He relates, "I interviewed the landlord, who is 80, and all the neighbors, and slowly reconstructed the history of this row of old structures." Only then did he discover that the buildings were the first department store ever opened by a Taiwanese in the Japanese occupation era, with A-bon's bar occupying what was once the stairwell.
「像記者一樣，我斷續訪問了 80 高齡的房東先生和左右鄰居，慢慢整理這整排樓房時空跳接的歷史，」這才發現老屋是日治時代第一間閩南人開的百貨公司。