The road to somewhere.

I attained a new dorm-mate, Claudine. She's Dutch and my new patner in crime since Eric had to pack his plums and had no time for no more adventures in Chinese countryside.
Thus the two of us, Claudine and I, were off to chase the wind and find our future.
And what a trully wonderful day it was.
We rented bikes, as you do just like you eat bauza for breakfast and drink beer instead of water, and cycled somewhere (not too sure about where since the map was more for aesthetic reasons than others) and so we cycled from one road to another, around, inbetween and through the 'dragon teeth' finding villages and people, finding life and more. I.e. The Restaurant at the End of Universe. I had to stop otherwise I'd fall off my flying pidgeon like a rotten pear off a tree. And i laughed. And I so wished Claudine knew and understood how important The Restaurant at the End of Universe is for one's life fullfilment. My life is complete.(although remain slightly dissapointed as really really wanted to find out where the end of universe was. Thinking about it now, it could as well have been that just there and then...mmmm)
There was so much beauty in the mess, so much style and order in the vital disorganisation and here I suddenly got struck about what life really is. It's life.
(and then I glimpsed a western couple whizz on their bikes past us, lead by a local boy-very likely showing them for 50 yuan the true China, brain stops for a moment in wonder, moment is gone and you shake your head and smile with quiet marvel and a little pity yet rather inconspicuously and only to yourself).
We were hungry. Restaurant at the End of Universe was closed and so we had to find another solution to our growing problem. We spotted a local store so we thought it would be a good idea to ask them there whether they knew where we could get some food. It indeed was a grandeur idea!
We ate like kings. The whole village gathered around us sat on little wooden stools around an old little wooden table and they watched us. And some even spoke to us, if one is considering yelling down your ear (while shaking a nicotine stained hand holding a cigarette bud in front of your eyes, ears and other important and sensitive organs)"Smoking! Smoking! Ha! Ha! Ha! Smoking!" as talking to someone. It was all very nice, the owner-lady cooked a pot of fresh rice for us with stir fried dried soya and some vegetables just picked from her own garden and it was delicious and only for 3 Yuan for the both of us! The village women came to have a look at us, having their babies clinging to them or the older kids running around, at times stopping for a moment offering a shy smile and then running off again into the known security of the familiar surrounding.
After this fantastic feast we sat for a little while and talked and were ready to get going again. So we looked at each other, took our wallets out and put the money together, before agreeing to pay a little more since it was absolutely delicious. And that's where our dream of purity of soul and noble minds unaffected by materialism of the western world ended. When the woman saw our money she started, first nicely, shaking her head and her finger in front of her nose telling us that 'Buyon! Buyon! San SHUUUUU! San SHUUUUUUU!' which we did not understand and were looking at her with confused non-understanding eyes full of surprised wonder. Her voice was continuously rising until she was yelling at us and we came to understand that she didn't want 3Yuan, she never wanted 3Yuan (probably thinking bloody tourists, they all think we're stupid idiots here). The meal was now apparantely 30 Yuan. And so we took out our wallets again, gave her ten, ran to our bikes, followed by threatening (or that's what we thought they were since we did not understand a word) excited cries of the villagers and we pedaled as fast as we never did before not looking back.