On the day Yun Che turns twenty-two, he receives a cryptic text from his father: “Pack your bags. Be at Cangyun Ridge tomorrow at noon.”
Thinking it's a family gathering, Yun Che happily sets off. But at the mist-shrouded mountain gate, he sees an old-fashioned sedan chair decked with silver bells and flowers. Before he can react, several older sisters in embroidered skirts laughingly usher him inside. They carry him, swaying all the way, up to an ancient village a thousand meters above sea level.
Drums and music fill the village, and the air is fragrant with rice wine. Yun Che assumes it's a traditional cultural experience, until he's led into an ancient wooden hall carved from whole logs and hung with crescent-shaped silver ornaments. There, he meets the gaze of a man in an indigo embroidered robe, a silver-thread shawl draped over his shoulders, his features as austere as snow on distant mountains.
The man stands tall and straight as a pine, his silver ornaments chiming softly. He gives Yun Che a cool glance, then turns and walks beneath the totem hanging high in the center of the hall.
The clan elder officiating the ceremony speaks in a booming voice that rings through the hall, past the candlelight and silver gleam:
“Offerings to the Moon God, a union blessed by fate. Let the ceremony begin!”
Only then does Yun Che finally realize what's going on. Wait, this isn't a performance? Am I... getting married?
