Has this place changed, or have I? he asked himself.Though he had no definite answer to the question, he knew that he and this big family were travelling in two opposite directions.He recalled Mama Huang's remark about "clear and muddy water."
To calm the confusion in his mind, he came down the steps to walk along paths that were unobstructed.
Passing through a corridor, he turned into an inner courtyard.The sound of laughter was gradually left behind him.He stopped, and discovered that he was outside the room of his sister Shuhua.On the other side of the courtyard the flat of his uncle Ke'an stood brightly illuminated.A wistaria vine clambered over a trellis arbour in the garden separating the two dwellings.Juehui sat down on a straight-backed chair outside his sister's window and gazed dully at the kitchen in the corner diagonally opposite.Through the open door of the kitchen, he could see women servants bustling about.
