Chapter 91: The Republican-Era Young Lady Stops Making a Fuss 2: Song Xuange Clung to Him Greedily

Later on, she asked for a divorce, saying she wanted to make room for him to marry a wife who could bear him children.

The first time, he refused without a moment’s hesitation.

But then she said she had found love. It was a university classmate, someone who shared her interests. Their families had long been family friends, and he too had received a Western education. He had no feudal notions and would not mind her infertility.

That day, he fell silent for a long time, his eyes reddening at the corners, and said, “Let me think about it.”

Early the next morning, he split the Song Family’s business in two. One half he gave to her as a dowry for her remarriage, and the other half he left to his younger brother.

At the time, she had been so happy.

Yet Song Xuange always made the wrong choices, and her second marriage became a complete mess. When the war came, that family fled for safety, but they alone abandoned her.

At her lowest point, it was still He Dusheng who came to find her.

His tone was gentle, as if they had only parted yesterday. He said, “Miss, I came too late.”

After years of marriage had worn her down, she was no longer the little girl who understood nothing. At last, she understood this man’s love and protection, and understood the painstaking care behind her father’s decision to entrust her to him through the family business and their marriage.

They fled together.

She wanted to live a good life with him, but war never let people have their way. She watched helplessly as he died right before her eyes.

When she opened her eyes, she had returned to the time before she lost the child in her womb.

She did not know whether this was a dream, but if it was, she hoped it would not end so soon. She wanted to see He Dusheng one more time.

She kept urging the rickshaw puller to go faster.

Faster, even faster.

Why were Shanghai’s streets so long? Why was the puller running so slowly?

The Fenglong Rice Shop was also part of the Song Family’s business. She remembered that He Dusheng liked that place very much. His office was upstairs, and he usually worked there.

The rickshaw stopped at the entrance to the rice shop. She could not wait another second and practically hurled herself out of the carriage, nearly tripping over the shafts.

One of the shop assistants had sharp eyes. The moment he saw her, he hurried out to greet her and paid the fare for the puller on the way.

“Miss, what brings you here?”

“Where’s sir?” she asked urgently.

“Sir is upstairs in a meeting with several managers. This way, please.”

The young assistant led Song Xuange upstairs.

The office door was open, and inside sat six or seven shadowy figures.

The one seated in the middle, and the youngest of them all, was her husband at this time, He Dusheng.

He wore a white long gown¹ with a subtle woven pattern and had his hair slicked back in the style of the day. His hair had a slight natural curl and needed pomade to keep it in place.

He had sharp brows and bright eyes, yet a remarkably delicate face.

Before she had married him, the first time she saw him, she had teased him for being too handsome, saying that anyone who didn’t know better might think he was an opera performer² from some troupe.

Back then, he had only smiled without getting angry and said, “Then when I have time, I’ll go learn a few lines from a troupe and come back to amuse the master too.”

At the time, she had found him dull, thinking he was just good at saying pleasant things to flatter people.

At that moment, she did not know what one of the managers below had said, but he was leaning sideways in his chair with a cold expression, tapping the table with one hand.

He said nothing, and the manager standing there to answer him was trembling with fear, wiping his sweat over and over with a handkerchief.

She had never seen him like this in front of her, yet it did not feel unfamiliar.

The longing in her heart surged like a tide, and she called out, “He Dusheng.”

He Dusheng’s ear twitched first, and he frowned slightly. Only then did he turn toward the sound and look at her, and then the frost on his face melted away.

Ignoring the manager who was still speaking, he strode out from behind the desk and walked to her, stopping just one step away.

His face held both surprise and delight. “Xuange, why are you here?”

Song Xuange looked at him, healthy and alive, young and whole.

She could no longer hold herself back. She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around him. She was so afraid that he was only a bubble in this phantom dream, something that would vanish the moment she embraced him.

But he did not. Her arms met something solid.

This He Dusheng was warm, real. From up close, she could even smell him, the scent of soap mixed with that uniquely his own fragrance.

Song Xuange greedily tightened her hold around him.

He Dusheng had not expected her to crash into his arms so suddenly. Startled, he took half a step back before steadying himself.

They had been married for a year. Let alone hugging him, she had never once taken the initiative to touch even a finger of his. If they happened to brush against each other by accident while eating at the same table or riding in the same car, she would pull back at once, drawing a clear line between them.

His heart was in turmoil. After hesitating for quite a while, he finally reached out tentatively and placed his right hand on her back, while waving his left hand toward the managers in the meeting room, signaling for them to leave first.

Only then did he ask her softly, “What happened? Xuange, tell me what happened?”

Muffled against his chest, Song Xuange shook her head.

Only after holding him for a long while did she finally let go.

He Dusheng cautiously reached for her hand. When he saw that she did not pull away, he dared to clasp it firmly. Then he led her into the office and settled her in his own chair.

He picked up his teacup, then set it down again.

Only then did he notice the cut on her palm. Dirt and dust had gotten into it, and a scab had already formed.

Crouching at Song Xuange’s feet, he asked sternly, “Did someone bully you?”

She shook her head.

Song Xuange said, “No. I just fell on the way here.”

“As long as that’s all. I’ll clean the wound for you.”

There was a medical kit in the drawer of his desk, and with practiced movements, he cleaned and bandaged the wound for her.

“The cut isn’t deep. It’ll heal with a little care. Otherwise, you’d have to go to the hospital for stitches.”

“Mhm.” Song Xuange kept her eyes fixed on him without blinking, afraid that if she looked away for even a second, he would disappear.

He Dusheng stood up, but after taking only one step toward the door, he was grabbed by both her hands.

“Don’t go.”

He patted her hand in reassurance. “I’m not leaving. I’m just going to get you a glass of water.”

“This is your cup, isn’t it? I’ll drink from this one.”

As she spoke, she reached for it.

Sharing a cup or a bowl with him was something that had never happened before. He Dusheng quickly stopped her. “The meeting went on too long. This tea is already cold.”

When she still would not let go, he said helplessly, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Only then did Song Xuange release him.

Her hands let go, but her eyes never left him.

He Dusheng stepped out the door, even giving her a reassuring smile before closing it behind him.

The moment the door latched shut, He Dusheng’s smile vanished. Lifting the hem of his robe, he headed downstairs, and someone immediately bent low and followed after him.

“Sir.”

“Go investigate! Find out where Madam went this morning and what happened to her.” He all but forced the words out through clenched teeth.

He did not believe a single word of Song Xuange’s explanation. The wound on her palm had clearly been made by a sharp blade. Not to mention the brownish stains at the collar of her qipao, the dust on its hem, and the fact that her handbag was nowhere to be seen.

Not to mention the way she had acted toward him today, so unlike her usual self. She had definitely been frightened and wronged.

His wife, the woman he cherished and protected day and night, whom he held in his palms and yielded to in everything, a woman he himself could not bear to lay a finger on. He wanted to see exactly who had scared her so badly she did not even dare complain.

“If there really are some blind fools out there…”

As he spoke, he cast a sidelong glance at the man behind him.

“I understand, sir. I’ll go at once.”

He Dusheng suddenly called out to stop him. “A-Xiang.”

“Do you have any other instructions, sir?” A-Xiang bowed.

“Go alone. Don’t make a fuss.”

“Yes, sir.”

What kind of grievance could a woman suffer outside that she would not dare tell her own husband?

Nothing more than…

He was never afraid of trouble. But for the sake of preserving her reputation, it truly would not do to stir things up.

Fortunately, he had seen that she was still wearing the same outfit she had left in that morning, with all the buttons intact and no tears.

So she must not have suffered the worst of it.

But she had still been wronged. He had seen how she had shrunk into his arms, trembling so pitifully.

He had always hoped that one day she would trust him, rely on him, accept him. But it should not have come in a way that left her hurt.

When the servants in the tea room saw him enter, they hurried to greet him. Bracing both hands on the tea table, he worked to calm the agitation raging in his chest. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, adjusting himself back into the same manner he wore at home in front of Song Xuange.

He personally mixed her a cup of honey water before finally going back upstairs.

When he pushed open the door and entered, he saw Song Xuange curled up in the chair, absent-minded and dazed. Pretending not to notice, he said, “Xuange, have some honey water. When I went downstairs, I saw the tea room had some newly bought locust flower honey. Try it and see if it suits your taste.”

Song Xuange obediently drank it.

Seeing her so careful and compliant made his heart ache.

“Shall I take you back?”

“Huh?” Song Xuange was still in shock. It seemed she was not dreaming, she really had gone back many years into the past. Hearing him, she forced herself to think and answer. “Don’t you still have work to do?”

She remembered that when she came in, he had been in a meeting.

“Work? I can do without it. Taking you back is more important.”

Song Xuange shook her head. “I’m not going back. I’ll just wait here and go with you later.”

This time, He Dusheng was even more surprised.

She had never been this close to him before, and it caught him completely off guard. He did not know how to respond.

“Then… would you like to rest here for a while?” He pointed behind the screen. “There’s a leather sofa in the back. I usually nap there at noon.”

The question was a bold one, and even as he said it, he felt a little nervous.

“Okay.”

Song Xuange agreed so readily that even he, usually so quick and smooth with words, became a little tongue-tied.

All he could do was lead her behind the screen.

The sofa stood by the window. The small window was open, and it was fairly cool.

There was also a pillow on the sofa that he normally used.

Song Xuange did not stand on ceremony. She removed the hair ornaments from her head and lay down.

She had probably swallowed at least some of the anesthetic from before, and now her head felt heavy and dizzy.

Before falling asleep, she tugged at the corner of his clothes. “Can you stay here with me?”

This day felt like a dream to Song Xuange, but was it any different for He Dusheng? How could he possibly refuse her closeness?

“All right, I’ll stay with you.”

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, his hand had already moved first, dragging over a round stool and setting it beside the sofa.

He sat upright and proper, his back straight, his white fine-cotton changshan³ making him look all the more refined.

There was no trace at all of the years he had once spent drifting through the streets, clawing and fighting his way up.

From Song Xuange’s angle, the sunlight coming through the small window fell across his face as if coating him in a layer of gold.

How had she never once really looked at him properly before? Thinking this, she hooked one of his little fingers with hers, and only then did she drift off to sleep in satisfaction.

–

A-Xiang was one of He Dusheng’s most trusted and capable men, and he handled things efficiently. Following the trail, he quickly found the black-market clinic.

After being subjected to a mixture of threats and inducements, the female doctor not only handed over the handbag Song Xuange had left behind there, but also told him the whole story from beginning to end.

It was just that, because of the resentment she still held from the offense Song Xuange had given her at the start, she told one lie, neither too big nor too small.

It was not exactly a lie. It was simply that when A-Xiang pressed her and asked whether Song Xuange had come here today for an abortion, she did not deny it.

A-Xiang had not expected such a result either, and hurried back to report it.

With his little finger still hooked by hers, He Dusheng neither dared nor wanted to move.

The slight pull at the base of that finger filled him with a lingering, reluctant tenderness.

One of the errand boys who worked there poked his head around the doorway, looking furtive. He Dusheng beckoned to him, signaling for him to come in quietly.

The young servant padded over on light feet, not daring to let his eyes wander. Bowing with his head lowered, he stood waiting at one side.

Translator’s Notes

• Chu River and Han Boundary: A reference to the central line on a Chinese chess board (Xiangqi), representing the historical conflict between the Chu and Han states. It is a common idiom for maintaining a strict, impassable distance between two people or parties.