'Hah, you little rascal. Like I can't handle you.' Seeing her daughter flee in disarray, Bai Xiulan chuckled mischievously to herself. But when she heard the door to the outer room close, the smile instantly vanished from her face.
After gazing down at her son and daughter on the kang bed for a moment, Bai Xiulan looked up, her eyes fixed on a corner of the ceiling, lost in thought. After what seemed like a long time, she sat up again.
Once up, she glanced at her children and tucked them in before quickly getting off the bed. She walked over to a pair of wooden chests stacked against the wall.
She lifted the bottom edge of the top chest and shifted it to the side. Then, with practiced ease, Bai Xiulan felt around the seam where the two chests met and pulled out two letters.
In the dim light of the room's single oil lamp, she could see that the envelopes had no stamps. There were only a few words written in the recipient section on the front.
