I'm not sure how to feel about your congratulations. Letters are such inadequate conveyors of tone, so I can't tell if you're teasing me or being sincere (and don't know which I would prefer). I do appreciate the cigars, though — being on the receiving end of gifts is a delightful role reversal from my usual habits. I would send you something in exchange, but nothing in Beijing fits your aesthetic, and I would never stoop to sending an ill-selected gift. I'll have to repay the debt when I return to England. If I forget, perhaps you'll have to find a creative way to remind me.

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