Summary

Marie’s mother died in 2000, leading Marie to devote herself entirely to the study of mathematics. She later went to Hong Kong to visit her father’s grave and find out more about his death. Marie visited the police precinct to get more documents that were recovered from her father’s room after his death, including letters from Sparrow and one of Sparrow’s symphonies. In 2010, she went to mainland China for the first time in her life in an unsuccessful attempt to find Ai-ming.

The narrative shifts to the past to focus on Zhuli. As the political situation becomes increasingly dangerous, Zhuli is forced to denounce her uncle and the president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as political dissidents. She goes to a park after a disagreement with Kai, and meets fellow student Tofu Liu there who commiserates over their...