◎ Brief ◎

Gu Qiao instinctively looked at her mother, and in her mother’s eyes she saw a flicker of worry.

Yet they had already reached this point, and she had no way of hiding Luo Peiyin any longer. Rather than continuing to hem and haw at this juncture, she might as well speak plainly with her mother: “Mom, let’s step into the next room and talk.”

Mother and daughter held each other’s gaze. Gu Jingshu knew very well that her daughter would not listen to any words of dissuasion, and would interpret any opposition as others simply not understanding the person she had chosen. Even if the person she chose embodied every wrong trait imaginable, she would still believe her own choice was a singular exception. What Gu Qiao called “going to talk” was nothing more than proving exactly this to her.

Gu Jingshu repeated her earlier words to her daughter: “Let’s wait until after we’ve eaten.” Then she smiled at Luo Peiyin: “We didn’t know you were coming, so there’s nothing special prepared — you’ll just have to eat a simple home meal with us.”

Luo Peiyin responded politely in turn: “Arriving without notice is something I should have avoided — it was all rather rushed. I hope I haven’t caused you any inconvenience. The next time I come, I certainly won’t be so presumptuous.”

He mentioned “next time” in the most natural way, signaling that he had already made long-term plans for the relationship.

Lou Deyu caught this implication, though he was not entirely convinced. But since his wife had set the tone, he swallowed back everything he had been about to say. What did “being together” even mean — Gu Qiao was in China selling clothes, and this one was in America, unable to help with anything, with no telling when or whether he’d ever come back — and they were together? Still, Lou Deyu was clear-eyed enough to know that objecting was only useful before anything had happened; saying such things now was already too late. What mattered most at this moment was making absolutely sure that Gu Qiao didn’t get taken in or deceived by this boy into something that couldn’t be undone. A person like him — bored and lonely abroad — might switch girlfriends any day.

Though the family could hardly be said to welcome Luo Peiyin’s arrival, he had, after all, come looking for their daughter and had brought gifts. They could not let the hospitality fall short and embarrass their daughter. Their manner was not especially warm, yet propriety was observed without a lapse. The bowl and chopsticks served to Luo Peiyin were brand new. The fifth day of the New Year traditionally called for dumplings, and since the holiday kept them unhurried, the parents had taken care to prepare more generous food for the children — in addition to dumplings, there were several stir-fried dishes on the table. In honor of Luo Peiyin’s visit, they had also opened two tins of canned food specially.

During the meal, the youngest sister deliberately sat in the middle to place herself between Gu Qiao and Luo Peiyin.

The youngest sister kept both her mouth and her tongue constantly busy. Her head was full of questions, and she asked Luo Peiyin one after another:

“Where are you from?”

“How old are you?”

“Are you still in school, or are you already working?”

“If you’re still in school, does that mean you can’t earn money to support yourself yet? You still have to rely on your family, don’t you?” Though the youngest sister was young, by her plain-spoken sense of values, someone who couldn’t yet earn their own living had no business even thinking about something as serious as marriage.

Even Lou Deyu, who found Luo Peiyin thoroughly irritating, felt this last question had gone too far. Besides, Luo Peiyin had talked back to him once already — who knew what this fellow might say without restraint.

He was just about to speak when Gu Qiao stopped her sister and told her to hurry up and eat. Though she had never thought of Luo Peiyin as petty, she felt this particular question was not something he would be pleased to hear. The youngest sister pursed her lips and bent her head over her bowl.

As it turned out, Luo Peiyin showed not the slightest sign of displeasure: “The scholarship covers most things, and besides, being in school doesn’t mean you can’t work.”

Luo Peiyin had no experience with children, but when he was genuinely prepared to manage people, he could demonstrate considerable patience. He was responding partly to Gu Qiao’s youngest sister, but more so for the benefit of Gu Qiao’s parents. He was showing the Gu family a measured patience — he did not care what anyone other than Gu Qiao thought of their relationship. But clearly Gu Qiao cared about her family’s opinion. If her family disapproved, Gu Qiao would probably not be very happy.

He smiled at Gu Qiao’s youngest sister: “Thank you for your concern about my situation. But you needn’t worry about me — supporting myself is no problem.”

The youngest sister had not been especially concerned about Luo Peiyin’s situation, but hearing him thank her, she graciously accepted the thanks all the same. Unable to contain her curiosity, she pressed on: “So what kind of work do you do over there?”

What Luo Peiyin described was not something the youngest sister quite understood.

“Is America very far from here? Did you go there by yourself? If it’s that far, how do you and my sister get to see each other?”

The youngest sister had asked outright the very question Lou Deyu had wanted to ask but hadn’t. Luo Peiyin replied: “These are all temporary circumstances. One day we’ll see each other every day.” Before undertaking ordinary things, he had already anticipated a rough outcome in his mind. But for the things he most wanted in life, he hadn’t paused to fully think through the future — the most important thing was to secure them first.

The youngest sister’s mouth never had a moment’s rest. Once Luo Peiyin had answered the questions he wanted Gu Qiao’s parents to hear, he also showed appropriate curiosity toward Gu Qiao’s youngest sister, shifting from answering to asking.

Gu Qiao had never known that Luo Peiyin could hold such an extended conversation with a child. She thought occasionally of what Bai Ling had said about Luo Peiyin — that he sparked her imagination — and guessed that one reason was probably that he said so little.

It was Gu Jingshu who finally stopped her youngest daughter, placing a piece of her favorite canned food in her bowl: “Hurry up and eat. Carrying on like this, others can’t even finish their meal.”

As the meal drew toward its end, the youngest sister raised another question for Luo Peiyin: “When are you leaving?”

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