Jin City, Machang Road.
This place and the dilapidated lanes where Renshou Lane stood were two entirely different worlds.
The roads were wide and smooth, with leafy French plane trees lining both sides.
Rows of little Western-style houses, each with its own distinct style, stood quietly deep within their gardens: red-brick walls, arched windows, wrought-iron railings.
Every so often, a black automobile or gleaming rickshaw rolled past, stirring a faint breeze.
A three-story Western-style house stood along the street. It was not the grandest-looking one, but it was exceptionally well kept.
Its walls were creamy white, its window frames dark green, and a low wrought-iron fence enclosed a small front garden. Several carefully pruned rose bushes bloomed brilliantly beneath the afternoon sun.
An angry woman's voice rang out from a south-facing sitting room on the second floor.
"You fat bastard! Your head's full of nothing but grease and paste, you pig!"
Her voice brimmed with fiery indignation. It pierced the thick glass windows and velvet curtains, making a maid passing downstairs instinctively hunch her shoulders and hurry along.
The sitting room was bright.
Two young women sat beside a small round table covered with a lace cloth.
The one who had been shouting was Liu Ruyan.
She had cursed for more than ten minutes, then finally stopped when she ran out of fresh insults. She picked up her cup, gulped down a mouthful of coffee that had gone lukewarm, and said bitterly, "I'll break that bastard's legs one of these days!"
Across from her, Li Siqing wore a simple moon-white qipao with a pale apricot cashmere cardigan over it.
Only after Liu Ruyan's tirade had eased did she set down the silver spoon she had been gently stirring with. "How did the registration go...? Was it a problem?"
"It went