Jedao nibbles his danish and admires his fox some more, even if it is slowly dissolving back into the drink.

"It really is delightful. It reminds me of home," he says softly, even though he hasn't been back to China outside of active duty in a century and a half. "Candy shops do sugar painting - hot syrup drizzled fast on a cold metal plate, and it hardens into a perfect little picture of a fish or a dragon or a cock."

He says this completely straight-faced.