A/N: I just noticed how many plot holes and grammar/spelling mistakes I had in this first chapter, so I re-edited it again. I'm really really sorry for my not-updating status, but I've been a bit on the busy side with camps and school work...you know the drill. Although that's still not a really good excuse, it's the best I can give. I'm really trying hard to update, but there's writer's block and sometimes I just don't feel like it. That, and the fact that my parents despise me writing these stories and "wasting my time when I can be studying for SATs." Screw SATs. This is much more fun, don't you think? It's not like I'm getting bad SAT scores either-I got over 1400 last time. rolls eyes Asian parents...SIGH!
I hope you like this version better. I know I do!
The Story of Meiran: Chapter One
"Grace, posture, and fluidity, like a river," muttered a girl under her breath as she used a brush to write proverbs on her arm. "The perfect wife must always be modest, docile...Aiyah! I'm late!"
The sixteen-year-old girl jumped out of her wooden bed and ran to finish her abandoned chores. Chickens. Where were the chickens?! (cluckcluck. Ow! Idiots! Help! I'm stuck! Cluck)
Obviously, someone was watching the movie "Chicken Run."
She tied a bone from last nights dinner to a string and then tied the other end of the string to a bamboo stick, which just so happened to be the stick that "mysteriously disappeared." It was the stick that her and her siblings would get hit with when they were bad, but that's beside the point. She whistled for her puppy, Choy Choy, who came running to her. Petting him on his head, she tied a bag of chicken feed to his foot and stuck the stick in his collar. Immediately, Choy Choy began to run after the bone, dragging along the bad of chicken feed that had a hole in it. The chickens began to eat it, and Meiran went on her happy way outside.
The girl's name was Fa Meiran. She was far from the stereotypical Chinese girl with smooth, soft, light skin and single eyelids. She possessed a darker skin color (which according to Chinese people in those days, meant that she was of a lower class that had to work in the rice fields) and double eyelids, along with rather bumpy skin and a higher nose bridge. She preferred to be outside rather than indoors sewing, and loved to sneak over to where kung-fu classes were held and watch them, coming home only to practice what she had just witnessed. Meiran loved the freedom of the outdoors and preferred pants to the traditional cheong-sam [1]. Of course, she would steal those pants from her brother, but that's another story in itself.
She had an older sister named Ying Fa, meaning cherry blossom, a younger sister named Xielan, meaning snow orchid, and a younger brother who was older than Xielan named Geamlan, which means sword orchid. [2] Ying Fa was perhaps the most lady-like out of all three girls, opting to stay indoors while Meiran and Xielan went on eventful excursions to the martial arts center and learning how to cook instead of how to hold a sword. She was the one with the long, silky black hair, raven black eyes that could pierce any man's soul with love, and the light, almost white skin so preferred by everyone else in town.
Xielan, on the other hand, was a mix of both Meiran and Ying Fa. She possessed Meiran's knack of getting into mischief and sense of humor, but she had Ying Fa's beauty. If there was someone more looked down upon in the village than Meiran, it would be Xielan, mainly because Xielan looked so lady-like and so beautiful but did not act in the right manner. The townspeople have pretty much given up on Meiran because of her looks, but to have a beauty like Xielan be wasted by playing on the streets would be a crime.
Meiran shook her head as she mused over her siblings' names. Too many flower names, and one oddball...well, two oddballs...okay, maybe three oddballs. Xielan was not your typical ten-year-old. She was the one who had the idea of sneaking into the opera house, putting on the costumes and going out on stage performing in order to make the opera funnier. A lot of people enjoyed it, but the village elders frowned upon it. Even so, it was evident that in the bottom of their hearts, they truly enjoyed it, which was probably why they escaped punishments for trespassing.
As Meiran went to find her mother so they could go to the dreadful matchmaker together, Xielan came running out. "Jie-jie![3] Mama left already! You're late!"
Meiran gave a startled jump and then glanced at her little sister's hand, which was behind her back. "What are you carrying, Xielan? And why are you in Geamlan's balloon pants instead of that new dress Mama bought you?"
Meiran's younger sister smiled sweetly. Too sweetly.
"You know how I hate dresses, Jie-jie, and Geamlan said I could have his smaller ones that he doesn't fit anymore. And I have a present for you," she said as she handed her older sister a decorated dagger with a phoenix engraved on it.
Meiran was confused. "What's this for?"
"To stab the matchmaker if she gives you someone bad," replied Xielan, blinking innocently and smiled angelically. "Now go! Mama's gonna kill you!"
Meiran smirked. Her sister was quite the strange one with the messed up mind in the family. "Gotcha. See you later, Xielan!"
"Good luck! Hope you come back an old maid!"
"Where is that girl?" Jade asked her friend for the ten-millionth time, who was Meiran's mother.
"Jade, leave the poor woman alone. Lookie what I have!"
"Oo! A cricket! Is it lucky?"
"There's only one way to find out!"
Placing one hand over her eyes, Meiran's Po Po [4] stepped onto the busy road with the cricket. Carts crashed, horses skidded, people lost crops-all to avoid killing the old woman.
When she got to the other side, she uncovered her eyes. "This one's a lucky one!" she yelled over to Jade, ignoring the damage of smashed carts and flying chickens.
/Why do those chickens looks so familiar?/ Meiran's mother asked herself.
"Zhao sun, Mama![5]"
Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Fa Meiran, you're late. Now get inside. I wouldn't be surprised if the water's cold already!"
Tugging her daughter by the ear, the two disappeared into the wooden hut with Meiran wincing at the pain in her ear.
Thirty minutes later, Meiran emerged fully dressed. She wore a light blue dress with those sleeves that are big enough to put your hands in. It was tied tightly with a dark purple sash embroidered along the bottom with light pink orchids. Her hair was tied up in an elegant knot on the top of her head while her face was painted white. Her lips were also painted bright red, and her eyelids were shaded with a dark blue. A jade necklace lined her neck, along with a ying-yang pendant symbolizing balance. The cricket that Po Po just caught stayed in its small cage, which hung on the inside of Meiran's dress. It seemed to jump around a lot, but it wasn't noticeable on the outside. It was just a minor bulge at the hip, which was normal.
"I feel like I just crawled out of a sewer," she muttered to herself. Suddenly, someone shoved an umbrella into her hands.
"Run, child, the procession has started."
Meiran ran to where the other girls were. At the end of the long, rather embarrassing procession through the entire town, the finally stopped in front of the matchmaker's hut, ending with a flourish of the umbrellas, which opened and covered them from the matchmaker's view.
The matchmaker came out with a young man behind her. He was rather tall, no less than 5'7 [6]. His black hair was pulled back into a small pony-tail, and he carried a book and wore glasses. This man was Chang Wufei, the famous general and scholar of all time. All the other girls squealed with excitement. Meiran stayed quiet, crouched behind her umbrella. The only visible part of her was her piercing dark, dark brown eyes. She looked at him, and thought that he wasn't cute at all. Probably just another thick-skulled man who was too egotistical and spent his whole life studying. How B-O-R-I-N-G! Meiran loved excitement and craved it. This man was the complete opposite. Even so, she had to "uphold the family honor," so she bit her tongue from yelling out in frustration and stayed there.
Wufei scanned the crowd of young women. /Sheesh!/ he thought to himself, /they're so giggly! Humph. Figures. All women are weak! They just sit there and giggle! I swear my parents will not live this down...this is a living nightmare..six giggling girls.../ He rolled his eyes and finally looked at the last umbrella at the end that had no sound coming from it. /Okay, five giggling girls. Maybe this one's got some sense in her fluff-filled brain./
He strolled sown the steps without glancing at any of them. As soon as he was out of hearing range-or so they thought-hysteria broke out.
"Oh Goddess, he's sooo hot!" exclaimed one. Her name was Sally Po. She, unlike most Chinese people, had blonde hair and blue eyes. All the other girls began to talk amongst themselves also. Meiran prayed to her ancestors to please hurry this up. She sighed, and closed her eyes, feeling as if she was being watched. Her eyes opened again, revealing the dark-brown orbs that held a spark of mischief in them. She knew exactly who was watching.
Wufei leaned against the rooftop made of bamboo. He hated this! "Damn this marriage crap!" he whispered bitterly to himself.
He looked down at the square. There was just so much noise and commotion! He carefully observed each young woman waiting for the matchmaker. /Ugh. I hate that word. Curse the ancestor who created IT!/
The blonde was easily noticed. She was medium sized...her blonde hair was braided into what looked like to Wufei as sticks. She wore a forest green dress and a light pink bow. Quite simple unless you count the sequence on her neckline that reflected off the sun's rays and nearly blinded him.
The second woman had raven black hair and slanted eyes. Her hair was long and braided with flowers in it. Thin as a stick, her dress naturally was larger than she was. It was orange with a red sash. Many bracelets and necklaces entwined her tall, thin neck and arms. All of this combined seemed to unbalance her; it seemed that even a small breeze could knock her over.
The maiden to her right was short. Her white dress was cropped short at the bottom and embroidered with navy blue patterns. Wufei averted his eyes. It was rather revealing.
The fourth was...well...wide. Her face bulged under intense makeup and her sides seem to ooze out over the sash, which was red. Her dress was blue, and there was no embroidery on it. Just plain, for her mother thought that her face was beautiful enough.
The second to the last was almost as tall as Wufei was. Her ash-black hair was loose and flew in the direction the wind blew it. A small lily was lucked behind her right ear, and her dress seemed to have been made out of silk, for it, like her hair, billowed in the wind. It was lavender, with a light pink sash. Her dress was the most elaborate of all, complete with excellent embroidery and sequence. She even had matching earrings, a necklace, a bracelet, and even an anklet!
The Chinese man's eyes finally landed on Meiran, who stood, or rather, sat on the dirt floor, away from the others. She seemed to be sitting on her knees as if she was going to drink tea with someone. She was quite and looked rather serene. He glimpsed the sheath of a dagger that was strapped to her thigh and laughed quietly to himself. This young lady, whoever she was, is certainly cautious, and he could also tell that she was rather spunky with spirit to spare.
"SILENCE!" came a shrill. All the noise suddenly stopped. The air was eerily quiet and still. It was...dun dun dun.....THE MATCHMAKER!!! She was a rather wide, stocky woman, and had a tad too much make up on. Black eyeliner, dark purple eyeshadow, dark red lipstick....now presenting your normal matchmaker who makes everyone nervous and scared.
"Po Sally."
The blonde blushed as she stood up.
"Come." the large woman commanded.
The two figures disappeared into the hut which the matchmaker owned. The door slammed, and all was quiet.
Little did they know that Chang Wufei was sitting on that very roof, listening to all of the conversations exchanged inside...
"Hmm..." said the matchmaker, stroking her chin, "Perfect size. Good for bearing sons. Now, pour the tea."
Sally poured it perfectly, and smiled as she handed the matchmaker the tea.
"What are the three rules that all women must live by?"
"One must honor the gods first and foremost, for everything they do benefits him or her. One must also honor her country, for it is the land that gave her life. Lastly, one must always honor her husband and her family, for they are the ones who will never forsake her."
"Very good. You will make a fine wife for Wufei."
The blonde blushed and bowed deeply before waltzing out the door, smiling joyfully at her wonderful match.
/Hmm.../ thought the matchmaker, /I want Sally to win. Now, who would be a total disgrace, so I can send the rest of those brats home?/
She glanced out the window of the bamboo hut. Her eyes fell on Meiran, who was quietly staring at something on the roof, not aware of the attention the matchmaker was giving her.
/Bingo./
The matchmaker stepped out again.
"Fa Meiran."
Meiran stood up and walked inside. Suddenly, upon the arrival of a messenger, Wufei vanished from the rooftop. Something was very wrong.
The Huns had gotten past the great wall. The people were dark, satanic, dirty barbarians from up north. Each of them were strong-no match for China's warriors...they were on a mission to kill the current emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
The matchmaker took one took a Meiran.
"Too skinny. Don't your parents feed you anything? Well, I suppose not, considering your background. After all, you're probably too poor to even afford a meal," she stated bluntly. Meiran's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.
It was then that the cricket decided that it had enough of it confined jail and decided to break free. It hopped out and onto the floor. Meiran saw it and panicked. /Oh no, oh no no no...this is not happening. I HATE BUGS! Well, not really, but still.../
"Recite what the perfect wife must have," demanded the matchmaker.
Meiran nervously smiled and puled out her fan and began to fan herself. The sleeve of her dress "accidently" fell a little bit, granting her a view of the words she had written earlier. They were a bit smeared because her mother saw and tried to scrub it off, but it was permanent ink and most of it was still there.
"Umm...the perfect wife must have grace, posture, and balance. She must also have..." Meiran winced, trying to make the word clearer and more legible. "...modesty and be dis-I mean, obedient to her love-er...I mean, husband..."
The matchmaker frowned and placed one hand on wrist and another on the fan. She ripped the fan from her hands while keeping her other hand on the wrist. After inspecting the fan and finding no words on it, she placed it on the table, oblivious to the ink that had come off Meiran's skin and onto her palm. She placed her index finger on one side of her mouth and her thumb on the other and stroked downward in a circle to her chin, still not knowing that the black ink was staining her face to look like a moustache. Meiran bit back a giggle and watched the cricket hop around the matchmaker.
"You're so stupid. So many flaws and too many pauses. You're no good, you know that? What would a scholar want with such a fluff-filled girl? Huh! How dumb you are. I'm sure that no good younger sister of yours is the same way. And your brother-he'll never get married! A cripple like him should die and save your family from such shame!"
"I don't think so, missy," she said as Meiran reached for the teapot, "I never said you could pour the tea into the cup yet."
"I wasn't going to do that," replied Meiran, cooly. She swiftly grabbed the teapot and threw it at the matchmaker's face.
Now, keep in mind that it was scorching hot tea. The matchmaker, being the huge git that she is, made it far hotter than she normally does, hoping that Meiran would spill it all over herself and burn.
The matchmaker screamed as Meiran watched with an amused face. "That was for calling me too skinny. What's it to you, hmm? You're probably just jealous. After all, I'm not the one who weighs three hundred pounds.This-"
Meiran caught the cricket and shoved it into the matchmaker's face, knowing that the matchmaker despised bugs. She grinned as the matchmaker began to jump around in fright. "-was for insulting my intelligence. And THIS-"
She kicked the matchmaker into the fire. "-was for my family that you've insulted. What kind of woman insults another family? Only the lowest class-not even the lowest class would do that. You pick on my family, and I will only deal you double the amount of shame and embarrassment. You insult my brother for something he had since he was born, and I will punish you. You insult my little sister for having a childhood, then I will make sure that your life will be miserable. You insult my family honor, and Goddess will punish you by banishing you to hell."
Meiran angrily looked at the woman who was jumping around with her hands on her posterior, which was obviously on fire and ran outside after recapturing the cricket. Oh yes, she had gotten that egotistical matchmaker back, and she was not going to be stuck with the stuffed up scholar. Yes, life was good...
The girl raced home only to be greeted by the sound of a beating drum. The Emperor must be enlisting people again! Rumor had it that the Huns from over in Mongolia had decided to invade, and had gotten past China's Great Wall. Swiftly, she climbed onto the roof, followed by her younger sister. They peered over the shingles and watched silently.
The Emperor's procession-or rather-the procession of the Emperor's assistants, stopped in front of the Fa household. All their neighbors and her own father went out to greet them.
"The Huns have crossed the Great Wall and is currently waging a war against China."
A great murmur swept through the crowds.
"One man from each family must enlist!"
The chief took out a scroll. "Ho Lee man. Lin Cha jia, Yeh Jia yian, Su Xing Houng, Fa Fah Zhu."
The crowd parted as Meiran's father limped through. He was a rather old man, crippled from the previous war with the Mongolians. He had given Meiran's mother his walking stick, and he walked to get his scroll, head held high.
"No!" cried Meiran as her father was about to accept the scroll.
The girl slid down the roof as her father watched her in horror.
"Please, sir," she begged, "spare my father. He had already served the Emperor once! Look at his leg! He cannot walk. Why must he go again and get himself killed?"
The officer looked back at her, and said spitefully: "Your daughter has no manners. Teach her to never speak to men unless she is asked. It is dishonorable."
"Get inside, Meiran."
"But, Father, I-"
"Go. I know my place. It's about time you learned yours."
Tears filled Meiran's eyes as she ran inside the gates and into the garden which her mother and Ying Fa tended. He was going to be killed. Her father will be killed for no good reason at all. It was suicide.
"Everyone must report to the Wu Shoung camp tomorrow morning. Be sure to have your scroll."
The chief advisor stuck his nose high in the air, and the procession started again to another area of the town to bring more bad news to other families. This war will lose many lives, and many families will remain broken forever.
[1]: A cheong-sam is a traditional Chinese dress. You know, the kind with the high collar with the spiffy knots and stuff? Yeah...
[2]: Don't ask...it's a kind of orchid that looks like a sword...does that make any sense? sweatdrop When I find out the American name of it I will post it.
[3]: Jie-jie means older sister
[4]: Po Po is a term for the mother of one's mother. Grandmother on your mother's side.
[5]: Zhao sun means good morning
[6]: Okay guys, pretend. I know he's 156 cm only, but most Asians think 5'5 is tall, including me. Hehe, I'm Asian too...DUH! We're pretending that Wufei is 5'7 just to make him seem a tad more handsome to those really scary, made-up Chinese girls who aren't really like that. Hehe...Chinese people are cool, and they don't act like weird people who smear white paste all over their faces. goes on ranting about Disney's stereotype.............
A/N: So what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Review!
Disclaimer: rolls eyes The story of Mulan belongs to Disney, and Gundam Wing belongs to whoever owns it. I own nothing but the story and the strange people and some of the names. Oh yeah. I don't own the movie Chicken Run either.