A Widow's Allure

A wealthy young lady returning from overseas * a charming young widow of a stepmother

When the Xu family's daughter, Xu Shiwen, returned from studying abroad, the person who greeted her was not her bedridden father, but a woman whose full figure could not be hidden beneath her mourning clothes.

She was her mother in name only, Liu Ying, the last bride her father had married in hopes of warding off misfortune.

"Shiwen, you're back?" The woman's voice carried the lilting charm of the Wu region. She pretended to finger a string of Buddhist prayer beads. "Your father passed away the day before yesterday. From now on... there will only be the two of us in the Xu family, mother and daughter, relying on each other."

Xu Shiwen sat on the sofa, coolly sizing up the woman before her.

Her old qipao had been washed until it shone, outlining her graceful curves. Timid and old-fashioned, she was a pitiful woman from a fallen family, sold by her relatives to the Shen family to bring them good fortune, only to be widowed soon after. Yet she was unwilling to be nothing more than a pretty ornament.

"The Xu family has never supported people with impure intentions. Keep to your place, and perhaps you'll have a roof over your head. What do you think, Stepmother?"

Liu Ying tightened her grip on the prayer beads and lowered her eyes, answering meekly, "The young lady is right. I understand."

Only later did Xu Shiwen realize that the woman's submissiveness was the deep-rooted result of old-fashioned beliefs, while her cleverness was devoted to surviving cautiously in the Shen family.

She truly thought of herself as an elder, wanting to look after Xu Shiwen and using her outdated rules to urge her to "be a modest young woman" and "choose a husband and marry soon."

Until Xu Shiwen drank too much. The alcohol and her suppressed desire drove her stepmother into a corner of the ancestral hall, where her father's memorial tablet was enshrined.

Her breath burning hot, she kissed her.

"Shiwen! I'm your mother. You can't... Heaven will strike us down for this!"

"Ha. Mother? What kind of mother are you to me?"

"Stepmother, you've read so many sutras. Did Buddha ever tell you why your body trembles when you think about your stepdaughter?"

"Stop... I beg you, don't..."

Liu Ying's voice broke apart. She shook her head, her hair coming loose and making her look even more alluring.

"Why bother? Why won't you admit it? Do human relationships and moral rules matter that much? But, Stepmother... you look much happier inside. Your body is far more honest than your mouth."

Theme: Keep striving to improve.