“Homosexuality is...it has a difficult history in China.”Leander curled his hands into fists.
Xi spoke slowly.“Difficulty as in people murdered on the streets or difficulty as in marriage inequality?”
“That would depend on the region of China and the historical period.Given that magical China appears to hang on to large chunks of historical China, I have no idea where they fall on the spectrum.”Leander ran fingers through his hair.“Worse, the Nie family see me as Heng’s little brother.Do you want to be the one that tells everyone that Heng had sex with his little brother?”Leander whispered the word sex, horrified that he was even having to explain this.They couldn’t trust that they were safe from eavesdropping, and this was the sort of secret that could destroy a family.
Xi winced.“That is veryGame of Thrones, isn’t it?”
Leander glared at him.
“Okay, other than the cultural implications of getting adopted at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, and the irony of the adoption happening years after we all prayed for some nice family to adopt all of us together, something else happened.There was one moment when you looked like you were ready to crawl out of your skin with embarrassment.”
As much as Leander liked to pretend that he could hide his emotions, he and Xi had known each other too long.“They asked about the Boon family.”
Xi winced.“You said that much during our weird tea thing.”
“Chinese people care about family.They judge a person by the quality of their parents and the status of their siblings,” Leander said, his voice flat.“I explained that my father disappeared before I was born, likely taken by the government.I also told them I was young when my mother feared we were being watched and she left to fool those that were hunting us.”
Xi’s eyebrows went up, but he didn’t say anything.He probably knew Finn’s background, and Leander had dropped enough hints about his own family.But Xi was nodding, silently agreeing to go along with the lie.“There are also a couple of difficult topics that came up,” Leander added.
Xi rubbed a hand over his face.“Explain quickly before I panic.”
“They asked if I would take the Nie name since there is no Boon family left.”
That made Xi smile.His relief was carved into his face.“Great.That would give another layer of protection if someone is looking for you,” Xi said.
“Yes,” Leander agreed, “but it would also mean that I inherit obligations to Mother Huiling and Father Xiaobo.Lying to them, even lying by not telling them the truth, would be unfilial, and I don’t know this society well enough to know the consequences.”Leander felt older than he had in a long time.“I want to pretend they never made the offer so that I don’t have to feel guilty about turning them down or guilty about accepting it when I can’t be the sort of son a Chinese parent expects.”
Maybe Xi understood the problem because he slid off the tall bed and moved to Leander’s side before putting a hand on his forearm.He rested it there until the warmth soaked into Leander.Ironically, that just made the rest of him feel colder by comparison.
“What did you tell them?”
“That I was too surprised to make a wise decision without thinking about it.”
Xi nodded.“Good redirection.You’d make a good undercover officer.”
“I would throw myself off a bridge first,” Leander said.“But I am in over my head here.Heng seemed so normal when we met in Chongqing, but his family are gifting you and Shanlin with a set of pills that will make learning Chinese almost impossibly easy.”
“I’m not sure anything would make learning Chinese impossibly easy.”Xi had never hidden his dislike of Chinese and all the tonal variations.
“Magic pills can, but this is an enormous gift.Most people in their entire lives cannot afford a full set of pills, and they are gifting us two sets of them.”
Xi whistled through his teeth.“Yikes.Is this something we should turn down?I mean, I want to speak Chinese.Badly.But I don’t want to be in their debt.”
“Turning them down would be a tremendous insult.The expectation is that we do favors for each other to prove we are united in our goals.”Leander stared at the door to the inner courtyard and let Xi’s hand anchor him when he wanted to throw his awareness into the nearest tree and find the stability and deep roots that he lacked in his own life.Being human required too much effort.
“But are we?”Xi asked.“United in our goals, I mean.”
Leander thought about how Father Xiaobo and Mother Huiling had looked at Shanlin.They had one son dedicated to magic, and those who cultivated their magic lost interest in mortal affairs like wives or children.And their first son had a reputation as a craftsman of enough repute that Master Teacher Wang spoke well of him, yet he had no wife.He lived with friends.Maybe they shared a goal with Shanlin.Leander should leave him here with grandparents who wanted to give him the Nie name.But he couldn’t.It would be better for Shanlin, but Leander was a selfish man who couldn’t walk away.
“I think Shanlin could learn to be a filial grandson who would make them happy, but I’m afraid their firstborn son will not share those goals.I know first son Zhiyuan does not like outsiders, and now we have settled into his home.There are undercurrents I don’t understand, and that makes me...”Leander struggled for a word.
“Homicidally fearful?”Xi filled in for him.
Leander glared at him, and Xi held both hands up before retreating two steps to the bed.“I get it.I hate any loss of control, and I’m not saying your reaction is wrong or even illogical.”
“We need to bring value to the family and prove we are not the stereotype of a grasping adoptee,” Leander said.“From the excitement my baskets caused, they’re a valuable commodity, so I’m going to go out with a local guide and find river reeds.I’ll weave the best basket I can for Mother Huiling; it’s all I can do to thank them for their extravagance.”
Xi nodded.“I’ll go with you.”
