“Yes,” Leander said.He frowned.“Except we live in Heng’s house....”He had no home to offer.
Auntie Daiyu grinned, her old skin wrinkling.“Heng honors you as his qidi, and he would not forget his family.If you claim this outsider as your qidi, then you can share what Heng gives you.”
“Will it reflect badly on Heng?”Leander asked.As much as his heart told him to protect Creek, who had never lived on his own, who had been controlled and manipulated since he’d been a sophomore in high school and the government had taken him, he couldn’t make Heng’s life difficult.This was his home.
“Heng is a good boy.He knows that a man who takes a qidi is often required by circumstances to accept that other relationships are necessary.He accepted your child, did he not?”
“He did,” Leander said, and the knot of distress in his chest eased.
“So, qidi of Boon Lian, what name will you choose for the paperwork we must file?”she asked.
Chapter Ten
Shanlin sat at thewooden table under the pergola, the chill of the morning air held off by the stove’s heat.“Did you know magical people didn’t always dress like this?”Shanlin asked, excited to tell them all about his day at school.
“Really?”Leander busied himself with the lotus roots he’d harvested.He was determined to get as many of their calories as possible from free sources.Auntie Daiyu might appreciate his baskets, but there were a limited number he could sell.He set the lotus roots, wild garlic, green onion, and chilis on the outdoor counter before adding vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, water, cornstarch and salt to a metal bowl.
“That’s interesting,” Creek said.Not Creek.Xi.Leander had to think of him as Xi.Their real names would make them too easily found if someone started looking.So he was Hu Xi, qidi to Boon Lian.Shanlin had accepted Creek into their lives with the ease of someone who had expected it to happen, and only the unfamiliar name made him frown.But now they sat at the table together as if this was normal, as if they had sat down to dinner together a hundred times.Leander still wondered what Tecca had told her son about the people she’d grown up with, but he didn’t want to bring up Shanlin’s mother when the loss was so new.
Shanlin continued.“Before the revolution, the wealthy nobles would wear long robes with the pants underneath and other people wore short pants with short robes or long shirts because it was easier to work in, and because the nobles would beat them if they dressed up in clothing that wasn’t proper.”He was oddly excited about clothing.
“That sounds crappy,” Xi said.
“I know!Anyway, when the revolution happened in mundane China, everyone started dressing like commoners, but in magical China, everyone started dressing like nobles.Now, the only status that really matters is how much magic someone has.Everyone at Teacher Luo’s school said Master Teacher Wang at the school on the hill is the most powerful magic user ever.Some kids said he was like a thousand years old.”He whispered the last part with awe.
Xi laughed.“I doubt that.Either they’re exaggerating or they’re telling you a story because you’re new.”
Leander winced.The outdoor kitchen made it too easy for their neighbors to eavesdrop.He started slicing the lotus.“Not necessarily,” Leander said.“The Chinese method of cultivating magic gives them a much wider range of powers.I know that longevity is one effect of developing magic.”
“But a thousand years?”Xi asked.
“It’s possible,” Leander said, his voice grim.He needed Xi to understand that this was a different world, and it functioned with different rules.Doubting the truthfulness of locals would not end well.“Everyone in town speaks of Master Teacher Wang as a truly remarkable man with impeccable control over magic.He might have extended his lifespan with magic.”
“You’re truly remarkable, and you’re aging normally,” Xi said.“Hell, for that matter, I’m truly remarkable, and I have gray hairs coming in when I’m not even thirty.”
“You are amazing,” Leander reassured him, “but we use magic differently.”
