“But you seem fine now,” said Uncle Chow. “Did you go back to your son’s? Is this where you got all these things?”

Granny Ng looked at Uncle Chow’s thinned face and at Kitty, still so well-meaning and eager to help. They didn’t really know each other that well, and actually had little in common. However, they were the first people in years that she’d considered her friends, and she wanted to be honest with them. She wondered how she could explain her situation. On the one hand, it would be a relief to share her secret, and perhaps they would be pleased for her. On the other hand, she might be burdening them with this information. Kitty in particular would doubtless overlook the benefits of her situation, focusing instead on the risks and trying to persuade her to leave the young man’s home before she got into trouble.

“Yes,” said Granny Ng. “I’m living at my son’s again. Don’t worry, he knows that I took all these things, and he’s very glad to help. Things are much better between us now.”

After that, Granny Ng made sure to visit Kitty and Uncle Chow every few weeks. Each time she would bring something for them, usually tins of food or fruit. But she knew the really useful items—firewood, gasoline—were too much for her to carry by herself. Eventually she started looking around the house for money that the young man had absentmindedly left around.

On the kitchen counter was a large glass jar full of coins where he would throw his loose change, pulling it from his trouser and jacket pockets on his way in from work. It was a little over half full, and every week Granny Ng would notice a small dip where the cleaner had scooped out a few coins. Not enough to attract the young man’s notice, but enough, Granny Ng supposed, to make it worth her while. Granny Ng thought that she could probably get away with taking a few coins as well. She felt guilty about this, and a little ashamed. But she told herself it was for a good cause, and that failing to share her good fortune with her less fortunate friends would be an even greater crime.

After three weeks, she had collected a little over 200 HKD. She took this money to Kitty and Uncle Chow, who refused to accept it, claiming they were already uncomfortable enough accepting her gifts. Although disappointed, Granny Ng felt it was important to relieve this awkwardness and did not insist. Instead, she began taking small electrical items from the house—a flashlight, a calculator, a hand-held fan—and dropping them on the ground, shaking them, or throwing water on them. Then she would take them to Uncle Chow to repair. Uncle Chow reluctantly accepted these jobs, but only after Granny Ng told him that if he didn’t, her son and daughter-in-law would find out about her clumsiness and get angry with her. He also insisted that she take a flask of soup back with her after each visit. She began adding the soup to the meals she left in the fridge for the young man, whose thank you notes the following day became increasingly appreciative.