After a week of emptying cupboards and making creative meals (chicken salsa pasta anyone?), we thought it was high-time to make a trip out to our new consumerist's mecca - Gubei Carrefour. Although we live only a short 10 minute walk away from the Wuning Road Carrefour, we have been dazzled by the choice at our fave new store. We're like moths to the flame. Added to this was the return of Shanghai's hot weather, so a taxi ride to either of the stores was then on the cards.

Our start to our early morning consumerism was a little unusual. After a taxi ride, we entered the bottom level of the shops. Skipping breakfast this morning by favouring sleeping (Lin) and working (Tim), we made a direct path towards the foodcourt to have a bite to eat for lunch. Immediately after entering the store, we heard a child bawling - not really unusual in any shopping centre I grant you. As we proceeded to walk towards the escalators to take us to our consumerist idol, we found out why the child was crying. Two men (we both presume one was the kid's father) were going at each other in the computer game store near the escalators. In true Shanghainese style, everyone had stopped and gawked at this free entertainment. Punches, knees, slaps, scratching, elbows, wrestling. It was all on. It was very heated, and in a true street fight situation, it was not what would you call an exemplary pugilist exhibition. Critiques aside, one guy ended up getting the better of the situation. A female shop attendant from another store stepped in and broke up the fight, but the losing fellow, with blood coming from his mouth, stormed off muttering with a really black demeanour - he stormed right off to the knife shop two stores down. Realising this, everyone watching flew off the handle and stood clear of this guy. The next thing you knew is that the winner was bolting out of the shopping centre with the fella intent on revenge stalking his target. It was getting pretty bad. The crowd shifted to watch, and Lin and I were incredulous to what we had just seen. During this scene, the kid had continued to cry, people shrieked - but nobody except the female shop attendant did anything.

Just before leaving the store, the shopping centre guards and other employees managed to get the situation under control. We saw the female shop attendant from the knife store return with the stolen instrument - a knife sharpener. In the guys haste to get revenge, he must have taken the wrong choice (1 out of 4 of 6) and picked the most blunt instrument from the knife block. A lucky choice. Not that sharpener wasn't potentially dangerous, but at least it wasn't a knife. The scene now under control, the crowd thinned and went on their way. Lin & I went back to our plan of grabbing a quick bite before hitting the shops with (seemingly) the rest of Shanghai.

After grabbing our bite to eat, we returned to the scene of the fight. The computer store was empty. Neither man had returned, and I assume they had both been taken away by police. I then noticed the same small kid that was crying earlier sitting behind the counter looking after the store.

We then went and bought stuff from the shops, documented more supermarket scenes, ate, went home, bought a multi-function printer/scanner/copier, ate, went to a party, drank, and finally crawled back in early in the morning.

Today I'm just wondering what that kid is doing now.

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