The Ascendant

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Hu Mei woke to the sound of firecrackers. Two sets of rattling, rapid-fire explosions cut through the quiet country night, echoed, and then abruptly died. That was the agreed-upon signal — as many packets as the sentries could light in the shortest amount of time — and it meant the police were moving down the one road that led through the narrow, twisting ravine and into Huaxi Township, probably in buses, followed by a pair of jeeps carrying party officials. The officials always stayed in back, out of the line of fire, but nearby, so they could have their pictures taken and claim credit after the police did their dirty work.

These would be prefecture-level officials, Mei thought as she rolled off the foam sleeping pad laid across her makeshift tent; minor party functionaries from Taiyuan, city of the endless steel mills, or maybe even one step up, pompous municipality magistrates from Jinan. Mei didn’t care. No matter who they were or where they came from, she hated them with her entire being: mind, heart, soul.

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