Chapter 28

• Meilei sprawled out on the floor, sitting cross-legged amid a mess. Dropping the pile of papers in her hand and slumped, checking her watch and groaning at the late hour. It was after ten, the building almost empty with only sporadic lights left on, and she still had a full third of the boxes left to go. She was past the point of anger and resentment and resigned to getting this done. She had skipped lunch and dinner to plow through, but the floor still resembled some aftermath of a paperwork explosion.
• Ling’s video call with Yue two hours before felt like days ago. Putting Yue to bed and saying goodnight via cell phone felt awful, and she almost broke down and cried when they disconnected. She missed her baby girl so badly that it physically hurt her heart, but she kept telling herself that this was a temporary thing to ensure her past would never touch Yue.
• Yue had been asleep when she left for work this morning and would be asleep when she returned home. Her commute was now on the sub much earlier than driving in with Ling, so her wake-up time was over two hours earlier. If this continued, her only interaction with her child would be watching her sleep every night.