Chocolate

A full hour passed before the curtain over the side room's doorway was gently lifted, and the sisters Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua emerged one after the other.

With the dust and mud washed from their faces, their true features were finally revealed. They were not dark-skinned and rough like most refugees; their complexions were surprisingly fair, much fairer than those of ordinary poor farmers' daughters.

But they had gone without enough food for so long that their cheeks were sunken and their figures painfully thin. They looked as though a gust of wind might knock them over, plainly the result of their recent hunger.

Their hair had been washed clean, though a long lack of nourishment had left the ends dry and slightly yellow. It lay half-wet over their shoulders, water still dripping from the tips.

Both wore blue-cloth ruqun, the style worn by maids in the residence.

Shen Jingchuan glanced at their clothes and frowned. He turned to Yue'er, who had followed them out.

"Why are they dressed in servants' clothes?"

Yue'er had been waiting for a word of praise. At that, she promptly pouted and spoke with a wounded air.

"Young master, where was I supposed to find other clothes? These are the best clothes I had tucked away in my trunk. I washed them until they were spotless, and I couldn't even bear to wear them myself. I brought them out especially for the sisters to change into, and now I have nothing to change into myself."

Seeing her look as though her kindness had earned her a scolding, Shen Jingchuan realized he had blamed her unfairly. He took two steps forward, raised a hand, and gently patted her on the head, his tone softening.

"All right, all right. I didn't ask first, and I blamed you unfairly."

Yue'er turned her head and huffed, her cheeks puffed out as she held on to a little of her sulk.

Shen Jingchuan was secretly amused. Surely he could coax this little girl into forgiving him.

He turned sideways and opened the backpack on the table. Using it as cover, he took a bar of chocolate from his space, tore off the outer wrapping, peeled back a corner of the shiny silver foil, and held it out before Yue'er.

Yue'er was still looking down and sulking when a rich, sweet fragrance, thick with the scent of milk, slipped into her nose and made her tongue crave a taste.

She jerked her head up. When she saw the square piece of dark brown stuff in Shen Jingchuan's hand, wrapped in shiny silver paper, her eyes lit up.

"Young master, what is that? It smells so good."

"Candy. Have a taste," Shen Jingchuan said casually.

Yue'er hesitantly accepted it. Her fingertips touched the cool foil, and she carefully broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth.

Its silky, mellow texture melted on her tongue at once. The sweet but not cloying fragrance, wrapped in a dense milky flavor, spread from her tongue to her throat. It was more delicate and fragrant than the finest osmanthus candy or rose cakes she had ever eaten; even the preserved fruit the young lady of the residence often ate could not begin to compare.

Her eyes narrowed into two crescent moons, and her cheeks puffed out as she exclaimed indistinctly.

"Young master, this is so delicious!"

She stopped after eating just one small piece. She carefully wrapped the larger remainder in the plain handkerchief she carried with her and tucked it into a small inner pocket.

"Why did you stop eating?" Shen Jingchuan raised an eyebrow.

Yue'er pressed her lips together, her eyes sparkling.

"I'm saving it to take to my young lady in a little while. You don't know yet, do you, young master? I'm actually the eldest young lady's personal maid. She sent me here especially to attend to you."

Shen Jingchuan understood at last. No wonder the girl was good-looking and carried herself so properly, without the timid manner of a junior maid. She was a senior maid.

He smiled and shook his head. "I was wondering why the maids at the Lin Residence were all so pretty. So you serve the eldest young lady. No wonder."

With that, he took out another bar of chocolate and said,

"This one's for you to eat yourself. Give that one to your young lady."

"Really?" Yue'er's eyes grew even brighter, and she held out her hand playfully. "Then give it to me, young master."

She reached out, took it, and put it away.

Standing to one side, the sisters Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua had long since caught the sweet fragrance and secretly swallowed several times. They stood awkwardly with their hands at their sides, not daring to look too closely.

Shen Jingchuan turned to them and instructed Yue'er,

"Go check the kitchen and bring back two bowls of warm rice congee, along with a few light side dishes.

"They've been hungry for too long, and their stomachs have shrunk from hunger. They can't eat anything too hard or dry, so let them have congee first to settle their stomachs."

Yue'er pursed her lips, muttering inwardly that the young master was certainly taking these two sisters he had picked up to heart. Aloud, however, she answered brightly, "All right, young master," and happily went off, clutching the chocolate.

Shen Jingchuan walked up to the sisters. Both instinctively shrank back, their heads lowered.

He took the white towels from their hands, went to the basin beneath the covered walkway, and wrung them out again. Turning back, he went first to the one he didn't know was the younger or the older sister, gathered her half-wet hair with his hand, and began gently drying it.

Su Qinghua went rigid all over and even softened her breathing. So ill at ease that she didn't know what to do with her hands and feet, she was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, and her eyes reddened slightly.

In all her life, no one but her parents had ever treated her so gently. And this was the young master who had saved her whole family, personally drying her hair.

"By the way," Shen Jingchuan asked casually as he dried it, "I saw Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua written in the household register. Which of you is the older sister, and which is the younger?"

"Young master," Su Qinghua answered in a tiny voice, her head lowered, "I'm Qinghua, the younger sister."

"Oh?" Shen Jingchuan's hands didn't stop. "Then how am I supposed to tell you two apart from now on? You look exactly alike."

Su Qinghua raised a hand and gently pointed behind her left ear. "Look, young master. I have a little black mole here. My sister doesn't have one behind her ear."

Shen Jingchuan leaned closer and saw that there was indeed a little mole the size of a grain of rice. He laughed and said,

"What kind of distinguishing mark is that? I can't very well come over and pull your ears aside to look every time I see you, can I?"

The sisters both couldn't help but smile, and Su Qingshu added softly,

"When Father was alive, he often mixed us sisters up too. Only Mother never called us by the wrong name."

As soon as she finished speaking, both sisters remembered their dead parents. Their eyes reddened again at once, and they lowered their heads even further.

"All right, all right, let's not talk about that." Shen Jingchuan hurriedly dropped the subject. Taking a towel, he went over to Su Qingshu and carefully began drying her hair.

He used a gentle touch, slowly wiping along the strands and soaking up the droplets at the ends so the wind wouldn't give them a chill. Before long, both sisters' half-wet hair had been dried until it was fluffy, and they looked much more refreshed.