Tan's mother blinked in a daze.
Tonight, the elders were to give the children their formal names. Jiang Yan knew that although his wife hadn't said anything to him last night, she had definitely been fired up inside. He scratched his head, trying to imagine if his wife stood her ground tonight and insisted on her view, how he would find a reason to support her. After all, to use his wife's childish reason for naming the children Nana and Xixi—so as to complete a world map—would likely only provoke a round of roaring laughter from everyone.
Distressed about this, he walked home. Passing by the gate of the compound, the duty sentry saluted him and said, "Mr. Jiang, you have a letter."
"My letter?" Jiang Yan thought; his mail always went to his workplace, or else to his new home, and very few people knew he was living with his in-laws.
After receiving the letter, he saw it was a plain beige envelope with no sender's name, just a hastily written postal code.
