I fought to keep the smile off my face as I shook my head again and watched him go . There was something about him , the way he talked and the way he had looked at me , it was so different and new . Up until that point in my life , I had had almost no excitement at all and suddenly , I couldn ’ t get my heart to stop racing or my lips from smiling .
“ Wipe that smile off your face , you look like a fool ”, my mother was quick to reprimand me with her harsh voice and disapproving stare , “ Before dinner , I want you to go out and get some plain buns . Your sisters will take care of the rest of dinner .”
I nodded numbly , only half listening to her drone on about how imperative it was that I could play the Zheng perfectly and how under no circumstances was I allowed to misread a word of poetry .
“ Honestly , what is the matter with you today ?” She frowned and stared at me , trying to figure out why I was behaving like that , “ How many times you I told you to stop daydreaming so much ? But you never listen !”
“ I ' m not daydreaming , Mother . I was just thinking .” “ Thinking ? That might actually be worse !” she gasped , an expression of pure and utter shock on her face .
I didn ' t answer her . I didn ' t want to tell her about the boy I had met . Smiling down at my Zheng , I continued to deftly pluck its strings . Its haunting tune floating around the room and pleasing my mother with its beautiful song .
“ Buy as many buns as you can with this money ”, she pressed a small coin into my hand .
I turned and stepped out onto the ever busy streets of Shanghai . I breathed deeply , letting the smells of food fill my nose . As much as I wanted to follow the sweet scent of the barbecue pork , I reluctantly headed into the opposite direction in search of plain buns .
I stopped in front of a stall and paused to think how many buns I could buy with my money , when I heard a familiar voice behind me .
“ And so we meet again ,” it said . He stood beside me and smiled brightly at me .
“ Completely by accident , I assume ?”, I raised my eyebrows at him and he shook his head vigorously . “ It has nothing to do with the fact that we met here earlier and that I live on this street or that you probably didn ' t even leave .”
“ No , no , not at all . I didn ' t even realize that this was the same street .” He shrugged innocently . I glanced at him and back at the buns , still thinking about the money , “ I dare you to steal one .”
“ Excuse me ? What if I get caught ? Stealing isn ' t good , it ' s very bad . I don ' t think I could do it ”, I took a step back from the stall and I heard soft laughter next to me .
“ Yes you can . Come on , you don ' t have to feel guilty about it . You ' re only stealing one bun and you ' re even going to pay for all the other ones you ' re going to buy ”, he nudged me lightly with his elbow and inclined his head towards the stall .
I took a shaky breath and looked around me , checking for the stall owner . Tentatively I stretched out my arm and reached to grasp one of the ivory buns on the table . As soon as my fingers closed around it , I jerked my arm back and pressed the bun against my frantically beating heart .
“ Hey ! I saw you , girl ! Stop right there , don ' t you dare move !” The stall owner had seen me and was now fighting his way through the crowd towards us . I felt a slight panic rise within me as I watched him move closer and closer , still shouting at the top of his lungs .
“ What do we do now ?” My voice was oddly calm , despite the feeling of impending boom .
Then a hand clasped mine and he pulled me with him , through the busy street and away from the furious stall owner . I remember running down that street so vividly , feet pounding and hearts racing . It didn ' t matter to me that for the first time ever I had done a bad thing . There was this breathtaking exhilaration to it , my hand in his and my head spinning with glee . And for moment , I felt , like for the first time , alive .
After a while we stopped running , no one said anything and only the sound of heavy breathing filled the air . A laugh bubbled out from my lips and suddenly I couldn ' t stop laughing .
“ I can ' t believe you just did that !” The shock was evident on his face .
“ I can ' t believe I just did that either !” I was still breathless , but not only from running away . I was buzzing , sudden energy flowing through me .