Betrothed.
Li Susu should have remembered that Bai Zi Qian is a mortal, born of mortals, living a mortal life. And in that short span, all the stages of life was his to undergo: birth, death… love and separation.
The woman in front of her was beautiful, for a mortal. Slim, of average height, face small and delicate, and white, dainty hands clasped modestly before her, this Miss Liu could easily be called the beauty of the town, much like Ye Bingchang was a lifetime ago.
And to be betrothed to Bai Zi Qian… is not really a stretch of imagination.
"Hello Miss Liu, I am Li Susu, Ami's mother," Li Susu said, bowing slightly, reluctantly observing the niceties of the mortal world. If they were in the Demon Realm, she'd have this slip of a woman zapped into oblivion by Mo Nv or Si Ying or Jing Mie…
When she raised her head, Li Susu caught a glint of suspicion and jealousy in Liu Dong Yan's face, quickly erased and replaced with a look of polite interest. "Ah, you're here to take Ami back now, are you?" Liu Dong Yan said, her smile not reaching her eyes. Before Li Susu could answer, she continued talking. "That's good. That way, Bai Zi Qian won't be worried about her anymore."
"Miss Liu!" Bai Zi Qian cried out, and strode towards Liu Dong Yan. He gripped her arm. "Please leave now."
"No, Miss Liu is right," Li Susu said, and both Bai Zi Qian and Liu Dong Yan turned to her. She smiled too, which also didn't reach her eyes, and continued, "I just came to say thank you to Master Bai for his care for Ami, and as a token of my gratitude," she reached over for her purse and took out a money bag full of a few silver bars, "here is some silver—"
"No," Bai Zi Qian said firmly. But Liu Dong Yan pushed against him and whispered insistently, "That money is enough for my bride price, Bai Zi Qian. Take it!"
"No!" Bai Zi Qian repeated. He turned to Li Susu and pushed the bag back. "I cared for Ami willingly and without thought of repayment. Your gratitude is enough. Keep your money."
"But…" Bai Zi Qian's angry gaze stopped Li Susu from further protests, and she returned the money back into her purse. "All right. I'll find another way to show my thanks then," Li Susu stubbornly said. She extended a hand to him. "So I guess this is goodbye?"
Bai Zi Qian was stunned. "Good bye?" he asked, slightly letting go of Liu Dong Yan's arm.
"For now," Li Susu said, feeling elated inside at Bai Zi Qian's shocked reaction. "I hope to see you around town, Master Bai."
"What do you mean, Miss Li? Don't you live… somewhere far away from here?" Liu Dong Yan asked, a touch of acid in her tone.
Li Susu smiled, ignoring Liu Dong Yan's pointed intimidation. "I intend to open a wine shop in town," she said. "In a few days, I hope to see you there."
Just then, Ami and Bao walked in, finished with their chores. "Come here, Ami, and let's go," Li Susu called her.
"G-go, Mother?" Ami asked, looking from Li Susu to Bai Zi Qian, who avoided her eyes.
"I'm afraid we're trespassing too much on Master Bai's hospitality, so we ought to leave now," Li Susu said.
Ami pulled Bao behind her. "Bao doesn't have anywhere else to go," she said. "Can she come with us?"
Li Susu nodded. "Of course. She can stay with us as long as she wants," she replied. She looked towards Bai Zi Qian, whose face darkened and kept away from them. "Goodbye, Master Bai Zi Qian."
Bai Zi Qian nodded curtly, and remained still as Li Susu passed by him and Liu Dong Yan. "Come, Ami."
Ami and Bao both ran to Bai Zi Qian first, who knelt and opened his arms for them. "We'll come visit, Uncle Bai," Ami promised, hugging him tightly. Bao simply nodded.
"I look forward to it," Bai Zi Qian whispered in her hair. Then he leaned back and said, "But now that your mother's here, don't run away again."
Ami smiled. "I won't, Uncle Bai." Bai Zi Qian smiled and ruffled Bao's hair. Then he stood. "Get going now."
Ami and Bao both took backward glances at Bai Zi Qian until Li Susu called them away. Bai Zi Qian himself watched the three of them walk further and further away, until he couldn't see them anymore.
All the while, a fist remained tightened at his side.
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"Well, your house is finally quiet," Liu Dong Yan remarked, breaking the silence that indeed reigned in the house when the three ladies were gone. "Now, can we talk, Bai Zi Qian?"
"About what?" Bai Zi Qian asked sharply. He turned away from her to go to the shed, to start working on the rabbits that he was able to catch. But Liu Dong Yan followed him, and held on to his sleeve when he seemed to simply walk past her.
"Our betrothal!" Liu Dong Yan cried out. "How long are you going to save up the two hundred taels for my bride price?"
Bai Zi Qian sneered. "I never intend to save that much money for you, Liu Dong Yan," he said coldly. "You and your grasping family had already taken everything from my family, how much more do you need?"
"You can't do this to me, Bai Zi Qian," Liu Dong Yan pitifully said. "You can't disgrace me like this!"
"Watch me," Bai Zi Qian curtly said, and slammed the shed door on Liu Dong Yan's face.
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Li Susu noticed Ami and Bao's dejected moods. "Don't worry girls, you can always visit Bai Zi Qian whenever you like," she said cheerfully. It didn't have an impact on them.
"I hate that we're leaving Uncle Bai with her," Ami muttered angrily.
"I hate that we're leaving Uncle Bai," Bao said mournfully.
Li Susu smiled. "Don't worry, we're not going far," she said as they turned a corner and found a small hut halfway between Bai Zi Qian's house and the nearest house in town. "This is where we're going to stay."
Bao looked excited, and ran ahead of them. Ami, however, looked knowingly at Li Susu. "This wasn't here before, Mother," she said. "Did you have Aunt Mo Nv set this up?"
Li Susu smiled. "Yes," she answered. "But the wine shop we have to set up ourselves. Will you help me?"
Ami smiled back. "Of course, Mother!" she answered delightedly. She followed Bao inside the house, while Li Susu hung back and looked at their house, then at the direction of Bai Zi Qian's house.
Just wait, Bai Zi Qian, Li Susu thought. You haven't seen the last of us yet.
I'll bring you home, Tantai Jin.
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Li Susu waited until Bao fell asleep when she decided to tell Ami the truth.
Ami was stunned. "Uncle Bai… Bai Zi Qian… is my father?" she incredulously said. "But… but Uncle Bai has a mortal's breath, and I didn't sense anything demonic or devilish in him."
"I know," Li Susu said. "I didn't too. When your father sacrificed himself to destroy the All-In-Distress Way, he didn't think he'd ever come back again, because gods simply dissipate when they die." She opened her palm, and out came a red, blazing phoenix feather. "But not one who has been marked by a member of the phoenix clan." She smiled tearfully. "I didn't know myself when I placed this mark on him. I thought I was just proving my love for him by giving him this mark. I thought I was just seeing him in my dreams because I missed him. I never knew that it protected him, saved his soul from being completely destroyed by the All-in-Distress Way, and nurtured it until it was able to return to the realm of the living."
"You saved Father," Ami whispered, tears gathering in her eyes as well.
Li Susu nodded, brushing away the tears from her eyes, and from Ami's as well. "And you, my love, found him," she said, smiling wide. Ami looked at her uncomprehendingly. "Mo Nv didn't say, but I could sense that you've been with him for quite some time now. Think about it, my love. Didn't you feel anything when you first looked at him? Did you think that it was just a coincidence that you met him, and that he took you in, a completely strange child, and cared for you as a father would?"
Ami thought about it. That night, when she was up that tree, she was desperately praying for someone to save her. Just then, Bai Zi Qian came and saved her from those ruffians. It was the same when she was kidnapped by Bao's father. Bai Zi Qian also saved her then. In hindsight, the house where she was taken was a place no one would ever visit, so it was really a miracle that Bai Zi Qian was able to find where she was as quickly as he did.
Miracle, coincidence… or fate?
"I… I tried so hard, Mother, not to think of Uncle Bai as my father," Ami whispered, tears falling in earnest now. "Every time he cooked our food, played with us, made my clothes, I tried so hard to harden my heart and not call him Father." She smiled through her tears. "Now I can. Now I have a father who I love very much."
Li Susu gathered the weeping Ami in her arms. "You've always had a father, my dear Ami. And you'll come to see too, that he loves you very much." She held her daughter tightly until Ami finally stopped crying.
"But… why doesn't he have memories of us?" Ami asked after a while. "Why doesn't he recognize us?"
"Because he's living as Bai Zi Qian now," Li Susu answered. "Bai Zi Qian was born a mortal, had mortal parents, and till now, has lived a mortal life. I suppose his memories as Tantai Jin are sealed, after having undergone so much suffering during his lifetime as Tantai Jin." Her eyes clouded sadly. "I haven't told you this before, Ami, but he really did suffer a lot in his first lifetime."
Li Susu then told her the whole story of Tantai Jin's life, as an unwanted son whose mother died giving birth to him, and whose father cast him out as soon as he was born. She told her about his miserable childhood, when his brothers would come and bully him every chance they got, when food was so scarce he resorted to catching anything that moved and ate it, and when he was finally sent away not only from the palace but from his homeland, to be a hostage prince. She told her about his sad and lonely life as a hostage prince in the Sheng Kingdom, where he was betrayed even by his nanny, and even when he was married off and taken in by the Ye family, he was still treated lesser than even the servants.
"Father suffered something similar too, as Bai Zi Qian," Ami said. She also told Li Susu about what Bai Zi Qian told him of his life. So, in this life, you are still the devil fetus, Li Susu thought sadly, taking on all the misfortunes and sorrows of this world.
But without the evil bone, you won't be the Devil God anymore.
"And I… well, you know our story. I was only focused on fulfilling my mission of destroying the evil bone in him, that even I hadn't treated him well enough," Li Susu said, not noticing the tears that continuously fell from her eyes. "Even when he went down to the nether realm to save my soul—"
"Father went to the nether realm too?" Ami was shocked.
"Of course he did, who did you think I thought of when I decided to go there myself?" Li Susu said, smiling slightly. "The thing is, I was so ungrateful, and didn't recognize how much he loved me until it was too late." She took her daughter's hand. "Your father suffered so much, Ami. Maybe… maybe this is my punishment, that Tantai Jin be reborn as someone else, cleared of all memories of who he was to me, so that I can never cause him to suffer anymore."
"Mother…" Ami gripped Li Susu's hand. "You are not being punished. We simply need to make Father remember us again, that's all."
Li Susu looked at her daughter's hopeful face, and found her heart lifted by it. "You're right, of course, my love," she said, wiping her eyes. "We need to make Bai Zi Qian remember Tantai Jin, who loved us and this world that he gave his life for, so that we three can go back home."
Ami smiled and hugged Li Susu. "We're going home with Father, Mother," she said happily. "We're going to go home together."
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For the next few days, Ami and Bao helped Li Susu clean up the empty shop that Li Susu bought in town. Later, Mo Nv and a few other demons, disguised as mortals, came to help them. They brought in tables, chairs, utensils and wine bottles that completed the look of the wine shop that Li Susu will be using as a business to keep up with mortal appearances that she is an expert and a seller of wine.
"You knew that Bai Zi Qian is Father?" Ami cried out angrily at Mo Nv. Li Susu simply narrowed her eyes at Mo Nv. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Mo Nv gestured helplessly. "How could I tell you? Tell you both?" she said, defeated. "I couldn't even believe my eyes, but his aura, his demeanor, his face… I instinctively knew I was looking at our Devil God."
"Even if he has a mortal breath?" Li Susu was curious.
"We demons have our own way of recognizing our own," Mo Nv shrugged. She turned to Li Susu. "If not for your order, Si Ying and Jing Mie would have marched over and forcefully taken Bai Zi Qian back to the Demon Realm."
Li Susu shook her head. "It's not yet time for Bai Zi Qian to come back to the Demon Realm," she said. "His memories as Tantai Jin are locked, and if you take him back forcefully, you'll just scare him away." She placed a reassuring hand on Mo Nv's shoulder. "Trust me. I can bring Tantai Jin back. So tell Si Ying and Jing Mie to prepare the realm for their lord's return, and to trust me."
Mo Nv nodded. "I know you will," she said, smiling. She turned to Ami. "I know you both will."
Li Susu and Ami waved goodbye at Mo Nv and the other demons, who left and went back to the Demon Realm to spread the good news that their ruler is back.
Meanwhile, Li Susu, Ami, and Bao prepared for the opening night of the wine shop, sending out invitations to the townspeople, who were curious and interested in the new wine shop in town. Bao was excited, but in their hearts, Li Susu and Ami were worried.
"Do you think Father will come?" Ami asked nervously.
"You shouldn't call Master Bai Father yet," Li Susu answered, "but yes, I think he will." She raised two jugs of wine. "Especially when we go visit him."
Ami grinned, and told Bao to prepare for a visit to Bai Zi Qian.
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Thankfully, when they arrived, Bai Zi Qian was in the shed, cleaning his hunting tools. He was testing his bow when Li Susu, Ami, and Bao knocked on his gate.
"Uncle Bai!" Ami called out. "We've come to visit!"
Bai Zi Qian quickly put down his bow, and rushed over to open the gate. He was greeted by Ami and Bao launching themselves at him. "Uncle Bai!" they both cried out as they hugged him at the waist. "We missed you!"
"Ami… Bao…" Bai Zi Qian wrapped an arm around each girl. "I missed you girls too." But his eyes were looking at Li Susu, who was smiling at him. "Miss Li."
"Master Bai," Li Susu said, bowing slightly. "I hope we're not disturbing you?"
Bai Zi Qian shook his head. "No, not at all," he said. Ami and Bao already stepped back, looking expectantly at him. He stared blankly at them, until Li Susu asked quietly, "May we come in?"
"Please," Bai Zi Qian finally said, mentally slapping himself in the head for his idiocy as he let the three women come into the courtyard. "Would you like to come inside the house?"
Li Susu smiled. Ami glanced at her, then turned to Bai Zi Qian. "Uncle Bai," she said, "can I go to my room? I left the wooden doll you carved for me. Can I get it?"
"Mine too," Bao chimed in.
Bai Zi Qian had to pull himself away from Li Susu's gaze. "Of course," he answered Ami. "That's yours. Of course you can get it."
Ami smiled, then she took Bao's hand. "We'll get our dolls then, Uncle Bai," she said, and the two girls ran excitedly inside the house.
"You've spoiled the girls too much, Master Bai," Li Susu remarked, grinning at Bai Zi Qian. "How could I ever repay your kindness to them?"
Bai Zi Qian shook his head. "It was no problem," he said. "The dolls were simply made out of scrap wood, they were nothing special." He looked at her seriously. "Why are you here, Miss Li?"
Li Susu had to bite back a smile at the directness of his question. Only you, Tantai Jin, would interrogate a guest as directly as this, she thought. "You didn't take my money that I offered to show my gratitude for your care of Ami," she said, "so now, I've brought two jars of wine for you." She raised the jars of wine that she held on both her hands.
"I told you, Miss Li, you don't have to—"
"I can't take no for an answer, Master Bai," Li Susu said, "and besides, this is also an invitation for you to join us tonight at the opening of my wine shop. If you think the wine in these jars are good, please join us."
At Li Susu's insistence, Bai Zi Qian took the jars from her. He looked at them for a long time. "All right," he finally said, whispering.
Li Susu closely watched Bai Zi Qian's hesitant movements, and his adamant refusal to meet her eyes longer than three seconds sent clouds of doubt hovering over her heart. When she heard Ami and Bao coming back, she heaved a deep sigh and put on a brave face as best she could. "Well, then, Master Bai, the girls and I will be going now," she said, making Bai Zi Qian look at her again. "We look forward to seeing you tonight at the shop." She nodded, and called the girls away. After a brief hug from both girls, Bai Zi Qian saw them out of the gate.
It was a long while before he exhaled a long breath.
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