Xu Ying poked Xue Dongting in the forehead with her index finger. "Girl, why are you crying?"
Xue Dongting wiped her tears and forced a smile. "It was just something you said." She looked at Xu Ying's needlework and suddenly thought of something. "Sister, is it easy to sew shoes?"
Xu Ying snorted. "It's easy enough, but who are you making shoes for?"
Xue Dongting realized she was making fun of her and turned away. "Sister, if you don't want to teach me then nevermind."
Xu Ying knew she was sensitive so she stopped teasing her. She told her how to sew the soles, how to make the instep, she told her everything down to the finest detail. She even got out some material for making the shoe soles and walked her through it step by step. Xue Dongting paid close attention. They talked all afternoon. At dusk, Xue Dongting saw it was getting late and stood and took her leave.
She walked back to her little thatched hut alone in the twilight. The sight of that little cottage made her realize for the first time that she didn't want to leave it, didn't want to leave the man in that cottage.
In a side wing of Cloudgem Lodge, a pretty, still childlike girl was nestled in Madame Qiao's arms. She looked up and asked, "I wonder what Second Sister is doing right now? We haven't danced together in a long time."
That girl was Yuansheng. Madame Qiao rubbed her straight little nose. "Your second sister is married, what would she be dancing for?"
"You can't dance anymore once you're married?"
"Once married there are a lot of things to keep you busy, cooking and cleaning and the like. Where's the time for leisure?"
The girl frowned. "Really? Then I don't want to get married. If I get married and can't sing and dance and play the zither, that would be so boring!"
Madame Qiao smiled. "Foolishness, how can you not get married?"
The girl leaned back and thought, then said decisively, "I'm not getting married, I want to stay with you, Mama Qiao."
Madame Qiao dismissed this with a laugh. These three girls were not really her children, but she had watched them grow up and had always considered them her own. Once this monk made a prophetic remark. He said of her three girls, two would be special. One would support a dragon, the other, one was fated to be a young phoenix.
The old monk was all over the place talking incoherently, so Mama Qiao had not taken it to heart. But now it sprang into her mind again and she was lost in thought. She thought of her three girls. One had married a squire as a concubine, another had married a fisherman. What was all this supporting dragons and young phoenixes? She smiled wearily and looked at Yuansheng in her arms. "Just wait and see what good fortune comes your way. How can you just stay with me as an old maid?"
Yuansheng shifted her radiant eyes, thinking about Second Sister's big, strong husband. "Does Second Brother-in-law treat Second Sister well?"
"He treats her very well by the looks of things. Normally, given your second sister's temper, how could she not complain?"
Yuansheng nodded, grinning. "When they were here the other day, Second Sister seemed really happy."
Mama Qiao nodded. "Your second sister married a fisherman, so she will lead a humble life, but much better than your Big Sister. Wealthy families fight and scheme against each other. Your big sister can handle herself, but if it were you, the main wife would have already ground your bones to dust."
The girl was distressed. Though she wasn't as close to Big Sister as she was to Second Sister, after all they had all grown up together. She wrinkled her brow. "Big Sis may be smart, but she's not as wickedly clever as Second Sister. One of these days, we should get Second Sister to give Big Sis some advice."
"Nonsense, your second sister is only sixteen, what does she know?"