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course.”
    â€œI’d like to see Hong Kong,” Ji Shen said enthusiastically.
    Pei saw the flash of anticipation in their young faces. “Thank you, Quan,” she said, reaching out to touch his thin arm. “We’ll arrange something very soon.”
    Quan grinned, then backed away slowly and picked up the wooden handles of his rickshaw. “I’d better go. Anytime—you just ask for Quan and I’ll get the message,” he said, turning the rickshaw and gliding down the street before they had a chance to say another word.
    Ji Shen’s excited voice filled the air even before Pei closed the front door behind her. “What happened?”
    â€œLet’s go upstairs.”
    Ji Shen followed her. “Did you get the position?”
    Ma-ling greeted her at the top of the stairs. “I hope it went well,” she said.
    Pei nodded, but led them to the sitting room before she’d say more. In the comfort of the old room she sighed, then looked at the two eager faces before her and forced a smile. “I begin work at the end of the week.”
    Pei felt a gentle breeze stirring, the first bit of relief she’d felt from the heat since arriving in Hong Kong. She and Ji Shen alwaysleft the window open in their small cubicle, despite the drunken voices, loud yet indistinct, and the sudden staccato bursts of music erupting from some Wan Chai bar. The past few nights the air had been so heavy, Pei thoughtthey might suffocate in their sleep. She had hardly slept, her pillow damp from sweat, straining to hear Ji Shen’s short breaths keep a steady rhythm.
    Tonight, even after she had drunk the herbalist’s dream tea, Pei’s wandering thoughts kept her awake. The prospect of her move in a few days to the Chen household and her new job as a saitong left her more anxious than excited. She glanced again at Ji Shen, whose pale skin glistened in the darkness as she slept. Pei would never forget the look of disappointment on Ji Shen’s face when she found out that only Pei would be moving to the Chen household.
    â€œI’ll be good,” Ji Shen had pleaded.
    â€œI know you will, but it’s not possible,” Pei replied. “The Tai tai doesn’t have room for both of us.”
    Ji Shen stared silently, straining against tears. “What will happen to me?” she finally asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.
    â€œYou must go to school. You’ll stay here with Ma-ling. Just until I can earn enough to get us a place of our own.”
    Ji Shen had swallowed and nodded. For the rest of the evening, no matter how hard Pei tried to keep the conversation going, a dull haze surrounded them.
    What Pei hadn’t told Ji Shen and Ma-ling that afternoon was that Chen tai had agreed to let Ji Shen come stay as long as she also worked for her room and board. “Not heavy work. Just some cleaning and running errands,” Ah Woo had said eagerly. Pei felt the blood rush to her head. She needed the work and had little choice but to agree—but instead, she found herself saying, “There might be another place she can stay while I work here.” Pei was determined that Ji Shen have an education, and Po Shan Road was too far away from any public school. She felt certain that once Ji Shen was settled in school, they could work out a feasible schedule to see each other regularly.
    Pei breathed deeply and swallowed the guilt of having lied to Ji Shen, the only family she had in Hong Kong. She watched the flickering lights and shadows dance against the walls, then closed her eyes. “It’s a start,” she heard Lin’s voice whisper in the night—a slight, cooling breeze against her cheek. Before Pei’s thoughts wandered further, she was asleep.
The House on Po Shan Road
    The early-morning air still carried a hint of freshness. Pei shifted her scant bundle of belongings from one hand to the other and knocked on the back door of the Chen