“I see. The boys were scared, but seemed to look fi ne now. How much this time?”
“Half million. But Bing only wants me to borrow fi fty thousand.”
“He is getting worse and worse, isn’t he?” said the barefooted, moving closer to rest her hips on one side of the sofa that was opposite Mei. Her voice was low, but coarse with a slight vibration piercing the quiet enormous space. She glanced at the closed window, then gazed emptily at the open fl oor. Listening to Mei’s cutting silence, she added, “Mei, you are the best daughterin-law of the world. Bing must be cursed in his last incarnation. But I believe the badness will be redeemed one day by all the goodness we have done.”
