Let's look back all the way from the first story in the series, Xiu Mu, when the author has not yet realized that Chun Chun was her real son.

What the new leadership found out too late was that the functionally designated 'deadwood' had many long-standing friends and allies in Congress.

Although these phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and trite in writing.

What a shock! I thought you might have been killed by Captain Deadwood.

If you woke up this morning, with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.