ACOUSTIC METADATA

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• TIMESTAMP: Autumn, 2006

• LOCATION: Minzu Hotel Area, Beijing

• PRIMARY SUBJECT: Yehe Nara Lanhui (Professional Go Player)

• BIOMETRICS: Height 168 cm, Stable/Deep/Powerful heart rhythm

• ACOUSTIC DATA: Viscous Beijing accent, The Whisper Probe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​The "National Master" was a girl. 

 

Barely eighteen—exactly thirty years my junior. Standing about 168 cm, she wore a headband that revealed a rounded, graceful forehead. Her face was a full moon, with eyes and brows shaped like willow leaves—lines so crisp they looked painted. 

 

The corners of her mouth turned upward slightly, revealing a row of neat, white teeth. Her heart beat with a rhythm that was stable, deep, and powerful.

 

General Zhou introduced her: Yehe Nara Lanhui, a kin of Empress Dowager Cixi. A professional player at the China Chess Academy, she had just secured the national championship.

 

“Please, sit. Miss... no, Master. General Zhou.” I found myself unusually tongue-tied.

 

“Hello, President Bai.” A hint of viscous Beijing accent.

 

It had been a long time since anyone called me "President Bai"; I felt a strange, fleeting sense of being flattered. 

 

We made small talk. Although she was the same age as my daughter, I didn't dare treat her as a junior. When General Zhou brought up Go, neither of us took the bait. We both knew the gap in our skill was an abyss.

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I took them for dog meat hotpot across from the Minzu Hotel. As we parted, Lanhui leaned toward my shoulder and whispered:

“President Bai, let’s not eat dog meat again. Okay?”

 

I froze. In the endgame of my humanity, that whisper was a perfect "probe."