It’s summer evening. Breeze kisses the treetops and drives away the heat, bringing delightful cool to the house. The history of the house is long. Its first owner can trace back to one hundred years ago. Unlike concrete skyscraper in the CBD, it preserves the classic European style with arches and pillars. 

In the dining room, four men sit around the dining table and have dinner together. It’s the Ming family. All of them sat quietly with straight body. They did not talk with each other with food in mouth. That’s rules they have been taught when they were little. The one in the middle was Ming Jing, the owner of the house and father of the other three, who are named Ming Yang, Ming Fei, and Ming Lang respectively, and all of them are serving the army right now.

They don’t talk not because they did get well along, but because they had been taught to be silent on dinner table. Besides, Ming Jing was depressed with pale face, because his mistress passed away days ago. His sons understood that and wanted to comfort him, but they had no idea how. They exchanged eye sights, and all chose to be silent but just quietly stayed together with his father who seemed to be elder when the mistress was gone.

The silence was broken by Ming Jing himself. “Your auntie Xiaorou was gone but her daughter was still young. I had promised your auntie to take good care of her, so I would pick her up the day after tomorrow. She would live with us until she becomes an adult and is able to live on her own.” he said all in one breadth without pause. He was not asking for his sons opinions, but simply informing them the decision.

Three of them looked at each other, and Ming Lang, the youngest one, asked bluntly: “She doesn’t have any other relatives?”

“As far as I know, she doesn’t. Your auntie is the only daughter and her parents have passed away years ago. She loses contacts with those remote ones.” Ming Jing sighed when he said this. “Your auntie only trusts me and I would honor the promise that I have made in front of her bed.”

“It’s Ok, father. We are delighted to have a younger sister at home. It would be more lively.” Ming Yang comforted his father and glared at Ming Lang.

Ming Jing was quite satisfied with his eldest son’s answer. His mind was not on the table but was trapped in endless memory of Xiaorou.