Chapter 8: Shang Simla

It was time for us to go to China. Liang's original plans of moving to Shang Simla were replaced with plans to move to Bridgeport with me. I was so happy. Liang said he would love to stay with me because he had no reason to continue living in his boring town. We packed our stuff and Liang asked me a million times if I had my book with me. Now I'm standing in the elevator with my new boyfriend and we're taking our first trip together.

After we got to Shang Simla, put our bags in the hotel and delivered my book, Liang asked me what I wanted to do. I didn't really know, so he suggested going to the Forbidden City. It sounded cool because it was forbidden, so I agreed. When we got there, it turns out that was the place I went the first time I was in China to play that tourist game.

Liang and I went downstairs to explore the tomb. We looked in some treasure chests. It turns out mine was empty, but Liang found some gold coins. I wondered if we could sell them when we got home because we could use some more money.

We came into a room with a round body of water and Liang wanted to jump into it, but he was wary.

"Nubby, you were here before, is there danger in this pool?"

"No, it's a tunnel with another pool on the other side. There's also a treasure chest."

"Oh, I want to swim!"

Liang was always making me laugh. I guess he didn't care too much about getting his clothes wet because he just jumped right into the water.

"Oh. That was a good swim. I found a stone fragment, Nubby!"

Liang peeked his head out from the pool. He was so adorable.

"Ah. I have water in my ear."

"Sorry, Liang, the Q-tips are in the hotel room."

"Which way do we go now? I want to find a secret door."



I walked into a little room and saw that there was a floor panel that had footprints on it. I remembered from the first time that a glowing panel meant one that had already been activated. Liang stepped on it and a secret door opened. He was still soaking wet and his clothes were clinging to him. I wondered what it was about water that emphasized a man's hotness.

As night fell, Liang and I explored a building that had... you guessed it, stairs. We climbed four flights of stairs and I felt like my knees were on fire. Being out of shape sucks. Just when I thought I might fall over, I turned around and felt all of my breath leave my body. The view of Shang Simla was beautiful from where we were standing.

We were both tired and hungry, so it was time to go back to the hotel. I had ice cream for dinner and Liang had canned soup. I realize ice cream may not have been the best choice since I was so out of shape, but I really wanted something to make me happy.

Sometime during the night, I felt Liang hug me. It was a nice warm feeling I'd never gotten to experience before. My life is going so much better these days.

In the morning Liang and I got up and both made one side of the bed. I guess he was kind of like me in the neat and tidy department.

We got egg rolls and hung out at the market all day. Liang got a phone call when he was washing his plate.

"Hello Mother."

"Hi, Liang. Are you getting all ready for moving to Simerica?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Good. Have a good time with your girlfriend."

"Thanks, Mother."

Liang wanted to go to the Academy. I had no idea what that was, and I was just happy to try new things so I followed him. It turns out that the Academy was a gym. There was a television, which I chose to watch. Liang likes to work out so he started using the weight machine. I stole glances at him because the television was right next to the machine he was using. Lucky for me, Liang doesn't care that I'm fat even though he likes to work out.

Liang and I headed to the market after he was done working out. It turns out he bought some fireworks from that guy who almost ran me over the first time I was in China.

I wanted to learn how to fish, so Liang and I explored until we came across a landscaping area with lots of small ponds. It was gorgeous and there were a lot of fish jumping around. Liang started singing. He was so cute and he sang often. He sang when he was cooking, he sang in the shower, and apparently he sang when he was fishing too.

Our vacation went well, and Liang got all of his stuff that he wanted to bring back with him. We got back home and were starving, so we ate some leftovers that we had in the fridge. When Liang was done eating, he made a face like something bad had happened.

"Ick! What did I eat? This plate looked fine when I first started eating."

"I hope my plate doesn't end up like that. I love goopy carbonara."

After dinner I went to the publishing office. They had called me to discuss distributing my book to a wider market. Since it was a science fiction book, they had released it to various comic book stores, but they thought maybe they should just release it to the mainstream bookstores as well.