Once Upon in Nanjing-Chapter 16 - 3 Ming Dynasty Jingtai Blue and White Porcelain Jar with Courtesan Design for Salting Fish

Chapter 16: Chapter 3 Ming Dynasty Jingtai Blue and White Porcelain Jar with Courtesan Design for Salting Fish

After ending the communication, Ban Xia immediately pulled out an old, yellowed map from the drawer. It was a Nanjing City transportation and tourism map from the year 2020 left by her teacher, a twenty-year-old map that had passed through many hands and was worn and torn through repeated folding.

She spread the map out on the bed, then held a small desk lamp close, pointing at the words on the map, searching bit by bit.

She needed to find such a place where there was enough evidence to prove she was living in the year 2040.

On the map, the area filled in light pink was the Qinhuai District, an irregular quadrilateral. To the north of the Qinhuai District was a large oval-shaped green area, Zijin Mountain, and to the west of Zijin Mountain a blue diamond shape represented Xuanwu Lake. Ban Xia first located where she lived—No. 66 Muxuyuan Street, Meihua Villa.

On the 1:100000 scale map, Meihua Villa was just a tiny spot the size of a fingernail. Meihua Villa was right next to a one-millimeter-wide, five-centimeter-long north-south straight route; that was Muxuyuan Street. Further north, Muxuyuan Street intersected with Zhongshan East Road, a robust main road filled in light yellow, winding and spanning half the Nanjing map.

Ban Xia's finger slowly moved along the map, starting from Meihua Villa, following the main road all the way to the north, recognizing each of the place names one by one:

Jiangsu Chinese Culture College.

What is this place? It doesn't seem like it would be helpful, next.

Haiyue Garden.

No, it's a residential area, nearly all burnt down now, only ruins left, and currently occupied by a large group of monkeys.

Southeast Eye Hospital.

No.

Muxuyuan Subway Station?

No.

Wei Bridge Community.

No.

Xiamafang Heritage Park.

No.

Provincial Seismological Bureau? Would there be evidence in the Seismological Bureau?

Still no.

The girl knelt on the bed, tired from leaning over, and straightened up to rest for a moment, blinking hard.

The room was dimly lit, the only sources of light were the small energy-saving bulb hanging over the desk and the small desk lamp in her hand. The small desk lamp had a blue plastic shell with a tiny solar panel on its base. Leaving it on the balcony to absorb sunlight for a day would fully charge it. It was a gadget her teacher had found in a pile of rubbish; it still worked, so she kept using it. The device had a circle of LED bulbs, a total of six, but only half were left working. In such lighting conditions, it was difficult to read the words, especially the small words on the map, which were as tiny as mosquito legs and hard to see clearly.

Ban Xia decided to change her route.

Starting from Meihua Villa, she headed south, towards Crescent Lake.

Then to Jun'an East Garden.

Next was the Minghu Restaurant.

And lastly, Guanghua Road.

Nothing.

Ban Xia let out a sigh. In the vast Nanjing City, there must be some place with enough evidence to prove she lived in the year 2040, but the sad thing was Nanjing City was too big. It was so vast that many places were out of reach. Relying on her legs and a broken bicycle, Ban Xia could travel at most twenty kilometers from her residence; any further, and she couldn't guarantee she'd return within a day. She didn't dare to spend the night outside; that was very dangerous.

If only she had a car. Perhaps in some corner of the Qinhuai District, there might still be one or two operable cars left? There must have been a car that evaded her and her teacher's search, avoiding having its battery taken.

Ban Xia thought quietly.

But even if she had a car, she wouldn't know how to drive it.

The world had gone through a period of chaos, and she was very young at the time, so her memories weren't deep. Now, recalling it, Ban Xia vaguely remembered the scarlet night sky, the vast black shadows moving across the earth like spiders under the moonlight, her teacher leading her to hide here and there. The humans she saw became fewer and fewer, fewer until there were none left.

"Where exactly could there be evidence..."

Ban Xia continued to lean over, opening her eyes wide.

The main roads on the map were the primary routes for the girl's movements. For safety reasons, Ban Xia could only move along the main roads; she could not venture into alleys or residential areas.

Set off from Meihua Villa!

Muxuyuan Street!

Zhongshan East Road!

Nanjing Museum!

Could there be evidence inside the Nanjing Museum? After all, it is filled with antiquities. When there were no dishes to use, the teacher had once gone to the Nanjing Museum to look for pots and pans. Those ceramics and porcelain wares housed in glass cabinets—if they could be used, the teacher would have taken them all back. Take for instance the "Ming Dynasty JingTai Blue Porcelain Vase with Ladies Enjoying Spring" which is now used for pickling salted fish in the kitchen, and the "Hongwu Glazed Red Three Friends Pattern Vase" is now used for storing smoked meat.

There was also a silver thread jade suit. The teacher had wanted to take it, saying that it was a pity to let mice gnaw on such a treasure, but she couldn't figure out what use it would have at home. So she had to place it in a glass cabinet and position it at the entrance of the Nanjing Museum like a guardian deity, hoping it would scare away any trespassing animals.

But from the current situation, the motionless silver thread jade suit doesn't scare the animals; they just treat it as a sculpture, unless it could walk.

But if it did walk, that would scare Ban Xia.

Do these objects prove that she's in the year 2040?

Probably not, because they existed in 2019 as well.

Next.

"Ming Palace."

No.

Next.

"Zhongshan Hotel."

Zhongshan Hotel? Ban Xia carefully recalled.

Oh, it turns out that the charred foundations were what remained of Zhongshan Hotel.

Nanjing General Hospital.

Xianmen.

Pilu Temple.

Ban Xia's eyes grew weary from looking, but still, she had not found any useful place.

What kind of place would have a lot of evidence?

First, it must have a clear timestamp. Secondly, there should be clear records of events, and the time and events must correspond with each other. Only then would there be convincing evidence to prove she lives in the year 2040—only a sufficient amount of magazines, yearbooks, and newspapers could validate what Ban Xia says is true.

Where could there be lots of magazines and newspapers? Bookstores? No, bookstores wouldn't keep a large collection of old newspapers from many years ago; all they have are trashy novels.

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Ban Xia's gaze casually drifted along that tan main thoroughfare marked on the map—Zhongshan East Road. She was familiar with it. Ban Xia often sat on the steps in front of the Ming Palace gate, watching water buffaloes and deer majestically pass by on Zhongshan East Road.

"Do you want to go read some books? Reading more is good for you." The teacher's voice echoed in her mind again. "They have magazines, newspapers and such. If you want, we can take some back..."

Suddenly, Ban Xia saw it. A line of small black Song-style print, discreetly hiding amidst the cluttered map, seemingly unremarkable, yet Ban Xia knew she had found it.

Presidential Palace.

No, it was below that.

"Nanjing Library."

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(Author's digression: A reader asked me about choosing college majors in the book: They are passionate about literature, but their family is insisting on choosing a science and engineering major. How should they choose?

I can only share a little personal experience here for this reader to consider:

If you love writing, then the major you choose won't interfere with writing. Literary majors in universities don't actually train writers. They train literary researchers, connoisseurs, critics. I have a science background myself, and there are plenty of science students among web novel authors.

If you have a pure love for literature, such as literary studies, comparative literature, etc., this requires systematic study in a literary major. In that case, you'll need to have a good talk with your parents and family. However, one thing is for sure: studying a major you dislike will certainly not bring happiness.)