I worked just as hard as I had before he came, even harder. I used to make two blocks of tofu a morning;
now I could make three and a half.
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My mother watched me pushing the mill day after day, her heart aching for me.
At dinner, she tried to comfort me. “My dear, don’t worry. Mother will find you an even handsomer man, mu-
ch better looking than that bean sprout.”
I took a bite of pickled vegetables. “Mother,” I said, “I don’t want a handsome man anymore.”
Her hand, holding her chopsticks, froze. “Then what kind of man do you want? Whatever you want, Mother will find him for you.”
I tilted my head, thinking for a moment. “Find me a butcher,” I said. “That way, we’ll have meat to eat every
day.”
I lied to my mother.
I didn’t want to marry a butcher for the meat.
I had asked the children at the town school what a Grand Tutor was. They told me it was a very, very high-
ranking official, one who had to be incredibly well–read.
So Napier was a man of great learning.
In that case, his words must be true. Marrying a butcher would be the most suitable path for me.
My mother worked fast. Two days later, she brought the village matchmaker, Mrs. Wong, to our house.
Mrs. Wong’s face was wreathed in smiles. “Jane, there’s a butcher in the next village. Are you interested?”
I nodded without a second thought.
The next afternoon, Mrs. Wong brought the butcher to our house.
It was the first time I had spent time with a man other than Napier, and I felt incredibly awkward.
But when I saw him, I realized he was someone I already knew.
5
After Napier came to our home, we started selling our tofu at the town market. He despised hawking our wares door–to–door, preferring to walk the extra miles to town rather than push a cart through the neighbori- ng villages, shouting.
I met Cole at the market. He sold pork at the stall opposite ours.
Napier was aloof, and he sold tofu with the same aloofness. He hated the old women who picked through his wares and despised the matrons who haggled over the price. As a result, we often had tofu left over at the end of the day.
One day, it rained. We had a lot of tofu left, and we were struggling to move it under the eaves. Some of it was getting soaked.
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That’s when Cole came to our rescue. He was a butcher, and years of work had given him a powerful build.
In a few swift movements, he had moved our baskets and everything else to shelter.
It was the first time I truly understood the value of my mother’s advice. A strong body really was a good
thing.
