chapter 3
chapter 3
In early June, the lotuses on Bibo Lake came into bloom. I was rowing a little boat and picking seedpods when my cousin shouted from the bank as if he had seen a ghost.
“A-Fu! A-Fu! Your tea-egg fiancé is here to ask for your hand!”
I climbed ashore with my head hanging. The sight of my miserable expression filled my cousin with relief.
“I knew you had me in your heart. Don’t worry. Your brother will elope with you.”
The moment he finished, Sister Chaochao punched him.
“You childish brat! What decent girl elopes with a man? Do you want to ruin A-Fu’s reputation?”
After her scolding, my cousin looked like an eggplant struck by frost.
When I returned home, however, I did not see a fiancé who resembled a tea egg.
I saw a beautiful young man who looked like an immortal.
My cousin planted his hands on his hips and stood ferociously between me and the immortal.
He lifted his chin. “Go home. Our A-Fu isn’t marrying you.”
Only then did I realize my fiancé did not look like a tea egg at all.
Not only that, he was so… handsome.
I shoved my cousin aside and beamed at the young man. “I’m A-Fu.”
Pei Jin paused. Then the smile in his eyes melted into warmth.
As though coaxing a child, he bent slightly until his gaze was level with mine.
“Mm. I am Pei Jin, your fiancé.”
No unfamiliar man had ever looked at me like that before. Shyly pursing my lips, I lowered my burning face.
My cousin looked ready to breathe fire. He yanked me aside.
“Just because he’s handsome, you can’t… can’t simply decide you like him. What if his belly is full of wicked schemes?”
I nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense.”
My cousin nodded in satisfaction. “Exactly. You shouldn’t judge a person by the outside. You have to look at what’s… inside.”
“Hey! I wasn’t finished!”
I did not understand his muttering. I turned back to Pei Jin and asked with complete seriousness, “Is your belly full of wicked schemes?”
Pei Jin glanced at my cousin.
“Do you think I look like a bad man?”
I shook my head.
Then I asked, “Do you have any bedchamber maids?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Do you like any other girls besides me?”
“No.”
“Then…” I could not remember what else I was supposed to ask.
Sister Chaochao had chattered at me the entire way home, reminding me again and again to get clear answers. She said that if I was going to marry, I ought to marry a decent, untouched man.
After thinking very hard, I remembered another question.
“Oh! Do you like men?”
Pei Jin smiled helplessly and explained with great patience, “I like women.”
Satisfied, I nodded and counted how many questions I had asked.
One remained.
“Are you marrying me because you truly wish to? Is anyone forcing you?”
He smiled and shook his head again. “No one is forcing me.”
My heart filled with delight. I ran to tell my cousin, “Cousin, Pei Jin is a good man! I can marry him!”
My cousin’s face turned green with fury. His eyes red, he gave me a mighty huff.
“You shallow, silly A-Fu!”
Then he stormed away.
I stared after him, lost, and twisted my skirt in my fingers.
Looking pitifully at Pei Jin, I said, “I think my cousin is angry.”
Pei Jin asked gently, “Would you like to go coax him?”
I puffed out my cheeks and shook my head.
“No. He just called me silly. I’m angry too, so I refuse to coax him.”