Xue Dongting turned away and ignored that rascal who had taken advantage of her.

Song Yuming turned her head back around so that they were looking at each other. She blinked and in a mousy voice said, “Still hurts.”

He smiled. “Want me to rub it?”

She went “Pooh” a few times and turned away on her side and faced the wall. 　　

Song Yuming laughed. He knew if he kept on teasing her, his sixteen-year-old bride would really get mad, so he changed the subject. “Old Zhang said busy has been good the past couple of days. I"m gonna go out and ferry people across the river.”

“Mm,” she said. “Make sure you wear enough… I"ll bring you lunch at noon.”

He smiled. “No need. Forget about it today. You can bring it tomorrow.”

She curled her lips and muttered, “You feel such pity for me now, then what got into you last night?”

Song Yuming stooped over and kissed his brooding little wife"s cheek. “There"s sweet candied dates on the stove. Eat some if you get hungry. Take it easy today.”

Xue Dongting turned and looked at him. “Then you… come back soon.”

Song Yuming"s heart swam with warmth. “With a wife at home waiting for me,” he said gently, “Of course I will come home soon.”

She pushed him away, blus.h.i.+ng bashfully. “Go on then.”

He smiled and turned and went out.

Xue Dongting heard the door close and she shut her eyes and lay on the bed. Even with her eyes closed her mind was filled with images of Song Yuming"s face and body. In her ears was the gentle sound of him calling her. Anyway she couldn"t sleep. She threw on some clothes and got up. Her legs were stiff and sore. She combed her hair and washed her face and sat back down by the brazier, eating a few warm candied dates, then she took up her sewing she had only half-finished and continued working on it.

Her eye suddenly caught sight of the pile of hemp clothes on the trunk. It was the inner robe Song Yuming had taken off last night. She got up to put it away and discovered a few spots of blood on it. She blushed, knowing that was hers. She decided to wash it. But when she picked it up a roundish object dropped out and rolled on the floor, rolling over twice before coming to a stop.

Xue Dongting squatted and picked the thing up and took a good look at it. It was a piece of jade. Plum blossoms were carved into its surface on one side, on the other stalks of bamboo.

You came in riding a bamboo horse, circled around my stool playing with green plums.

Xue Dongting"s heart froze as she looked at the jade ornament. This was a token of betrothal between Song Yuming and some childhood sweetheart!

She was lost in a daze, her heart a tangle of emotions. It was as if all she had longed for in an instant had become an illusion. She squatted there on the floor for a long time, until her legs started to tingle, then she stood up unsteadily, tottering a few times as she walked to the edge of the bed, at a loss as to what she should do.

Song Yuming was thirty-three, why had he not taken a wife until now? Or did he already have a wife? If so, then what was she?

He had moved to a foreign village far away. What did he used to do? What had his life been like?

Xue Dongting suddenly found it all funny. She knew nothing about this man, yet she had given herself over to him completely. If she had just been a mere singsong girl from some border town then fine, but she had been born again. How could she live so stupidly this time around?

She put the jade ornament back on the table. Since she had seen it she couldn"t just pretend that she hadn"t. But she would not ask him. She would wait for the fisherman to explain it himself.

If he really loved her he wouldn"t deceive her.

She was in a bit of a stupor, but, what if he didn"t love her? What if he had been soft and gentle with her only because she was his wife?

In the end, was he treating his wife well, or was he treating Xue Dongting well?