They had plotted their visit well in advance … The day began the same as any other. The sun came up over the plain, banishing the last dregs of winter and flooding the schoolyard with warmth. The first signs of spring had appeared. The cottonwoods and paulownia were tinged with green: dark, furry buds and bell-shaped blossoms that couldn’t have been there the day before. They seemed to have appeared overnight, as if Uncle and Lingling’s night of stolen passion had ushered in the spring. A fresh scent drifted through the school, the faint perfume of grass and tiny plants that had begun to sprout from the crevices between the school walls. Translucent, pale yellow and green leaves shimmered in the sunlight like golden offerings. Spring had tiptoed in with hardly a whisper. Because of the stolen pleasures that had taken place in the schoolyard, the season had arrived there first, banishing the cold and wintry atmosphere and setting life in motion. The residents of the school were still asleep, weary after a long night of excitement and drama.
