THE LIU FAMILY burial grounds were to the west of Shanghai, outside city limits, at a location deemed to have good feng shui. A long procession, suitable to the family’s standing, wound its way through the streets of Shanghai. It was an expensive funeral, made even more expensive by bribes his family paid to ensure the funeral rites wouldn’t be interrupted by Japanese soldiers or gang-related violence.

The entire clan attended, a line of automobiles following slowly behind the hired mourners. Shao rode in the car his mother had used, chatted politely to the relatives beside him, his mother’s cousins. Every so often he caught the scent of freesia and bergamot, and it made him close his eyes with painful regret. He wished he’d been a better son. More loving. More patient.

After the funeral banquet, he moped in the back garden for a while, sitting in the pavilion built over the artificial lake. Then his cousins joined him, carrying a bottle of cognac purloined from the dining room. Shao left them still drinking, went up to his room, and stripped off his jacket. He fell asleep on top of the covers.

In the morning, he saw the letter on his bedside tray. It was too early for the morning mail to have arrived, so it had to be from yesterday’s post. The letter was from Shorty Ho. He tore it open. A page and a half of writing, a big effort coming from Shorty.

He expressed relief and astonishment that Shao was still alive. He passed on greetings from various classmates.

The military police came by the day after you went missing. They had Professor Kang call an assembly. We received a blistering lecture from a police captain on the evils of wasting their time with false accusations when they have so many real problems to deal with. Then they drove away. Tan Wendian was expelled. Apparently, she was the troublemaker behind Mr. Lee’s arrest.

So the police cars they saw had been on their way to deliver a lecture, not make an arrest. This was good news for Lian. Wendian’s accusations had gone nowhere.

Professor Kang didn’t travel with us, he went to Zunyi with the Library of Legends, to store them in some caves. You remember Old Fan and Bantien? They’re living in the caves to look after the Library of Legends. We held a small farewell ceremony as the truck drove away with crates of national treasure. I confess to being surprised at how sad I felt, as though the gods had abandoned us. Anyhow, between walking and the rides on army trucks we were able to get, Minghua University made Chengtu in only four weeks instead of five.