one of the nice things about working late on a weeknight is that in shanghai cindy is always online too, and for the entire period till dawn. she being the only of my friends who is online never at home but always in the office, the thirteen-hour time difference encourages conversation. most nights we're bantering in pinyin, and popular topics include: whether i should run away from school and live in a hole (not till i collect next month's cheque), whether she has met any jin gui xu:s (if she has she would keep them for herself), and whether i should stow it all and go to sleep. (no.) i always knew i liked people to tell me what to do.