Xia Lun brought the little wooden boat to a steady stop at the bank, set down the wet oar, and jumped ashore.
As soon as he had his footing, he reached out and gently took White Line by the wrist.
Perhaps because White Line's body had grown younger, her wrist felt delicate in his hand.
White Line carefully stepped onto the rocking edge of the boat, then leaped to Xia Lun's side, splashing a few drops of water onto his trouser cuffs.
"The clothing store's just ahead." Xia Lun glanced at the map hanging from White Line's waist. "Let's go."
"Are we still going to the Violet Crystal Palace?" White Line asked blankly.
"We'll see how much time we have. If we can make it, we'll go."
They climbed the wet stone steps from the bank to the bustling street.
From a boat on the canal, bustling Sixth Avenue had looked like a classical oil painting, rich and vivid with color. But standing on Sixth Avenue, the canal dotted with wooden boats looked more like an ink painting, its brushstrokes hazy and free.
Shop windows glowed on both sides of the street. Piano music drifted down from above the glass canopy, while a few scraps of paper fluttered in the wind and swept past the crowd.
"Equal Temperament and Repetition," White Line said suddenly.
Xia Lun blinked. "What?"
"That piece is called 'Equal Temperament and Repetition.'" White Line smiled and walked ahead, her soft hair lifting slightly in the wind. "It's a very classical piece. Its defining feature is dividing pitch into twelve equal intervals, so the music stays in tune when played."
"You know music too?" Xia Lun was stunned.
To be fair, during the half day he had spent out with White Line, she had kept overturning his