Chapter 21: The Second Binder

On a Friday clinic night, five days into their marriage, Qing held up the label maker with a strip of tape still feeding out of it. The display read WIFE. "I didn't print that," Evan said. "The recent-history file says you typed it at two in the morning. Leon has twenty dollars on Wednesday. Lan said never. I took the field." "You're betting on my labels." "The clinic has no gambling license. It is cultural exchange." She waved the tape. "The ledger is open. Explain the W." Evan took the machine and cleared the screen. "I was checking whether it had a W." "For eleven minutes," Su said from the chair by the heater, where she was holding her palm over the dressing on Leon's foot. "I counted." "You were asleep." "I was timing you with my eyes shut." Leon laughed until he had to hold the cane with both…