Chapter Three: The Exile Comes Home

Lu shares fell seven percent in premarket trading. At nine, Lu Henian's black sedan stopped outside the theater. Bai Yi came in person. “Master Lu has invited family members only.” Chenzhou glanced back. Wanqing, Tang Li, and Zhou Ye stood on the steps. Jingming was already in another car, avoiding their eyes through tinted glass. “The register wrote four names,” Chenzhou said. “Leave one behind, and I begin the broadcast here.” Bai Yi's damaged left hand twitched, an old sign of anger. A second car door opened. The Lu estate occupied a western hillside, its gray walls bordered by wet bamboo. Fifteen years had passed, but even the cracks in its stone lions looked unchanged.