Shan shot a grateful glance toward Shiva. She had not included the full wording, which referred to the young man and young girl. Her horoscope, moreover, simply predicted great happiness for Shan and Meng instead of the traditional prediction of many years of happiness. He knew Meng had been feeling spasms of pain during the ceremony, but she had simply gripped his hand more tightly and with obvous effort kept the smile on her face.

Amah Jiejie gave each couple a bottle of rice wine and before pouring, she linked each of the pairs of glasses with red thread, another tradition of old China. Tan too had a gift for Shan and insisted Choden come forward to listen. “You must help me with this one, Deputy,” Tan stated to Choden, who nervously saluted the colonel. “Your boss has gotten married.”

“Yes, sir.”

“He has even more responsibilities now.”

“Yes, sir,” Choden repeated.

“Which means you have more responsibilities.”

“Sir?”

“Constable Shan is being given three months’ paid leave,” Tan announced, and turned to Meng. “That is, if you can stand to have him around for so long.”

Meng squeezed Shan’s hand again. “I will try my best to endure him,” she said, then completely unsettled the colonel by giving him an embrace.

The sun had set and several tubs of beer had been emptied before guests began to drift away. The pilot approached Tan, pointing to clouds that were beginning to cover the moon. Tan nodded and retrieved his uniform tunic, which Amah Jiejie helped him into. He stepped to the gate then paused, growing more sober, and Shan followed his gaze toward Dr. Anwei, who was escorting Ko through the crowd. The colonel studied Ko as he finished buttoning his uniform. “You know you are on medical parole, prisoner Ko,” he declared.

“It’s his wedding night, Colonel,” Shan inserted.

Tan ignored him. “The prison system is responsible for your medical attention until your doctor releases you.”

“And then my parole ends,” Ko replied in a brittle voice. Yara appeared at his side, desperately gripping his arm.

Tan turned to Anwei. “I release him,” the doctor stated.

The words stabbed at Shan. Tan meant to take his son back to the gulag.