Baozhu doesn't want to get married. She can't see what's so good about it. The wives and young ladies in the Xiao mansion are trapped inside this grand house and can't go anywhere.
She wants to study.
But she's just an outsider taken in by the Xiao family. They've fed and clothed her for more than a decade, and Second Young Master Xiao Yintang even taught her to read and write. He's already done more than enough for her. Why would he pay her tuition too?
Everyone in the mansion has their eye on her. Madam Xiao wants her to marry her nephew, a man who drinks, gambles, and visits brothels. The eldest son's wife can't bear children and is trying to coax Baozhu into becoming a concubine to her sickly husband. Even an old regular of the Xiao family, older than the master and with a mouth full of gold teeth, wants to marry her.
Baozhu goes to Xiao Yintang, who has always treated her kindly: "Second Brother, could you lend me some money? I want to go to school."
The man leans lazily back against the railing. His white shirt sleeves are rolled up, revealing strong, muscular arms. A cigarette rests between his long fingers. His narrow eyes narrow further, and smoke drifts from his rose-colored lips. "How will you pay me back?"
Later, she still can't escape being hounded and set up. On a rainy night, like a fugitive, she bursts into Xiao Yintang's room, soaked through, and begs him: "Second Brother, save me."
Xiao Yintang's foxlike eyes settle on her bare feet, as white as two carps. "Why don't you marry me?"
Baozhu: "What's in it for me?"
Xiao Yintang: "The house will be yours. There'll be more pastries than you can eat, you can spend as much as you like, do whatever you want, and go wherever you want."
"You won't control me?"
"No."
"You won't do that sort of thing to me?"
Seated in his wheelchair, Xiao Yintang looks down at his lifeless legs. "Do you think I can do anything to you like this?"
Baozhu studies his handsome, stern face and decides it's a good deal.
After they marry, she realizes she's been tricked: that old fox Xiao Yintang's legs are perfectly fine!
An alternate-history Republican-era setting. Both are each other's first. Nine-year age gap. Entirely fictional, so please don't nitpick.
Theme: Awakening
