grandparents:

—Come, son, he rests and drinks some water.

The lady brings out the bowls.

—How beautiful, right son?

—Yes, Grandma, look what I got for Mrs. Lee. —Huang takes a painting out of a bag.

His grandfather looks at him.

—What an old piece! He —takes it and looks at it— The technique is ancestral to several generations.

—Indeed, Grandpa. Huang loses his gaze as she speaks. —This is a real piece, but Mrs. Lee never told us about it, so why didn’t she have it for sale? —It’s very expensive.

—That is to say, grandfather, that I have a jewel. I’ll put it in my room. —Huang looks at her repeatedly and says aloud to himself— Why do I recognize this place? How weird! Then I’ll put it in a good place. He—she realices that he has a description, but he doesn’t understand it, and this makes her curious.

Between the hours passing and Mei’s birthday, Huang takes the gift for his cousin, and they get in the car.

It’s a nice night and his grandparents are happy. Huang looks at them in the rearview mirror of the car, not knowing what fate would have in store for him.