“Come, come,” Aunty Daiyu said as she hurried between houses.People were hanging out of the upper windows, watching as Leander passed, and his face reddened.Their first impression of him was not good.Tonight, Shanlin was going to scrub until he glowed so he made a better first impression when he went to school tomorrow.
They stopped at a house facing the lake.Elaborate carved frames outlined the doors and windows, each with fantastical creatures–dragons and qilin and tortoises.The windows had paper rather than glass, except for one large window under the eaves of the traditional roof.“Master Yang!Auntie Daiyu comes to call!”She stood in front of that large window, her hands tucked into her sleeves.
“Perhaps he is busy.He is a pill master,” Leander said.
She snorted.“The chimney has no smoke.He is a stubborn man, but I remember when his mother cried over the rash he had on his backside.I gave her the cream to treat it.He will not ignore me.”She said all of that loud enough that people three houses over probably heard.Leander amended his earlier assumption that a pill master would be the most dangerous person in town.Daiyu had claimed that role.
A man stepped out onto the porch in dramatic green robes embroidered with gold dragons.The sleeves were enormous, hanging a good foot below his hand, and a black sash was tied in an elaborate crisscrossing pattern.The clothing didn’t match the man who had a receding hairline and a droopy expression that made him look half-asleep.“I have no time for stories of babies with colic.”
“Too bad.I have many stories of ill babies,” Auntie Daiyu said, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes crinkling.“I have brought Boon Lian to make introductions.”
“I have no time.”Yang turned to go back into his house.
“Boon Lian can add chi to plants, but perhaps a pill master has no need of such a magical talent,” she said loudly.“Perhaps pill masters have such skill that the quality of the ingredients makes no difference.No doubt, a hundred-year-old wild ginseng and one with a decade of life are equivalent to a master of your renown.”
Leander had the feeling he had just landed in the middle of a feud.
Yang pressed his lips together, but the rest of his expression was cold.He didn’t even blink.
“Have you no hospitality for an old woman?”
“Come in and eat,” he said with ill grace, and then he disappeared inside the house.Auntie Daiyu gave Leander a cheeky grin and led the way.Leander wanted to run in the opposite direction, but he followed.The door opened into a wide hall, and to the right was a room with a low table and low, elaborately carved wooden couches with thin cushions.A pair of blue and white vases stood in the corner, and ancient scrolls hung on the wall over the longest couch.
Master Yang sat on the long couch.“Please do not wait for a formal invitation.At your age, I would not want your knees to fail.”
“At my age, my knees are not as solid as my memory.”Auntie Daiyu sat on the shorter couch, leaving Leander standing awkwardly in front of these two people, each of whom clearly had power.“Boon Lian has a special affinity for plants.”
“Are you so well-educated in the magic of outsiders?”
“Perhaps you can talk to him if you doubt my knowledge.”
A servant in a loose, belted dress came in with a formal tea service.She knelt and placed it in front of Master Yang before a second woman came in with two trays, one with small pastries and another with cut fruits.Yang might not like Auntie Daiyu, but he knew how to entertain a guest.
“Sit.”Master Yang gestured to the couch where Auntie Daiyu sat, and Leander settled carefully next to her, accepting the cup Master Yang’s servant offered.“Tell me how your magic works.”
“I cannot do as much magic as you would expect from someone raised in this country.My skills are very limited,” Leander said.He didn’t want a pill master to think him arrogant, and he knew that was one of his faults.Arrogance and misanthropy were at least sixty percent of his personality.However, he also needed to highlight his skills.“However, I have a lot of control over plants.I can speed or slow their growth, add or remove the chi.”
Master Yang’s expression stayed cold.“You can affect the chi?Outsiders do not even have chi that flows, and you tell me you can affect the power of a plant?I have power, yet I do not make such an outrageous claim.”His sleepy expression vanished beneath disdain.
Leander sucked in a breath.Yang had used “laozi” to refer to himself, which Heng had once told him was an old-fashioned way to suggest the speaker was better than the listener, and possibly even a way to start a fight by insulting the listener.Auntie Daiyu was watching him, no doubt ready to spread this story throughout the village if he handled it badly.Apparently, the pill master was even more arrogant and misanthropic than Leander, which made him a happiness-sucking black hole of misery.
“Master Yang,” Leander said slowly, tilting his head forward, and burying all his hatred for people who loved their own power.“I know my skills are inferior compared to those trained in the ancient truths found in this great country.However, I am skilled with plants.Allow me to demonstrate with a living plant you would like me to empower with more chi.And perhaps what I do is not of use to you.I would not suggest my skills are compatible, and I might be corrupting the chi, but allow me to show you what I can do.”He finished a formal half-bow, or as much of one as he could do while seated.
Master Yang called a servant to bring him a pot of kitchen herbs.He waved toward Leander, telling the servant to offer it to him.Leander took the pot in his hands and allowed his magic to reach for the coriander plant.It was well-nourished and strong.Leander didn’t want to kill a valued plant, so he let his magic tangle with the plant’s before he started feeding it his magic.
While Master Yang had started with a bored expression, as Leander worked, his expression turned to shock.
“I thought outsiders could not affect chi,” Auntie Daiyu said sarcastically.
Master Yang gave her a hateful look before focusing on Leander.“I will offer Boon Lian twenty renminbi per hour for five hours of work each day.”
“You embarrass yourself with your stinginess,” Auntie Daiyu said, and Leander was grateful.That was around two dollars an hour.He needed money, but he would prefer to avoid slave wages.
“You involve yourself inappropriately.”
“Heaven sees where a good man requires an auntie to see him safely through a difficult territory.”
“Heaven sees you want to control everyone,” Yang shot back.She laughed.
