Mesmerized, Lian watched as Jenmei knelt on the blanket to face Shao. Under the quivering flame her expression was rapt, adoring. She moved her face close to his, but he leaned back slightly, his smile as uncertain and wavering as candlelight. Jenmei took his hand and placed it on her cheek. This time, when she leaned forward, he didn’t resist her kiss. And when she finally pulled away from him, Jenmei’s expression was no longer adoring but something else. Triumphant.

Lian backed away from the bunkhouse, fist jammed in her mouth. She ran all the way back to the dining hall, where she found Meirong eating dinner.

“Where’ve you been, Lian?” her friend asked. “It’s a good thing I saved a bowl of food for you.”

AFTER DINNER, LIAN returned to her room. Lights and noises filtered through her window shutters, servants bustling about finishing the day’s chores, families putting children to bed. She lit a lamp and sat beside it to read but the printed pages may as well have been blank. All she could see were two dim figures under the flicker of candles. Had she been the only one who didn’t realize what was going on between Jenmei and Shao?

She’d been so sure that Shao’s feelings for her ran deeper than mere kindness. At the same time, she’d never dared hope for much. After all, he belonged to one of Shanghai’s great families. Her daydreams had been modest, laughably naïve now that she thought of it. Walks along the lakeshore. Moments of quiet conversation. Nothing as deliberate, as brazen, as Jenmei’s advances.

When her roommates came back, Meirong wasn’t with them.

Lian joined in the small talk while the two other girls got ready for bed; they chattered for what seemed an interminably long time before they finally got under the covers. Silence fell over the courtyard home and deep even breathing filled the room. But Lian stared up at the ceiling, listening until the door opened and shut with a soft click of the latch. Then the scuffle of shoes being removed and the bed beside hers creaked.

“It’s really late,” Lian whispered, “where’ve you been?”

“I did it, Lian, I went,” Meirong said. “I went to the Communist Students Club meeting. Jenmei made so much sense.” She spoke in a low voice but Lian could hear the quiver of excitement. More than excitement. Jubilation.

“Oh no, Meirong,” Lian said. She had been afraid of this. “Please, you mustn’t join them.”

“It was just one meeting,” Meirong said. “It is late, isn’t it? I’m tired.”

“Who . . . who else was there?” Lian couldn’t help asking.

“We promised Jenmei we wouldn’t tell,” Meirong said, yawning. “Safer that way.”

Lian waited a few moments, then whispered, “Meirong, was Shao there?”