Xian waited, eyes wide, practically vibrating.
Mei really did not want to say it. Saying it out loud was the same as handing Li Feng a compliment directly and she would rather sit on this chair for the rest of her life. But she looked at Xian's face. That completely open, completely trusting little face waiting for an answer with everything she had.
*Li Feng.* Mei's jaw tightened slightly. *You despicable man. Using my own niece against me.*
She let out a quiet breath.
"It's really delicious," she said softly. Looking at Xian. Not at Li Feng.
"Yay!" Xian threw both hands up. "Xian and Daddy made it! Xian and Daddy made it!"
Mei looked at her niece's joy and felt her jaw unclench just slightly. Then she looked up at Li Feng. She held his gaze and said it clean and flat with absolutely no warmth attached to it.
"Thank you."
Li Feng gave a small nod. *It's a start.*
Both settled into their seats and the family ate quietly.
---
The day went by quickly. The sun was almost setting by the time Li Feng and Xian had migrated to the living room, the two of them side by side in front of the television watching a kids cartoon. Xian had Baozi in her lap. Li Feng had his eyes on the screen with the same calm expression he brought to everything.
In the dining room Zhao Lihua and Mei sat together, the table cleared, the evening settling around them.
"I'll be visiting more often, Jiejie," Mei said, holding her sister's hand.
"You have your own life to live, Mei." Zhao Lihua squeezed her hand and did not let go. She tilted her head slightly. "And my little sister is not getting any younger. When are you going to get a boyfriend?"
Mei's calm face flickered. Just slightly. Just enough.
Zhao Lihua caught it immediately. Her eyes went wide. "Don't tell me you already have one."
"We will talk about that another day," Mei said, her face still carrying a little color. She cleared her throat. "I'm just glad you're okay."
Zhao Lihua smiled and let it go.
Mei was quiet for a moment. Then — "Jiejie." Her voice shifted, softer now. "What about your designs?"
Zhao Lihua looked at her.
"You were good," Mei said. "You were really good. People used to line up just to have you make something for them. I remember women coming to the door with fabric in their hands before you had even finished the last order." She leaned forward slightly. "You had a real gift, Jiejie. Everyone knew it."
Zhao Lihua was quiet.
"You gave it all up when you got pregnant," Mei said. Not as an accusation. Just the truth, laid down gently between them.
The evening light came through the window and neither of them spoke for a moment.
Zhao Lihua managed a small smile. "People move on."
Mei opened her mouth to continue.
"It's all in the past now." Zhao Lihua cut her off gently. She glanced toward the living room, the sound of the cartoon drifting through. "Besides." A big smile spread across her face. "It was a great trade off. Nothing compares to the precious gift that came after."
She looked at Xian on the sofa, Baozi tucked under one arm, completely absorbed in the screen.
"My beautiful Xian."
Mei still had plenty more to say. But she couldn't say anything to that. She looked at her sister's face, the softness in it, the way her eyes had gone to Xian without even thinking.
"As long as you're happy," she said quietly.
Mei stood up. "It's time for me to go."
---
Li Feng heard it from the living room. He sat with it for a moment.
He didn't know. He hadn't known any of it. Fashion design. People lining up at her door just to have her make something for them. A real gift. Given up quietly without a word.
*What does he actually know about her.*
He turned it over quietly and said nothing.
"I'll see you out," he said, standing.
Mei's expression shifted immediately. She opened her mouth.
Zhao Lihua reached over and caught her hand, pulling it gently. "That would be great," she answered for her, with a smile.
Mei looked at her sister for a beat. Then reluctantly turned back.
Zhao Lihua had watched Li Feng try everything today. Every small attempt to get even a civil word from Mei. None of it had worked. She had felt a little bad but there was nothing she could do about her sister. What she could do was this. She gave Li Feng the door and hoped he knew what to do with it.
---
The apartment door closed behind them. They walked out into the neighborhood together, the evening air settling around them, neither speaking. The streetlights had begun to come on. A few people moved past. The breeze came through quietly.
Li Feng tried first. "I —"
Mei stopped walking. She tilted her head and turned to face him.
He stopped.
"I don't like you," she said. Her voice was even. Calm in the way that meant she had thought about this for a long time. "And I still don't." She looked at him directly. "My sister gave you her heart. And what did you do with it?"
Li Feng looked down.
"I came here to drag her out. Away from you. Away from all of it." Her voice didn't rise. It didn't need to. "What exactly have you given her all these years. Tell me. Because from where I was standing all I could see was pain."
Li Feng said nothing. There was nothing to say. The man who had done those things was gone but the weight of it was still here, still sitting on everything, and he could not outrun it simply by being different now.
Then Mei's voice settled.
"But my sister looked happy today." A small smile moved across her face briefly. "And she wasn't faking it. I know when she fakes it."
The smile faded.
She stepped closer. Her voice dropped low. "Li Feng. If that smile ever fades again." She held his gaze and didn't blink. "I will devote the rest of my life to making yours miserable."
The breeze moved through. A quiet stretched between them.
"You don't have to like me," Li Feng said finally. He met her eyes. "But I will become a man worthy of her smile. Every day. Without fail." He paused. "You have my word."
"You'd better," Mei replied coldly. She held his gaze for one more second. Then she turned and walked away.
Li Feng stood there for a moment watching her go.
*He could respect that.* A woman who showed up ready to burn everything down for her sister without a second thought. That was not something he could be angry about.
He turned and walked back. He opened the door.
Zhao Lihua was on the sofa, Xian curled up beside her, already half asleep with Baozi tucked under her chin. Zhao Lihua looked up when he came in. Their eyes met across the room.
"How did it go?" she asked quietly.
Li Feng looked at her. The evening light caught her face soft and still, her silver hair loose, one hand resting gently on Xian's back.
He thought about the fashion designs. The women at the door with fabric in their hands. Everything she had set down without a word and never picked back up.
*How much of her is still buried under everything that happened.*
"Fine," he said.
He sat down.