Chapter 74
After swimming, Su Xiaoqi went back to her aunt's dormitory.
After having lunch, she took a half-hour nap.
At this moment, the entire hallway was quiet. She leaned against the bed. Since she had pasted wallpaper all over the room, her aunt had also changed the lights, and the entire room was clean and bright. Even the musty smell in the basement seemed to have disappeared.
Xiao Qi was very cautious about the things given by the progressive system. She didn't know what experiential reading was like specifically, and there was only one chance, so she had to choose a book.
After flipping through her own books, she was still most interested in Japanese at the moment.
After all, she had just started learning it.
Today, the teacher taught her some daily expressions: good morning, welcome, I am Su Xiaoqi...
It seemed simple, so she took out the few books of daily expressions she had bought.
There were expressions for tourism, business, company, Xiao Qi hesitated for a moment and chose tourism expressions.
After all, business and company expressions seemed a bit far away from her at the moment, and tourism felt like there was still a chance.
She opened this thin Japanese tourism daily, and at the same time found the website and turned on the dialogue while wearing headphones.
She listened for a while. It was the script content of the situational dialogue in the text.
Then she silently recited in her heart: Use experiential reading card.
Just after saying this, the white wall in front of her suddenly disappeared, the picture turned abruptly, and she felt that she was actually on the subway.
There was no subway in Lvshan City, and Xiao Qi had never even taken the subway before.
But the first act of the text happened on the subway. The protagonist of the text, girl A, went to Japan for tourism. She didn't understand why she would speak Japanese when going to Japan for tourism...
At this moment, Xiao Qi suddenly felt that she was that girl. First, she observed the subway with some curiosity. It looked like a very long bus that couldn't see the end at a glance. There were seats on both sides. She couldn't see outside clearly. It was pitch black. Because it was black, the glass on both sides could be used as mirrors. She saw in the mirror glass opposite her the reflection of a girl with long, curly hair who looked about twenty years old and was very thin.
She knew that this was not her. Her hair had never been that long before.
But now she felt like she was her again.
Then the dialogue started.
The long-haired version of Xiao Qi asked the person next to her which stop to get off at to go to Kiyomizu Temple.
A middle-aged uncle next to her enthusiastically said it was the next stop.
Then the subway arrived at the next stop, and she hurried off with the crowd.
But she still felt a sense of dissonance.
She was still a little curious about the subway, but she felt the scene existed for the dialogue, and it disappeared quickly.
Then she arrived at Kiyomizu Temple. There were a lot of people, but it wasn't as big as Xiao Qi had imagined. It seemed to be just a temple. The details were done very well. It could be described as crowded with visitors, and it was relatively orderly.
It should also be in the autumn, with many maple leaves, which looked really beautiful together with the temple towers.
This experiential reading was magical, a bit like watching a movie, but with an even more realistic and dream-like experience than a movie.
Then Xiao Qi started having a dialogue with people again. The dialogue said that cherry blossom season was when Kiyomizu Temple was at its most beautiful.
Xiao Qi even took a selfie at the entrance of Kiyomizu Temple...a long-haired little Xiao Qi.
Then she arrived at a place called Jinja Shrine inside the temple, which was a place to pray for marriage affinity. The long-haired version of Xiao Qi knelt down devoutly, seemingly having come to pray for marriage affinity. Then she wrote a small card with her wish on the shelf next to her like everyone else. Yeah, it was written in Japanese, meaning to pray to find a good partner.
Then she left Kiyomizu Temple and walked down the path lined with beautiful ancient buildings on both sides.
After leaving, she asked for directions again, took a bus to Sanjusangendo Temple 1.5 kilometers away. The Buddha statues and cultural relics here were national treasures of Japan. The main hall enshrining the Guanyin statue was one of the longest wooden buildings in Japan.
Then she went 6 kilometers further to Ginkakuji Temple. There, Xiao Qi somehow gained another traveling companion she had met on the road who happened to be on the same itinerary, a young college student in Kyoto named...Tanaka Mikkai.
The two introduced themselves to each other in Japanese.
Then they went to Ginkakuji Temple together. The young man introduced the garden inside the temple, which was the Higashiyama style from the ancient culture of Japan.
Fortunately, it was just an experiential experience, and there was no emotional experience. Xiao Qi didn't feel too awkward. Otherwise, suddenly traveling with a man midway through would have felt very strange.
The two walked together to the Path of Philosophy lined with cherry blossom trees on both sides, and then the young man introduced the cherry blossoms of Japan. Xiao Qi invited him to dinner. They found a roadside grill where Xiao Qi ordered an eel rice bowl dish and the other person ordered grilled chicken with rice.
The other person even complimented Xiao Qi on her good Japanese and asked if she had been to Japan before.
Xiao Qi said it was her first time.
The eel rice bowl dish was made very exquisitely. It was served in a wooden bucket with a section of oily eel and the rice grains were distinct. Xiao Qi knew it was an experience, but still swallowed her saliva. However, she didn't actually taste anything.
She was just busy discussing with the person next to her, engaging in a Japanese dialogue.
Xiao Qi could only regretfully watch them finish eating, and then she went back to her hotel, agreeing to continue hanging out with him tomorrow.
The hotel was extremely small. Walking in, she felt it was even smaller than her aunt's dormitory. Her aunt's dormitory could fit a bed, a table, a wardrobe and miscellaneous items, while here there was almost only enough space to lay out a bed, plus a bathroom.
Xiao Qi had a dialogue with the hotel staff and then went to rest.
It was the next day again. The young man, Tanaka, she had agreed to tour with yesterday came to pick her up from the hotel. The two took the subway together to Tōfukuji Temple, then took photos of each other.
They spent the whole morning playing at Tōfukuji Temple, then went to Kamogawa, mainly to eat. Today Tanaka took her to a restaurant to eat beef while looking at the scenery.
The beef was thick. The chef pan-fried it on the spot. Xiao Qi swallowed her saliva again, but as a result, the two were busy talking that they didn't focus on the food at all. Their chat delved deeper into each other's families.
When eating the beef, Xiao Qi still didn't feel any taste, which was very disappointing.
Then the itinerary jumped to the third day.
It turned out to be the last day already.
The young man didn't show up. Xiao Qi found an acquaintance in Japan, her classmate who was studying abroad in Japan and had finally made time to accompany her today to go hot spring bathing.
They also went shopping at a mall to buy gifts for friends going home.
They ate Japanese-style hotpot with her friend. She saw a lot of sugar was added and finally Xiao Qi didn't swallow her saliva. She felt it might not suit her taste.
The day ended; her friend said goodbye to her.
On the fourth day, she flew home alone.
When leaving, she called her friend and that young man to say goodbye.
Tanaka actually came to see her off.
Xiao Qi was quite curious about the flight procedures but that part was skipped over.
Then the whole book ended.
Xiao Qi thought she was sitting on the plane, but when she looked again, she was leaning against her bed.
What was covering her feet wasn't the pink blanket given by the flight attendant, but rather the quilt on her bed.
The time didn't seem to be very long either, because the dialogue on the headphones had just finished, about two hours.
She had actually experienced four days and been to so many places and taken so many means of transportation.
But her body didn't feel tired at all. However, her mind felt a little sluggish.
She got up, intending to tidy up and go for a run.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Lin Qingqing next door. She reflexively greeted her.
"Ko-n-nichi-ha."
After saying this, Xiao Qi covered her own mouth.
Lin Qingqing also looked confused.
"Sister Xiao Qi, what did you say?"
"Uh, I've been learning Japanese recently. That's the daytime greeting, meaning good afternoon." Xiao Qi explained awkwardly.
Lin Qingqing looked surprised: "Wow, Sister Xiao Qi, you're so awesome."