ACOUSTIC METADATA

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• TIMESTAMP: Winter, 1989 / July, 2022

• LOCATION: The Cage / Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

• FINANCIAL STATUS: Citibank Account > $100M USD

• SYMBOL: The Da (大) Shape (Total spatial liberation)

 

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I replied, “Read it,” reading his lips.

 

The old policeman recited the script: "illegal demonstrations," "reactionary speeches," "counter-revolutionary articles.” The final charge was a bizarre fabrication: "raping a female Tibetan journalist.” 

 

I was shoved back, my head forced into the latrine as the inmates fell upon me like a mine collapse.

On the day martial law was lifted, the old policeman’s tone fluttered: “Mr. Bai, come out. The Old Chief is here.” My father handed me my sunglasses and imported Japanese hearing aids. He patted my back: “Get in the car.”

 

“We must move.” The mountain guide’s prompt snapped me back. The mountains of Phongsaly, Laos, kept my blood. Two weeks later, I checked into the Marina Bay Sands. Over eight hundred dollars a night.

 

Singapore Bay stretches before me. Countless freighters anchor in the Malacca Strait, making the sea look like a vast steppe. This bed is larger than the wooden floor shared by eighteen men. I spread my arms and legs into a Chinese character.

 

Space is no longer cramped. I am no longer the "doll" to be bullied, nor the student whose lover was stolen. I am no longer a commoner subject to the whims of official titans. My decades of business have culminated in an account exceeding one hundred million USD.

 

July 2022. The viscous stench of Grandma Yang from fifty years ago is finally gone. I will take flight again, like a Saker Falcon.