had managed to maneuver around him to stand beside her. He granted her a smile that was full of even white teeth. “You must have interesting stories to tell about this fool.”
“I do...but only if one wants to hear about Guo Baozhen. Do you?”
“On second thought, I don’t. Not really.”
They shared a laugh. How charming.
Baozhen was preparing to insert himself back into the conversation when dear Ming-ha chimed in. “Let’s go see the fish pond.”
She took his arm and held on tight before he could slip away.
“Let’s all go together,” he said, loud enough to interrupt Lian and Jinhai. Ming-ha’s nails dug lightly into his forearm.
Jinhai gallantly took Lian’s side as they circled the pond, remaining a respectful arm’s length away—which was still too close in Baozhen’s opinion.
“Our fathers often do business with each other,” Jinhai was saying. “Mister Chen is a tough businessman, but always fair.”
“My father speaks very highly of yours, as well,” Lian replied. “Funny how our families know each other but we two have never met.”
“I’m grateful that fate brought me to the park this morning, Miss Lian.”
“I was having the same thought.”
Baozhen snorted, causing both of them to turn to look at him. Lian lashed him with a glare. He replied with a smirk.
The two of them turned back to their conversation. Jinhai was being a gentleman, the dog. He was commenting on the beauty of nature and even stole a few verses from the poet Li Bai. Lian was nodding politely, offering a few meek words here and there.
Baozhen couldn’t believe how bland the conversation was. It was nothing like the spirited exchanges he and Lian shared.
One turn around the carp pond later and Lian took her leave of Jinhai with a proper bow. Baozhen needn’t have worried. Jinhai must have thoroughly bored her for Lian to give up so easily. He knew her temperament. She had no tolerance for coy little games.
He was beaming in triumph when she came to him to say farewell. He wouldn’t tease her too much about this, he resolved.
She leaned in to take him into her confidence. “Thank you,” she whispered softly.
The look she gave him was full of joy. Her smile brightened and the warmth of it radiated throughout her. Baozhen’s own smile quickly faded.
Lian looked happy. Happier than he could remember ever seeing her. All for a few lines of stolen poetry from some peacock who barely knew her.
Lian placed the pebble into the leather sling and took careful aim. She was perched on top of the gardener’s ladder, which raised her high enough over the courtyard wall to see into the alleyway. She also had clear sight of the side entrance to the Guo residence. As soon as Baozhen appeared, she let the pebble fly. It flew past his ear and struck against the gate.
“Hey—”
She sighed. “I must be out of practice.”
Baozhen brushed a hand over the front of his tunic to regain his composure.
He glanced up at her from the alleyway, showing off the strong cut of his jaw and that playful mouth. “Miss Lian, I see that you’re in a bloodthirsty mood today.”
Some of the successful merchants in the ward wore bright embroidered fabrics, as a show of their wealth, but Baozhen and his family favored muted, darker colors. He didn’t need a bright banner to draw attention to himself.
“Have you heard?” she asked.
Baozhen responded with a raised eyebrow—a look that he thought made him endearing. Most of the neighborhood girls agreed.
“Liu Jinhai sent my family a gift of tea and lychees yesterday,” she said smugly.
“Hmm...lychees. You must have really made an impression.”
So at ease with himself. It wasn’t a matter of pride or vanity for him. Everything came naturally to him.
“There’s some creature hovering at your head, there,” he remarked.
She couldn’t help gloating. She touched a hand to the gilded hummingbird ornament. “It’s a hairpin. Jinhai had it delivered to me personally.”
“Let me guess: along with a few lines of poetry that he copied from somewhere?”
She sniffed, refusing to let him dim her glow. Baozhen disappeared momentarily into his house to re-emerge atop his wall. They were now face-to-face across the two compounds.
“So, only two days and Liu Jinhai is already introducing himself to your parents and sending you gifts?”
“Nothing as impressive as a slingshot,” she pointed out wickedly.
“I should have thought more carefully about arming you. I don’t think you’ll miss next time, and this handsome face is the only asset I have.”
“Don’t forget the mouth part of that face,” she retorted.
He laughed at that, and a lazy warmth filled her. It was so wonderful, speaking with Baozhen like this. All his attention was focused on her and it didn’t matter what they said. The only thing that mattered was spending time in his company.
“Now that you’ve shown yourself to be so highly sought after...” he began.
She preened accordingly.
“Are you certain you want to limit yourself to only one admirer? You should have an army of suitors pushing their way through the gates.”
“Not everyone needs to surround themselves with a flock of admirers,” Lian scoffed. “Some of us are only looking for one person to make us happy.”
He frowned, confused.
“Liu Jinhai actually thinks I’m pretty,” she added, a little too shyly.
“I think you’re pretty,” he replied, a little too easily.
“You call me ‘alley cat.’ Like all the scrawny strays prowling the streets.”
“I’ll have to come up with a better name. That one hardly suits you anymore.”
He granted her a look that was far from brotherly and her toes curled with delight. He didn’t even have to make an effort to coax every part of her into drawing toward him with longing.
“Are you going to the banquet tonight at the Ko mansion?” he asked.
Ko was the registrar, whose offices recorded and
