Chapter Three: The Price of Match Four

The restaurant had only six tables. At one in the morning, with the roller door halfway down, the players crowded together and toasted with soda. An old picture hung on the wall: two girls in the rain holding a football. The older one grinned wildly. A muddy, much younger Qiao Ran stood beside her. “Your sister?” Jianxia asked. Qiao Ran nodded. “Qiao Qing. She taught me to play.” “Where is she now?” “She died ten years ago.” Qiao Ran pushed over a bowl of noodles. “Don’t make that face. If she knew I’d turned her shop into a team cafeteria, she’d call me financially incompetent, then add meat to everyone’s bowl.” “Six portions of meat, boss!” Xiaoman yelled from the next table.