by Guy Salvidge
“Don't think you're getting away without any penalty,” the woman said. “You and your family have been reclassified as persons of interest to the Inner Shield Authority. Do you know what this means?”
“No,” Liang said. “Who are you?”
“It doesn't matter who I am,” the woman said. “Being a person of interest means that we will be watching you very carefully. Consider yourselves under surveillance. People like can you be made to disappear, just like that.”
Just like that, the screen winked off.
And then they were home. It was very late, and Liang did not want to wake Father and Mother now. The two of them tumbled into bed, utterly exhausted, and did not wake until morning.
Epilogue
Life returned to normal. At first Liang could not believe it; he kept waiting for the authorities to burst into his room in the dead of night, kept waiting to be denounced as he stood in line on some errand for Mother. But it did not happen. Nothing happened. And yet life continued on. The shield-muted sun rose in the east and set in the west. Father's crops ripened and Liang helped him in the fields.
How was it that Liang was still alive? How was it that he had moved through a terrain of yawning chasms and lived? He could scarcely believe these things, and soon came to be grateful for the humble lifestyle that he had.
Ji Tao did not fare so well. It was to be expected, as her losses had been far greater than his own. Liang observed his cousin withdrawing from the world. She became bitter and rarely spoke of their adventures. She never mentioned her brother or alluded to how he had died. And above all she refrained from talking to Jin, Cheng's widow. Perhaps in time she could recover, but Liang was not confident. She pushed him away whenever he tried to reach her, as though she regarded him as the one remaining link to a history she did not wish to recall.
Then, on a clear morning several weeks after their return, there was an unexpected visitor to Tuan's farm. It was Sovann.
When Mother told him that she was home, Liang dropped everything and ran to her side. She was in the kitchen. He held her in his arms and wouldn't let go. Sovann held him too, her skin pale from prolonged enclosure. She seemed tired but happy.
“They let you out!” Liang said. “I thought you were dead!”
“I thought you drowned in the river!”
“No, I made it out. Did they hurt you?”
“Not really,” she said. “I thought they had forgotten about me for a while.”
“Did they tell you why you were being released?” Tuan asked, coming into the kitchen.
“No, they didn't say anything to me at all.”
“What was Zhenghe like?” Liang asked.
“I didn't get to see much of it,” Sovann said. “But it looks huge, much bigger than Baitang, and more developed. But what's been happening here? Is the trouble over?”
“Apparently,” Liang said. “We haven't heard anything for weeks.”
“I'm so glad,” Sovann said. “I don't think I can take any more.”
“Sovann, I missed you so much,” Liang blurted out. He couldn't hold his emotions in check for another second. He was bursting with love for her. He touched her arms, her hair. Everyone seemed to notice. It must have been obvious how he felt.
“I missed you too, Liang,” she said. She was crying now. “I couldn't bear the thought that you had drowned like Dewei. And here you are!”
Here he was. As one thing ended, another began. Their adventures were over, for the present time at least, but Liang and Sovann's romance was blossoming. Liang did not let Rong Li stand in his way, and in time even she saw the good in it. It wasn't long before preparations were being made for their marriage.
This would be his life. Liang saw the rest of his days stretching out before him. They would have their own children, and there would laughs of joy and cries of anger. Life would be both good and bad. Tuan would plan another trading expedition and Liang would go with him to Luihang and maybe one day to Zhenghe. Perhaps he would even take over the family business after all, now that Cheng was gone. He would try to help Ji Tao as best he could, try to purge the lingering demons from both of their minds. Liang saw it all, every moment, every transition, stretching from an ever changing now toward the eternity of the end.
THE END
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