Qian Xiao Qi woke up to a body of pain. Like usual she opened her eyes and rolled her shoulders. She stared at the beaded curtains for a long time and realised she wasn’t sleeping on the table. Why was she lying on a bed? Didn’t she sleep on the table? She didn’t have a habit of finding a man in the middle of the night. She looked left and right. Why did her body ache? She didn’t know what happened last night, and didn’t know what to do except cry.
The sounds of Liu Lu’s footsteps interrupted Qian Xiao Qi self-pity tears.
Liu Lu did her best to suppress her happiness for Qian Xiao Qi. ‘Now Lady Shang Ruo Pai knows the truth. Mistress, didn’t I tell you that it’s you who master cares about?’
‘Mistress, did you sleep with your dress on?’ Liu Lu asked.
‘Does this mean nothing happened?’ Qian Xiao Qi asked.
‘Of course I can be this happy,’ Qian Xiao Qi said. ‘Now I’m hungry.’
A jealous Shang Ruo Pai walked into Qian Xiao Qi’s bedchamber uninvited.
‘What else can master and mistress do at night in their bedchamber?’ Liu Lu asked. ‘Lady Shang Ruo Pai, you shouldn’t ask ridiculous questions.’
‘You!’ Shang Ruo Pai said. ‘You forced him! You don’t know how to feel shame.’
‘It’s you who should feel shame, you forced big brother Zhuo to do that last night with you,’ Shang Ruo Pai said.
‘What is there for me to misunderstand?’ Shang Ruo Pai asked resentfully.
Shang Ruo Pai and Liu Lu humphed at each other.
Liu Lu was still angry at Shang Ruo Pai’s haughtiness, and grudgingly walked to the kitchen.
‘You shouldn’t be smug,’ Shang Ruo Pai said. ‘Even if you and big brother Zhuo did that last night, it doesn’t mean anything. Because it doesn’t mean that Aunty Song will let you through the threshold!’
‘Don’t think you can chase me away,’ Shang Ruo Pai said. ‘This is big brother Zhuo’s home. Big brother Zhuo won’t let me leave.’
‘What?’ Shang Ruo Pai asked. ‘Are you saying the truth?’
Qian Xiao Qi believed a man who hit woman wasn’t a good man. She couldn’t rely on a man like Song Liang Zhuo for the rest of her life. She wondered who taught her about the difference between a good and a bad man.
‘He doesn’t love me,’ Qian Xiao Qi said. ‘He hit me because of you. It’s best if I go back home.’
‘Didn’t you say you want to be together with your big brother Zhuo?’ Qian Xiao Qi asked. ‘If I leave, you should be happy.’
‘Come find me after I leave and I’ll take you sightseeing,’ Qian Xiao Qi said. ‘Tong Hua Province has many beautiful sceneries.’
‘Nothing happened between me and him,’ Qian Xiao Qi said. ‘I’m curious, can you give me a reason why can’t I marry another man?’
In the afternoon, Qian Xiao Qi ate everything except her enemy the plate of grilled pork meat.
After Qian Xiao Qi generously gave up Song Liang Zhuo, Shang Ruo Pai stopped bullying Qian Xiao Qi and they got along better.
Shang Ruo Pai liked talking to Qian Xiao Qi about Song Liang Zhuo’s childhood.
‘Big brother Zhuo often took me out to play,’ Shang Ruo Pai said. ‘Big brother Zhuo took me horse riding. He’s good at improvising poetry. Aunty Song is proud of him. The truth is big brother Zhuo didn’t need to take the imperial examination to be a small magistrate here. But he wanted to rely on his own strengths to build his future. I always knew big brother Zhuo would become a first rank scholar. Big brother Zhuo is an impressive person.’
‘The truth is big brother Zhuo likes women who are gentle and improvise poetry with him,’ Shang Ruo Pai said. ‘Someone who is like a gentle breeze or warm sunlight in the sky.’
Shang Ruo Pai shook her head, and looked closely at Qian Xiao Qi. Shang Ruo Pai thought Qian Xiao Qi was the opposite of Song Liang Zhuo’s ideal woman. Qian Xiao Qi was a weakling, had a slow mind and had a wide smile.
‘You don’t have beauty,’ Shang Ruo Pai said.
Qian Xiao Qi held up her pinky finger. ‘A small official is like a small mung bean.’
Qian Xiao Qi carefully wrapped the leftover watermelon seeds in a handkerchief and put it in her dress sleeve.
‘If I don’t take ownership of watermelon seeds that doesn’t belong to me, I won’t know how many people have drooled on them,’ Qian Xiao Qi said.
Qian Xiao Qi felt like the day past quickly when she had someone to talk to during the day.
‘Meat shouldn’t be reheated and eaten because it’ll make someone ill,’ Qiao Xiao Qi said.
‘Oh,’ Qian Xiao Qi said. ‘I’m only worried everyone will have diarrhea.’
Qian Xiao Qi thought Shang Ruo Pai looked ill. But Qian Xiao Qi reasoned Shang Ruo Pai had Song Liang Zhuo to care about Shang Ruo Pai so Qian Xiao Qi didn’t need to worry about Shang Ruo Pai.
Song Liang Zhuo’s chopsticks circled the table. Like Shang Ruo Pai, he lost his appetite too, and watched Qian Xiao Qi eat.
‘Official Song, I want to go home tomorrow,’ Qian Xiao Qi said.
‘Official Song, you don’t need to come home with me,’ Qian Xiao Qi said. ‘You’re busy at the magistrate court. I can go home on my own.’
Qian Xiao Qi felt like she was in the presence of a demon while looking at Song Liang Zhuo.
‘Oh,’ Qian Xiao Qi said.
***
End of Chapter Four