My two brothers stood there in shock, sheets wrapped around them; I didn't recognize them as Sun Guangping and Sun Guangming. Nor did I realize that the woman kneeling on the ground and wailing was my mother. Next to them, in an untidy heap, were items rescued from the flames. Then I saw a man naked to the waist, his scrawny chest exposed to the chilly autumn wind. In a hoarse voice he was telling the bystanders how many things had been lost in the inferno. Tears rolled from his eyes. He smiled at them desolately and said, “You all got to see a big fire, didn't you? It was a grand sight, that's for sure, but it's cost me a right bundle.”
I did not know that he was my father, but something drew me to him, so I went up and loudly announced, “I'm looking for Sun Kwangtsai.”