by Grace Lin
“Come, then!” Sifen said as Yanna and the stonecutter joined. “Tell the story!”
Pinmei looked down from the painting and saw the eyes of Yanna and the stonecutter, Sifen, and even Amah watching her eagerly. Amah patted her leg.
“Yes,” Amah said, her smile broadening, “tell the story.”
“I will,” Pinmei said, and sat down.
Outside the pavilion, the glowing flowers repeated the colors of the painted rainbow, and the white clouds above echoed the cresting waves of water. Two butterflies, red and blue, flitted together as if writing poems in the air. I will never forget, Yishan had said, and that is truly the only immortality that matters.
Finally understanding, Pinmei closed her eyes, the memories of all she had lost and gained weaving around her in a glorious, invisible tapestry. When she opened her eyes, the others were still staring at her, waiting for her to start the story.
Pinmei smiled and began. “When the sea turned to silver…”
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As a child, one of the few things I learned in Chinese was how to count to ten. However, even though I could rattle off the numbers, I did not see the magic in them. It was only as an adult that I learned that even humble numbers have a rich history in Chinese culture. Many of them are homophones, suggesting other words when spoken aloud, and the most popular of them are the numbers six, eight, and nine. The number six (liù) sounds like the word for “smooth” or “peaceful”; eight (b¯a) recalls the word for “fortune” and nine (jiu˘) sounds like the word for “forever.” These are the auspicious numbers—hidden in Chinese paintings, used in emperors’ robes, and picked for special dates and license plates. I have an especially vivid memory of my dinner companions in Hong Kong broadly grinning when the bill arrived with numerous sixes and nines. “We are so lucky!” one announced proudly.
After my first husband, Robert, died of cancer, I thought a great deal about life and what I wished from it. Strangely, it was these numbers that began to guide me. For, what were these numbers but symbols of what we want and wish for each other? Peace (six), good fortune (eight), and longevity (nine) are what the ancient Chinese decided make a truly lucky life.
But how does one get these… these elusive desires? With a hubris given to authors, I decided upon my personal answers and put them in my books. In Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Minli discovers the secret to good fortune—representing the number eight. Rendi finds the secret to peace in Starry River of the Sky, symbolized by the number six. And this book signifies the number nine, allowing Pinmei to learn that stories are the secret to immortality.
Why stories? Recently, a dear friend of mine’s husband also died. At his memorial, all found solace in sharing stories about him. Many were stories I had never heard before, and I found myself wondering how many more there were that I didn’t know. How many of Robert’s stories had I not known? How many were now gone?
Because stories are how we share our lives and what we truly mourn when they are lost. Stories are what connect us to our past and carry us to our future. They are what we cherish and what we remember. They are why I write my books and why I offer them as my humble gift to you.
I hope you find them as much of a treasure as I did.
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CONTENTS
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
CHAPTER 75
CHAPTER 76
AUTHOR’S NOTE
SOME OF THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Grace Lin
Cover art © 2016 by Grace Lin
Cover © 2016 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: October 2016
ISBN 978-0-316-31769-6
E3-20160909-JV-PC