“Her first grandson should come from you or your brother,” Leander protested.
Heng laughed, a full belly laugh that made him wince and touch his injury.“I will not have children.My father might have reached immortal ascension, but my mother got pregnant.Love for his children kept him from divorcing himself from concerns of this world.I will not follow his example.”
“But your brother.”
“Boon Lian, you are too American.Not everyone places their motives on a shelf for all to see.Do not think my parents are being altruistic, and do not believe that Zhiyuan has no part in this drama.Had you not appeared, my parents might have proclaimed the second son of my elder sister as heir.”
That made it sound like Shanlin had more than one person with a motive to hate him.“Perhaps they should.I am an adopted son, not one related by blood.”Leander came close enough to lean against the small desk.He didn’t want to sit next to Heng, not with him still injured because of Leander’s idiotic choices.
Heng laughed.“Your Chinese has such strange errors.You are a son through law, not an adopted son.”
This again.Leander truly regretted the error he had made a decade ago that made this mistranslation so persistent.“A son-in-law is someone who marries a person’s daughter.”He paused.“Or son.”Leander wasn’t sure Chinese would recognize a homosexual marriage, but the marriage would be legal in the United States.
“Yes,” Heng said.He brushed his hair back, and Leander frowned at him.
“Yes, what?”
“You are very confusing today,” Heng said with a laugh.“Yes, you are their son through law because you married me.”
Leander’s knees grew weak, and he stumbled toward the near end of the couch, sitting on the arm rather than getting too close to Heng.“What?”His voice was high and strangled.
“What is unclear, husband of my past?”
“What?”Leander’s voice grew even higher.
Heng shifted on the couch, turning to face Leander fully .“You are my qidi.”
“Exactly!I’m your younger brother!”Leander cried.
“We are married,” Heng said slowly.“I am your qixiong, the older husband who is the head of the household.You are the qidi, the younger husband who has joined my household.That makes my parents, your parents through law.”
Leander slid down the arm of the couch to land on the seat, his head spinning and his mouth dry.“What?”he whispered.
“You performed the tea ceremony taking my parents as your own.You had a wedding feast.”Heng’s lips twisted into an imitation of a smile.“There is something ironic and symbolic about me missing the wedding feast my parents hosted for my wedding.”
“But...that’s....”Leander buried his face in his hands.“Oh my god.They call Xi my qidi.”He had no idea how badly he had dishonored everyone in this situation.He could never go back to the village.Should he take Shanlin with him when he fled?Here the boy had a home and family.Leander would never be able to give him anything but fear and a series of hiding places.But his heart ached at the idea of leaving Shanlin behind.
“Lian.Breathe,” Heng said, his hand resting on Leander’s forearm.It wasn’t an intimate gesture, but Lian still jerked his hand away, shamed by what others must think of him.He was married.Married.And he brought home a son from a woman and then brought another man into his bedroom.He had never been more humiliated.
“I do not know how to apologize for such a dishonor,” he whispered.
“What dishonor lies in marriage?”Heng asked.
Leander sat up and glared at him.“Are you a moron?If we’re married, I cheated on you!Cheating is dishonorable!”
Heng blinked, and the guilt in Leander’s guts bred and birthed shame, horror and humiliation.
“Two men in marriage cannot have children.Those men who choose a rabbit marriage will often take a wife to ensure the family line continues.By claiming Shanlin’s mother as your wife and having a magical connection to Shanlin, you have taken the most Chinese of all paths.You have put continuing the family line ahead of your personal preferences.There is no shame in that.”Heng sounded so calm and encouraging.
“But Xi,” Leander whispered.He was a fool.He knew that his understanding of Chinese culture was lacking, but he had plowed ahead anyway.He had proved every stereotype of an American by acting like a dishonorable fool.He would never again insult
“Everyone knows I have now dedicated myself to the school in a way I had not a decade ago,” He reached out as though he would put a hand on Leander’s arm again, but then he pulled back.“I can’t dedicate myself to a partner, so it is not surprising you have found another.The fact that you completed the marriage ceremony and served tea to my parents shows that you plan to honor the commitment we made to each other.So if anything, I am the one old wives will gossip about.It is clear, first with you and then with Min, that I have let people believe I can commit to them when my path lies elsewhere.”
“That is not your fault,” Leander said sharply.Of all the people to blame for this mess, the man with the hole in his stomach was not on the list.
“I bear my blame,” Heng said, “but I am pleased that my mother has a grandson to dote on.”
“But your sister’s sons....”
