A Heart Longing to Return at Dusk

To win over the aloof Buddhist devotee Shen Yuxiu, I pretended to be a delicate, innocent flower for three years.

Dressed in plain clothes and simple hairpins, I paid my respects morning and night. I even pressed my palms together and chanted sutras whenever an ant passed his window.

Then, on the day he returned victorious, he brought back a young woman who looked seven parts like me, but was vibrant and radiant. I packed my things that very night and prepared to flee, only for him to catch me around the waist with his Buddhist prayer beads and pull me back into his arms. "You've cheated me out of three years' worth of incense offerings," he murmured, biting the back of my neck. "Shouldn't you repay me with interest, and earn a little merit?"