Asuka took a taxi to the place indicated by her phone's navigation app.
Before her lay a street lined with houses built in the 1990s, giving the whole area a distinctly dated feel.
She tugged at her sun hat and compared the house before her with the photo in her hand. After a moment of silence...
She took the key her father had given her out of her backpack. Three Chinese characters were engraved on it-Gold Atom.
Just as Asuka unlocked the door, an elderly woman next door stepped outside and noticed a stranger at the house across from hers-a foreigner, at that.
Curious, she approached Asuka and asked, mixing in some broken English, "Hello... you, may I ask what you're doing here?"
Asuka turned toward the elderly woman. She felt as though she had seen her somewhere before, but couldn't remember where. Having learned Chinese, Asuka explained her situation honestly. After all, a local would know the area best.
After hearing Asuka's explanation, the elderly woman told her what she knew. "You said you're looking for the owner of this house? He left for Japan today. He also left a key with me and told me to give it to a girl who came here to open the door. Looks like he meant you. Here, take it."
She handed Asuka a copper-colored key. Although Asuka was still bewildered, she politely thanked the elderly woman.
Asuka opened the accordion-style metal gate, then pushed open the wooden door. A living room came into view, along with drawing boards and sketches...
Most of the figures in the drawings had something to do with her: a Ferris Wheel, a little boat on a lake, a grassy field beneath the night sky...
Asuka stood stunned for a moment. Then a wave of familiarity washed