Wild Dog Bones

Chen Yi is like a wild dog that cannot be tamed. Miao Jing is stubborn to the bone. Teng City remains exactly as she remembers—sweltering, humid, dense with shade. The air is heavy and sticky, carrying both the sour staleness of midsummer and the fresh bitterness of overgrown vegetation. The door is still the same old iron door, the lock the same mechanical one replaced years ago. Miao Jing knocks for a long time, her gaze fixed on a peeling wall advertisement promising “Lock opened in ten minutes.” The locksmith charges a hundred; he slips a wire into the keyhole, twists casually, and the iron door clicks open. “Need to see my ID?” “Didn't you say this is your place? No need.” She drags ...