Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen

Three women stood in Madame Zola's room, each reeling from the rapid time shift.But Mrs. Zola's smile brought them back to their senses slowly. "How do you decide?" she asked, looking at Lacey. But Lacey was still dazed and unable to answer, just blinking at the woman. "I choose a new life," said Allie, who, as a writer, grasped the medium's problem right away.She had asked herself that question several times over the past three weeks. "But I want to keep the memories of the past. I don't want to forget what happened before." She lowered her voice and smiled to herself.

Madam Zola nodded, then looked at Lacie again. "And you?" "I want the life I have now," she said softly. "But I also want to remember everything from another life. There are things I need to remember." "Must have something to do with a man," Ellie said, smiling slightly. "No," Lacey replied quickly. "It's not about the man, it's about myself. I need to remember myself." "What's the matter with that—" Ellie asked anxiously. But Madame Zola stopped her. "And you, dear?" she asked softly, turning to May Hagi.The other two women followed her.

Mei Hagi had a bad expression, as if he had just arrived in hell and hadn't come back.For a moment Mei Hagi moved her feet as if she was about to pass out, but then she looked up at the psychic. "New life," she whispered. "And I want to forget all my previous life. I don't want to remember anything about that life." Her tone was firm, without any hesitation. "Yes," said Madame Zola. "Now, dear, you can go. There are others waiting for my help." Ellie wanted to scream. "That's it? You don't want to hear what happened to us?" But she didn't say it after all.For one reason, she was a little confused.Now she had two lives in her mind--various conflicting memories.Which one is real and which one is illusion?

The three of them lumbered out of Madame Zola's house.It wasn't easy, because it had been weeks since they'd last walked those corridors.Twice they opened the wrong door and stared at the unfamiliar rooms in a daze. At last they were outside, standing on Madame Zola's front porch, blinded by the blinding sun. It was Mei Hagi who woke up first, because there were no two conflicting memories in her mind. While Ellie and Lacey were still blinking at the clear sky, trying to figure out the real situation, Meigi had already started looking through the tote bag hanging on her shoulder.

"Which one of you know where my phone is?" Mei Hagi asked. "I'm sure it was there a few minutes ago." "Mobile phone?" Ellie said as if she had never heard of such a thing. "I'd say we've been duped a lot," said Meigi, still rummaging in the bag. "Tricked?" Lacey asked, looking down at her hands.She had paint under her fingernails. "Yeah." Mei Hagi's tone became a little impatient. "We went inside to tell a fortune, but she didn't say anything. Really, someone should take off her signboard." Ellie and Lacey looked at Maygi like she was insane, but Maygi didn't look at them.She was still flipping through her bag. "My God!" Mei Hagi exclaimed. "Where did this kind of dirty thing come from?" She held a pack of cigarettes with her fingers, as if she was afraid of being infected by the virus, she kept the cigarettes away.

That gesture finally woke up Ellie and Lacey, and they both looked at Maygwo—to really look at her with their hearts. Could it be that their imagination is at work, Meiqiu doesn't seem to be as thin as yesterday?Even her complexion is much healthier?Her face was not as pale as before.And her eyes... "You're pretty again," Ellie said. Mei Hagi smiled. "Thank you," she said. "You don't look bad either." "No, I'm too—" Ellie was about to say that she was too fat, but when she looked down, she saw that her clothes seemed to be much looser.

"Look at this!" Meigi held up her tote bag. "I couldn't find anything, although it wasn't worth much—" Her words cut off abruptly when she looked down at the clothes she was wearing. "Can anyone tell me what's going on here? Why am I wearing this cheap clothing and where's my phone? Ellie, can you lend me your phone?" Airi opened her eyes wide and looked at Mei Hagi, as if some kind of movie special effect was happening in front of her eyes.It's just that this is not a movie but real life.Mei Hagi looked a little older than when they first met nineteen years ago, but now she no longer had the ravaged look of life.Now Mei Hagi's eyes are shining brightly, and her skin is also crystal clear.

"I don't have a cell phone," Ellie said softly. "I never liked the phone." "I know," Meigi said, looking at Ellie exaggeratedly. "You said you hated the phone, but you also said that after you had your baby, you wanted to be in touch with him all the time." "Kid?" Ellie said, blinking in confusion. Umegi's gaze moved from Airi to Lacey, and then back to Airi. "What's wrong with you two? Did that magician tell you something terrible? Is that why you two are acting so dull?" "Child." Ellie murmured again.

Mei Hagi bent down and looked at Ellie at the same level. "Yes, son. You have a two-year-old son. You and your remarried husband, Jesse, have a baby." "Jessie," Ellie's eyes widened.Originally, she still clearly remembered the days when she and Martin lived together, but when Maygi mentioned Jesse, she immediately remembered the period between her and Jesse. "Nathan," she looked at Lacey in surprise. "I have a son named Nathan and I'm married to Jessie Woo." "I'm so happy for you," Lacey whispered, and she put her arms around Ellie. "Very, very happy for you."

"Did I miss something?" Umegi asked impatiently. "Also, can we get something to eat somewhere? I'm starving. I want to treat myself to something delicious." She squinted her eyes at the other two women. "But if you two secretly tell Murth, I'll deny everything. He's tired of hearing my complaints every time I'm overweight." "Overweight?" Ellie said. "Are you going to be overweight?" "Not everyone can forget to eat like you can." Ellie looked down at herself with wide eyes.Impossible, her clothes seemed looser than they had been a few minutes ago.

Mei Hagi looked at Ellie and wondered if she was losing her mind. "I think we should all sit down and eat something," Lacey said. "And I think we should hear Umehagi's life story." "But I told you that the first night we got here," said May Hagi. "I distinctly remember talking about being a model in New York and going to Columbia to go to school and meet Mersh, and how I got—" "No!" Ellie said loudly. "You have to tell things in sequence, in the order they happened." "Yeah," Mei Lu said with a smile, obviously glad Ellie remembered something. "When you tell us a joke, it's not funny if it's out of order. If you remember that, why don't you remember everything else?" "Stupid," Airi took Mei Hagi's hand. "There's only one explanation, stupid." "It's easy to say," Lacey took Meigi's other hand, and the three of them set off for the street. "Actually, Ellie loves your story so much that she wants to use it in her next book, so she wants to hear it more. She doesn't want to miss a detail." "Well said," Ellie said. "I wish I'd thought of that—I mean, Lacey's absolutely right. Why don't we just sit down in this restaurant and you can go back and forth in detail. From when we met in New York." She turned her head behind Meigi and looked at Lacey. "That's when she goes back, right?" "Hmm." Lacey responded, pushing open the restaurant door. "What are you talking about?" Mei Hagi asked. "Go back? You two are really weird." "Hormonal excesses when you're pregnant," Ellie replied quickly. "Nonsense!" said Umegi, following the receptionist to a table. "I've had four children and I've never had any hormonal excesses." Hearing these words, Lacey and Ellie stopped at the same time and looked at each other. It was Lacey who spoke first. "Four." She murmured. "There is also Moshi." Ellie responded; the next moment they almost ran to the table and sat down opposite Meiqiu. Ten minutes later, they ordered their food.Ellie leaned forward and said, "Words of it. I want to hear everything about you since you left the New York prison." "But you already know most of it, so why—" "I'll dedicate the next book to you." Ellie interrupted her quickly. "Can you write all my children's names?" Mei Hagi asked, his expression softened. Ellie looked around, as she guessed, most of the guests in the restaurant were looking at Mei Hagi.At forty, she is still beautiful.But Ellie knew that just yesterday, no one would pay more attention to this same woman wherever she went. "Okay," Meigi said. "I distinctly remember saying it all to you both, but if you want to hear it again, well, well, where do I start? After I parted from you both at the prison before nineteen o'clock, I thought of a A plan to show my face in a modeling agency. After all,” Mei Hagi said. "Tall, good-looking, country girls are everywhere in New York, and I had to do something to stand out." Meigi saw Ellie looking at Lacey after hearing her say that. "Are you sure you want to listen again?" "I want to listen, and I don't even have to call my husband and son." After taking a deep breath, Lacey continued, "Speak quickly. I'm going to call after listening." "Okay," Mei Hagi smiled slightly. "I want to call my kids too. Honestly, maybe I'm missing some wonderful details. So, where was it? The first thing I did after I broke up with you two was to throw Those home photographers took pictures of me. And then..." She looked at the other two women with a look of confusion on her face. "Sometimes people look back and wonder why they did what they did. To this day, I still can't figure out how I knew to do what I did, but I looked in the phone book and found the name of a photographer and asked him Take a picture for me." She paused for effect. "But he's not just an ordinary photographer, he's Ke Duohua." Hearing the name, Ellie gasped, and then she looked at Lacey, who was also moved by it.Neither woman had anything to do with pop photography, but they both had heard the name.Legend has it that it was Ke Duohua who elevated the modeling industry to an art, and many art galleries have exhibited his works. "Anyway," Meigi continued. "Maybe I've seen his name somewhere; he's very young, just graduated from the photography department of Midwest University, and plans to take pictures of fruit for the rest of his life. Can you imagine? A person with his talent, on the day I met him , he was taking pictures of some oranges. But I went to his studio and convinced him to take pictures of me, wearing nothing but a snake." The waiter brought up some plates of food, and Meigi smiled, picking up her fork. "Looking back now, it seems like it happened last week. I still remember the guy who caught the snake." She looked up at Lacey and Ellie. "It was a big snake, a very, very large python." Mei Qiu stood outside the gate of the New York Procuratorate, and for a few seconds she was at a loss as to where she was.But when she looked back and saw the reflection in the pastry shop window, she gasped.It had been a long time since she had seen that face. She kept staring at the reflection in the glass window, looking at herself like an outsider.When she was twenty-one, she didn't pay much attention to her appearance.In fact most of the time she even regrets having this look because it becomes a hindrance to any other achievement she has. But now, when she is about to turn forty years old, Meiqi has enough time to realize what kind of talent she once had, and she should cherish it more. Part of her felt like she was still the lonely and homesick little girl who just got out of Montgomery.Part of her wanted an excuse to just go home. But now, and a few years later, Meiqi also knows what fate awaits her in her hometown.This time, she decided to change her life. There was a wire mesh trash can by the side of the road. Mei Hagi leaned her heavy luggage bag and began to rummage in it.Inside the bag were a few lollipops, two plastic bags of cheap cosmetics, a medical journal, a locket containing a cranial chain her mother gave her when she was five, and the copy of the same book that was given to her at the University of Montgomery. Take the photo album. Opening the photo album, Mei Hagi stared at the photos in disbelief.Nineteen years ago the world had much less information about the modeling industry than it does now.Is this good or bad?She wondered, then decided that now was not a good time for such a philosophy.However, knowledge tells her that these photos will not get her noticed by the industry. But this time she will do it differently, because now she knows what awaits her when she gets home. Looking at the contents of the bag, Meigi picked up the small box containing the skull chain that her mother gave her, and then she threw the lollipops, cosmetics, and the photo album into the trash can.She took out her bank book.The deposit balance showed that she had nearly 17,000 yuan left, and she knew that a large part of it came from her father. Looking at the small passbook, Mei Hagi smiled slightly.Nineteen years ago, her father donated 10,000 yuan to her illegitimate daughter, which made her angry.He doesn't recognize her as his child and just gives her some money to send her away.But now Meiqi is a few years older, his mind has also grown, and he has more understanding of world affairs.She knows what passion is all about, and she knows that what you do on the spur of the moment can be a lifelong regret.And Mei Qiu knew that some fathers, no matter how rich they were, would not give any financial subsidies to their illegitimate children. Now, she sees the money her father gave her as a gift.She also thinks about what her hometown has done for her.Nineteen years ago, she angrily thought that they were driving her out of her hometown and forcing her to work in an industry she didn't want to be involved in. All this caused Mei Tho to rage inside, and she secretly vowed that she would not do what they asked her to do in order to retaliate.She spent all the donations from her father and the town on Ajie.When she was in New York, she made a point of not getting herself any modeling contracts.When she returned to Montana, she told her high school friends that New York was a harsh place and she didn't want to live there.Her friends were sympathetic, but those merchants who funded her travel shook their heads and sighed, and no longer paid attention to her.Before the divorce, Mei Qiu seldom visited her hometown. After the divorce, her experiences were all written on her face, so no one discussed the modeling business with her anymore. Now she has the opportunity to change all that, she is different now, she already knows the value of opportunity. Nearby was a telephone booth with a tattered phone book dangling from a chain.Mei Qiu quickly turned to the photographer's column, and the name suddenly appeared - Ke Duohua. She tosses in a coin to call him, but then changes her mind.No, she's going to visit this man herself, and she's going to try to convince him to take her picture if she can. "I don't do modeling," he said, still looking at the camera.On the table in front of him is a pile of oranges painted orange to accentuate the bright colors.He was a small man, the top of his head barely reaching Mayhagi's shoulders.He has a hooked nose, thin lips, and piercing eyes. "I've heard of your name since I was in Montana." She made the most innocent but most seductive voice.His studio is an old warehouse, dirty and cold, and probably has no heating at all. He turned his head quickly and looked her up and down. "Stop talking nonsense, tell me what is your plan?" I could never do this kind of thing when I was twenty-one, Mei Tho thought, but now his tone and attitude made her feel relieved.It's not easy for her to continue pretending to be a young girl. "I want you to take a picture of me." "I don't do fashion," he said, without even looking at her. "Look in the phone book and you can find a hundred photographers willing to take your picture." Mei Tho wants to say that she has only three weeks to change her fate, so she has no time to intercede. "As long as you can press the shutter, you can take fashion photos," she said, revealing her chagrin. "You're so big—" "Determination," she interrupted him quickly. "And I obviously have more confidence in you than you have in yourself. What do you have to lose if the shoot fails? Go back to shoot fruit? But if you can make me a star, what will you do? Chance? Is your camera second-hand?" For a moment she held her breath.Will he throw her out?He turned the camera wrench and took another picture after another.He didn't look up at her. "Negatives and developing costs are your responsibility." "Deal." She agreed immediately. She had taken a taxi to his studio so as not to arrive sweating.While in the car, she drew a sketch.She felt a little ashamed that she was imitating other people's ideas, but she still drew a woman lying on her side with a big snake around her body. "Someone once told me he wanted to see a girl with nothing on but a snake around her." The photographer ignored her and took pictures of his oranges.He had an assistant, a man who looked like a little mouse, and he stood by and loaded the film for the camera. "A very big snake." Mei Hagi said to the silence in the room. He turned to face her. "I don't take pornographic photos." This sentence made Mei Hagi gasp. "Would you spare me? I'm a tall, beautiful girl from Montana, but the modeling business is full of tall, beautiful girls. I needed something that would make me stand out. Not porn, but It's art. Powerful art. Can you do it? If you can't, please tell me now before I waste my time." For the first time, she saw interest in his eyes, and she held her breath waiting for his answer. "You've got a brain, huh?" "There's an old mind in a young body, but I'm marketing the young part. No one wants to pay to see the old part." Seeing his slight smile, she knew she had convinced him.She was so happy that she wanted to dance immediately, but she forced herself to stand still.It's time for him to act. She handed him her sketch, and he looked it over for a moment, then took his wallet from his back pocket, pulled out a credit card, and handed it to his assistant. "Buy me a snake." The young assistant looked at the credit card in horror. "Where am I going..." He couldn't go on. "This is New York, what can't be found? I need a snake, a big snake. It will be here by nine tomorrow morning." Ke Duohua then turned his attention to Meiqi, as if she was looking at it carefully as a commodity. "Your ass is huge and your eyes are different sizes on both sides." Megumi smiled slightly.She had been told these things before, but that time she had listened with rage. "Looks like you'll have to light carefully to cover up the blemishes, huh?" she said. He didn't answer, but she could see the twinkle in his eyes.I think he likes me, she thought. "Who did your makeup?" he asked. "Do you have a friend who can help?" she asked, hope in her voice. "As a matter of fact, I do. Get here at six tomorrow morning. It will take some work for you." Again, she'd felt insulted when she heard that in the past, but now she just smiled. "Okay. Better tell your friend to bring a stick shovel and a bag of cement. He'll probably need a lot of that to make me look as good as your oranges." He tried to keep a straight face but was unsuccessful after all. "You go and get a good night's sleep. Maybe when you wake up, your eyes will be more balanced. And put some thought into your clothes, just looking at it makes me sick." Mei Hagi walked towards the gate, and when she reached the gate, he was already operating his camera again. "Thank you," she said, but he didn't look up. When she got outside, she looked in her travel bag and saw a key and the address of the cheap hotel where she was staying.Fortunately, she wrote it down, otherwise, after so many years, she would not remember where she was at that time. When she came to the small hotel, she pulled out all the clothes she had brought from the wardrobe drawer.Seeing those clothes, Mei Hagi was terrified.Spread out in front of you are some clothes with ruffles, gold buttons, and floral patterns. Leaving her clothes on the bed, Maycho walked uptown to Sacks.When she returned to the hotel three hours later, she collapsed on the bed exhausted, throwing her heavy shopping bags on the floor.The clothes in the bag were all black and white.All styles were applicable in 1981 and are still in use in 2000.Elegant, simple and clean.And surprisingly expensive. On the way back, she stopped at a beauty salon to get her eyelashes darkened.When she shows up at her agency, she intends to wear no makeup at all. The next morning, Meiqi arrived at Ke Duohua's studio at 5:30.She hasn't eaten since noon yesterday, and she hopes she can get through the day without eating.She must lose seven kilograms as quickly as possible. To Mayhagi's surprise, the photographer seemed to have decided to get serious about taking pictures of her, as two young men were already waiting for her when she arrived.They are all young and inexperienced, but very ambitious.When Mei Hagi heard their names, she couldn't help snickering.She knew that one of the young men would make his way to Hollywood, and years later at the Oscars, his name would pop up when the stars asked, "Who's your makeup artist?" Now he was staring at May Hagi, frowning with a pair of eyebrow pliers in his hand. "Honey, with eyebrows like yours, I should have brought a lawn mower." Another young man is a hairdresser, and Umegi knows that one day he will not only own his own hair salon, but also distribute his own brand of high-priced hair products. "What should I do with this head of yours?" said the hairdresser, brushing up Mei Hagi's hair. Mei Hagi smiled at them and said, "I hope you two brought your ladders." She made them laugh, and as a result, she made friends with them too. At exactly nine o'clock, the studio door opened, and two burly, sweaty men in sleeveless shirts walked in.They were carrying a giant python the size of Mayhagi. What am I doing?She thought; then Cordova whispered in her ear. "Are you scared?" Mei Hagi swallowed heavily. The two sweaty men looked at Mei Hagi as they lowered the big snake to the ground.She was already dressed, her hair flowed softly against her face, and she was only wearing an oriental kimono. "I want fifty of this picture," said one of the men, casting a glance at Maycho. Mei Hagi turned away, making a face secretly.It's one thing to undress in front of the photographer and his assistant - they're certainly not interested in her - but these two newcomers... "Hope these pictures make it to the Internet," she muttered. "Board what?" asked the hairdresser. "It's nothing." Umegi said, and then she took a deep breath and untied the belt of the kimono, but still pulled the skirt tightly.After a while, she smiled slightly.What's the big deal?she thinks.When you're twenty you don't want people seeing your body, but once you hit forty, you're glad people want to see you.She took off her kimono and faced the snake naked. "Let's shoot," she said. When May Haw walked into New York's top modeling agency, her first thought was that she felt old.Looking around, this office is crowded with young women who are worthy of being her daughters. But the mirror by the door told her that her body was as young as these girls.She was happy to see that the only thing they had in common was age. Among the other girls, Umegi's elegant white clothes and black trousers, crystal clear skin without makeup make her look like a pearl in a pile of gravel. The female receptionist sitting behind the desk was impressed by Meihagi's appearance.Clearly this woman knows the taste - and the price - of what her clothes cost. "Do you have a reservation?" "I did," Meigi said. "Eleven o'clock. I believe the time has come." The female receptionist looks at the record book. "Your name is not here." Umehagi pointed to the line at eleven o'clock. "That's me," she said, still smiling. "I can wait, maybe you would like to look through my photo album?" Then she put her big black notebook on the woman's desk.This time the cover of the photo book is leather instead of plastic. Mei Qiu was willing to pay any price, just to be able to stand there and look at that woman, and the expression on the face when she opened the photo album and saw the photos taken by Ke Duohua. But now, standing outside the office of the brokerage company, Mei Tho turned his back to the receptionist and walked straight to the only empty chair at the other end of the room.Yet when she turned back, she was content to see the picture of the woman gaping open-mouthed at her. The receptionist looked up and saw Umehagi was looking at her, she shut her mouth and closed the photo album at the same time.Then, as if routine, she stood up, straightened her too-tight blouse, and picked up a stack of photo albums from her desk.As if suddenly remembering, she put Umegi's photo album on top, and walked towards the office where the fate of hundreds of young women was decided. The receptionist knocked on the door, then she opened it, and they heard the words "It's not okay, just be careful!" from the office.Apparently Mrs. Fan didn't like to be disturbed. The door closed behind the receptionist, and Meigi realized how fast her heart was beating.Is she being too aggressive?Maybe she should just get a good photographer in New York, something normal, no snakes. The door might have reopened after a few minutes, but to Meicho it felt like hours.And once the door was opened, it was not the receptionist who appeared at the door, but Mrs. Fan, the owner of the brokerage company herself. Mei Mei held her breath, watching the gray-haired woman scan the audience.When she saw May Hagi, she called out. "Are you Bi Meiqiu?" Umehagi smiled politely at the woman and nodded.In fact, she was too nervous to speak. "Come to my office, please?" "Okay, thank you." Umegi barely stood up, and then she had to force her feet to move forward. She followed Mrs. Fan into the inner office, and the door closed after entering.