Sunken Fish - Chapter 41
Walter replied, “Yes, you are free to wander around. But before you get off the bus, I suggest you exchange some money with me. I will give you the best exchange rate, one dollar to 380 Lana dollars, the same as the bank rate. Of course, you can get a higher rate on the black market, but that is illegal, and if you get caught by the police, the consequences will be severe.”
A few minutes later, my twelve friends, their pockets bulging with Lanna currency, stepped off the bus into the warm December sunshine.
They entered the market with excitement but caution: stalls selling clothes and plastic shoes, the styles clearly indicating they were secondhand goods from China. Several people squatted around them exchanging currency, trying to attract their attention. Further on was a huge food market covered by tents, seemingly luring them with the best bargains.
My friends noticed that the Lanna people were very different from the Chinese. Wendy saw a Lanna woman about her age wearing a conical rattan hat with red piping. When she looked down, the hat completely obscured her face, but when she looked up, Wendy saw despair and pain in her face. Wendy felt that this woman wanted to say something to her, to convey an urgent message.
Was her face covered in sweat? Or tears? What was she trying to say? Was it a warning? Wendy tugged at Wyatt's shirt. "I want to follow that woman."
"Why?"
"She seemed to want to tell me something; she needed help."
The woman was becoming increasingly blurry in the crowd, growing farther and farther away until she disappeared.
“Isn’t it strange?” Berhali said loudly to Jumarin, pointing to a man on a bicycle. “I really don’t know how their skirts don’t fall down.”
"Scotts wear kilts too, and I've also heard that they don't wear underwear."
Did I tell you I'm half Scots?
Jumarin smiled and frowned slightly; Esme was still standing there.
In front of an open-air stall, two Lanna women squat on a pile of fabric to attract female tourists.
Madame Massey and the Heidi sisters went over, and the stall owner immediately unfurled a roll of cloth. Vera also came over, and they marveled at the patterns in gold, silver, purple, and deep burgundy.
"Pretty, so pretty."
Vera nodded as she spoke.
"Pity, so pitiful."
The women of the Kingdom of Lanna learned to repeat it.
More and more rolls of cloth were unrolled, and Madame Massey pointed to the shimmering, deep blue handwoven fabric and asked, "One thousand dollars?"
She turned to her husband and asked, "Dwight, darling, how much is a thousand dollars?"
"Less than three dollars,"
Wow, can I buy a yard of this fabric?
The female stall owner shook her head, then unfolded the roll of cloth to show it. "Two," she said, holding up two fingers.
“Oh, two meters, that’s even better.” Madame Massey pulled the fabric up to her legs. “I love wearing dresses like this.”
She looked up at the vendor, who was covering her mouth and laughing, as were the other women around the stall. She pointed to the blue roll of cloth, shook her head, and then picked up the pink roll of cloth with gold glitter, pointing to the pink one at Madame Massey.