The sun was beautiful, with the light like gold over the roof of the house. The day that Yang had been waiting for arrived. The five young ladies already prepared for the trip with the man that most of the city girls were dreaming of.
To make it look like what they had told—that they were busy—Yang Fu and his ladies did not show up around their daughters.
The gentleman Longwei arrived on time at the residence of Yang. Lantian also presented along with her brother. Each of them brought their own maid. As for Yang's young ladies, among the five, only Ehuang took her private servant. Her name was Xiaojie. When Lantian saw Xiaojie, she seemed to have a strange feeling about her—it seemed she had met her, but not face-to-face.
First place for the young travelers to visit was the pagoda that was located in the middle of Lin'an city. It was a famous tourist site of the capital; everyone from everywhere did not miss visiting this locale. Since Yang's girls just came from the province, they were not familiar with the city.
"Young Master Wu, what is this place?" Ehuang said.
"It is the Central Pagoda," Longwei said.
"Central Pagoda!"
"Yes," Longwei grinned. "It is the biggest pagoda in Lin'an. It is believed to be the holy shrine. Everyone likes to come here to ask for help; most of them ask for passing exams, growing a business, marriage, and a baby."
The younger ones arrived at a temple.
"It is called a praying temple," Longwei narrated. "People come to pray and ask for help here."
All juveniles stepped into the hall through the large double doors. Before their eyes was the statue of Buddha, about five meters high, in the manner of giving a blessing, stored in the middle of the hall. On the floor, in front of the statue, there were pillows in the shape of lotuses. Between the statue and the pillows, there were few wooden containers with wooden sticks inside.
"In our hometown, we have this box too," Liqing said. "People wish in their minds and then shake the box until the stick comes out. On the stick, there is a number. We'll take the stick to find the meaning of the number to see if our wish is successful or fails."
"Correct," Longwei said. "It is the same here."
"Elder sisters," Li Ai stated. "We should pray for our parents."
"Right." Liqing nodded.
"Xiaojie, take the incense," Ehuang said.
"Yes, Miss."
Hurriedly, Xiaojie went to find the gums. After she turned their tips to smoke, she handed them to her mistress before the others. Then she provided it to the siblings of her lady, but she did not give it to Caihong. As for Longwei, his male maid organized it for him and offered it to Lantian also, and Xiaolan received it instead of her.
"Give it to her," Lantian said and pointed her chin at Caihong, who was standing before her.
"Yes," Xiaolan said, and then she brought the incense to Caihong.
Without knowing whoever sent her, the girl expressed thanks to Xiaonlan, then knelt down behind her sisters.
While the brother and young ladies were praying, Lantian stood silently by the door. It did not mean she did not believe in Buddha, but in her own opinion, success was received by hard work, not by praying. However, her eyes did not stop following the second girl of Yang; she was eager to know what the colleen was wishing in her mind.
After praying to the Buddha, Ehuang, Liqing, Li Ai, and Lifen shook the box.
"Where can we get the interpretation?" Liqing said.
"Young Master, the interpreter is outside," the maid of Longwei said.
"Um." Longwei nodded, then he talked to the ladies. "I'll take you there."
When they crossed the door, Lifen said to Liqing, "Elder sister, I want to go to the restroom."
"The restroom is at the back," Longwei said.
"Then Li Ai, you help get the interpretations. I go with Lifen," Liqing said.
"Yes," Li Ai said.
"Shan," Longwei called with the motive to tell his maid to take care of the young ladies of Yang to the restroom, but Lantian suggested, "Let Xiaolan do it."
"Um." Longwei nodded.
**
**
*
At the present, only Lantian and Caihong remained under the shade of a big tree before the shrine.
While waiting, Lantian peeped at the lassie that was standing next to her. She saw her like crystal eyeballs watching the view around without rest. Her face showed big excitement, and she was touching her own fingers. It was an action of a person that was trying to control their mind when they wanted to do something but they were prohibited from doing. Via these, Lantian concluded that the junior was lacking confidence; it could be she did not ever go out of home often or she did not have enough money.
What the female scholar guessed was not wrong. Since birth, Caihong has been raised in a separate homestead. She was not allowed to get out of home, even to go near the front gate. She was prohibited from showing up at the main house. Also, she was told to not disclose her identity as a daughter of Yang. In her hometown, she had lived with an old wet nurse from day to night. The old lady had taught her housework and some needlework. Once or twice a month, the old woman had taken her to the market. When she was a teenager, the wet nurse had retired and returned home, so she has lived alone ever since. At the present house, Caihong did everything by herself—cleaning, washing up, and doing laundry. She entered the kitchen too, and the ingredients were supported by the main house. Unless she needed her personal things or specific food, she was permitted to go to the market with the home maids to buy. Money was in the hand of the maid; the girl was not allowed to hold the cash. When she wanted to buy something, she informed the maid, and then she would pay for it. Furthermore, she could not step out frequently and enjoyed the market longer. Life was like being in a prison; however, Caihong did not ever complain a word. She thought, at least, she did not starve to death and had a shelter to protect her from the rain and wind.
When it seemed that the brother and young ladies would not come soon, Lantian took a chance to go near the younger girl.
"What did you wish for?" she said.
Caihong did not utter; also, she did not span to the speaker.
"A lover?"
The younger girl still ignored the elder woman.
"I think you asked for a lover, and that's my brother."
Caihong stared at the female speaker through the tips of her eyes. "Nonsense," she said.
"Nonsense?" Lantian smirked. "Don't be shy. It's common." She leaned close to the ear of Caihong and then spoke in a low voice, "If you are interested in my brother, I can help."
The female junior pulled her body one step further and rotated her eyes to look straight. "Stop speaking nonsense. I don't have interest in your brother."
"Really?" Lantian simpered. "My brother is handsome and kind, and he is the heir of the family. There are many women wanting him. Look at your sisters; they are competing for him too. If you can marry him, you will be the young madame of Wu; you will live on money."
"Though it is a golden mountain, still, I have no interest."
"Many women speak like this, but they lie."
"It's them, not me. If I say no, it means no."
"Don't you love my brother?"
"No," Caihong said. She kept her eyes straight. "Stop bothering me."
Hearing it, Lantian shut her lips, but she scanned the eyes of her conversation partner and then followed the direction that she was looking at. At the opposite site, a man was yelling, "Candy, candy."
The wealthy female inspected the young lady watching the round red lollipops without dropping eyes. It looked like she was hungry for that candy so much. That kind of sweet was a good memory once Caihong was a child. The girl remembered her wet nurse had bought it for her when she had taken her to the market. Her mind really wanted to go to it, but her feet did not have the braveness to step out—because she had no money, and Lantian caught it. Actually, she wanted to buy it for her, but she believed she would not accept; hence, she had to use someone.
Later on, all the members came back.
"Second brother," Lantian said. "I want candy."
"Fine," Longwei said, smiling. Then he told his maid to buy, but not only for his sister; he bought for everyone.
When Ehaung expected to get the sweet from the hand of Longwei, the male innocently handed the candy to only his sister. However, Lantian did not eat it. She held it in hand while her eyes threw toward the illegitimate daughter of Yang, who was extending her lips when she got the candy from the hand of Shan.
"Where do we continue to go?" Li Ai said.
"Over there, there is a lake. It has a lot of mandarin ducks," Longwei said.
"Good. I want to see the mandarin ducks," Lifen yelled.
"Let's go," Longwei said and led the group.
As for Lantain, she waited for others to go first, then she gave her pure candy to her maid, "I give you."
Xiaolan opened her eyes. She remembered that her lady said she wanted candy, but she did not touch it and gave it to her lady. The action of the mistress made her wonder; however, she could not refuse and had to receive.