Xin, having taken the school bus back home, was in the kitchen. He had already plugged in his gaming consoles, and inserted an appropriate party game in each. He was now in the kitchen, preparing a proper chinese feast. Chop suey, sezhuan, rice balls, ramen, fried chicken, the whole schabang. Seeing people outside the door, he opened the kitchen window and called out.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Hey, guys! Just come right in, but no shoes inside, please."</span>The kicthen was prepped and ready to cook with all ingredients carefully laid out, but Xin went and double-checked that the house was in order.<br/><br/>Snacks were out, and an ice bucket of soda cans. This was in the living room, where a projector was casting a blue screen on the canvas. The surround sound system that his movie geek of an uncle had installed the previous year was booted up and played a soft tune in the background. The door to the bathroom, which was immediately to the left of the entry hall, had been left open so people would know where it was. All other rooms were closed off, except the balcony, and the room to the house's traditional shrine.<br/><br/>Standing in stark contrast to the modernist house, the shrine was filled with carpets, curtains, bowls of incense and rown upon rows of idols, prayer beads, mosaics and paintings. In the middle of the altar, there was a golden statue of a meditating panda - the Buddha.<br/><br/>The rest of the house, of course, had white walls, hardwood floors, a few works of modern art, and mostly polished surfaces. A bowl of fruit and two candles decorated the aluminum dining table, and an elegant built-into-the-wall bookshelf held a number of modern and classic literature, from philosophy to academic tomes, encyclopediae, and quite a few novels of various genres. Xin went to the door and opened up, once again calling out to the people outside.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Come on, don't be shy. Mi casa es su casa and all that jazz."</span>