Page 8 of Silk and Sensibility

Meilin narrowed her eyes. It was ridiculous for Fan Fulan to repeat this message when she had said the same thing before Fan Enze arrived. Instead of letting them loathe her in peace, she constantly sought new opportunities to offend.

“How can we disturb a visitor when this is our home?” Ming­ming asked.

Fan Fulan smiled. Even though she was not born in the Year of the Snake, she looked like it when she smiled. “You’re young, Ming­ming. When you’re older, you’ll understand the reason for my warning. No good comes from unmarried men and women mingling together too casually. My younger brother is of an age to marry, and our parents already selected a bride for him before they passed, so, naturally, I do not wish for him to be distracted before the Six Rites of marriage are complete. His intended is the only daughter of the prestigious Mo family of Hangzhou.”

“If your brother is likely to get distracted, why aren’t you warning him to stay away from us instead of the other way around? Or is that something else I’m too young to understand?”

Meilin knew she should rebuke Ming­ming’s sarcasm, but she agreed too much with her younger sister to exert herself earnestly. The nerve of Fan Fulan to act like her brother was some prize!

Everyone knew that the Fan family was a merchant house that had fallen on hard times. Fan Fulan’s marriage to Junyou only happened because it preceded the Fans’ decline in fortunes, when Junyou was a naive new magistrate in Hangzhou who had been entranced by the glittering exteriors of the Fan mansion. If Ailin had any feelings toward a brother of Fan Fulan’s, it would be despite his family background, not because of it.

“You’re obviously too young, Ming­ming, but your sisters are not. I trust that Meilin understands my message and will relay it to your mother and eldest sister, though I suppose I don’t have to worry about Ailin so much. She is much better at refusing good men than hooking them.”

Meilin set a hand on Ming­ming’s shoulder as their sister-in-law walked away. She was just as annoyed as her younger sister, but arguing with petty people was not worth the spit. The best way to get back at Fan Fulan would be to investigate her brother themselves and make their own decision about whether to interact with him or to avoid him. If anything, Fan Fulan’s warning was merely a challenge, and no Duan sister ever feared a challenge.

For Ming­ming, anger was a better study supplement than walnuts or ginseng. Meilin was only mildly surprised that her sister plowed through several sections of the Spring and Autumn Annals without complaint. At least, without complaints toward the text. Ming­ming muttered plenty under her breath about Fan Fulan, gentle insults like, “Our father was a Hanlin Academy scholar when hers was cleaning silkworm poop. She wouldn’t know prestige if it farted in her face.”

As the morning passed and the sun warmed the garden, Meilin almost forgot about Fan Fulan’s warning, but then voices drifted over from the adjacent courtyard. One of them belonged to a child, their nephew Duan Heli, and the other belonged to an unfamiliar man. They were talking about a kite.

“Do you think it’s Fulan’s brother?” Ming­ming whispered.

“Only one way to find out,” Meilin whispered back.

She made her way to the wall that divided the courtyards, knowing that Ming­ming would follow. Concealing most of her body behind the white plastered wall, she peeked through the octagonal window to catch a glimpse of the people on the other side.

As she predicted, little Heli was there. At six suì, with chubby cheeks and half his milk teeth missing, Heli was as adorable as a rabbit. Meilin didn’t begrudge him for the fact that his parents were difficult.

Currently, Heli was dragging a twenty-something man into the courtyard by the hand. The man’s beleaguered attitude and the ease with which he was bossed around by a child indicated that he was an uncle, a doting one too. He must be Fan Enze.

“Are you sure it’s all right to play here, Heli? I heard that your grandmother isn’t feeling well. Won’t we disturb her if we fly a kite this close to her room?” The young man’s conscientiousness was striking. But if they wanted to fly kites, the yard Heli had selected was the only possible site in Nuolan Garden open enough to get the necessary running start.

Heli grinned as he spoke. “Grandma says I never bother her. She always smiles when I visit. Plus, she gives me sweets and toys.”

Meilin and Ming­ming shared a knowing glance. Mama had a glaring soft spot for Heli, even if he wasn’t her grandchild by blood. His arrival at Nuolan Garden was probably the only bright point in her life since Father’s passing.

“What about your aunties? Are they as easygoing as your grandmother?”

“Hmm . . .” Heli tapped his foot on the pebbled ground.

Why the hesitation? Meilin wondered.

“My aunties are nice, too, I guess. Auntie Ming­ming never lets me win at games, though, and Auntie Meilin and Auntie Ailin are boring because they’re too big to play with me. If you ask them, though, maybe they’ll play with you. Especially Auntie Ailin. She’s the one who likes the boringest books, just like you. But be careful; Mama says she is picky about men.”

Meilin widened her eyes. Ming­ming clapped her hand over her mouth as if to keep from laughing.

“Duan Heli, that is not an appropriate way to talk about your aunt.” The man did not seem to find Heli’s answer humorous.

Or does knowing that Ailin has standards intimidate him?

“But you’re the one who asked,” Heli whined. “I’m just telling you what the other grown-ups say, so it’s not fair if you get mad at me.”

Fan Enze clicked his tongue as he unraveled the string of the koi-shaped kite he held. “I’m sorry. Let’s focus on getting this into the sky instead.”

Heli followed him as he walked. “But why is it bad to talk like that? Mama does it all the time. She says if Auntie Ailin had married Master Huang, then she would be rich and I would have a rich uncle. Is it important to marry a rich person?”

Fan Enze stopped and stood as straight as a stalk of bamboo. “I think that’s a question you don’t have to worry about. I’m sure your aunts have their own criteria for choosing someone to marry, and your father and grand­mother will select someone appropriate for them when the time comes.”

“How about you, Uncle Enze? Who will find a lady for you to marry?”