Along the River Read Online Free Page B

recovers completely.”
    Grandma Wu agreed. “The treatment you gave her yesterday certainly helped her sleep. Besides, CC is not fit enough to travel yet. I believe you have her best interests at heart, Dr. Allen, so we are in your hands.”
     
     
    For the next two weeks, CC stayed at the hospital and continued her sessions with Dr. Allen. Each day she grew a little stronger and happier. Although the dreams troubled her less and less, she continued to be drawn to the Qing Ming painting. She spent hours tracing the outlines of the figures in the picture—as if they could tell her what she needed to know.
    Besides administering hypnotherapy day after day, Dr. Allen worked long into the night researching the medical literature, reading pertinent articles and writing his reports. Grandma Wu, meanwhile, stayed constantly at CC’s side. She was always ready to read to CC, accompany her on walks, and play a game of wei qi (go) or chess. Finally, the day came when Dr. Allen invited CC and Grandma Wu into his office to hear his conclusions.
    He began by telling CC that what she was going to hear might surprise her, but that she wasn’t to worry in any way. She was fully recovered from her fall and, by listening to the recording, she would begin to understand many of the things that had been troubling her for the last few weeks.
    “Okay if we begin, CC?” he asked.
    “Yes—of course,” she replied. “I can’t wait.”
    Dr. Allen played the recording from their very first session together. CC listened intently while Grandma Wu watched her anxiously.
    When the machine stopped playing, Dr. Allen switched it off and waited as CC struggled to make sense of what she had just heard.
    “But what does it all mean… who is Mei Lan? Did I tell you any more about her?”
    “Actually, this was just the very beginning, CC. It took a few sessions to come out, but Mei Lan’s story really began when her father brought home a young orphan boy to be a companion and servant to Mei Lan’s older brother. I have the whole story here in Mei Lan’s own words, and I think we should hear it from her. It will be easier for me to explain why you know so much about that painting when you hear the whole story.”
    Grandma Wu held up her hand. “If we’re going to be listening to several hours of recording, may I suggest that we make CC as comfortable and relaxed as possible while listening?”
    “Certainly, I will have my secretary bring in some tea. Meanwhile, please make yourself comfortable as well, Madame Wu. I suggest that CC lie on the red recliner—which is where she told me Mei Lan’s story—while you and I remain in our chairs.”
    CC lay down quietly on the recliner, deep in thought, while the tea was being prepared. At last she was going to hear the whole story about that mysterious painting. Had she seen it somewhere before? Why did it look so familiar? Would the pieces of the puzzle finally fit together so she could stop worrying?
    When everything was ready, the small group made a circle round the wire recorder to hear Mei Lan’s story.
     
Barbarian Orphan Boy
     
    O ur house has always been full of beautiful things. Besides being a high government magistrate, our father, Baba, is also a famous art connoisseur, with a collection of bronzes, jades, porcelains and paintings unequaled anywhere except in the Imperial Palace. It’s his love of art that led directly to Ah Li’sjoining our household. Three years ago, when I was ten years old, Baba came across Ah Li in a jade shop on the main thoroughfare. He watched, mesmerized, as Ah Li worked on a pair of matching earrings he was carving out of a tiny piece of jade. When Baba learned that Ah Li was an orphan, toiling without wages, he pitied him and took him home to work for our family and be a companion to my brother Gege.
    I can still remember the day Ah Li arrived. Baba was so excited that he sent for us as soon as he got home, to tell us about Ah Li’s amazing