Why Is the Little Mom Blushing?

When Qiu Jingyu returned from studying abroad and stepped into the Qiu residence in her slender high heels, Bai Zhixi was sitting in the flower hall, leafing through a thread-bound copy of Li Qingzhao's Ci Poems.

Sunlight filtered through the latticed windows and fell across her fair wrist, making the hand holding the book look like a stretch of fresh snow. Hearing footsteps, she looked up. A lingering scholarly air still hung about her features as she gazed quietly at Qiu Jingyu.

Qiu Jingyu froze for a moment.

Before leaving the country, she'd heard that her father had remarried, taking as his wife a young woman from a scholarly family, just three years older than her. She'd assumed the woman was a vulgar social climber, but she had never expected someone so refined and elegant.

"Jingyu." Qiu Xuguang rose from his armchair, his voice carrying the authority of the head of the household. "Why haven't you greeted your stepmother?"

Qiu Jingyu's gaze lingered on Bai Zhixi's face for a moment, then her lips curved into a smile as she gave an exquisitely graceful curtsey. "Jingyu respectfully greets her stepmother. May you and my father enjoy a happy marriage and grow old together."

Every word was perfectly obedient, but her smile never reached her eyes.

Bai Zhixi closed her book and inclined her head slightly. Her voice was as cool and clear as snowmelt in early spring. "You're too kind, Miss."

Later, everyone at the Qiu residence found it remarkable. Though the new Madam and the eldest young lady were of different generations, they were close in age, yet somehow managed to live together in peace. Bai Zhixi read and practiced calligraphy in the flower hall every day. When Qiu Jingyu happened to pass by, she would stop to ask her for a cup of tea. The two sat across from each other at a rosewood table. They didn't say much, but the silence was never awkward.

When the steam curled up from their tea, Qiu Jingyu would think how lovely her stepmother smelled. It wasn't perfume, but the scent of ink and paper mixed with aged tea. The longer she breathed it in, the softer her heart felt.

Then, one evening, Qiu Jingyu came home with a young man in a sharp suit.

His name was Song Mingyuan. She'd met him while studying abroad, and he'd pursued her for over half a year. Qiu Jingyu wasn't particularly fond of him. Her father had urged her time and again to meet suitable marriage prospects, so she'd brought home the first man at hand, hoping to put a stop to the nagging.

Bai Zhixi was sitting beneath the covered walkway, feeding the koi. At the sound of footsteps, she looked back. Her gaze swept over Song Mingyuan's ingratiating smile, then returned to Qiu Jingyu, suddenly turning colder.

"Break it off."

She spoke softly, but with unshakable certainty.

Song Mingyuan's smile froze. Qiu Jingyu raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to leave. Once his figure had vanished through the moon gate, she turned around at her leisure and leaned against a vermilion pillar, looking down at Bai Zhixi.

"Stepmother, you seem to be meddling a little too much."

Bai Zhixi scattered the last of the fish food into the pond and dusted her fingertips. She lifted her head. The setting sun gilded her eyes with a thin layer of gold, making them seem bottomless.

"Your father isn't home," she said unhurriedly. "It's only right that I take an interest in your marriage."

Qiu Jingyu bent down, closing the distance between them until Bai Zhixi could smell the tuberose clinging to her collar. Qiu Jingyu's lashes were long, and when she lowered them, they cast a small shadow beneath her eyes, giving her an expression that was difficult to read.

"Oh?" Her voice dropped low, like a feather brushing the rim of Bai Zhixi's ear. "And what kind of relationship gives you the right to care?"

Bai Zhixi's fingers tightened slightly around the spine of her book.

"What kind of relationship would you like?"

Qiu Jingyu straightened, waved to the maid waiting outside the covered walkway, then lifted her chin toward the direction Song Mingyuan had gone. The quick-witted maid immediately hurried off to pass along the message.

Now only the two of them remained in the courtyard.

The koi flicked their tails, splashing in the pond, and the copper wind chime beneath the walkway rang softly in the evening breeze. Qiu Jingyu stepped forward. Bai Zhixi instinctively retreated until her back met the cold pillar.

"Of course..."

Qiu Jingyu braced one hand against the pillar beside Bai Zhixi's ear, enclosing her in shadow. As she lowered her head, the stray hairs at her forehead brushed Bai Zhixi's brow.

"A relationship closer than that of stepmother and daughter."

A visible blush spread over Bai Zhixi's ear, then down her neck, like cinnabar bleeding into rice paper. She turned her face away, her voice trembling despite her efforts to control it. "How dare you... Let go! What if someone sees us?"

Qiu Jingyu let out a muffled laugh. Bai Zhixi felt the vibration through their thin clothes. Instead of backing away, Qiu Jingyu leaned even closer, her breath brushing Bai Zhixi's burning earlobe.

"Then would it be all right when we're alone?"

Bai Zhixi's face turned so red it seemed ready to bleed. She raised a hand and slapped Qiu Jingyu's cheek. The force was as light as a cat batting at a ball of yarn. The moment it landed, it made no sound at all.

Qiu Jingyu caught the wrist she hadn't yet drawn back and slowly rubbed her thumb over the pulse point. She could feel Bai Zhixi's pulse racing wildly beneath her skin. Lowering her head until her lips were almost against Bai Zhixi's ear, she whispered in a breathy voice only the two of them could hear.

"You hit me so lightly, Stepmother. Couldn't bring yourself to hurt me?"

Bai Zhixi flinched as if burned. She snatched her hand back and tried to push Qiu Jingyu away, but couldn't budge her. Qiu Jingyu retreated half a step with a smile, and saw her stepmother clutching her book against her chest. The eyes that were usually so calm brimmed with flustered tears, and her lips were pressed tightly together, as if one more word would make her burst into flames.

That night, the maids at the Qiu residence noticed that Madam had, for the first time, skipped her usual reading in the flower hall. She had shut herself in her room early, claiming to feel unwell and forbidding anyone from entering to attend to her. Only her personal maid, Chunxing, peered through the crack in the door. When she came back, she whispered to another young maid.

"Madam's face was so red, like she had a fever."

Early the next morning, when Qiu Xuguang returned from the Chamber of Commerce, he saw his daughter Qiu Jingyu sitting at the dining table, peeling a hard-boiled egg for Bai Zhixi. She peeled it carefully, removing every trace of membrane before placing it on the porcelain plate in front of Bai Zhixi. Then she served her a bowl of porridge as well.

Qiu Xuguang nodded with satisfaction. "Seeing you two getting along so well makes me feel at ease."

Bai Zhixi lifted her bowl to hide her face, the tips of her ears turning red again.

Under the table, Qiu Jingyu brushed her toe against Bai Zhixi's calf. Wearing a proper smile, she replied in a gentle, graceful voice, "Father is right. I'll take good care of my stepmother."

Bai Zhixi choked on her porridge.

Theme: Love is the courage to cross the boundaries of identity and convention, and the tenderness of two hearts finally recognizing each other amid hesitation and restraint.