"What did you dream?" asked Mrs. Xin the next day.

Tubby grunted and waved a hand. "Taiwan. You know."

"Did you learn some English?"

"When I learn enough to write my letter, you'll hear about it."

"I was on the dreamgame network today," said Mrs. Xin. "Looking for courses. I found your son." Mrs. Xin smiled. "Has he got a Parisian vacation planned?"

"Nothing I heard about. Why?"

"He's studying French."

Later, Tubby logged into the network herself, just to look at Taisheng's profile. He was signed up for two courses, one in elementary French and one in advanced Mandarin.

"Aiya," Tubby said. Mr. Adderly turned from his blueprints to look at her. "My stupid son," she said to him. "He's shitting his pants at the thought of not getting promoted at his job, so he reviews the finer points of Mandarin grammar." But, in truth, it made her happy in a way.