Jin City, Machang Road.
Inside a three-story Western-style house facing the street.
Li Siqing came downstairs from the second floor carrying an empty bowl, her footsteps light for fear of disturbing her mother, who had just fallen asleep.
Brown medicine residue still clung to the bottom of the bowl, and the bitter scent of the medicine drifted down the stairwell.
Liu Ruyan sat on the sofa by the window, a thin blanket draped over her legs. She held that day's Ta Kung Pao in her hand, reading it with rapt attention.
"Has Auntie gone to sleep?"
"Mm. She fell asleep after taking the medicine." Li Siqing set the empty bowl on the coffee table and sat across from Liu Ruyan. "Her fever hasn't completely gone down, but she's much better than last night. The doctor said it was just excessive fright. A few days of rest and she'll be fine."
"That's good."
Only then did Liu Ruyan spread the newspaper across the coffee table and tap one of the articles with her finger. "You wrote this too, didn't you?"
Printed above it in bold Song typeface were the words: Jin City Green Gang Leader Gu Ruzhang Receives Councilor Nomination; People from All Walks of Life Jointly Oppose It.
The article was signed by A Mere Scholar. She knew that was one of Li Siqing's pen names.
Li Siqing glanced at it, neither denying it nor backing down. Instead, she straightened her back a little. "I wrote it. So what?"
"What were you thinking?"
Liu Ruyan's voice rose slightly, but she quickly lowered it again, afraid of waking Widow Li upstairs.
"What kind of man is Gu Ruzhang? A big shot who eats from both the black and white worlds."
"Auntie got dragged into this because of you..."
"If you had