Chapter Thirteen
Jia picked up her fork and took a bite of her braised beef, enjoying the slightly sweet flavor. She offered her mother a smile.
The restaurant her mother had chosen was mid-tier, at least by Lan’s standards. It wasn’t a place serving beignets and beers with a rowdy but warm atmosphere. It did have a woman in a red silk dress kneeling on a raised platform, playing an erhu.
Thankfully, not every customer wore a suit or dress that cost more than Jia’s flitter. Maybe this was her mother’s way of meeting her halfway.
The erhu player wore a solemn expression as she played. She pulled her bow slowly back and forth, her fingers shifting up and down with intricate skill. A beautiful if haunting melody flowed from the instrument.
Oddly enough, music was one of the few areas in
