Hongqiao Airport

Hongqiao Airport’s arrivals concourse brings Li Yan, Xinxin, Margaret Campbell, and Mei-Ling Nien together, making the airport more than a point of passage: a joyful reunion there quickly exposes the jealousy and divided loyalties among the adults around Xinxin.

The Arrivals Concourse

Li Yan waits among the airport crowds, eager to see Xinxin but apprehensive about Margaret Campbell’s return. Mei-Ling Nien stands close beside him. He knows Margaret will not welcome her presence, yet is determined not to yield to what he sees as Margaret’s jealousy; he also wishes he could keep his private and professional lives separate. The memory of the eighteen women murdered in Shanghai briefly restores perspective, setting his personal troubles against the scale of the investigation.

Reunion and Introduction

Xinxin spots Li Yan through the Arrivals gate and runs into his arms. Margaret Campbell smiles at their reunion, recognizing the tenderness beneath Li Yan’s tough appearance. But her smile freezes when he turns, still holding Xinxin, and introduces Mei-Ling Nien. Mei-Ling greets the child warmly and offers her candy from her purse. Xinxin’s shyness disappears, and she accepts Mei-Ling’s hand without hesitation; the two walk toward the shops across the concourse.

The candy also sharpens the moment for Margaret. She remembers that, during her panic at seeing the man with the hare-lip in Beijing, she forgot to buy the mints for Xinxin. At the airport, Mei-Ling’s easy success in winning the child’s affection makes Margaret’s omission newly vivid.

A Welcome Turns into Conflict

Once Xinxin and Mei-Ling have walked away, Li Yan turns self-consciously to Margaret. Margaret thrusts Xinxin’s case against his chest and pointedly suggests that Mei-Ling could carry it too, then asks whether he had to bring her. Li explains that he had no transport and that Mei-Ling offered him a lift. Margaret answers that her feelings apparently do not matter. The arrival therefore ends not in an uncomplicated family welcome but in an exposed disagreement over Mei-Ling’s place beside Li Yan and Margaret’s place in his life.

Narrative Significance

The airport compresses reunion and rivalry into a sequence of visible gestures: Xinxin leaping into Li Yan’s arms, Margaret’s smile turning still, Mei-Ling offering candy, and Margaret handing Li the case with pointed force. The public concourse makes the changing alliances difficult to conceal. Xinxin’s spontaneous trust in Mei-Ling deepens the discomfort, while Li Yan’s effort to keep personal tensions apart from his work proves fragile even before the group leaves the airport.