Before leaving, she was mindful of the things she could do today. After walking a few steps, out of the house that did not belong to her, she thought she’d be mad if she was not to follow Bing.
Chapter 13
Regardless of the bumpiness of the bus, the disjointed noise, the glare of the sun glowing a fi tful patch on her face, her wet hair and her multiple ideas, Mei had been, all along, drifting into a stolen nap, as though time was borrowed.
Not until the last minutes was she awoken by a nasty bang of her head against the window. The sound vibrated the glass and resounded through her ears. An instant pain gathered in her forehead with dizziness. Half opening her eyes, she slowly adjusted the upper part of her body to the seat. There was a crack, an ache and stiffness in her neck. In less than a minute, the announcer broadcast a rousing alarm. Mei was alert to hear that People’s Square Station was next, where the only Bank of China in town was, and where she planned to withdraw her money. Nervously, she rose, passed some passengers and walked to a pole by the back door. She waited till the bus stopped with a violent quake. The moment her whole face was bathed in the open sunlight, strangely and abruptly, her heart seemed to close. The fi rst stirrings of a sense of guilt gradually made her achingly self-aware, as though the light she was afraid to face earlier had brought her outside into a new, challenging world.