I was somewhat half-hearted about the idea of going out last night. I wasn't able to round up any playmates. And I myself was feeling deeply knackered after a week of early starts, commuter hell, and interrupted sleep. I passed out on the sofa for a couple of hours early evening, and was quite tempted to fritter away the rest of the night in similarly indolent fashion.
But Thursday is (usually) Dan & Nico night down at Jianghu, so I forced myself into action for a stroll down there to check out the scene. It didn't look promising at first: there was no scene. The boys themselves turned up late, and seemed disinclined to start playing while I was just about their only audience. (Many of 'the usual suspects' had apparently been seduced away by a grand reopening party for one of the city centre's most notorious nightclubs. I hadn't even been aware that was happening. I'm not on that mailing list!)
Eventually, the music started. Eventually a few people started showing up. Tian Xiao, the boss, was experimenting with a newly-installed draught beer tap - which seemed to mean that the beer was basically free for 'regulars' that night. And one of our friends was generously passing around 'special' cigarettes. Under these conditions, the music seemed even mellower than usual - a laidback jam session with a couple of friends, an Italian lounge singer and a third guitar.
We listened through the open door from the open-air courtyard on this balmy evening. And then, a little before midnight, scattered drops of fat, warm rain began to fall. It got steadily heavier, but was never quite intense enough to drive us inside. Indeed, an hour or so later I walked all the way home through it, feeling deliciously refreshed and rejuvenated in body and spirit.
God, I love that place.
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