20. Frictions

Thoughtfully, Liu looked out the window of her guest room. It was already noon, although she would hardly have persuaded Xiang to have lunch if she hadn't brought the meals to the room. Now she and he sat together at a table and ate, albeit in silence, their lunch, which consisted of simple noodle soup.

"Haven't you wondered what Yin-Yu's husband is doing?" the peahen murmured and her gaze wandered from the window back to Xiang, who was sitting across from her. But he just poked around sullenly in his noodles.

Liu's attention shifted to the egg, which was lying peacefully on the blankets. A slight smile flitted across the corners of her beak.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" she asked softly.

But Xiang just shrugged.

"I know one already," Liu said. "Or two."

But Xiang didn't comment on that either.

With a smirking sigh, the peahen rose and went behind her husband's back, gently she put her wings on his shoulders. "If you've also thought of a name, then you can say it," she whispered to him tenderly. "I'm excited about what it will be. A boy or a girl, but it doesn't matter unless you only have a girl's name, or only a boy's."

Xiang dipped the chopsticks into the noodles. "I don't care at all," he said grimly. "If you have a name, take it. Because if I had something to add, I would probably say something, wouldn't I?"

For a few seconds, Liu was speechless. Then she rubbed his back forgivingly. "Of course, I'm sorry. It's just… after all, this is our first child." When he didn't reply, she tried to change the subject a bit. "Tell me if the baby isn't there by then... and if... would you want to go to the festival, too?"

Again just noodle poking and silence. Liu bowed her head down to him. "Or not? I mean, you don't have to go if you don't want to. It doesn't have to mean that when the panda is here, that…"

Xiang threw his chopsticks on the table and stood up.

Liu looked at him in surprise. "Where are you going?"

"I go outside."

"But you hardly ate anything," Liu said, looking at the half-full bowl.

"I've lost my appetite!" he growled.

"But I only asked a question," Liu tries to calm him down. "I mean, aren't you curious whether he has a brother? He might even have trouble in Japan. Yin-Yu sounded a little worried when I spoke to her about it."

Xiang just lifted his beak disparagingly. "He doesn't even need to come back as far as I'm concerned," and stretched his wing towards the door after taking his crutch from the wall.

Liu rubbed her wings together and took a deep breath. "Couldn't you at least..."

"No!" Xiang cut her off. "We will not! Neither today, neither tomorrow nor in the future. Namely never!"

With this final sentence, he tore open the door, jumped over the threshold and closed the door loudly. He had seen what Liu wanted to say. Although she really only hoped that he would make peace with Shen. But if Xiang were to do that at all, a miracle would have to happen.

Liu sighed heavily and sat back down at the table alone. "He is such a stubborn person. I'd love to know who gave it to him."

Xiang struggled down the stairs. At first, he didn't know where to go, as far as his gait could be described as walking. He decided not to go in the direction where Yin-Yu moved into an apartment with the children. Instead, he went down the street that led to the restaurant. But no sooner was the building in sight than he stopped dead in his tracks. Fantao was standing in front of the wall of the restaurant. There was also a music group nearby that played a little music and Jian was also there. Dark clouds gathered over Xiang's face again. He hobbled back a few meters and took a side street that led to the edge of the village, but he didn't care. The main thing was just away from society. And above all away from this family, which he hated so much.

Mr. Ping had just brought some turnips from the basement. When he returned to the kitchen, he almost dropped the vegetables from his wings. His brother stood at the stove, humming happily to himself as he stirred a bowl.

"Aha, I was already wondering where you were," Pong greeted him. "I just started making a breakfast meal."

"Pong!" Outraged, Mr. Ping laid the turnips on the counter. "Do you have to keep meddling in my kitchen every day now?"

"I just wanted to show you something," his brother soothed him and held out the bowl. "Maybe that will inspire you to do something. But what are you making that face like?"

Mr. Ping raised his beak and headed for the door. "I have to go out... to check something." With that, he marched briskly out of the kitchen. Actually, Mr. Ping just wanted to get away from Pong. The constant cooking of his great recipes was getting on his nerves. His brother had been babbling at him about it since this morning. He'd often made off by taking out the trash, but since the trash was empty, he had to find some other excuse to get out the door. The gander went across the terrace to the exit. As soon as he was on the street, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"What are you doing there?" he cried and stared along the restaurant wall, where Fantao was about to swing a few brush strokes again.

"Hey, are you crazy?!" the gander protested and ran over to him. "You can't just smear my wall!"

"It's not smearing," the peacock boy insisted angrily. "Or do you call yourself a smear?"

He pointed the tip of his brush at what he had stroked. Finally, Mr. Ping dared to take a look at the painted wall and his beak remained open. At first, he hadn't seen what Fantao had painted. The lifelike picture of Po was now visible on the wall. With the same mischievous smile and folded arms, the Dragon Warrior of color stood there, appearing to be smiling proudly at his father.

"What do you say now?" Fantao asked. "Do you still think it's so awful?"

"It..." Mr. Ping struggled to move his beak for correct sentences. "It... it's... that looks really, really good."

Fantao immediately grew a few centimeters and proudly he lifted his peacock crest. "I wouldn't have expected anything else," he remarked dryly. At least one who appreciated his works.

After a while, the gander ventured to ask a question. "Uh, could… could you draw me next to it?"

Fantao looked at him in surprise. Then he was all smiles. "Be my guest!"

"Great! Wait a minute!" Mr. Ping immediately disappeared back into the restaurant and returned in no time with a noodle bowl and chopsticks. "Right then, paint me like this." He held the bowl in one wing and the chopsticks in the other.

Fantao grinned and immediately grabbed his paints.

Not far away, Zedong was leaning against the wall of a house, staring ahead with a black look. He was watching how Fantao was painting on a wall again, next to which Mr. Ping was modeling. The boy's eyes wandered to his brother Jian, who happily plucked his instrument. All his younger brothers were kept busy while he sat here. He looked up as he saw five familiar figures head towards the restaurant. Immediately, Zedong left his place and ran to the Furious Five.

"Hey, do you want to fight with me?" he surprised the friends excitedly.

"I'm sorry, we have to go back soon," Monkey explained. "We just wanted to see whether Po has arrived."

The peacock boy shook his head. "No, if he was here, I would know that."

"Shifu is getting impatient," Viper said worriedly. "If things go on like this, then he won't have to come back."

"Maybe we should check out the area," Mantis suggested.

"I'm sure it won't do any good," Tigress said and started moving again. "If he were already here, he would come."

Her four friends looked at her a little soberly.

"Where's Sheng?" Zedong wanted to know.

"Haven't you seen him yet?" Crane asked in surprise. "He went to the village a few hours ago."

Zedong stared at him in bewilderment. "Without saying anything to me?"

The others shrugged.

"We don't know," Monkey said quickly, deciding it was best to leave now. Angrily, Zedong looked after them, his clenched wings beginning to tremble.

"Shouldn't you be back at the palace?" Liana asked with a giggle, adjusting the bloom in her feathery hair which Sheng had given her. They were standing near a blooming magnolia tree not far from the restaurant's courtyard.

Sheng smiled sheepishly. "Yes, but that's okay. As long as Po isn't there, there won't be much going on anyway."

Liana gave him a pitying look. "I just hope my cousin doesn't get into too much trouble about it."

At the word "cousin" Sheng looked down. He still remembered the conversation with his sister and it had hardly let him sleep. He kept asking himself how he should behave now. But he hadn't dared to talk to Liana about it either.

In the next moment, a clearing of someone's throat made him flinch. Both birds looked in amazement to the side, where a small figure was standing. Zedong looked at them, his wings placed on his hips, and he didn't look happy.

"Oh, hello," Liana greeted.

"Shut up, that's enough!" Zedong interrupted her, pointing menacingly at Liana. "I dare you!"

Sheng's beak stayed open for a moment before he found his voice again. "Zedong, what is this? Are you crazy?"

But the peacock boy would not be dissuaded from what he had just said. "If you want to be with her, then she should be equal, too!"

Sheng felt stunned and tried to push his upset brother away. "Now stop nagging and go back to the others..."

"What others?!" Zedong snapped and pushed him away. "Nobody wants to wrestle with me! Not even the Five. But they are too hoity-toity for that! Or is she hoity-toity, too?!"

Sheng was getting angry. "Now stop it!"

"Leave him, Sheng," Liana admonished, laying a wing on his shoulder. "If he really wants to challenge me, then he should do it."

"What?"

Now Zedong was surprised, too. He had rather expected she would withdraw or something like that. But not that she would accept his challenge.

Liana seemed to have recognized his disillusionment and raised her feathered eyebrows. "Or don't you want to do it anymore?"

Zedong hesitated. "Er... yes!"

"Hey, Weng, did you hear that?" it suddenly came from behind. Two of Liana's brothers, Weng and Teng, had noticed Zedong's scolding and now approached curiously. "Someone asked Liana to fight," Weng continued.

Both goose brothers let out a whispered mocking "UH".

Zedong turned to them angrily. "You think, I can't do that?! I'm already very well trained in fighting!"

Teng giggled. "This little chick is very brazen."

Weng nodded in confirmation. "And I always thought royals were so polite."

Zedong let out an angry snort. "I don't care at all! If I win, then Sheng gets to spend the day with me again!"

Sheng didn't know what to say and stared at his brother in horror.

Liana raised her eyebrows. "So that's what you're getting at," she murmured, more to herself. "Okay, I agree."

"Liana!" Sheng admonished and gently he pushed her away. "I think, that's not a good idea."

But the goose girl only smiled at him. "That's okay. I'm not afraid at all."

Sheng swallowed hard. "But you should be." He knew how good Zedong was at fighting. Not as good as him, but at least he wasn't bad.

"Where do you want to fight?" Liana asked Zedong.

The peacock boy set up his peacock comb. "Come along!"

With these words, Zedong ran away, Liana followed him, closely followed by Sheng, who was not at all comfortable with it.

Weng and Teng exchanged glances at each other.

"Shall we take a look?" Weng asked his brother.

Teng grinned. "Under all circumstances!"

"Where are you going?" Xia asked, suspiciously looking at her little sister Shenmi, who was about to run down the stairs to the street.

"Well, playing outside," Shenmi answered a little sheepishly.

Xia narrowed her eyes. "Okay, but you already know what you can't do."

The white peacock girl nodded hastily. "Of course, of course I won't."

"I hope so, too," Xia said warningly. "I don't want that you again..."

Xia paused as Shenmi hastily ran down the stairs. Slightly offended, the older peacock sister folded her wings. Why were little siblings so annoying?

"Are you all right, Xia?" her mother's voice suddenly sounded.

"Everything is okay," Xia answered quickly, hoping that Shenmi really gave Xiang a wide berth. "Hasn't a letter come back yet?" she asked.

Yin-Yu shook her head. "No, unfortunately not yet. I hope that doesn't mean anything."

Xia looked at her contritely. "Oh, she'll definitely have to wait a little longer. If something really bad had happened, she would have contacted us immediately."

Her mother sighed. "I really hope so."

Shenmi ran down the street. She'd spotted a souvenir shop around a few street corners the day before, but she hadn't had a chance to visit it yet. When she came to a stop there, she immediately noticed the salesman, who was just taking a bucket of colorful scraps of paper to the dustbin.

Immediately, Shenmi ran towards him. "Hello, do you still need the papers?" she asked.

The seller, an older pig, looked at the girl in amazement. "Uh, nope."

"Can I have some of that?" Shenmi asked.

The pig didn't have to think long and handed her the bucket. "You're welcome, take what you need."

Shenmi pulled out the largest scraps of paper, she thanked the big, and then she ran to a bench, where she sat down and examined the paper. At first, she didn't know what to fold. Then a thought came to her and she took out the first small sheet of paper. A few folds and she was holding a small paper airplane in her wings.

"I have to try it right now," she murmured.

She jumped off the bench and threw it in the air. The paper plane shot forward several meters and slithered to the ground.

"Again!" the white girl cheered. She picked up the paper airplane and threw it again. But then, unexpectedly, a gust swept across the valley. It caught the paper plane and threw it high through the air.

"Hey! Don't fly away!" Immediately, Shenmi took up the pursuit and ran after the paper plane that had been blown away.

On the outskirts of the village, Xiang had retired near a meadow, where he was at least alone. Still, he wasn't exactly happy. Bitterly, he kicked his crutch over some blades of grass. He hated walking around like a cripple. He was only over 40 years old and by no means belonged to the scrap heap. And yet, with his disability, he already felt like 100. If only his condition could improve again, but that would probably never happen. The blue peacock squeezed his eyelids just to ward off the tears that were forming.

Suddenly, something sharp hit him on the head. "Ouch! What the…?!"

He bent down and picked up a paper airplane that had hit his forehead so painfully.

"No!" a horrified girl's voice pleaded. "Don't destroy it again!"

The blue peacock turned around and not far away he saw Shenmi, who looked at him with wide eyes, startled.

"This is mine!" she continued to shout.

Xiang let out a menacing growl. "You again! That almost borders on bodily harm!"

He squeezed the finger feathers around the paper airplane, which incited Shenmi into anger. As much as she felt sorry for Xiang, that didn't entitle him to destroy her toy!

"Let it go!" She ran towards Xiang. The blue peacock dodged her, but Shenmi jumped around him so fast that he couldn't keep the paper airplane from her for long. Finally, the girl made a daring leap and managed to snatch the paper airplane from Xiang. Xiang wanted to prevent that, but in the attempt, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Shenmi, on the other hand, landed gracefully on her feet and examined the paper airplane. She was relieved to find that the paper only had slight creases that needed to be smoothed out. She didn't notice anything around until she heard Xiang snort angrily.

"You damn thing!" he cursed, bracing himself on his wings.

Shenmi looked at him in shock. "Have you hurt yourself?"

"Oh, shut up!" Xiang hissed, barely managing to get up on his crutch. When he finally got back on one leg, he scowled down at Shenmi.

"I'll tell your mother!" he threatened. "You almost killed me!"

But Shenmi's gaze wasn't directed at Xiang alone, but at something else.

"Your leg is swollen!" she said.

Xiang looked down at himself. His lame leg was actually slightly thicker than his healthy one. He must have twisted it somehow when he fell without realizing it.

"You have to cool it," Shenmi advised him urgently.

Xiang snorted. "I don't feel anything in it anymore anyway."

"But if you don't do anything, it could get worse," Shenmi pointed out.

Xiang narrowed his eyes. "What's that to you?!"

"There's a stream not far from here," Shenmi continued undeterred. "The sooner you get your foot in the better."

"Spare me your advice!" Xiang dismissed her. "I can do without that!"

Shenmi stared at him for a few seconds. Then she tilted her head back and pretended to leave. "Fine, I'll tell Liu then."

"No!" Xiang held her back. He definitely didn't want that now. She could do it and would put him to bed. "Fine, I will do it. But leave me alone!"

Zedong had chosen a secluded spot in one of the many backyards where they could be undisturbed. On the way, he got hold of two sticks that were actually intended for supporting climbing plants. Now he and Liana held one in the wing and faced each other.

Sheng, Weng and Teng stood a good distance away. Sheng wasn't exactly comfortable with this. It surprised him all the more that Liana's brothers didn't seem to be concerned at all. They leaned against the wall of a house and were just waiting for it that it finally started.

"Okay!" Zedong called out, holding his stick in both wings. "Let's get started!"

Liana did the same and nodded. "Alright."

Zedong gave the countdown. "One, two... Go!"

The little peacock went on the attack. Quickly, Liana dodged him and jumped up, holding her stick in her beak and flapping her wings high into the air. Zedong couldn't follow her with his eyes because the sun was blinding him.

"Hey, flying isn't fair!" he complained, since peacocks weren't that good at flying. But for a goose, on the other hand, it was no problem to swing high in the air. In the next moment, Zedong felt a stick hit in his back, albeit very lightly.

"Just kidding," Liana giggled.

This was enough for her little opponent to regain his strength. Zedong was now constantly beating her with his stick, while Liana used her stick to protect herself from his blows. Sheng lunged, but Teng and Weng held him back.

"Leave her," Weng said calmly. "Nothing will happen to her."

At that moment, Liana knocked the stick out of the boy's wing. Completely perplexed, Zedong now stood there without a "weapon". But Liana also threw away her stick. She wanted a fair fight. But that only made Zedong angrier. He jumped at her and wanted to attack her with flapping wings. But Liana protectively deflected his momentum with her wings. And before Zedong knew it, the goose girl had turned him around, grabbed his wing and pushed him to the ground, pressing his wing to his back and putting her foot on his back.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Zedong complained angrily and tried to push her away. But he couldn't do anything against Liana's grip and he remained fixed on the ground.

Sheng, on the other hand, watched the game with wide eyes. "How did she do that?"

Weng laughed. "Oh, father was always worried about her, in case if she will have her own restaurant. So he sent her to self-defense classes."

His brother Teng nodded. "Yeah. You never know when you might have to throw a rowdy out of the restaurant. She's sporty enough for that. In addition to self-defense, she is also the best courier in food delivery."

Sheng looked at him in surprise. "Deliver food?"

"It was our dad's idea," Weng explained. "She can fly the fastest of all of us."

Teng cleared his throat. "Liana, do you want to hold him like this until the end of the year?" he asked, looking at the two birds which were still lying on the ground, which made Weng laugh again. "She manages it and the wing will grow on his back."

Both ganders burst out laughing.

"So, are you giving up now?" Liana asked Zedong.

Zedong wriggled several more times, hoping to somehow break free of the grip, but he didn't manage to get up. Dejected, he sank to the ground. "Alright, I give up."

With that, Liana loosened her grip and let go of the boy. Then she went back to her brothers and Sheng. "And? How was I?" she asked, preferring to focus on Sheng, but her brothers responded with a feathered thumb held up.

"Not bad," Weng remarked with a touch of approval. "But with an ox you might have needed longer."

Liana looked at him with mocking insult. "Oh, come on. I was top of my class in self-defense. That wouldn't have been a problem for me either."

"Well," her brothers said in unison and walked away. "Dad must be waiting in the kitchen. See you then." They waved goodbye first to Sheng, then to his brother.

"Don't let your feathers hang when you get flattened by a girl," Teng joked and walked off with his brother.

Liana looked down pityingly at Zedong, who was still kneeling on the ground. He seemed embarrassed, but seemed sadder that he hadn't met his demand to meet Sheng.

Sheng cleared his throat. "That was really good," he said, still a little shaky.

Liana smiled. "Then I can redeem my bet now."

Sheng looked at her in surprise. "But you didn't say what you want if you win."

"Then I'll say it now," she announced firmly. "If I win, then your brother gets to spend time with you again. But on the condition that we can exchange a word from time to time without him objecting. At least until the festival." She looked at Zedong, who looked at her in amazement. But then he drew his eyebrows together. "You're just trying to make fun of me."

Liana leaned towards him. "Listen. I'm sorry that nobody wants to do anything with you, but we'll be gone after the festival anyway. Then you're on your own again. But it would be nice of you if we could have some time for ourselves in this short period of time. Agreed?"

She held out her wing to him. Zedong hesitated, then he placed his wing inside hers. "Okay."

"But we don't even know when that will be," Sheng objected. On the one hand, he was relieved that Zedong wasn't angry at Liana anymore, but somehow, he wasn't happy about not being able to be with Liana so often anymore. And the thought that it would all be over after the party pleased him even less.

"We can still see each other at the festival for a long time," Liana said. "Knowing my cousin, he's not going to miss a kung fu festival anytime. He will come soon. I'm sure of it." She nodded goodbye to him, then she left.

Both peacocks looked after her.

"Do you really want to marry her?" Zedong asked, rubbing his wing that Liana had pressed so hard on his back before.

Sheng only stuttered and blushed at the sentence. "Uh... well... I... I don't know exactly yet..." Why did everyone always ask him whether he would marry her?

Zedong, on the other hand, even seemed to like the idea now. "Maybe she can teach us something then. - Hey, how did you do that grip?!" he called after Liana and ran after her. "Can you show it to me again?"

In surprise, Sheng watched his brother running away.

With a sigh of relief, Xiang dipped his feet into the water. He couldn't feel anything in his swollen foot, but the cooling on his other leg did him quite well. The blue peacock sat on the bank of a stream in a meadow where no villager could disturb it. He examined his externally damaged leg. If he was lucky, the swelling would subside without Liu noticing. She always freaked out quickly when he was already suffering from an ailment. For one thing, he liked her over-protectiveness, but sometimes it got on his nerves too much. Especially when it happened in the presence of other people.

While he was staring thoughtfully into the stream, a paper boat suddenly swam past. Shortly thereafter, the white figure of Shenmi also ran along the opposite bank, chasing her boat. She waved at Xiang with a smile. "Hello!"

Then she fished her paper boat out of the water and ran back upriver, where from far away she slipped the boat back into the water and swam it down the stream.

When Shenmi ran past Xiang again, he raised his head angrily. "Can't you just do something else?" he scolded. "Just anything?"

Shenmi took out her paper ship again and looked at Xiang in amazement. Then she jumped to the other bank and sat down on the grass next to him, with some distance away.

"What do you have against it?" she asked. "I'm doing no wrong. I'm just playing."

"I want to be left alone," Xiang growled, giving her a withering sideways glance. "Is that so hard to understand?!"

The peacock girl inclined her head. "Then why are you always so angry? If you want me to leave you alone, all you have to do is, to say it to me. But at least I can say `Hello´."

"Alright, well, you said `Hello´, now you can go."

"Do you want to..."

"I said, go away!"

"I just wanted to ask whether you want to keep it?"

She held out the paper boat to him. But Xiang just folded his wings and looked away. "Mmpf, kid stuff!"

A little disappointed, Shenmi lowered the boat, but immediately she lifted it again. "But it's fun," she insisted.

But when the blue peacock still made no move to look at it, she just put it down on the grass. "You can reconsider."

With these words, she stood up, but she didn't immediately move away as Xiang had asked her to, but she just looked at him.

"Didn't you ever play in your childhood?" the girl finally asked.

Xiang let out a growl and Shenmi chose to retreat. "Okay, I'll go then. Bye!"

She waved goodbye to him, then she ran away. When Xiang was sure that she was really gone now, he breathed a sigh of relief. But when he saw the little paper boat in the grass next to him, he pushed it away with his wing. Then he leaned back on the grass, his feet still in the cool stream. For a while, he dwelled on his thoughts. At least he didn't have to see the father of that little nag. That was at least a small advantage.