Shanghai had more working air stations than Beijing, especially along the river where tourists and businessmen strolled, and he took this route past the Ionic columns and marble façades that made the Riverwalk resemble the palaces of a long-ago European empire. The outlines of plum blossoms, pockmarked with sand, materialized from the haze along the walkway, their bark flaking like peeling skin, and there was a faint outline of the Yangtze River where huge shipping boats honked at one another as they cut through the foggy daylight.

His brother’s hotel welcomed him with an oxygen-rich lobby scented by jasmine blossoms and, above him, invisible speakers played soft notes of a Nirvana song plucked from a Chinese harp. His brother had said to meet him in the dining room, and the concierge directed him to the large banquet hall where chefs prepared plates of dragon fruit and sautéed king shrimp. There, at a far table, was his brother, looking as large and foreboding as Gabriel remembered him.

“Gabe!” his brother said. And though Gabriel had told himself he’d never again allow his brother to touch him, he met his brother’s extended hand with his own. “You look tired,” his brother said. “You tired?”

“Not really,” Gabriel lied.

“Well, take a seat, I’ve ordered us dumplings and a bunch of dishes I can’t pronounce. Figured you’d be hungry.” Jake looked well fed, tanned, and relaxed, like a man who had regular access to oxygen. “Want something to drink? Company’s paying for it.” He waved over the waiter. “What are you having?”

“Water.”

“Just water?” Jake asked. “I’ll have your best baijiu and some jasmine tea; just water for my little brother.” He waited for the waiter to leave before turning back to Gabriel. “So, three years—wish I could say you look happy, but you don’t. You doing okay?”

Gabriel risked a truth. “Beijing’s been awful.” And his brother did something Gabriel had never known him to do: he listened. So Gabriel told him more. How trying to breathe at night left his lungs feeling bruised. How sometimes he thought he’d do anything for the price of a one-way ticket home where the sky was still blue. When he got to the part about crawling across his apartment because the only breathable air was by the floor, his brother folded his hands in a prayer-like way that reminded Gabriel of their father.

“I’m really sorry you’ve had such a rough time,” Jake said. “What about the job?”

“It wasn’t what it promised.”

“Sounded like a scam when you told me about it. Well, good news is, I’m here to bring you home. Mom’s not doing well. She got depressed and started being afraid of leaving the house after you left—”

“Left? Mom and Dad kicked me out.”