One
man wished them luck. A woman from the fifteenth floor reminded Yan to
keep the child warm if the road became cold. Someone else handed Mother
Yan a small packet of dried fruit, saying it was more useful to her than
it would be sitting in a cupboard.
Mother Yan accepted this gift without arguing. She thanked the woman and
promised to be careful. Bai noticed the exchange and said nothing,
though she was pleased to see Mother Yan accepting the gesture as Yan
had advised her to do with the earlier gift. People did not always need
to be paid back in the same way. Sometimes they needed only to know that
what they offered had been received with kindness.
At the ground floor, they paused by the main entrance. The reinforced
doors were locked, the lower corridor was clear, and the emergency
lights were working. The residents who had volunteered to check the
entrance stood nearby with their equipment. They looked nervous at the
