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wasn’t local, and would probably be gone in a week.
    â€œYour work is truly important, Shanshan,” he said in earnest.
    â€œI’m a nobody in the company. No one cares about what I say. If anything, it only marks me as a troublemaker.”
    â€œBecause of your work?”
    â€œIt was naïve of me to take the job so seriously. I was hired for the sake of appearances, which I found out after I started work. All my research was put into a newsletter available only to the company executives. I doubt whether they ever read it, or whether they did anything about it if they did read it. Time and again, I felt obliged to speak out against Liu’s business decisions, like shutting down the waste treatment facility or fabricating the reports being sent to the agencies. But what difference did it make?” She smiled a bitter smile. “It’s strange that I’m telling you all this.”
    â€œThere is one line in a Confucian classic, Shanshan. Some people may never really know each other even if they’re together until white-haired, but some people may be true friends the moment they meet each other, taking down their hats .”
    â€œYes, I remember that line too.”
    â€œNow,” he said, “do you think the phone message you got was because of your work?”
    â€œThat’s possible, but I doubt Liu would have gone to the trouble. He could have easily fired me.”
    A siren sounded not too far away, and Chen looked up. The street they had just turned onto was lined with food stalls and souvenir kiosks. They were close to the ferry.
    â€œWait a minute,” he said and walked over to a stall.
    She saw him talking to a man behind the counter at a snack stall under a white-and-red striped umbrella. Chen pointed at something, then came back carrying a large brown paper bag.
    â€œSlices of roast beef and steamed buns. You can’t drink only water, Shanshan.”
    â€œThank you, Mr. Chen, but you don’t have to do that.”
    â€œI promised Uncle Wang. You can break the bun into two and put the beef in between, which is a very popular way to eat them in the northwest. The sauce is also in the bag.”
    â€œYou’re an impossible connoisseur. I’m sorry about spoiling your appetite back at Uncle Wang’s place.”
    â€œIt was for my own good, and I really appreciate it. Here is my cell number,” he said, copying his number on a scrap of paper torn from the top of the bag. “I would love to continue our conversation, because, as in the old saying: to listen to your talk for one day is more beneficial than to read books for ten years . I hope I can have another chance during my stay here.”
    â€œWell, in that old saying, it is ‘ for one night ’ rather than ‘ for one day ,’” she said teasingly, amused by his pedantic way of saying things. “Bye.”
    She found herself walking, light-footedly, in an improved mood as she turned to the plank that led to the ferry boat, flashing over her shoulder a smile at him who was still standing there watching her.

FOUR
    THE FERRY BOAT DISAPPEARED into the mist-enveloped distance.
    Chen turned away and started strolling back to the center, whistling, when his cell phone vibrated. It was a text message from her: “Now you have my number too, Shanshan.”
    That’s good, he thought with a smile. Her text showed an enthusiasm for new technology that was perhaps characteristic of one of her age. It had taken him a couple of days to learn how to write and send a Chinese text message properly. He’d persisted because he had no choice. It was necessary for his work. But he didn’t enjoy doing it. However, a lot of young people seemed to be text-messaging all the time.
    He couldn’t help looking back in the direction of the ferry again, and when he did so, he was struck with a feeling of being watched. Someone else was looking in his direction, raising