Author's Note: Welcome back my dear Wastelings! We are in season ten. I missed all of you. It feels good to be back. Things are going to be a bit different this season. I am in the middle of job training for the summer. I will try to make time for this project. I can do it. Anyway, we last left off with Ju learning that Lady Fan is coming. Who is Lady Fan? What does she want with Ju and the Liao-Wang clan? We are going to have to see. Also, I kind of forgot that Ju was still in college. But I fixed that. And now without further ado, let's see where this season is going to take us.
Tea Leaves and Black Lipstick
Match One: Lady Fan, Old Clan Secrets, and Graduation Prep:
-Ju-
I stood in my living room, looking confused. Who was Lady Fan?
"Is something wrong?" I heard behind me. I turned to see Yao standing in the doorway to the stairs. I stood at him for a moment.
"I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "Yao, can I ask you something?" He had a curious look.
"What?" Yao asked.
"Who is Lady Fan?" I asked. My husband narrowed his eyes.
"Why?" he asked. I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes. Well, I wasn't expecting that answer. I played the message on the answering machine again.
"Hey, Liao-Xiānshēng we need to talk. Lady Fan is back. She will be coming to Beijing in two weeks' time. I had to warn you before it was too late. I don't know how you're going to get out of this one. I wish you luck," the message said.
"End of messages," the answering message said. The color drained from Yao's face.
"You can't be serious," he said in a low voice.
"Who is she?" I asked. Yao shook his head.
"No…. no," he said quietly.
"What?" I asked. My husband pulled out his phone. I watched as he started dialing numbers on his phone.
"Yao?" I asked. "What are you doing?" My husband held up his hand as he paced around with his phone to his ear.
"Hello? It's me," he said. "You need to get the main house right now!"
"Yao?" I asked again. My husband lowered his phone to his side.
Hen-to, Fei, Yao, and I all sat in my kitchen. I've never seen those men look so grim before. The clock ticking in the background didn't help the situation.
"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" I asked. The men all looked at each other. It looked like they were daring each other to speak up. I pressed my hands down onto the table.
"Who is Lady Fan?" I asked. Hen-to sat up straight, lifting his chin.
"You wouldn't know her," he said.
"So… who is she?" I asked.
"There is another branch of this clan," Hen-to said. Yao and I looked at him.
"What are you talking about?" Yao asked. Hen-to turned to Fei. I leaned in closer across the table. Hen-to pressed his lips together.
"Your great-grandfather had a brother," he said. "They were raised by their mother in isolation. You see, she came from a clan of savagery."
"They were so extreme that the government wanted them exterminated," Fei added. "Your great-grandfather distanced himself from his roots."
"I don't get it. Why haven't I heard about this?" I asked. My advisors sighed.
"We were told not to," Fei said.
"Your father didn't want to talk about this part of the history about the clan," Hen-to added. His tone told me that I didn't want to know why. But I just had to know the truth.
"Are you going to tell me why?" I asked. "Or are you going to dance around this subject?" Hen-to and Fei didn't speak at first.
"Guys…" I said.
"How long do you have tonight?" Hen-to asked. I looked over at Yao. He didn't say a word.
"We are here all night," I said. Hen-to and Fei looked at each other. I see I have backed them into a corner with this. Something deep down inside just had to know all of the gory details now. Hen-to lowered his eyes.
"You heard about heard of Fan House fire last year?" he asked.
"No…" I said.
"Here," Hen-to said. He slid over an article out of a newspaper that he had clipped out to me. I picked it up and took a look.
"Fan House Burned to the Ground," I read. "It is suspected to be arson?" I looked at the date under the headline.
"This was two years ago," I said.
"Keep reading," Hen-to said. His face looked so ashen.
"Okay…" I said. I turned my attention back to the article.
"A fire broke out deep near the Qilian Mountains conifer forests," I read. "The source was determined to be the old Fan House. Judging by the circumstances of the fire, it is believed to be deliberately set. While searching for victims or survivors, they came across the remains of a woman. They could only determine the gender by the size of the pelvis. However, she isn't the only body found on the property." My stomach turned as I read the next part.
"Police have dug up several remains of children in the backyard. So far, they have turned up thirty-seven bodies. So far, there is no word on how old they were or how long they have been dead." I looked up at my boys.
"Guys…" I said. No one said a word. I didn't want to know where this was heading. I tried to think of something to say, but no words formed in my mouth. I pressed my fingers to the article.
"Why is she coming here?" I asked.
"Honestly, we don't know," Hen-to admitted.
"Why now? Why after all this time?" I asked.
"We don't know," Fei said.
"We have been keeping track over that side of the clan for years now," Hen-to added. "We don't know how this slipped through the cracks. Forgive us." Both men bowed.
"It's okay," I said. I paused for a moment.
"What should we do?" I asked. Hen-to and Fei didn't look so comfortable. The looks on their faces told me that Yao and I would be doing this on our own. Even my husband didn't look easy about this. I buried my head in my hands.
"Do you think we're going to war?" I asked.
"I hope not," Hen-to said.
"I can't have this," I said. "I already have a crazy witch-cult stalking my family. I don't want this too."
"Don't you have graduation coming up too?" Fei asked.
"Don't remind me," I muttered.
"Do you need some tea?" Yao asked at last.
"No," I said. I dropped my head again and sighed. Why did it keep piling up for us?
Fei was right about one thing though. I had a graduation to worry about. Yes. Through the clan, marriage, Szu's rape, the clan losing money, having a baby, and being stalked, I still had school. They helped me stay on track. I even went as far as to take online classes. One has to know how to make it all work. It's my job after all.
Right now, I didn't want to think.
I saw Hen-to and Fei out the door.
"Good night," I said.
"Night," Fei said back.
"Take care," Hen-to said.
"You too," I said. My advisors bowed and walked out the door. Yao held me in his arms. Jing started crying in the house.
"I've got this one," Yao said.
"Alright," I said. He turned and walked back into the house.
"Hang on, Jing," he muttered. "I'm coming." I stay at the doorway until Hen-to and Fei walked down the path to their respective houses. I closed the door. I just wanted to go to bed. This day was fine until…
I shook my head. Can't focus on that. I have my exams coming up after all. Have to get those out of the way so that I can graduate. Oh yes. That. Graduation is a week from now. Where did the school year go? I kind of had to hold off on a semester due to my situation that I mentioned before. Tina, Mei, and Qin have already graduated. I feel like I've fallen behind.
I flopped down onto the couch. Today started out better too. I pulled out my phone. Oh, a new text. It's from Mei. I tapped the screen.
"You okay?" it read. I sighed and pressed my lips together.
"Not really. My family's been keeping secrets. You?" I wrote. I paused and erased the last two sentences. This should be fine. I pressed send. I looked up in time to see Yao coming back to the living room.
"He's asleep now," he said.
"Oh," I said. Yao walked over to my side.
"Tell me it's going to be okay," I said. "I don't care if it's a lie." He sadly smiled as he took my hand.
"I don't know," he said. I frowned. Somehow, I wasn't surprised that he would say that. Time for another challenge to get through again.
