After another tea’s time, they arrived at the military gentleman’s residence. The military gentleman’s surname was Lu; people called him Master Lu, though it wasn’t known, in the end, which group he was from; it was said that a commanding officer surnamed Sun was at the head. He was a mid-level official, and didn’t much dare to engage in tyrannical abuse; taking people to go disrupt a public venue, in the end, was merely out of desire to seem impressive in tabloid newspapers, and not because he cared that much about Yunyun. The residence bordered the French Concession, and it had been gifted on newly arriving to Shanghai by the Green Gang, [1] an exceedingly old party, which, in the dead of night, caused people terror; the military gentleman ordered for all the lamps to be lit, and invited Li Shiyi in; after imbibing half a pot of tea, he once more led her on a tour of the courtyard. Li Shiyi made up wild nonsense full of fengshui jargon, neither her face reddening nor her heart jumpi...

The scene of drawn swords and bent bows was like firewood that had been pulled from the furnace, the hissing sound causing the joyous racket from just then to be suppressed. Li Shiyi raised her gaze to look at this military gentleman, with a beard in the shape of the character eight and squinting eyes, slender and lean; when he spoke, he couldn’t cover the mouthful of large, slightly yellowed, incisors, and the neat, military overcoat that he wore in the great heat was faintly distended by a beer belly, the brim of his military hat orderly and facing forward. Although his voice was loud, in stature, he was a bit shorter than Li Shiyi, and at that moment, raising her head to size him up, she let her eyelids fall once more, making an effort to express a disdain beneath contempt with posture and a look askance. When the gun barrel pressed against Li Shiyi, Wu Qian took a few steps forward, and reached into the inside of his suit, drawing out a short pistol; separated by two or three metre...

Translator's note: Sorry that updates have been so sporadic and off-schedule; my life is more hectic this summer than I had thought it would be, so I haven ’ t been able to stick to my self-imposed schedule as well as I would have liked. However, hopefully I ’ ll be able to update regularly from now on out!  -  Li Shiyi and Yunyun danced for three songs. When the excitement reached its end, the group once again left as they had come, riding in a car. The residence they’d rented was on Lafayette Street, by the French Concession, and passing through the asphalt road planted all about with plane trees, the car stopped in the garage; expertly trimmed gardens surrounded the three-story, red brick Western-style building, only the tranquil electric lamps remaining in the light of the dusk. The group, out of strength, chatted and smiled, massaging necks and exchanging partings, and returned to their rooms; the red wood staircase echoed with steps, and the residence once again returne...

Li Shiyi and the others had come early; the venue hadn’t gotten lively yet, and only a few people in couples or trios were at tables drinking wine; on a round stage half as high as a person, a female singer with a supple waist was crooning a song, in a scarlet qipao with black, curly hair, her arms wrapped in long gloves, and even her operatic gestures at the microphone were incredibly charming and delicate. The manager brought them to a reserved sofa, fan-shaped and leather-brown, and they crowded around a short, four-sided table; Tu Loayao, head bowed, eyes focused on his nose and his nose focused on his heart, hadn’t even the mind to take a look at the female singer; he was quite dedicated to standing by Wu Qian’s side, hands folded over his abdomen, belly drawn in and chest held straight, looking remarkably like a muscular, well-built bodyguard. Li Shiyi was the first to sit, her shoulders half relaxed and her legs crossed, one over the other, tilted upwards in a loose posture; A L...

Tu Sishun’s arrival threw the day into chaos; his and Song Shijiu’s infancies were starkly different—he followed after his father’s troublemaking spirit, sleeping during the broad daylight and lively during the night, and the sound of his cries for milk were loud enough to make it across two streets; Tu Laoyao suffered indescribable misery, and thought of solutions; in the daytime, he endured, looking at him without knowing what to do, in order for the nights to be a bit more peaceful. As soon as Tu Sishun began to create a commotion, Tu Saozi wouldn’t be able to attend to anything else; moreover, Tu Laoyao swore three times a day that in the summer heat, her head had swollen, and a glance left the eyes to ail; Tu Saozi was a bit sceptical, but not saying anything still counted as accepting it. Song Shijiu had her wishes fulfilled in putting a longevity lock on Tu Sishun; A Yin wasn’t much interested in the raising of an infant, but was incredibly concerned with Tu Saozi’s belly, which...

Li Shiyi was explaining it to her. Eight characters; Song Shijiu was only able to process them after a full twenty seconds. She hadn’t had any playthings since childhood; the only beloved she had was Li Shiyi; Li Shiyi was her stuffed toy, her fledgling bird; her bamboo toy horse, her green plums; [1] she was the memories of each unsteady footstep, and her entire, world-spanning dream of embracing and kissing. She had almost thought that she was soon about to lose her. In the world, there wasn’t any feeling that emerged more splendidly than from losing and regaining something once again, even moreso when it was Li Shiyi. Li Shiyi hadn’t gotten angry, or resentful; she’d only placated her with a tone like the gentle spring breeze and melting snow. She hadn’t gone on a blind date, and didn’t want to produce children for someone else, and, more than that, she cared about her. Therefore, she earnestly and with great patience repeated that she hadn’t known. In her gaze, Song Shijiu lowered...

After a few days, it was a bright day with clear weather; Tu Laoyao was cooking noodles, and was massaging Tu Saozi’s swollen calves, forehead covered in sweat; A Yin came in, bringing in a bowl of fresh lychees, and, thinking that Tu Saozi shouldn’t be eating cold or raw foods, placed it aside, and said, “They were just in ice water; let them dry and then eat them.” Tu Saozi, legs bared, felt quite embarrassed, and smiled bashfully. “Thank you for your trouble, A Yin-guniang.” A Yin leaned over to look at her, and clicked her tongue regretfully. “Look at your legs, they’re swollen as radishes; when a finger presses, it leaves a depression.” Tu Saozi stroked her belly, and smiled with a sigh. “Women’s lives are just like this, enduring hardships.” She paused, and then added, “This time, it’s more or less experiencing misfortune; in the future, when A Yin-guniang becomes pregnant, I can tend to you somewhat.” A Yin hurriedly waved her hand, straightening up and stretching out her slende...