The First Excellence: Fa-Ling's Map Read Online Free PDF Page B

commitment seriously. In retrospect, Fa-ling understood it had not been ‘love’ that brought them together. It had been merely a convenient alliance ― they moved in the same circle of friends.
    Eventually Michael became unavailable. Fa-ling was too proud to ask him why, but she guessed the reason. He was worried Fa-ling would start to make demands on him. It was unthinkable that he should introduce her to his family. After all, the Liu’s were ‘Chinese’ in a way she could never be, despite her mastery of the languages.
    Beyond the sharp pain of having been rejected, the separation didn’t bother Fa-ling much. She talked it over with her friends, had a good cry, and got back to her studies.
    Once in awhile, though, most often late at night, she remembered the way Michael had felt inside of her. In her memory the lovemaking was better than it had been in reality, not clumsy at all, but sweet and passionate. At such times she would lie awake and wonder what it would be like to be truly desired.
    When her loneliness grew too great, there was always her music. The feeling of a new reed resting on her tongue brought with it sweet oblivion, followed by the sound of her own longing as it emptied itself into the instrument’s smooth cylinder.
    Her parents had always been in awe of Fa-ling’s desire for solitude and seldom discouraged her when she would hide away with books or her clarinet. Of course, her father was an academic, so he understood about the love of reading, and her mother was a musician. A private smile would pass between them when they talked about Fa-ling.
    They worried, but they trusted her to find her own way through her childhood.
    Still, they had not allowed her to take this trip alone. Solitude was one thing, safety was another. When she finally convinced them this was something she had to do, her mother arranged for her to ‘tag along’ with the travel group.
    One of the women, Caroline, called out and the others drew in closer. “Over here,” she said, waving at Fa-ling. “It’s our guide.”
    The thirteen travellers, five couples, two young children and Fa-ling, all gathered around.
    “ My name is Cynthia,” the Chinese guide said in English. “Please follow me. We don’t have much time to check in for our flight to Nanning.”
    The couples hurried to gather their luggage. Caroline and Harold Kitchener each lifted a child. Fa-ling had only her backpack, which she passed off as a purse, and one additional carry-on bag. She would buy whatever she needed.
    While the others struggled with their bags, Fa-ling took one last look around the terminal. She was about to follow the group when she spied her new friend Randy Chan standing near a magazine rack. She started to wave, but her smile died when a frenzied young Chinese woman emerged from the crowd and grabbed Randy’s hand. Fa-ling could not make out what the woman was saying, but Randy’s face dissolved into an expression of horror.
    The woman pointed in Fa-ling’s direction. Randy’s eyes followed her finger, but he did not seem to see Fa-ling. Instead he looked past her into the crowds beyond. Then both he and the woman turned and ran in the other direction, holding hands and finally disappearing from sight into the crowds.
    Fa-ling shrugged her shoulders and started to follow her group. She would love to chase Randy and ask what the problem was, but she couldn’t afford to get lost. The guide had a bus waiting to take the couples to Shanghai’s old domestic airport.
    Once in Nanning the five adopting couples would finally meet their new daughters!

EIGHT
     
    “ Randy, we must hurry,” Shopei said. “There is a flight for Los Angeles in half an hour. You need to get on it.”
    “ What about you?”
    “ I’ll go underground. The movement will protect me.”
    “ You won’t be safe. You’ll end up in a re-education unit, or worse, in prison.”
    “ One is not worse than the other. They are both prisons.” Shopei shook her