Book excerpt: In 'Goddess Peak', Miaoyue and Li Yong were almost the last two passengers aboard the steamboat to Goddess Peak - them and Li Yong's friend Mr Cui. Miaoyue found Mr Cui taller and better built than she'd imagined, and also a little younger and more handsome. For some reason, this irritated her. In 'The Q of Hearts', when the boy found the Queen of Hearts missing from his deck of cards, he immediately assumed that someone had stolen it. It was 1969, and those cards were his only toy. He searched everywhere for a new one - but only found things to frighten him. Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection Madwoman on the Bridge.