At dusk, those familiar, heavy steps sounded in the courtyard. Xue Dongting pushed open the doors to greet him. The fisherman carried a wooden bucket, water slos.h.i.+ng and every now and then spilling over the sides.

Song Yuming gazed at that cloud of hair tilted askew, the somewhat lethargic-looking little wife. He held the bucket out to her. “I got lucky today and caught this huge perch. We can cook it tomorrow. It will help your body.”

Xue Dongting looked into the bucket. There was a grayish silver fish floundering around in the water, with silvery-white little scales and a blackish green stripe down its back and also some dark green coloring along the sides. Perch was quite delicious, much sought after by customers. There is a poem that goes: People flock to the river sh.o.r.e, for love of perch they just want more.

Song Yuming sighed. “In the old days there was an official who one day when the autumn wind was up thought back to the wild rice, water s.h.i.+eld soup, and perch slices of his hometown in Wu and said that a man should be comfortable and content in his life. How can he go a thousand miles away in the office of an official all for the sake of fame and wealth? That"s not the path to contentment. Better not to be an official.”

Xue Dongting"s heart trembled. She was well-read in the cla.s.sics, so she knew the story from The New Account of Tales of the World that the fisherman spoke of. “Is that why you came here, because you were homesick?”

He looked at her. He hadn"t expected her to ask him that. He suddenly remembered that she was not just a village girl, but was a woman with some education and knowledge of the world. He smiled. “I was just showing off just now, Dongting. This is not my hometown. I came here to seek a bit of comfort.”

“Will you one day leave this place?”

He thought for a moment but didn"t answer. He didn"t know the answer to that question. In these turbulent times, when men of talent were needed, would he really stay here the rest of his life?

Xue Dongting looked up at him, tears already welling in her seductive eyes. “Maybe one day you will leave this place, leave me, right?”

Song Yuming put his arm around her frail shoulder. “Dongting,” he said gently, “I have taken you as my wife, I will never abandon you.”

She was silent for a time. Then she said, “Let"s go inside.”

He didn"t know what the reason was, but he was not a boorish fellow, he could tell there was something on Xue Dongting"s mind. As for what is was, he had no idea.

But when he went inside and noticed his clothes on the trunk, he suddenly understood. He reached into his robe, but the bamboo & plum jade ornament was not there.

Xue Dongting"s face was placid as she helped him out of his damp outer robe. “Sit and rest, I will go cook.”

Song Yuming grabbed hold of his brooding little wife and pulled her into his arms. “Dongting, you may have seen something, but there are some things you don"t know… I never meant to hide it from you, I just didn"t know how to say it.”

Xue Dongting felt mistreated. “Then don"t say it!” She tried to pull away from the fisherman"s embrace.

Her burst of anger and unwillingness to listen made him anxious. He bent down and sweeped her up into his arms, brows furrowed. “Dongting, let me explain!”

She pummeled his chest over and over again. She didn"t want to hear it.

Song Yuming couldn"t help but think it funny. He never imagined his demure, delicate little flower of a wife could be so utterly unreasonable. Her held her while she whaled away at him even harder, until she had worn herself out. He whispered into her ear, “Tired?”

She glared, tears streaming down her face, silent.

Song Yuming sighed gently. “I didn"t tell you before because I felt the past was not worth mentioning. But now that you"ve seen it, wouldn"t I be stupid if I didn"t tell you now?”