Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 536: Was He Kicked Out?

Since the vacation plan had to go on, the task of customizing the swimsuit could not be neglected. Fortunately, the girl told Linger and the other two before she left that the Maiden Street in Shesher had not been affected by the wave of urban reform. Many shops were still operating normally. It was also the only attraction worth visiting in the city of Lotterdana. Therefore, there was no need to worry about making a wasted trip.

The three of them walked along the breakwater. Although they were not locals and had no idea about the topography and street planning of the suburbs of Heligoland, as a long-renowned tourist city in the former Land-Sea region, the infrastructure of Rotdanner itself was very complete, with sightseeing guides and road signs everywhere to guide tourists to fully enjoy the leisurely holidays in this coastal suburb. Of course, if you really follow the faded words on the guides and road signs to find attractions such as "Golden Beach", "Lovers' Reef", "Sad River", "Sword Bay", etc., the final result may only surprise you and then disappoint you.

Following the directions of the road signs, occasionally asking for directions from one or two unlucky passers-by, and after wandering in the streets and alleys surrounded by these gloomy and heavy stone houses for nearly half an hour, the three of them finally arrived at the Rue des Maiselles, a shopping street famous for its luxury consumption of jewelry, cosmetics, fashion and other luxury goods.

This street starts from the Louis Cross Roundabout and ends in front of the bronze statue of Heidel Gorange, the first mayor of Lotterdane. It is about 1800 meters long and 120 meters wide at its widest point. Even the largest steam locomotive can rumble over the heavy square stones under its feet and run unimpeded on this street that is at least 250 years old. When the street was completed, even the concept of the earliest civilian steam locomotive was still only in concept. This shows how far-sighted the designer Hittorf Alfond was, who ignored many criticisms and insisted on building such a spacious and open street.

There are many cultural relics and scenic spots in Sescher Maidenstraat, such as Fountain Square, Round Square, Belgrade Liberation Monument, etc., but there are still more luxury shops such as fashion stores, high-end cosmetics stores, perfume stores, jewelry stores and even high-end nightclubs, which are only available to middle-class people. There are also tourist shops that sell local specialties and souvenirs to foreign tourists. It is said that in its heyday, Sescher Maidenstraat received more than 100,000 tourists in a day, breaking the record in the travel magazine of that year.

But that is all in the past. Today, its beauty is no longer what it used to be. Looking from the entrance of the street, there are few and far between people. Even the stray cats running on the dry yellow sycamore leaves on the ground may be more numerous than the tourists. Most of them come and go in a hurry, reluctant to even glance at the shops on both sides.

Many shops on both sides of the street were also closed, and they were not closed temporarily. The dust on the door locks showed that no one had opened them for a long time. The number of closed tourist shops was the largest. After all, in this wave of urban reform, the tourism industry was the industry that was hit the hardest. Of course, the situation of other shops was not much better: although it was summer, the glass windows of fashion stores still displayed autumn coats and scarves. The bosses were too lazy to change them, leaving them silently waiting for the arrival of autumn; the doors of jewelry stores were hardly opened, and the bored clerks did not dare to appear lazy, so they wiped the glass counters again and again with a rag, until they could almost reflect light like a mirror; in front of the cosmetics store, a colored baffle with new product information and release date written on it was blown by the wind and fell to the ground with a crash, but no one came out to pick it up and put it back in place...

Everything is shrouded in a state of indifference and drifting with the flow, as if every store here is waiting to close when it opens, or in other words, it is waiting to go bankrupt when it opens. Of course, when they opened, the city might be in the last twilight, and the precious light before the night made them mistakenly think that they saw the morning sun, so they followed its footsteps firmly and gained temporary success, but it was a lie and a mockery, so in the end they were still defeated by this unpredictable era, and could only miss the good times in the past in vain, and sigh: the complexity of time has reached this point, which makes people at a loss.

Linger had the same feeling. He knew that time was always the cruelest thing in the world. The once stunning beauty would eventually become an old woman with wrinkles after years of wear and tear. But he didn't expect it to come so quickly and so unexpectedly - could ten years be enough to change the image of a street, a city, or even a memory?
"You're being artistic again, Lingge." Alice patted his shoulder and said nonchalantly, "It has nothing to do with us anyway, so hurry up and make your swimsuits and go back to Sky Island."

On Sky Island, she couldn't wait to come to Rotdana, and after arriving at Rotdana, she couldn't wait to go back to Sky Island. With such an erratic personality, it is really difficult to understand what Lingge is sighing about.

The young man walked expressionlessly with Saint Shalia, followed Alice, and entered this legendary street, and began to look for a suitable target. The withered yellow sycamore leaves formed a long carpet under their feet, almost extending to the other end of the street. The footsteps of the three people stepped on it, making a crisp sound of crunching. Perhaps for aesthetic reasons, unlike the silver pines often planted by the sea, the street trees planted on the Cheshire Maiden Street are more common oriental sycamores. This tree sheds its leaves all year round. The scene of yellow leaves floating all over the sky does look much more spectacular, and is set off by the deserted atmosphere of this street, giving it a desolate and melancholy beauty.

There are many fashion shops operating on the Maiden Street of Cheshire, some of which provide handmade services for customers. They are all old tailors with more than ten or twenty years of experience, and their craftsmanship is absolutely trustworthy. Alice first chose a shop called "Emedidas's Scissors" and was about to go in to ask about the price. By the way, Emedidas is the name of the god of beauty and spinning in the local mythology of Mindrias. It is said that she has a pair of scissors that can cut everything in the world, and everything cut will turn into golden silk thread.

Lingge didn't plan to go in with the golden-haired maid, mainly because it would make him look bad, so he gave the few pounds he had left to Saint Charia, asking her to use them wisely and not let Alice spend money lavishly and agree without even asking the price. As for the ring sponsored by Nevile, it still needs to be pawned before it can be converted into cash. However, for safety reasons, they are destined to pawn it in an informal store, and the price may be much lower. If it were the old Lingge, he would definitely feel distressed, but now when he thought of Nevile's expression when she said lightly, "There are still twenty or so", he instantly calmed down: Anyway, it's not my money, it's just the rich who are taking advantage of it.

Linger stood under an oriental sycamore tree outside the store, staring at the yellow leaves falling from the branches above his head. After waiting quietly for a few minutes, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned his head and saw that Saint Shalia and Alice had returned. This speed was a bit fast, beyond his expectations. Could it be that the tailors in Lotdana City were so skilled in craftsmanship that they only needed a few minutes to figure out the details on the drawings?
But then, Saint Shallia shook her head at him with a heavy expression, and the young man instantly realized that the situation might not be as good as he thought, so he asked, "What happened?"

"What else could have happened—"

Alice held the beloved blueprints in her arms and shouted angrily, "Can't you see? We're being kicked out!"

Ling Ge: “…”

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)