The village

Emma had reached the centre of the village which was a small marketplace where locals set up stalls to sell all kinds of produce. Recognising a familiar face, she headed straight towards a large stall selling all kinds of locally grown fruit and vegetables. It was manned by an elderly lady, with a kind, wrinkled face, which lit up with delight as she saw Emma approaching.

"Emma dear! We haven't seen you here in a while!", the old woman greeted her warmly.

"Nice to see you too, Old Madam Li. How have you been?" Emma said, smiling at the elderly lady.

"Ah never mind me, my dear girl," Madam Li said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "You look tired, you must take better care of yourself! Of course, you are still as beautiful as a flower. But you can never be too careful about these things. You want to marry a nice, young man some day, don't you?"

Emma smiled awkwardly, as she generally embarrassed by talk of her appearance, and even more at the subject of 'nice, young men'. Hoping to divert the old lady's attention, she quickly changed the subject.

"Your little farm must be doing well, Old Madam Li, these look so lovely and fresh," she said gesturing at the vegetables. "Can pick out some nice ones for me, I know you have a better eye than me and will select the freshest ones for me." Emma grinned widely.

"You cheeky child," Old Madam Li said, slapping Emma's hand in a doting way. As she bustled about, she kept up a stream of chatter, telling Emma in great detail about everything from the state of her cabbage fields to the latest gossip from the village.

Emma payed, and the old lady handed a bulging bag of fresh vegetables. As she was about to leave, Old Madam Li grabbed Emma's hand.

"Can't you stay for a bit longer, Emma dear?" she asked gently. "My grandson is helping me out today. He's coming soon with some more produce from the farm. Such a good boy. Why don't you stay and I can introduce you to him." The old lady's eyes were gleaming in excitement at the possibility of introducing such a nice, beautiful girl to her beloved grandson.

Emma smiled awkwardly at the old lady's attempt at match-making. She needed to make a quick escape from this sweet, but determined granny. Opening her mouth to make some excuse, she was luckily saved by Old Mister Wang from the next stall over.

"Don't you go trying to match Miss Emma with your ugly grandson, Old Li! She should go out with my grandson, he is much better looking than yours!"

"Who are you calling ugly, you old fart! At least my grandson isn't an idiot like that boy of yours."

"What did you call my grandson, you old baboon?"

Taking advantage of the two bickering grandparents each defending their grandsons' honour, Emma uttered a hurried farewell and made her escape, all the while trying very hard not to laugh at the antics of the two elders.

The marketplace was starting to fill up now, with the tourists that had arrived with the same train as her milling about. They had now finally reached the village, after probably spending way to much time taking pictures of every little thing along the way. Emma shook her head in amusement, she had never quite understood why tourists were so focused on taking thousands of pictures, instead of simply appreciating the beautiful surroundings.Nevertheless, they looked happy as they chatted and pointed at this and that.

Two tourists dressed in simple, but expensive clothes caught Emma's attention. The two men were neither taking pictures of the quaint little houses, nor gawking at the trinkets being sold. Their appearance clearly showed that they were not used to such rural surroundings, as their shoes and clothes were way to fancy for an outing to the countryside. Shaking her head Emma in amusement at how silly people could be, she headed away from the marketplace, taking the road leading up the mountain.

There were some tourist walking here too, making their way to the ancient ruins of what had once been a great temple, located at the mountain top. But after some distance, Emma turned away from the neatly paved road and right down a narrow path, barely noticeable unless you knew it was there. Knowing she was almost at her destination, Emma's mood improved even further and she almost ran down the winding path. Luckily, she knew every twist and turn, having walked it many times before, or else she might have stumbled over the many roots and branches along the path. Racing around the last bend, she finally came upon her destination, a charming little cottage perched on a small rise. It was surrounded by a sun-filled yard and a lush, fragrant garden. A figure was bent over one of the flower beds. Neatly coiled hair streaked with silver, was visible under the figure's bamboo hat. Upon spotting the figure Emma's features split into a wide grin.

"Auntie Sun!" she shouted happily running the last few meter up to the woman. "Surprise! I've come to visit you!"