He had appeared out of nowhere to hover at her elbow, a graduate student from the look of things. Somewhat disheveled, but cute, bilingual, and possessed with an air of self-confidence which seemed quite rare in these parts. "No-one really knows what's in here," he had said, a sweep of the hand taking in the card catalog she was exploring, but also the library more generally. "Your best bet is to get on good terms with the archivists. They don't really know either, but they'll look harder if they like you."

Could he be flirting with her? In the National Library of China? A world of romantic possibilities seemed to open for a moment, swelling up to include Beijing in all its ancient Imperial glory. And then he was gone, and her thoughts of fancy gone with him. The romance would have to wait. If she was to get this paper done Aline would have to focus less on her love life and more on her Chinese.