Summary

By Chapter 14, Mei was habitually studying with Secretary Sun to prepare for the mission. She thought studying in the library with him “was my haven at the lake palaces” (168). In Chapter 14, Sun drove Mei to Peking University in Beijing to familiarize her with the students she was supposed to emulate for her mission. Sun advised her, “Say what the president expects a student to say. If you can play along with that, he’ll never question you” (171). Later in the chapter, the Chairman told Mei a legend about the emperor visiting a village, but Mei realized, “the peasants weren’t the point of the story. They never were” (177). The chapter concluded when Mei gave the Chairman oral sex, which upset him.

In chapter 15, Doctor Li examined Mei to determine if she was pregnant, which she was not. Doctor Li confided to Mei...