THE GATES OF BEIJING (10)
In which Jim is invited to attend a party at a military compound so secretive it's not even on the map. He gets smuggled inside with some difficulty only to realize he wants to get out.
*OFF THE MAP
I peddled frantically back to campus from the Formosa that day, eager to seek refuge in the numbing rhythms of my routine, keen to return to the cocoon of campus. There was a humble comfort to be found in the dullness of dorm life, even the bland cafeteria food tasted good on good days if you ate nothing else, and I liked pontificating in front of a chalkboard. Teaching literature by day and drinking away the worries of the world by night was not a disagreeable lifestyle.
Although my brush with Big Ten raised more questions than it answered, it also did something to assuage my neurotic fear about being excluded. To think of it; the daunting, legendary rogue, the kind of man you didn’t want to mess with, effectively pulled me into the fold by deeming me his didi.
Surely Huamei had put him up to it, and he probably agreed to take me under his wing in keeping with her wishes. She liked to chide me for hanging out with Americans too much--guilty as charged--especially if Kirk co…