Liu Juan had grown up since she had last visited her village. Now a famous fashion model and spokesperson for the biggest Chinese cosmetics line, she looked like she had nothing in common with this remote agricultural area in the middle of China. But she had really nice memories of the place, and had wanted to see it again, even though most of her immediate family now lived in some of the big industrial cities by the sea. When she reached the family field, she threw her shoes away and started jumping with joy, her mind full of images from summers gone by. And that weird photo session that started it all. That Swedish group, Little Dragon. with the indomitable Swedish/Japanese singer who liked her so much she had kept contact all these years. And then the trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong, the fashion shows, money and fame. That album, the one that used her on the cover image, with the weird title Nabuma Rubberband, was still her favourite music to listen to. Melancholic music matched her mood when travelling, and that was a thing she did often. She now knew that Scandinavians did melancholia best of all, especially in music.
