“Maybe we really shouldn’t put these two together,” the grandfather sighed,“Not in this house.”
Shaking her head with stiff smiles yet without uttering a word, the grandmother made a jerky gesture saying there was nothing wrong with the boys.
Mei stormed into the semicircle, without taking off her gloves smothered by foam but with an outraged squeak. “What’s wrong this time?” Like a fl ash, she turned off the TV, pulled out the plug, grabbed the elder boy’s arm fi rst and then the little boy’s, turned them over on their bellies, pressed them down onto their chairs and by turns, spanked them madly. “Cry, cry, cry. I let you cry. All you know is cry. You have been spoiled too much for far too long. From now on, you must be punished for what you’ve done wrong.”