“You are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You are.”
This continued until she started crying. I covered my ears, not wanting to marry someone younger and have to play with her every day.
She cried, “Mother said that if someone has her mark, they belong to her. Now you have my mark… so you are my person…”
I couldn’t stand it anymore and said angrily, “Fine, then I am. Just wipe your nose first.”
She suddenly laughed and moved closer to me. I became alert and tried to retreat, but it was too late. She wiped her runny nose on my clothes, making them sticky. I was furious. I was not a rag! I pushed her down and lay on top of her, wanting to hit her, but she was not fighting back.
“Why aren’t you resisting?” I asked. I knew my strength was not as great as hers; although she was younger, she already knew some martial arts. She replied with a hint of doting, “No matter how Yuer bullies me, I will never resist…”
“Who’s bullying you?” I was displeased, as it felt like I was picking on her, when clearly she was always ‘bullying’ me. I thought that if she couldn’t get married in the future, she would find me.
Xiaomo seemed not to hear my words. She wrapped her arms around my waist, her small, chubby, dirty hands, saying, “I like Yuer bullying me…” I mourned the fact that my clothes were about to be ruined. Suddenly realizing I was still lying on top of her, I quickly got up, but she pulled me back down and hugged me, giggling, “I only let Yuer bully me. In the future, you will become my Yuer beauty.”
At that moment, I considered becoming her cherished Yuer beauty, drawing parallels with Hengguan and Huayan Meiren or my mother’s affection for my father. I glanced at Xiaomo, who was licking my little finger, her runny nose on my hand. I felt itchy all over and quickly climbed off her. I no longer wanted to be her Yuer beauty; it was too dirty.
Looking at the unkempt Xiaomo, I doubted, “You definitely were not born to Huayan Meiren.” Hengguan was strict yet elegant, and Huayan Meiren was even more so. How could such parents produce someone like Xiaomo?
