Mingxi looked up from the low stone bench where he’d been reviewing the elders’ notes. “What is it now?”
“You are not prepared,” Mingjun gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. “Your woman… sh-she—”
Mingxi’s eyes narrowed. “Say a single idiotic thing and—”
“She told Minghua she’s a cat.”
Mingxi froze. “What?”
Mingjun dissolved into a fresh wave of laughter, leaning against a plum tree for support. “She said… she said—” He was choking. “Womao Poppy!”
Mingxi blinked. Once. Slowly. “That means—”
“It means,” Mingjun crowed, wiping tears from his eyes, “I cat Poppy.”
Silence. Wind stirred the blossoms.
Mingxi closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. “Minghua.”
“Oh yes,” Mingjun added gleefully. “She told her the tone sounded like meow, and Poppy thought it was meow, and… oh, gods, she tried so hard—”
Mingxi’s eyes snapped open. “Tried,” he repeated softly.
Mingjun blinked, mid-snicker. “Well. Yes. She was… very determined. And earnest. And embarrassed. And—”
But Mingxi was already standing. His feelings had shifted from exasperation to something quiet and unbearably gentle. The kind of thoughts he reserved for rare things—fragile things—things he never expected to have.
He didn’t say another word. He simply walked.
They crossed the courtyard as lanterns flickered to life, warm gold blooming against the dusk. Minghua saw them coming and grimaced.
“I explained tones wrong,” she blurted. “It was my fault.”
Poppy covered her face with both hands. “I’m never speaking again.”
Mingxi stopped a few paces from her. He didn’t laugh. He didn’t tease. He didn’t even smile.
He just looked at her—really looked—and something in his chest twisted. She’d tried. Despite everything. Despite being alone in a world that wasn’t hers. Despite not knowing their customs, their language, their rules.
She’d tried because she wanted to belong.
“Poppy,” Mingxi said quietly.
She peeked between her fingers like someone bracing for execution.
“I heard you attempted Mandarin.”
Poppy groaned. “Attempted is generous.”
“Did you wish to learn it,” he asked gently, “because you felt obligated?”
She lowered her hands, eyes softening. “No. Because it felt… rude to have everyone changing everything for me.”
Mingxi felt surprise, but then something far deeper. He stepped closer.
“You honor us,” he said simply.
Poppy blinked fast. “By… calling myself a cat?”
