Page 9 of Silk and Sensibility

“That’s not your business either, little one.”

Heli puffed his cheeks out, looking more like a rabbit than ever. “No fair! I told you everything! Why do you keep secrets?”

Fan Enze laughed as he handed Heli the spool of string. “Take this and run. I’ll hold the kite until it’s ready to fly.”

Meilin turned away and let herself rest against the garden wall. So that is the man with the umbrella.

Fan Enze seemed refined enough, but far from memorable. He was tall, but his looks were average and his personality was mild. Meilin could not understand how someone like him had made such a strong impression on Ailin in a single encounter. Even if getting closer to him would irritate Fan Fulan, was he himself worth it?

Heli’s giggles filtered through the octagonal opening in the wall. The kite was probably flying well. “Do you see it, Uncle Enze? Isn’t it amazing?”

Meilin caught a glimpse of the koi kite soaring above the wall. The crimson paper body bobbed in the air like a real fish with gold-painted wings instead of fins and billowing streamers instead of a tail. The azure sky was bigger than any pond a real koi could dream of.

A brisk wind suddenly swept through the courtyard, and the kite floundered. It fluttered chaotically in midair for a moment before tumbling down and snagging on a tree, judging by the sound of rustling leaves.

Heli wailed. “Uncle Enze, what do we do now?”

The overgrown persimmon tree in the yard was one that Meilin had lost many a kite to when she was young. Since then, the tree had only grown taller and its boughs had multiplied. Poor Heli couldn’t have anticipated such a kite trap.

“I can get it down.” Fan Enze’s voice came from the far side of the yard near the persimmon tree.

“How? Can you climb the tree?” Heli asked.

“I don’t need to climb. I can reach it if I get a stool.”

Meilin and Ming­ming raised their eyebrows at the same time. The only stools in the courtyard were carved of stone. They were heavy things not meant to be easily moved.

“Are you sure you can lift that?” Even Heli sounded skeptical.

“I used to carry loads of firewood heavier than this when I lived at my teacher’s house in Suzhou.”

To Meilin’s surprise, there was a grunt and the sound of stone dragging across gravel. Did Fan Enze even go to a proper school for young gentlemen? What kind of teacher made his pupils carry things like a porter until they were strong enough to move stone stools? Meilin realized how little she actually knew about the Fan family beyond the basics. Fan Fulan never shared her family’s struggles, and Meilin never asked.

“It’s still too high,” Heli said. “Maybe I should find Auntie Ming­ming. She’s good at climbing trees.”

Fan Enze’s voice was strained, as if he was stretching for something out of reach as he spoke. The sound of rustling leaves separated his words. “Let’s—not—bother—your aunts.”

“What are you two doing?”

Meilin almost jumped at Ailin’s voice. She took a quick breath and squared her shoulders before turning to face her older sister. She had nothing to be afraid of. After all, she was only spying on Fan Enze for Ailin’s good.

“We’re taking a look at Fulan’s brother,” Ming­ming replied for them both.

Panic flashed across Ailin’s face. “Why is he here?”

“Heli dragged him to the persimmon courtyard to fly kites,” Ming­ming explained. “Fulan warned us to stay away from him because she thinks you and Meilin might seduce him before he marries the rich girl he’s supposed to.”

The frown forming on Ailin’s lips looked suspiciously like disappointment, but it vanished when she spoke. “If Fulan asked us to give her guest space, then we should. Especially if he is betrothed. That is not a joke. Come away from the wall, both of you.”

“Do we really have to hide like mice in our own house because of something Fulan said?” Ming­ming asked.

Meilin sympathized with her frustration. They were always surrendering to their sister-in-law’s pressure. It wasn’t right.

Their conversation was interrupted by the thud of a fall onto gravel.

“Uncle, you’re hurt!” Heli shrieked. “I’m getting Grandma!”

The moments flew by faster than Meilin could react. Even as Fan Enze was shouting for Heli to stop, Ailin was already scurrying toward the other courtyard as quickly as her small feet could carry her. It was as if she could not resist the pull of Fan Enze in trouble, regardless of what she declared was proper or smart.