“ You believe me now ?”
“ Ok ,” he nodded , “ yes I do believe you .”
“ Bring me to the bund . It ’ s gonna be nice to take a few photos before I somehow time travel again . If it does happen .”
I quickly got back on the rickshaw , and the old man started pushing again . Once we passed through the streets of Xin Ma Tou we turned right , to the gleaming source of light and noise . We stopped at the entrance of the street , staring at the loud and lively street , not knowing what to do next .
I took out my phone and took a few pictures , but before I could , the scene captured me first . The big red lanterns dangling above the streets — it was like stars at night , but brighter and more attractive to the eye . The glowing rose-like red colors and the warm orange flame dancing inside , everything is just so high-spirited ; especially , with the street performers playing a nice Chinese traditional music adds upon a really intimate vibe .
Street vendors were raising their voice higher each time they shout , trying their best to get more customers , but no matter how hard they try it won ’ t change a thing , because it just gets cancelled out with each other and all their efforts goes to waste , leaving a duet of the Erhu accompanied by the commotion created by the crowds .
“ Looks like we can ’ t go this way ,” said the coachman , “ I ’ ll turn back around and find another route .”
“ No , it ’ s fine . I ’ ll walk through the crowd , seems like there ’ s a lot of interesting things going on .” I waved at him in signs of dismissal .
“ Indeed , there is ,” he gave me a wink and said , “ but be careful , there are a lot of pickpocketing lately .
I nodded my head and took off my watch , “ Here , it ’ s called a watch and will keep you in time . It is equally valuable as the phone I showed you , so please keep it safe .”
“ Thank-you , thank-you .” he kept on bowing with his whole body tilting up and down .
I stood in front of the crowd and tried to look for a spot that I could slip through , but as soon as one is available it gets filled in again . I took a step back and reconsidered : maybe I should take a different route . “ Ugh ” A sudden force pushed me from behind , and plop I ' m in .
It was like in a raging sea , where the waves pushing you around non-stop ; like a puppet tied to a string with no control of direction at all ; sometimes left , sometimes right , and sometimes , I don ' t even know where I ’ m being dragged to . I ' m just standing on my toes allowing the crowd to “ guide ” me through . The space I was in was still shrinking and shrinking .
“ Kghkk ”
A loud tearing sound came from under , I felt my pants being dragged to the bottom with great effort . I hastily hold it back up and checked my pockets . It ’ s gone . My phone . The only thing left behind was a hole …
I quickly looked around . This won ' t help !