Not that he minded the lack of insurance, the life in the city was so rough that getting an insurance was pretty much saying "I'm gonna' die, but at least this way my children will get something out of it.." The west of Beijing was lacking in proper management not to mention the maintaining of structural integrity, and that went with pretty much all of the households. Shadows spread from house to house as the sun started to go down somewhere in the horizon, the cold got to him and he went inside a small store.

Hot air brushed his body as he went took the first steps inside the store. Relief flowed through his body and he looked around for someone in charge. Not even had he turned his hair to the left before a woman showed up before him. Her face was rather dirty, but beneath all the dirt he sensed the looks of any ordinary person. Her face closed in to his and stopped only a few inches away, he backed away as her smokefilled breath suddenly exhaled onto him.

- You want something?

Her expression changed as she uttered these words, she was now the store assistant. She smiled at him, lit a cigarette and took up her position behind the counter. She had a small headband surrounding her forehead and a hair ribbon which kept her otherwise long black hair in place. Her eyebrows and bang were uncared for and gave the woman a rather rough but bland look. He initially thought she could work on dressing up a little more to attract more customers "Use your assets." as he would put it. She snapped her fingers at him and gave him a questioning look.

- Uh... no. It's raining outside.

She hastily glanced at the window, sat down behind the counter, picked up todays newspaper issue, let out a heavy sigh and facepalmed herself with the newspaper. A snoring could be heard after a while as he strolled around aimlessly in the store. The woman didn't seem like she'd wake up anytime soon, and neither did the rain. He quickly grabbed a soda, allowed it to sink down his throat and threw it in a garbage can. The air seemed to have gotten a little bit thicker he thought as he walked over to the magazine section. Not that it got any better there as he started breathing even heavier now that he gazed upon the work of famous adult actors and artists whom could be found in the very same city he lived in. His jaw dropped little by little as he faded away into the realm of absolute ecstasy.

- You want one of these?

His jaw immediately retreated back to its original position as he desperately tried to regain what little selfrespect he had. The woman stood right beside him and looked curiously at the magazines and picked one down. It featured two rather slim ladies doing all sorts of peculiarities to eachother and she lay it right down into his two hands. She smirked at him.

- This one?

He must have looked rather dumbfounded because in the very next moment he found her laughing out loud.

- I'm... just messing with you!

He could hear how she desperately tried to restrain her laughter. Suddenly he felt a grand sense of failure overcome him and he was annoyed by her malicious laughter. He looked at her with a blushed yet frustrated face and became witness to the smile which calmed his frustration. She smiled at him and nodded.

- I'm Lihwa Lin. Nice to meet you.

She was still holding in her laughter, but this time with a more easygoing tone of voice. A hand stretched out towards him and he instinctively grabbed it, shook it and smiled at her.

- Yükan Kigen.