“No.”
“Then why you are so dressed up?”
“This is all I have. I just added some makeup. It’s like this every day at home. I look better with makeup. And it shows respect for our visitors. I hope Zhuang Laoshi won’t think I’m shallow.”
“Why would I think that? That’s how a woman should be. It’s a great outfit.”
His heart skipped a beat when he saw that she was wearing the shoes he had given her. She noticed his reaction and announced:
“Everything on me is five years old, Zhuang Laoshi, except for the shoes. They’re brand-new. What do you think? Like them?”
That put his mind at ease, for he knew she was saying it for Zhou Min’s benefit while letting him know that she hadn’t told her husband.
“Not bad,” Zhuang said. “Actually there’s no such thing as a good or a bad outfit. It all depends on the wearer.”
Zhou Min came in with a cluster of grapes he had just picked.
“She has a perfect figure for clothes. She bought these even though she has plenty of shoes, and they’re the only ones she’ll wear.”
That pleased Zhuang enormously. Why didn’t she tell her husband where the shoes came from? And why had she lied so naturally to him? Does that mean she’s interested in me?
“Zhou Min,” he said, “I came early to invite you two to lunch today. You have to put everything else aside. I’ve also invited the mother and wife of Wang Ximian, the painter, and Meng Yunfang and his wife. Now I have to go tell Meng and his wife and then go shopping for groceries.”
“We don’t deserve the honor,” Tang Wan’er said.
“I accepted your invitation, didn’t I?” Zhuang said.
“I’m sorry. We can’t wait to get to know those people, and it’s time we paid our respects to your wife. But there will be so many guests, I’m afraid we’re not presentable enough. We’d make you lose face.”
“We’re friends, so no more talk like that. Wan’er, did you ask Xia Jie to give my wife a jade bracelet?”
“Yes, why? Wouldn’t she take it?”
“That’s not it. She didn’t think she should have taken it, since she had yet to meet you.”
“Oh, it’s not worth anything. Zhou Min gave a bracelet to Xia Jie because Meng Laoshi introduced us to you, and I thought your wife should have one, too, so I asked Xia Jie to take one over.”
Zhuang took out a cloth bundle.
“She asked me to give you this in return,” he said. “I hope you like it.”
She took it. “It’s the thought that counts. I’d love it even if it were a lump of clay.”
The opened bundle revealed an ancient bronze mirror, which drew a cry from her.
“Come take a look, Zhou Min.”
“You’re making it hard on me, Zhuang Laoshi,” Zhou said. “This is a rare treasure!”
“It’s just a nice thing to have, that’s all.”
She looked into it, saying she had heard of bronze mirrors and had always wondered how you could see yourself in one. She was surprised to see that it was as clear as glass, so she replaced a painted plate on the table with the mirror, on its stand, to admire herself.
“Now you’re showing off,” Zhou Min said.
“I was just wondering who might have owned this in ancient times and how she would have put on makeup in front of it,” she said with a pout. “Zhou Min, you’ve been careless with the antique roof tiles I used to collect, putting them all over the place. You even broke one. Now, this mirror is a treasure, so don’t you touch it.”
“Do you really think I don’t know what’s valuable and what’s not?” he said, with an embarrassed look at Zhuang.
“Why don’t you deliver the lunch invitation instead of Zhuang Laoshi,” she said, “and buy some gifts while you’re at it? Maybe it’s Zhuang Laoshi or Shimu’s birthday.”
“It’s nobody’s birthday. Food is secondary; the important thing is getting together with friends,” Zhuang said.
Zhou got up to leave, and so did Zhuang.
“I’ll go tell them, so you can stick around,” Zhou Min said, “If you haven’t had breakfast yet, Wan’er can go out for some rice and jujube cakes and some tofu jelly.”
Zhuang sat down, saying he’d rest a while.
As soon as Zhou Min left, Tang Wan’er shut the gate.
“I’ll go get some rice cakes, then,” she said when she returned.
Suddenly Zhuang felt anxious. He got to his feet but then sat back down.
“I don’t normally eat breakfast, but get something for yourself if you want.”
“I won’t eat if you don’t,” she said with a smile, her lively eyes fixed on Zhuang, which made him hot all over. The bridge of his nose was prickled with sweat, but he bravely returned her gaze. She then sat down in front of him on a stool, putting one leg in back and resting the other one limply sideways against it. With the toe of her shoe barely touching the floor, she wore the shoe halfway off to expose her heel as she tried to balance herself on the stool. Zhuang could not keep his eyes off the dainty shoes.
“These fit perfectly. Just wearing them refreshes me.”
He reached out, made an arc in the air, and then pulled his hand back to cup his chin. She was quiet for a while before lowering her head and pulling her foot back.
“Zhuang Laoshi.”
“Yes?” He looked up and met her gaze; neither of them could think of anything to say.
“Don’t call me laoshi.”
“What should I call you?”
“Call me by my name. Laoshi creates a distance between us.”
“I could never do that,” she said as she stood up, at a loss for what to do, before going over to fuss with the bronze mirror.
“Meng Laoshi says you’re an avid collector of antiques. How could you bear to part with this mirror?”
“It makes me happy to see you enjoy it. Your surname is Tang, and this is from the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang dynasty, so it’s more fitting for you to have it. You’ve only seen the smooth bright side. Now take a closer look at the decoration on the back.”
She turned the mirror over to see a pair of mandarin ducks atop a water lily under the loop and mandarin ducks on both sides atop lotus flowers holding a ribbon in their beaks, while above the button were two cranes, their wings spread, their necks down, tugging on a sash with a heart knot.
Her eyes shone brightly as she read the description of the appearance and function of the mirror:
Reveals benevolence and virtue
foreshadows a long life
shows truth and beauty
highlights excellence and eminence
reflects dressing-table carriage
finds beauty in homeliness
displays blooming and withering
brightens like a full moon.
“Does this mirror have a name?”
“A bronze mirror with two cranes tugging a sash and mandarin ducks holding a ribbon.”
“How could Shimu part with this?”
Caught off guard, Zhuang did not know what to say. She was blushing so much that her forehead was bathed in tiny beads of sweat.
“You must be hot,” she said illogically, while getting up to prop open a window with a wooden peg. It was an old-fashioned window, with a nailed bottom half and a movable top. After several tries, she was unable to keep the peg in place, so she stood on tiptoes to fix it, stretching up and exposing her waist under the short blouse. He went over to help by putting the peg in place, but it slipped off, sending the window crashing down and causing her to scream in fright. When he reached out to steady her, she fell into his arms as if on a pulley. He turned her around, and they found each other’s lips; they stayed that way for a long time, breathing hard through their noses, as if glued together. ☐☐ ☐☐ ☐☐ [The author has deleted 23 words.]