Free Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin Page A

His sister quickly pulled him away from the window before he exploded.
    “Those were our answers!” he cried as soon as they were out of earshot. “He found out the questions ahead of time and used our answers!”
    “Shhh,” his sister said, glancing over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter, anyway.”
    “What do you mean?” the boy said, still outraged. “It was my answer!”
    “Well, if everything he does is for you,” she said, “then it’s okay that he took your answer, right?”
    The boy was silent. Did his father roar and trickand lie for him? He felt a mixture of confusion and resentment.
    “It doesn’t seem like he does it for me,” the boy said sullenly.
    “He does,” his sister said.
    But she sounded more hopeful than sure.



“Another very interesting story, Rendi,” Madame Chang said as she nodded slowly.
    “Yes!” Peiyi almost shouted. “Too bad the third question was impossible. We could really use the answer. It would solve everything!”
    “What do you mean?” Rendi asked.
    Master Chao coughed. “Peiyi…” he began.
    “It’s the whole reason why we hate the Yans and the Yans hate us,” Peiyi said, ignoring her father. “Because our ancestors threw snails into each other’s gardens.”
    “The fight between you and Widow Yan is over snails?” Rendi said incredulously.
    Master Chao coughed again. “It’s not exactly that…” he said.
    “Yes, it is!” Peiyi interrupted, her bitterness giving her the courage to speak before her father in a way Rendi had never seen before. “If it wasn’t for the snails, then we could be friends with Widow Yan, you and Jiming wouldn’t have argued over him marrying MeiLan, and he wouldn’t have run away! It’s all because no one can answer that silly snail question!”
    “I know someone who can answer it,” Madame Chang said before Master Chao could erupt with indignation and Rendi could show even more surprise. Everyone stared at her.
    “Who?” Rendi asked.
    “Mr. Shan,” Madame Chang said.
    They all turned to Mr. Shan, open-mouthed. Mr. Shan seemed oblivious to the conversation, playing with the toad again. Madame Chang gently touched his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes.
    “Mr. Shan,” she said, “do you know how to settle the problem of the snails?”
    He looked at her, and, again, his eyes seemed to clear like a sky after a storm.
    “Of course,” Mr. Shan said.



CHAPTER
18
    Master Chao, full of skepticism and embarrassment, snorted and left the room before even hearing Mr. Shan’s answer. “Good,” Mr. Shan said. “If we do it, it’s better he doesn’t know.”
    “We are going to do it, right?” Peiyi said, hopping up and down in excitement.
    Rendi was surprised to see Madame Chang looking at him. “Are we, Rendi?” she asked him.
    Night had come, and already the moans were echoing in Rendi’s ears. The sounds were pleading and begging,and Rendi could feel Peiyi’s hopeful eyes upon him. Madame Chang’s steady gaze refused to release him, and Rendi could not say no. With a silent sigh, he nodded. He would stay until they settled the problem of the snails. What was a few more days?
    “Yes,” Rendi said. “We’ll do it.”
    Madame Chang smiled, and a look—was it relief?—flashed through her. Did she know? Rendi thought. Did she know he was planning to leave? And why did it matter if he stayed? The sky groaned in answer, and Rendi wrinkled his brow.
    However, for the next few days, Rendi had no time to wonder. Although his nights were still full of restless cries, he quickly forgot about them during the day as he, Peiyi, Madame Chang, and Mr. Shan rushed in the hot sun like busy ants.
    So when Rendi walked around the wall and to Widow Yan’s door, he was full of anticipation. The withered yellow grass crunched like paper offerings under his feet, and Rendi realized that this was the first time he had ever knocked on Widow Yan’s door.
    Widow Yan, with MeiLan behind her, looked at Rendiin