Free Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah

morning hoping to find you. Have you been eating properly? Tell me! Where have you been?’
    I didn’t know what to tell Ah Yee. The concern in her voice was genuine. It pierced my heart and I could not lie. We went inside Big Aunt’s flat and sat down on the couch. The flat was neat and silent, with the faintest fragrance of Big Aunt’s lilac-scented hand lotion.
    ‘You must trust me, Ah Yee,’ I said. ‘Big Aunt left last Friday to look after her godmother and will be away for some time. Meanwhile, I’m staying with some wonderful new friends. Please don’t look so alarmed! Everything is fine and I’mperfectly safe. In fact, I’m doing important work that I can’t talk about. Go back to my parents. Tell them I’m OK. I think we’ll all be happier if I stay away.’
    ‘They’ll want to know where you are. So far I’ve told them nothing. They think you’ve been with your aunt all this time.’
    ‘My father was the one who told me to get out of his house!’ I said angrily. ‘He picked me up by the back of my uniform, threw me out and slammed the door. What is he complaining of? I’m merely obeying his orders!’
    ‘Oh, Miss Ye Xian!’ Ah Yee lamented. ‘I was buying food at the market when it happened. Otherwise I’d have died first before allowing it. How could he cast out his little daughter?’
    ‘Don’t cry, Ah Yee,’ I said, squeezing her hand. ‘It wasn’t your idea. Besides, I would never havemet Grandma Wu if they had not thrown me out. Anyway, I have to go now…’ I wanted to pick upj that envelope and get back to the academy.
    ‘You can’t leave now!’ Ah Yee protested in alarm. ‘Where are you going? How do I know you’ll be safe! What if your parents find out you’re not living here? They might go to the police and report you missing. Your photo will be in the newspapers and people will be searching for you. What a loss of face for everybody concerned! Yourfamily will be the laughing stock of Shanghai!’
    ‘Isn’t that what they want?’ I asked. ‘Why kick me out one day and take me back the next? Besides, I’m perfectly happy to be away from home.’
    ‘If you don’t care about losing face for your parents, what about the people who took you in? Do you want to cause them trouble? Your Niang was saying yesterday that if your aunt doesn’t let you go when your father sends for you, he’ll sue her for kidnapping.’
    Ah Yee’s warning stopped me cold. The last thing I wanted was for the police to descend on the Martial Arts Academy. A shudder went through me as I imagined the Kempeitei at Grandma Wu’s door.
    ‘You’re right.’ I was thinking fast. ‘My friends must never come to harm because of me!’
    ‘So the safest thing is to come home now, Miss Ye Xian. Tell your parents you’ve been staying at your aunt’s flat. Eat humble pie and apologize! I’ll protect you. Your father misses you and so do I.’
    ‘No, I have a better idea. I’ll write a letter of apology to my parents for you to deliver. Tell them you saw me here this morning and that I’ve been living here for the last four days. Don’t tell them she is away. Let them think I’m with her. Niangwill like it very much if you tell her that I looked terrible. The more she thinks I want to go home, the more she won’t want me back.’
    Ah Yee wrung her hands, but I was impatient. ‘There’s something I need to do first. Wait here. I won’t be a minute.’
    I dashed into Big Aunt’s bedroom and closed the door. Her safe was a specially designed clothes hanger that she kept in her closet. Every time I had a good report card, she would take me into her bedroom, close the door, remove the hanger with her worn winter jacket, put the jacket on, and place the hanger on her bed. Together, we would turn the combination lock built into the hanger. Three turns to the right to 18. Two turns to the left to 12. Then three more turns to the right to 15.
    ‘Open up! Magic hanger!’ I would shout. And the two