Chapter Eleven
Morning brought morechatter from Shanlin, who was now regaling them with a description of how beasts could sometimes cultivate enough magic to speak.It was as if yesterday hadn’t happened, as if he hadn’t come back to eat overcooked lotus out of a cooling pot while ignoring Leander’s attempts to encourage him to talk about his fears.
As a father, Leander sucked.He shouldn’t be surprised.He lacked most interpersonal skills.
It was equally awkward between him and Creek.Xi.Xi.He had to remember the right name.Xi.They had slept in the same room, in beds on opposite sides, but they hadn’t exchanged more than a few terse words.This was why Leander had always lived alone.
“And then there’s the qilin,” Shanlin nattered on.“It’s like a deer, only with bits of dragon, like scales and the beard, and it brings really,reallygood news.Sometimes it talks because it has a lot of chi, but other stories have it showing up when someone amazing is going to be born,” he said between bites of rice porridge and egg.Leander should’ve been grateful Shanlin’s words filled the painful silence between him and Xi, but it was giving him a headache.
Despite wanting to shout at Shanlin to shut up, Leander nodded as though qilin were both the most fascinating creatures in the world and simultaneously so mysterious that he had never heard of them despite having lived in China for literal years.
“When Confusious was born, a qilin appeared and dropped a piece of linen that said that the couple’s child would have the grace and intelligence of a royal without being born in the royal line.”
“Confucius,” Leander corrected his pronunciation.
“Confucius,” Shanlin echoed carefully.
What did American schools teach?Shouldn’t he know that name?Leander was tempted to write a scathing letter.Maybe insulting someone else would ease some of the stress he was feeling.He glanced at Xi who was carving rivers in his porridge.Maybe not.
“We should leave soon.Go upstairs and put on your robe,” Leander said.Shanlin still dipped his long sleeves into his meal, so he had left the robe upstairs and had come down in only his undershirt and short pants.
“Shi!”he agreed enthusiastically, taking his empty bowl to the sink before thundering upstairs.Leander winced as his head throbbed in time with Shanlin’s footsteps on the stairs.
Leander turned his attention to Xi.“We can’t afford to waste food.If you’re not going to eat that, give it to me so I can.”He looked at the porridge.
Xi scooped up a huge blob and shoved it in his mouth.While he made a face, he swallowed.
“I work for Master Yang, collecting plants and infusing them with chi to make them more potent.I’ll be out most of the day, but Shanlin and I will be back before the sun goes behind the mountains.”Leander wanted to stop there, but as much as he would like to avoid his new, judgmental housemate, their fates were now linked.They were, in the eyes of this village, family.That meant that what one did reflected on all of them.
“Be very polite to everyone.If someone visits, apologize for not having access to the storeroom where the refreshments are.Offer them water and a chance to sit.Do not disagree with anything they say, even if you think it’s stupid.Just call it interesting and say you’ll think about the subject.”
“I know how to be polite,” Xi said, frustration coloring his voice.
“The vast majority of people on this planet don’t know how to be polite to the extent the Chinese expect.They will tear you down behind your back and plot against you with an enthusiasm that is terrifying, but they will never argue with you in public.”Leander frowned.“Hopefully.If a villager calls you out to your face, that means you’ve lost so much respect that they don’t care if everyone sees them disrespect you.Or it means you’re family.”Leander had seen families say things to each other that would cause a generational feud with anyone else.
“I planned to go with you.That way I can avoid trouble.”
