Bai Zi Qian didn't come that night.

Ami watched the door every two minutes, craning her neck to watch every person who comes in from the door, getting startled every time there was a clatter on the threshold. Until the last person left, Ami held out hope that Bai Zi Qian would come see them at the wine shop.

"Father didn't come," Ami said dejectedly as she sat heavily down a table after cleaning up the shop.

Li Susu glanced at Bao who was carrying wine bottles down the cellar, then at Ami slumped over the table. "It's all right," she assured Ami. "Your father… needs to take time to understand what he is feeling now. I guess he feels confused about how he feels about you, about us, that's why he's staying away. For now." Seeing Ami still feeling down, she lifted her chin. "With a face as adorable as this, how could he ever stay away from you?"

Ami smiled. "Thank you Mother." She stood and helped Bao with the wine bottles. Li Susu watched her daughter's spirits lifted and cheerfully finish the chores for the day. After eating the dinner they had bought outside, Li Susu sent the girls to bed.

Bai Zi Qian didn't appear the next day, nor the following day after that. Ami was constantly on the lookout, but he never went near the shop, nor did he visit them even at their house. She was constantly feeling dejected, but Li Susu kept reassuring her that Bai Zi Qian would come visit them soon.

How soon, though, was anyone's guess.

Still, Li Susu kept her own spirits up. For every day that Bai Zi Qian didn't come, she remembered the days when she tried to charm Tantai Jin with gifts and silly actions, but feeling disappointed each time that he remained unresponsive. She smiled to herself. Tantai Jin was not one to be won over by gifts, and was never one to fall in love first.

Thus, Li Susu went about her usual tasks, never noticing the attention that her beauty, already suppressed by the aura suppressor she wore, had attracted throughout town, both good and bad. The steady flow of customers who were both looking for good wine, and a confirmation of her unusual beauty, kept her busy for the entire day, so much that she couldn't even think about Bai Zi Qian herself.

"Here you go, gentlemen, two jugs of strong wine," Li Susu put down the wine she was carrying on the table of a few men who had been slightly being rowdy. "Please leave your payment before you go."

One of the men sneered. "Sure, if you get it from me," he said, dangling a coin pouch in front of her.

Li Susu smiled politely. "Thank you, sir," she said, and reached out to take it. But as she reached out, he grabbed her arm, pulling her forcefully, but before he could do anything else, a steely grip grabbed the arm that held hers.

"Let go of her," a cold voice said, and Li Susu and the men looked up to see Bai Zi Qian, with a murderous glint in his eye. He twisted the man's arm, and made him let go of Li Susu with a yowl of pain. "Take the wine. Leave the payment."

The terrified men did as they were told, and ran out of the shop as fast as they could. Bai Zi Qian watched them go, but Li Susu watched him too, smiling inside.

Bai Zi Qian noticed her looking at him. "Sorry," he said simply. "I hurt your guest."

Li Susu smiled inwardly. No you're not. Aloud, she said, "Thank you Master Bai, for helping me once again." She gestured towards the now cleared table. "Please sit, and take a cup of wine with me."

Li Susu saw Bai Zi Qian's hesitation, but he sat. She smiled, feeling the elation of finally getting Bai Zi Qian to notice her, and poured cups of wine for both of them.

Tantai Jin. You've finally come.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bai Zi Qian knew he shouldn't have gone to see her.

The moment she appeared on his doorstep, something inside him had told him to stay away from her. In fact, the moment he saw Ami, something inside him told him to stay away from her too. All his life, he had decided that he would live a lonely life outside of the town, with no friends, no wife, no children, just him and the two dogs that had kept him company since his parents passed.

His mother would often sigh when he spoke about it. You can't be serious, Zi Qian, she would say, but he was adamant.

Nobody should be involved with the misfortunes that he felt his life was destined to have.

But he saw Ami, and was drawn to the child as surely as a mother bird would draw its chick under its wings. He saw Li Susu, and was drawn to the woman like a moth to a flame.

He deliberately stayed away the night that she invited him to her newly opened wine shop, gritting his teeth against the overwhelming urge to see her again. Instead, he drank the two jars of wine she brought, and fell asleep, drunk for the first time in his life. He tried to go about his business as usual, took his bow and arrow and tried to go hunting, but came back empty-handed. He told this to Wei, who laughed at him for a good five minutes.

"Come on, Zi Qian, don't you realize how stupid you're being?" Wei called out when he threatened to leave. "You know you miss Ami, and by extension, her mother too, so why are you holding yourself back?"

Bai Zi Qian went sullenly silent. Wei, shaking his head at his friend's gloomy expression, changed tack. "You know those men frequenting her wine shop isn't only there for the wine, you know," he remarked, watching the wine shop which was coincidentally across his. "And she is a widow, without a husband to protect her. Sooner or later, she might be in trouble, and she'll be alone."

And Wei was right, although of course Bai Zi Qian should have known that too. Distant and cold though he might consider himself towards the fairer sex, having met Li Susu changed him almost overnight. He understood how it was to desire a woman, because he felt that for the first time in his life, the day that he saw Li Susu.

So was it really a surprise that other men would see her that way too?

He wanted to break that man's arm. He wanted to tear it from his body, and throw it to the crows to devour. For having touched the one person whose hands he was not worthy of holding, Bai Zi Qian wanted to tear that man limb from limb.

For the rest of the day, he watched Li Susu like a hawk, always ready to protect Li Susu from any other men who would harass her. Fortunately, there were none, maybe because the townspeople knew Bai Zi Qian's temper very well. They fully understood that the beautiful wine shop proprietress is under the protection of Bai Zi Qian, and that they would do well to steer clear of her.

Li Susu smiled to herself as she continued serving her customers. Ami came by for a minute, but when she saw Bai Zi Qian, she only grinned at her mother and left almost immediately, most likely to give her mother time to get to know Bai Zi Qian too.

The night wore on, and soon the last of the customers had paid and left. Li Susu, meanwhile, stayed a bit longer to take stock of the wine, wipe down tables, and secure the collections for the day before she locked up the shop.

Bai Zi Qian was standing outside.

"Master Bai," Li Susu said, surprised. "I didn't know you were still here." She had one hand on the lock. "Did you wish to buy more wine?"

"No," Bai Zi Qian answered.

Li Susu's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Then why…"

"I was waiting for you."

Li Susu's lips slightly parted. "You… were?"

Bai Zi Qian simply nodded.

"Why?"

Bai Zi Qian swallowed. "It's late at night, and a woman shouldn't be walking on the streets alone."

Li Susu hid her smile. If only you knew what I'm capable of. Aloud, she said, "Then Master Bai is…?"

Bai Zi Qian gritted his teeth. "May I accompany you home?"

"Master Bai, if you have to be somewhere else…"

"No."

"You don't have to—"

"I do."

Li Susu smiled. "Then let us go."

The streets were quiet and empty. For a while, only their footsteps were heard between them, but Li Susu wasn't in a hurry to break the silence between them. Walking beside him made her remember the walks that she and Cang Jiumin had taken together in the woods in Mount Changze, with Tantai Jin in the Jing Palace, and even as the hostage Prince Jin in the Ye Mansion. She had never appreciated until now just how precious they were, now that Bai Zi Qian is proving more taciturn than Tantai Jin ever was even during his hostage prince era.

Li Susu couldn't hold back her chuckle, breaking her own determination that it won't be her to break the silence between them. Bai Zi Qian looked at her. "What's funny?" he asked.

You are, Li Susu thought, still chuckling. "I was just thinking about some fond memories," she explained.

"With your husband? Ami's father?" Bai Zi Qian asked, his expression dark.

"Yes, my husband, Ami's father," Li Susu repeated his words, biting back another laugh.

Seeing her face lighting up with mirth, and clearly teasing him, Bai Zi Qian relaxed. "Would Miss Li care to share those fond memories with me?" he asked.

Li Susu smiled. "Gladly." Because you're so eager to know about yourself, Tantai Jin, remember this memory?

"It was a New Year's Eve," Li Susu began, "and me and my husband had finished shopping for the celebrations. We were about to go home, when we saw a poor woman selling firecrackers in the street. She had a lot in her basket still, but the snow was falling too heavily which was why only a few people were left in the streets. I wanted to buy all her firecrackers, but my husband stopped me."

"Chun Tao had already bought some, Ye Xiwu," Tantai Jin said.

"Maybe we'll need a few more," Ye Xiwu replied.

Tantai Jin turned to her. "You may have bought her firecrackers now, but tomorrow, she'll be out in the cold again to sell more."

"Miss Li is a kind person, but even if you bought the woman's firecrackers then, she'd still be out selling some the next day," Li Susu heard Bai Zi Qian say. She slowly turned to him, astonished at what he said, and found him looking at her fondly. "But at least, maybe that night, the woman was able to go home early to celebrate New Year's Eve with her family."

Li Susu's eyes filled with tears. Tantai Jin, you're still there, still here with me, she thought desperately. Bai Zi Qian, seeing Li Susu's tearful eyes, looked concerned. "Are you all right, Miss Li?" he asked.

Li Susu turned away to wipe the tears that fell from her face. "Yes, Master Bai," she whispered. She raised her eyes to him and tried to smile. "You remind me of him," she told him.

Bai Zi Qian looked away. "I am not him," he said.

Li Susu shook her head. "No, you're not him," she agreed softly. You are something more.

They neared the house. Li Susu sensed Bai Zi Qian slowing his steps, so she matched his pace. But no matter how they slowed down, they inevitably reached their destination.

Li Susu stopped in front of the gate. "Thank you, Master Bai, for accompanying me home," she said. "Come by anytime at the shop. A cup of wine for you is always on the house."

"Instead of that," Bai Zi Qian said, so quietly that Li Susu almost couldn't hear it, "can I continue walking home with you?"

Li Susu fell silent for a while, then the brightest smile lit up her face. "Of course," she said.

Bai Zi Qian smiled.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So it was that Bai Zi Qian became Li Susu's constant companion. At day, he'd stop by along the way to fetch Li Susu from her house. They'd walk down to town, where he'd go and drop off his daily hunt at Wei's shop, and Li Susu would open her wine shop and prepare for the day's work. After visiting Wei, he'd go to Li Susu's shop, and stay there until Li Susu closed at night. Then they'd walk home together, where Ami and Bao waited at the gate. Sometimes he stayed over for dinner, but sometimes he'd simply wave goodbye to Li Susu, Ami, and Bao and walk home alone.

This became Bai Zi Qian's daily habit, a great change to his once lonely lifestyle, all because he wanted to see Li Susu every day. He missed caring for the two girls, and often brought small playthings for them when he visited them. Once, he picked some wildflowers in the forest, and offered them to Li Susu shyly. Li Susu was surprised, blushing as she took the roughly made bouquet from him, which made Bai Zi Qian's heart soar in turn.

Every night, as they walked home, Bai Zi Qian made Li Susu tell stories about her husband. He was curious as to what kind of man Li Susu would take for a husband, but the more he heard about him, the more he thought the man was… strange. The man didn't like music, and chased Li Susu away for playing the harp. He knew how to cook, but he made Li Susu cook food for him. He made Li Susu work to the bone, and enjoyed having someone scold her for every mistake. For Li Susu's birthday, instead of giving her pretty things, he gave her a rock. Granted, it was a meteorite, one of a kind, but still… it's a rock.

But the way Li Susu talked about him, with a lot of fondness and deep melancholy, the way her eyes both lit up with happiness and clouded over with sadness whenever he was mentioned made him… painfully jealous. Despite his faults, the man who could make Li Susu fall in love with him must be someone exceptional.

But the man was gone, leaving behind a beautiful, kind woman and their wonderfully smart daughter, and for that Bai Zi Qian couldn't forgive him.

So he decided that as long as Li Susu and her daughter were in town, he will protect them in place of the husband and father they had lost.

xxxxxxxxxxxx