At the Hong Kong law offices of Johnson, Stokes Masters, we sat round an enormous shiny table and waited nervously for the reading of the will. My father's death had brought nearly the whole family together for the first time in almost forty years Susan, our youngest sister, was absent She had not been invited to the funeral or to the reading of Father's will, Her name was let out of the notice that had appeared in the South China morning post. Joseph Tsi-rung Yen, it read, "dearly loved husband of Jeanne Prosperi Yen, father of Lydia, Gregory Edgar, James and Adeline, died peacefully on 13 May 1988 y oldest sister, Lydia, at close to me. My three older brother sat together, looking serious, At the head of the table with her lawyer was our stepmother, who we called a Chinese word for mother At a sign from Niang, the lawyer began to Yout speak, stepmother has asked me to inform you that your father has left no money at all. Wt looked at him in surprise. No money? This was not possible, our father had been a very rich man, one of the most successful businessmen in Hong Kong. All our eyes turned to Niang. Since there is no money she said, 'there is no need to continue reading the will There is nothing for any of you. Your father died penniless. No one said anything. Niang collected al our copies of Fathery will from us and handed them back, unread, to the lawyer. Ite were shocked, but not one of us questioned her, Why did we all behave like this To explain our unquestioning obedience that afternoon, l