The Gaze of Caprice (The Caprice Trilogy Book 1) by Cole Reid Read Free Book Online Page B

convenience store—one of fifteen that dotted the way across the East China Sea in 1980.  Taiwan would receive a dozen more of the Japanese stores by year end.  Xiaofeng’s deep brown eyes reflected the orange, red and green of the 7-Eleven sign, until the light of the new store faded in the background.  The Vespa kept its speed until the engine calmed quickly like a child downing from a tantrum.  The scooter came to a tranquil stop in front of a row of its peers.  Xiaofeng planted her right foot firmly on the ground and held her satchel bag to her right thigh, before lifting her left leg over the back of the scooter while bracing on the seat cushion.  Xiaofeng’s mother snapped the Vespa ’s key to the right and the engine went silent.  Xiaofeng rolled her red helmet off her head, as her mother slid the key out of the ignition.  While still straddling the scooter, she used her legs to paddle the sleepy scooter into an open space between two Honda scooters, both black.  Both young women, senior and junior, made a V-line toward the front door of the building.  Neither woman said a word.  It was all routine.  Xiaofeng held the scooter helmet as her mother produced the key that would get them in the building.
    The building was five floors of pale pink stretcher bond brick.  The first floor was reserved for retail space.  An elderly couple had opened a washateria on the first floor, five years earlier.  Tenants from the building and surrounding ones kept the machines spinning and the money flowing.  As Xiaofeng’s mother unlocked the solid wooden door, she thought she would have to visit the washateria soon, for her daughter and herself.  Xiaofeng and her mother had to climb one flight of stairs—out of four—to the second floor.  The second floor was the first floor of residential units and the only floor without balconies.  All other floors had steel cage balconies, with green plastic canopies, adding space for potted plants.  The balconies also warehoused external air-conditioning units.  The lack of a balcony meant the second floor didn’t have air-conditioning units.  Mr. Zhou, the building landlord, reasoned that an external air-conditioning unit on the second floor was an invitation to a thief.  He explained once the air-conditioning unit was stolen, he would be forced to buy another one and he didn’t have so much money.  Having no balcony and no air-conditioning unit made Xiaofeng and her mother feel like campers more than tenants.  However, in the sixteen years that Mr. Zhou owned the building, the second floor stayed fully occupied much more often than the other three floors. 
    Mr. Zhou was a natural businessman.  Years of owning the building had shown him how much money he could save by not having to upgrade and repair air-conditioning units.  On the second floor, he passed the savings on to his renters.  Renting a second floor apartment was just 275 Taiwan Dollars a month, compared with 550 on the top floor.  Through the years, Mr. Zhou also realized that cheap renters didn’t complain as much as the ones who paid more but demanded more.  Not only did second-floor renters save him money, they saved him headaches so he tried to provide for them as much as he could.  He convinced his friends, Mr. & Mrs. Cui, to open the washateria on the first floor.  The Cuis were in their 70’s but Mr. Zhou pointed out the machines were self-service.  The Cuis would only have to come by when the weekend was over to collect money from the machines, sweep the floor and clean the front window.  They did this for a year and a half, before their daughter and her family took over the cleaning duties for a 30% stake in the weekly cash haul.  The situation worked out well for everyone:  the tenants; the Cuis and Mr. Zhou.  Mr. Zhou was a talent at business.  Unfortunately, Xiaofeng’s mother was not.  The idea of owning something, to have residual income to provide for herself and her