O
My mother’s most frequent lecture was, “My dear Jane, don’t be like your mother. When you choose a man, never choose for his looks. Find one who is strong, who can bear a burden.”
She said this not because my handsome father had wronged her, but because not long after I was born, my handsome, but frail, father had passed away.
The day I’d gone to buy Napier, she had given me five taels of silver with strict instructions. “Two taels for
the man, two for a donkey, and one for the beans. And make sure the man is sturdy. Don’t just look at his
face.”
I had betrayed her trust. I’d spent all five taels on the pale, weak Napier.
But it wasn’t a total loss. I felt the hard lump of gold in my sleeve. Five silver taels for five gold ones wasn’t a
bad trade.
4
After Napier left, the task of grinding tofu fell to me.
The donkey, which I had bought specifically for Napier, finally got a rest. I was strong enough to push the mill for hours on end by myself; I didn’t need an animal. Before Napier, I had always done it myself. After he arri-
ved, the mill turned at a snail’s pace.
O
I had offered to do the work myself, but he had insisted on doing it to avoid being my husband.
He thought too poorly of me. I wanted to marry him, yes. But I wasn’t the kind of opportunist Annabelle tho- ught I was. I would try to persuade him, but I would never force him.
My S
I couldn’t bear to see his beautiful hands get calloused and raw, so I used my own savings to buy the donk-
- ey.
Now, the donkey was no longer needed.
My mother thought I would be heartbroken after Napier left.
But I wasn’t.
