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The sea wind was heavy with salt and moisture, threaded with coal smoke from the passenger ship. It struck in layers, like over-fried spring-roll skins pressed on while still scorching hot.
On the first-floor deck, the thunder of explosive dance music drowned out the temper of the waves, yet still managed to irritate those aboard who preferred quiet.
On the second-floor deck below, men and women clung to one another. From above, the sharp differences in their accents were clearly audible, but that did nothing to stop the men’s hands from growing increasingly bold, nor to stop the women from playing coy, half-resisting and half-inviting. Even if only moments earlier they had been strolling the deck hand in hand with their husbands or wives, it did not prevent them from finding a brief, borrowed affection now.
Karon even noticed that among two of the couples below, one facing north and one south, the men and women exchanged a tacit glance. That was true marital equality. Everyone played, and everyone knew it.
He turned around and leaned back against the railing. Standing on the railing in front of him was a seabird. It had pale blue feathers, and held its neck high and proud, positioned perfectly in the direction of the setting sun Karon had been watching. The scene formed a composition like an oil painting.
Then—
Woof! The golden retriever leapt forward. The seabird took flight.
Karon sighed and closed his eyes. The golden retriever squatted in front of him, tilting its head in confusion as it looked at its owner.
Not far away, Pu’er lay draped over a life buoy hanging on the wall and let out a sigh. “Even a dog with boosted intelligence can’t understand art.”
Just then, another seabird landed in front of Pu’er.
Meow! She pounced, swatting several feathers loose with...
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