I wake in the morning to sun streaming through the window. I climb out of bed on stiff limbs, and walk into the small kitchen. Ji is busy at the fire, cooking breakfast.

“Good morning Zooka. Sleep well, I hope? We are having fish and rice for breakfast!”

Okay. I thought. This is weird. Maybe all they ever have for meals is fish and rice. “Yes, thank you Ji. The bed was quite comfy.”

After a quick breakfast, Chen aggrees to show me his trade. We walk down to the river to fish. I watch as Chen expertly gets into position on a rock. His sharp black eyes scan the water, his spear in hand. Quick as lightning, the sharp spear jabs into the water, and Chen pulls it out to reveal a silver scaled fish wiggling on the end.

“OMG! How did you do that?”

“Oh, it’s easy. Here, skin it for me, and you can keep ‘em for your journey.”

“Oh right! I best  be going now! Thank you for your gracious hospitality.” I take the fish off the spear, quickly skin it with my knife, and pocket it in my satchel. “Thank you, Chen. I will never forget you and your family. Good bye!”

“Good bye, Zooka!” Chen calls back. I run back to the house and say good bye to everyone else, and leave.

It has been five hours since I left Chen and Ji’s family. They were such nice people, I thought. As I walk on, I chew on more dried peaches. I look around at the beautiful river rushing by, and I feel peaceful (which is a rarity for me. I’m usually full of energy.). Then, I see an old figure sitting at an easel, painting a beautifully realistic landscape of the river. I watch as the man gracefully paints the sky above the river.

“Wait. You’re Dong Qichang, famous painter!” I exclaim.

“Why, yes. Have you seen my work before?” Dong Qichang asks.

“Yes! It’s beautiful! I especially love Eight Views of Autumn Moods. WOW! I can’t believe it’s actually you!” I reply.

“That is one of my favorites. So. Traveler. What brings you to this stretch of river?” Dong Qichang asks as he puts his paint brush down.

“I am traveling from Shanghai to Nanjing to visit family.” I answer.

“Lovely. Nanjing, a great capital for the Ming Dynasty. It is a beautiful city.”

“Yes. I can’t wait to get there. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Qichang. I hope to see you again someday.”

“You as well….” He looks at me and raises his eyebrows.

“Zooka.”

“Yes, nice to meet you as well, Zooka.”

And with that, I walked off down the path. As the sun began to go down, I found a patch of soft grass to roll out my matt for the night. Sitting on my bed, I finished off the fish that Chen had caught for me. When I finished, I liked the delicious remnants of fish off my fingers. Then, I lay down and went to sleep.