Hongmei navigated the crowded streets with difficulty, finally returning to the south side. It was almost nine. Even so, he was surely still waiting in The EndUp. Her heart was full of tenderness for this poor, wounded soul. She was a gentle pacifist on this antiwar night. No matter who became enemies with whom the next day, or who made up with whom, she wouldn’t change; she would be eternal and go on loving.
She parked the car and walked toward The EndUp. This area grew abandoned after dark, apart from drunkards lounging on the steps of closed factories and shops. She walked down the street, seeing The EndUp in the distance like a mirage. Even this road felt wild and dangerous, the silence before an ambush.
It was ten past nine. Her footsteps were steady and determined, this person late for an appointment. No need to retreat again.
Ten paces from The EndUp.
In the entryway of the bar, she finally pulled out the note that Glen had left for her on the fridge. She stood in the dimness, with the note in her palm, and read every word as if it were the first time she had truly paid attention to Glen’s words.
Hongmei, I am afraid I’m a constant disppointment to you. There’s something important I need to say to you, Glen.
There it was, the omission between s and p. Not only a missing letter: so many things had gone missing from their smooth, inert married life, one after another, over the years. The courage with which they had overcome impossible obstacles a decade ago in her far-off homeland had long since disappeared. They had no capacity to dive deeper into the stormy waters of their feelings, choosing to hurt in silence, in secret. But maybe now with the lies peeled away, it could be different.
She stepped through the doorway.
About the Author
GELING YAN is one of the most acclaimed contemporary novelists and screenwriters writing in the Chinese language today. She published her first novel in 1986 and since then has written over twenty books and won over thirty awards. Her works have been translated into twelve languages; several have been adapted for screen. She has also worked with directors like Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee. She currently divides her time between Berlin and China.
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Here ends Geling Yan’s
The Secret Talker.
The first edition of this book was printed and bound at LSC Communications in Harrisonburg, Virginia, April 2021.
A NOTE ON THE TYPE
The text of this novel was set in ITC Legacy Serif, a typeface designed by Ronald Arnholm in the early 1990s. Arnholm, then a graduate student at Yale, drew inspiration from Nicolas Jenson’s (1420–1480) early Roman typefaces. ITC Legacy maintains the beauty and elegance of Jenson’s original, while improving legibility with its open counters and clean character shapes.
