For the sake of Mei’s sacrifice, father agreed to take the long bus ride to give Mei away at their wedding. And he did give Mei away in spite of the fact that the whole wedding was a total failure and insult. There was no actual ceremony but a bare stack of cash being off ered to father and a cheap ring being presented to Mei. It was the fi rst time he had traveled a long distance and the most unfortunate journey in his life. That experience of being violently robbed not only ate him but fed him with nightmares. Once bitten, twice shy. Traveling unnerved him. His body shivered every time when he recalled that terrible incident, even to hear it as an adventurous story in a book. Consequently, he hated the idea of traveling as much as he hated the unpunished robbers. For all that shit had been engraved in his memory. From his point of view, traveling not only cost money, time and energy, but also life.