Hongdou knew that after the script for The Painted Skin came out, the drama society had wanted to have Fourth Sister play one of the roles. As it happened, Fourth Sister herself was quite interested in theater, so she’d agreed at the time.
But unfortunately, Fourth Sister’s body wouldn’t cooperate—the moment she got on stage, her old problem of low blood sugar would flare up. After trying out for the role several times, she never managed to hold out more than a quarter of an hour each time, and in the end had no choice but to give up performing, content instead to be an audience member watching from the seats.
Still, whenever there was no class, Fourth Sister would always come by the little chapel to watch their rehearsals. She’d likely learned about the change in leading man from overhearing other troupe members while watching a rehearsal.
Just then, a servant came to deliver shoes, so the two of them stopped discussing the change of leading man and went to try on shoes instead. There were four pairs of leather shoes in total; the three of them all had the same shoe size, so there was no worry about fit. Sister-in-law and sister-in-law had a merry time trying them on, laughing together, and in the end He Zhuyun picked out three pairs for herself, while Hongdou chose only one pair of ivory-colored leather shoes for herself—an uncommon color, perfect to pair with light-colored Western dresses.
After trying them on, they had the servants send them to their respective rooms.
Having spent a good while chatting with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, He Yunqin still hadn’t come to find her. Seeing her mother-in-law was about to go out, Hongdou had no choice but to take her leave and return to her room.
She’d just walked into the room when He Yunqin came in right behind her, taking off his coat and undoing buttons the moment he entered, clearly about to change clothes. “It’s gotten so late, let’s go.”
Hongdou hurried to fetch clean clothes for He Yunqin, and remembering something from earlier, felt a swarm of doubts rise in her chest. “Hey, there’s something that’s had me puzzled for a long while.”
“What is it?” He Yunqin dressed himself without turning around.
“Did Elder Brother and Elder Sister-in-law marry for love, of their own choice?”
He Yunqin paused, turning to look at her. “What’s this about?”
Hongdou had been holding this in for a good while, and having said it out loud, felt her chest ease considerably. She went and sat at the vanity, idly combing her hair in the mirror.
Going to school was different from being at home—her hair only needed to be gathered at the shoulders, neat and simple, no need for elaborate styling. “Just tell me yes or no.”
“Yes.” He Yunqin casually tossed his soiled shirt onto the bed. “Elder Sister-in-law accepted Elder Brother’s courtship only half a year after returning to the country. When the two families discussed the marriage, they also followed Western customs throughout. And as you’ve seen for yourself, Elder Brother and Elder Sister-in-law’s affection for each other runs deep—they discuss and consult each other on everything.”
“But I always feel like Elder Sister-in-law likes to target me. Look—I’m just performing in a school play, and neither you nor Fourth Sister said anything about it, yet the moment she got back, she told Mother.”
He Yunqin’s expression turned cold. He sat beside her, fastening his wristwatch. “The Duan family is different from the He family. Her great-grandfather held high office in the late Qing dynasty, and the Duan family was at the peak of its glory then—the various branches of the family grew extremely complicated as a result. It’s not uncommon to hear of the senior branch suppressing the second and third branches. In recent years the Duan family has declined considerably, but the custom of rivalry between branches has carried on. Though Elder Sister-in-law received a Western education, growing up immersed in that environment, she couldn’t help but be influenced by the family elders. Her doing this is most likely because she’s treating the He family like the Duan family.”
This explanation wasn’t enough to convince Hongdou. “Is that really all there is to it?”
He Yunqin paused, then pulled her closer. “Then what do you think it should be?”
Hongdou looked straight into his eyes. “I always feel it’s more than just that.”
He Yunqin raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. “Don’t overthink things.”
“I haven’t said anything.” Hongdou was displeased. “How do you already know I’m overthinking?”
He Yunqin didn’t intend to avoid the question. He thought for a moment, his face showing puzzlement. “When she was in secondary school, she had many suitors. After returning to the country, with her status as a Duan family daughter, she surely wasn’t short of marriage prospects either. If she didn’t like my elder brother, she could easily have married someone else—why would she settle for less?”
Hongdou recalled how Duan Mingyi and He Ningzheng interacted with each other on ordinary days—both of them were reserved with their emotions, rarely showing intimate affection in front of others. And yet the atmosphere of mutual affection between the couple was completely genuine, without a trace of pretense.
“Back then, when you arranged for your elder brother to meet Duan Mingyi, did you give her some kind of misunderstanding?”
He Yunqin gave a short laugh. “I made things extremely clear every single time. She’s not a foolish person—how could she possibly develop a misunderstanding out of nothing?”
Hongdou silently grumbled to herself—so many people pursued Duan Mingyi, yet you alone showed no interest in her. Perhaps that was precisely why she remembered you.
“Why didn’t you like her back then?”
“I didn’t see anything good about her. Why would I have liked her?”
“Then why do you like me?”
“My temperament is different from most people’s—I like eating spicy food.”
“Can’t you just compliment me properly for once?”
“If I compliment you any more I’m afraid you’ll get even spicier.” He laughed, pulling her along. “Why bother with her—Mother won’t listen to her anyway. You need to go to school to rehearse your play, and I’ve got plenty to keep me busy too. Let’s not delay, let’s go.”
Hongdou checked the time—it really was too late, so she gave up on continuing the discussion and went out with him. “There’s one more thing I haven’t told you. Mother wants me and Fourth Sister to choose schools—do you know about this?”
“I know. We need to discuss it properly—we’ll talk about it tonight when I’m back.”
Before they reached the door, He Yunqin, remembering the state of things when the two of them had argued, turned back to Hongdou. “Yu Hongdou, let me ask you formally one more time—tonight is your official rehearsal performance, do you consent to me coming to watch?”
Hongdou glanced at him—this man was so possessive. She’d been rehearsing this play for a whole month now, and he’d never once asked about it before. Just because they’d switched leading men, suddenly he had to insist on coming to watch her perform.
She neither agreed nor disagreed, only pulling the door open proudly. “We’ll see how it goes. You can come if you want, but there definitely won’t be a good seat left.”
Once at school, Hongdou went straight to the little chapel where the drama troupe held their activities. Aside from the other members, Yu Rui had also arrived early. He had plenty of stage experience and had already memorized the script in advance—when performing, there wasn’t the slightest hint of hesitation, and he quickly adapted to his new role.
Whether it was because of the change in leading man or not, an unprecedented number of female students came to watch the rehearsal. Coming to enjoy the spectacle was one thing, but some even brought salted duck eggs and five-spice peanuts to watch the show, sharing them with everyone once seated. The little chapel buzzed with chatter all day long.
By five o’clock, the audience began filing in one after another. Hongdou and the others emerged from the little chapel, heading to the activity room where the drama troupe usually did makeup and hair. Halfway there, she heard someone calling to her from a distance: “Hongdou.”
Hongdou turned to look—it was her aunt and Yuyuan. Her aunt wore a fashionable pearl-grey coat, her hair newly permed, waving as she called out. Seeing Hongdou notice her, she hurried over, pulling Yuyuan along quickly.
Hongdou had no choice but to go meet them, smiling. “Aunt, Yuyuan, what brings you two here?”
Her aunt laughed. “Yuyuan’s made friends with quite a few students her age at St. John’s. At the tea gathering yesterday she got a few tickets from your troupe’s students, and heard the performance is quite good, so she wanted to come join in the fun. Right before leaving, seeing I had nothing to do at home tonight, she brought me along too.”
Hongdou glanced at Yuyuan, whose face showed clear reluctance—obviously this had been her mother’s idea again—but she only feigned ignorance and smiled, leading them toward the little chapel. “That’s the theater where the performance is. Yuyuan, take Aunt to find Mei Lizhen and Gu Yun—they’ll arrange good seats for you both.”
Yuyuan nodded in agreement. “Alright, don’t worry about us, go tend to your own business.”
After Hongdou left, Yuyuan gestured casually left and right to her mother. “Mom, look—everyone here to watch tonight is young. Are there any ladies your age?”
Mrs. Pan glared at her daughter. “You think I wanted to come? If I didn’t force you to St. John’s, who knows which female classmate’s house you’d have run off to instead. Yuyuan, be sensible—the world outside is unsettled. Whatever your elder sister’s situation, at least she has Yuan Ruoli; as for Hongdou, no need to even mention it—ever since she married into the He family, it’s like she’s leaning against a great tree. Whether it’s war outside or turmoil, either way, Young Master He will protect her.
“Among the Yu and Pan family girls, you’re the only one without a marriage prospect settled. If there’s no war it’s one thing, but if war really breaks out, it could drag on for years—wouldn’t that leave you dragged into becoming an old maid? We can’t easily visit the He mansion, but St. John’s we certainly can come to. Since Young Master He values Hongdou so highly, spend more time with her, and little by little, you’re bound to get the chance to meet his friends—don’t roll your eyes at me, his friends are all either wealthy or well-connected. If you could settle your marriage sooner, your father and I wouldn’t have to keep our hearts in our throats all day.”
Yuyuan looked at her mother with disdain, holding back her sarcasm for a long while before swallowing it down.
Mrs. Pan wished she could pinch her daughter’s ear. “You go on about your mother being snobbish, but have you considered—your father is getting old, and while our household looks impressive on the surface, we have neither power nor influence, and you know as well as anyone how thin our foundation really is. You’re still so young—if war really breaks out, in all that chaos, who would be able to protect you?”
The more she spoke, the louder her voice grew. Yuyuan, worried they’d become a spectacle, quickly lowered her own voice. “Alright Mom, that’s enough, I understand.”
With her daughter defeated, Mrs. Pan, having achieved her goal, stopped nagging, instead reaching up to fix her hair and straighten her Western dress, then pulling her daughter toward the theater. “While there aren’t too many people yet, let’s go in early and pick our seats.”
They’d taken only a few steps when she stopped again, a look of confusion on her face as she turned to look behind her.
“What’s wrong?” Yuyuan stopped too.
Mrs. Pan rubbed the back of her neck, which had gone cold. “I keep feeling like someone’s following me.”
“Following you?” Yuyuan, puzzled, followed her mother’s gaze backward. The campus was full of students in scattered groups; scanning around, she saw no one suspicious at all.
“Are you overthinking this? Why would anyone follow you for no reason?”
“I don’t know. Ever since I got back from the tea gathering yesterday, I’ve had this uncomfortable feeling.”
Yuyuan froze. “The tea gathering? Weren’t you outside when it happened?” Her mother and the family driver hadn’t gone inside at all.
Mrs. Pan nodded. “That’s right, I was dozing in the car. By the time I woke up, I learned something had happened inside.”
She patted her chest. “Good thing you were fine inside, or I really would have been scared to death.”
Yuyuan searched the crowd once more with her eyes, confirming she saw nothing strange. Just then, Gu Yun came out from inside, and seeing Yuyuan, paused in surprise. “Yuyuan.”
Yuyuan smiled. “Gu Yun.” As she greeted her, she took her mother’s arm and led her inside.
Author’s note: Second He doesn’t have anything to hide from Hongdou, does he? Would he really be so narcissistic as to say, “I also think my elder sister-in-law secretly loves me”? When a couple is discussing things, do they really need to spell everything out so explicitly? Both of them are so perceptive—at this point, it’s hard for any outside force to shake their relationship. Besides, Elder Sister-in-law doesn’t actually like Second He. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to Aunt. Sorry there’s been no second update these past few days, I’ll send the red packet from the previous Hong Dou Sheng Min Guo – Chapter later.