Chapter 2
She was so delicate she seemed scarcely able to bear the weight of her silks.
Beautiful, certainly, but as fragile-looking as porcelain.
Even her voice was soft. Her son was withdrawn and had no friends, she explained, so she wanted to buy a lively maid from a respectable family to keep him company.
My uncle wilted at once.
This lady was plainly rich or noble. Me, keep her son company?
I might arrive in the morning and the coroner in the afternoon.
He looked uncomfortable. “There’s nothing wrong with my niece, except she does love a fight…”
He described my record in detail.
He’d only intended to say a few words and turn her down tactfully.
But the lady listened so intently that he accidentally went on at length.
As he talked and talked, a little hope began to stir in him.
Then my cousin, sitting nearby, furtively took out half a grubby steamed bun.
He had just opened his mouth to eat it.
Me: Across space and time, with all my might, I’ll find my way to you!
No one saw how I suddenly appeared there.
All they saw was a black streak of lightning hurtling at my cousin.
He reacted fast. The instant I appeared, he clamped the bun beneath his body.
I landed on him, locked an arm around his neck, and hammered him with my fists in one fluid motion. He bellowed like an ox.
But his teeth stayed clenched. Not a single scream escaped.
I frowned. “Guarding your food?”
Another storm of blows followed.
In the end, I secured a small piece of bun. He’d eaten the rest in the confusion.
Once the bun was finished, we made peace.
I patted his shoulder. “Cousin, let me know next time you’ve got food.”
He mooed.
My uncle and the lady, who had watched the whole thing in a stupor, said nothing.
My uncle wanted to die.
What he failed to notice was how the lady’s eyes were shining brighter and brighter as she looked at me.
“Send her over!”
“What?” said my uncle.
Pressing a hand to her chest, the lady said excitedly, “This little girl. I’ll take her!”
“Perhaps you’d like to reconsider?”
“No need! She’s the one! Look at those arms, those fists—such strength! Look at her face, that expression—such resolve! What a splendid beating! Even better if she’d kept it up a little longer!”
My uncle swallowed a furious curse.
That’s my bloody son she’s beating…
“You… you must be sure about this. No returns!”
The lady smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll adopt her as my daughter and always be good to her!”
She gently put her arms around me. “Your name is Wu Zheng, isn’t it? Would you like to come home with me and be my daughter?”
She smelled lovely. Her words left me dazed.
I asked in a small voice, “Will you feed me?”
She laughed.
“Of course. Little Zheng can eat as much as she likes.”
“But I hit people. I’ll cause you trouble…”
She told me, “You may beat anyone in this household except me and my cat.”
I could hardly believe it.
Food, drink, and permission to fight? How could anything be this wonderful?