Hua Ting Lu

Recorded July 12 at 11:19 a.m.

Hua Ting Lu is the birthplace of the Xiang Yang Lu market which is now located at the Science and Technology Center subway station. Nowadays it is a very quiet street connecting Chang Le Lu and Huai Hai Lu. Some clothing stores and restaurants remain the only indication of its ancestry. Along this road Pei Hua shares an intimate memory of her past love. Their first meeting was at the KFC at the end of the road which is still there. The table where they sat was occupied when we arrived so we sat at the table behind. Softly she spoke of her feelings about a man whom she met by chance. At that moment, who would have known what the future would hold for them? The late night conversations, that memorable night after KTV, the break–up, the make–up, and this soundwalk.

Photos by Weina Li.

Here is an excerpt from the transcript:

From then on I would work part–time for him. I would mainly help him with his employee training materials which had hundreds of pages. It was a lot of fun. When the book was finished, he bound the finished product and distributed it to all of his employees. He also gave one to me. It was now January 2007 and we had known each other since August 2006.

Shortly after that, he was out on business somewhere in Shanghai and he called me to meet him where he was and that he had something for me. When I got there he gave me a copy of the finished employee training material that I worked on and a red envelope (1). I was thinking that since we had been friends already, I was actually helping him for free. He gave me the red envelope and patted my head like a big brother and said, “If I need you to work for me part–time again I will let you know.”

The place where we met was really close to my University. I felt a bit overwhelmed since I had not met anyone I had such strong feelings for in a long time, so I decided to take a walk around the school campus. It was gently raining and quiet. I felt happy and at the same time still occupied. After I got home I opened the red envelope and found out there was 1,000 RMB inside. I kept telling him that I did not want any money for my services and that it was uncommon for someone who recently graduated to have a great full time job and a fun part–time job that paid so well. After our meeting that night, he would call me more often, usually in the evenings because of the nature of his business. He would usually call at 2–3 a.m. in the morning and would tell me so many things about his work, his life, etc… Our telephone conversations would usually last for 1–2 hours and sometimes we would stay up until about 5–6 in the morning. Sometimes I would go to straight to work without sleeping. Once he called and started crying because his mother was sick. I tried my best to comfort him and told him that his mother would surely get better. After that, he would call me more often in the morning and at night and we were getting closer and closer. [Photo 2747]

[25:30] One day I went with some co–workers to a Mexican bar for fun. He always said that he wanted to go to Karaoke with me and he suggested that we should go tonight. I agreed so he came to the bar to look for me. He dressed as if he was a gangster member all in black. He wore a black Chinese top, black pants, black shoes and black bag. When he walked into the bar I was really surprised because he really looked like a gangster and it seemed all people that worked in the bar knew him. I already had a bit to drink and I could feel that my face was burning. He told my co–workers that we were going to Karaoke. As I left, I saw from the corner of my eye that my co–workers were giggling in the corner. After we left he realized that I was a bit drunk so he was holding my hand. Actually, I really wanted to hold his hand too. We walked along Gao An Lu [高安路] and took a taxi from there to Melody Karaoke near the Shanghai Stadium (2). While we were waiting for the room we talked a lot and when we finally got the room and started singing, I found out that he could sing really well. I sang this song called ‘I really do love you’ and part of the lyrics said, “I am like a lonely leaf”. He asked if I truly felt so lonely and I said that it was just the lyrics and I actually did not feel so lonely, then we both smiled about it. We stayed there until 4 or 5 a.m. and he accompanied me home in a taxi. I was really tired and fell asleep. I felt that he pulled me closer to him and was touching my hair. When he kissed my forehead I felt so special because none of my ex–boyfriends had ever treated me so intimately. I felt really warm and loved. I pretended to be asleep but I was pretty sure he knew I was awake because I was touching his tummy. After we got off the car he walked me to my front door. I told him not to hold my hand. He said, “I would hold your hands forever” and from that moment we were a couple.

2747

10 Shanghai soundwalks

Footnotes:

1- Red Envelopes are usually used to give monetary gifts or bonuses.
2- ‘Shanghai Ti Yu Chang’ [上海体育场] in Chinese. It is located just South of the Xu Jia Hui Shopping area.

5052- Table where they first met at KFC.