Read Chapter 21: — DAIDI'S LAST REQUEST

Daidi came to Cimo Hall shortly before her wedding to Qiu Bin.

Mufeng gave her the boxwood comb.

"A wedding gift."

She traced the carved mandarin ducks with her thumb.

"Why aren't you giving this to Yonghe?"

"There is only one."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"It answers enough of it."

The comb had once represented the mystery of Mufeng's birth. Giving it away did not erase the past. It changed what the object meant. He would not let an unanswered question own the rest of his life.

Daidi lowered her head.

"Can I ask you for one more thing?"

"Within reason."

"Hold me. Once. Not like a brother."

Mufeng said nothing.

She turned to leave.

He stepped forward and embraced her.

For a few seconds she held him tightly, the faint sweet-bitter smell of pear candy rising from her hair exactly as it had when they were children.

"I was so jealous of Xia Yonghe," she whispered.

"Daidi—"

She pushed him away gently.

"Don't. From today on, I'm Qiu Bin's wife."

Mufeng managed a smile. "Mrs. Qiu, then."

At the doorway she looked back.

"He says he likes the smell of pear candy."

"I know. He used to steal it before any of us did."

She laughed through tears.

"We were poor then. But we were happy."

"We are allowed to be happy now too. It just costs more effort."

She left.

Mufeng stood alone in the old room and let the grief pass through him without trying to name it.

Some loves became marriages.

Some became memory.

Some became the knowledge that another person had once understood you before you understood yourself.