Although Yu Her tried to be modest and downplay it, she could not help beaming with pride when the Beijing guests praised her culinary skills. She blushed a little (and wondered why) when Mr.Ai complimented her.

"You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Yu Her," Mr.Xia remarked as he nibbled on a pork dumpling. "Why don’t you cook like this for lunch everyday?"

"That’s because we don’t have guests everyday, especially guests from Beijing."

"Mr.Ai, maybe you should ask your friends from Beijing to drop in my humble home more often."

"Only so that you’ll have an excuse to eat the food, Dad," Yu Her’s eyes danced with a mischievous light.

"Humphf, some daughter you are. Won’t even cook nice food for your poor old dad."

"Humphf, some dad you are. Won’t even let me learn Wu Shu."

"Now, now, the two of you, stop fighting," Madam Xia admonished. "We have guests."

Yu Her and Mr.Xia replied simultaneously, "We aren’t fighting. Just having a difference of opinions." However they did stop arguing.

Madam Xia sighed. "They’ve always been like this, ever since Yu Her spoke her first word."

As Yu Her was seated opposite him, Si Ye was able to observe her closely. She was not what one would call beautiful but she had large intelligent, expressive eyes and fine eyebrows. There was an air of sophistication about her and yet there was also something vulnerable, something innocent about her that spoke to his heart. Yu Her definitely was outspoken to some degree but she wasn’t as brazen and loud as Beijing girls. When she blushed at his compliments, his heart had fluttered a little.

Yu Her suddenly noticed that Mr.Ai was studying her. In fact, studying her a little too intensely for her liking. She felt her ears burning. Funny, she was supposed to be used to this kind of attention by now! Many a time, she’d caught the young bachelors of Ji Nan ogling her when they thought she wasn’t looking. But none of them had made her feel the way she was feeling right now when Mr. Ai looked at her. To be sure she wasn’t imagining things, she stole a glance at Mr.Ai.

Their eyes met. Mr.Ai half-smiled knowingly. Yu Her felt the blood rush to her cheeks and looked down quickly.

Mr.Xia wondered why Yu Her was so interested in the chicken bones on her plate.

**********

After lunch, Mr.Xia led his guests to his study whilst Yu Her and Madam Xia stayed behind to clean up.

"Ma, do you think there’s something a little odd about our guests?"

Madam Xia looked blankly at Yu Her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it’s just that Mr.Ai says that he’s a businessmen but he doesn’t really act like one. I know because I spent lots of time with Uncle Liu." Yu Her was referring to one of her favourite uncles, her mother’s brother who ran a farm supplies store in Ji Nan.

As a small child, she had spent lots of time in Uncle Liu’s office, observing how he had bargained, cajoled, threatened and persuaded customers and suppliers. Although she now did not spend as much time there as she had used to, Yu Her still visited the store to help with the accounts. The odd thing was that whenever she was at the store, the number of young men who "dropped in for business reasons" increased substantially. Mr.Xia had once remarked to his brother-in-law that he ought to hire Yu Her as his "advertising agent". She would have brought the money rolling in. Of course, Yu Her had been eager to try out her advertising skills and Uncle Liu had been anxious to expand his business. Unfortunately, in a rare display of stubbornness and intimidation, Madam Xia successfully dissuaded Yu Her, Mr.Xia and her brother from ever bringing up the idea again.

"Maybe Beijing businessmen are a different breed." Madame Xia suggested.

Yu Her was not convinced. "There’s also the matter of their clothing. It’s made of silk and the quality of the material and the stitching is exceptionally good. It’s not something you would expect to find in a mere Beijing businessman. Rather, it’s what one will find in the nobility and the Manchu ruling house."

"How do you know all this to be true? Or are you just letting your imagination run wild?" Madame Xia looked at Yu Her suspiciously. This daughter of hers had been rather precocious for her age. No thanks to her dear husband who indulged Yu Her and consequently, Yu Her’s upbringing had been rather untraditional.

"Remember Granny Shen? She used to work as a silk weaver in the Soo Zhou silk factory. In fact she’s got some samples of silk of in her house that she let me examine. There’s first grade silk reserved for the Manchu ruling elite. There’s second grade silk meant for court officials above a certain grade. And..."

"Maybe they’re Beijing businessmen with imperial court connections."

Yu Her shook her head. "Only the nobility and Manchu ruling house are allowed to wear this first class quality silk. If anybody else tried to wear this, they would be asking for trouble."

"Yu Her, I do believe you’re getting too nosy, " Madam Xia interrupted "Now, your father said he wanted some tea. Be a good girl and make some tea." Then she added warningly, "Don’t go blathering your findings to our guests. They may have their own reasons for saying they are businessmen."

Yu Her reluctantly obeyed her mother. She resolved to share her findings with Dad as soon as she had the chance.

**********

Inside the study, a fierce battle was being waged between Si Ye and Mr.Xia.

Si Ye noticed that Mr.Xia was looking too intensely at one spot. Aha, if he put his white qi zi there, he would have the upper hand. He did so and wrapped up the game in the next move.

Mr.Xia glared at the board for an eternity. "Go practice your Qin."

"What?" Si Ye looked puzzled.

Mr.Xia snapped out of his reverie. "Oh, Si Ye, I’m terribly sorry. I wasn’t asking you to practice the Qin..."

"Who were you asking to practice the Qin?"

"Me." Yu Her entered the study. "Whenever I defeat him at Wei Qi, he makes me practice the Qin." She served the tea to everyone in the room.

"You play Wei Qi?" Si Ye’s admiration for Yu Her went up a few more notches. "Miss Xia, if you are not too busy, will you do me the honour of playing one game with me?"

"Oh..." Yu Her hesitated. She had been "sentenced" to prepare dinner tonight. On the other hand she was itching for a game. If Mr.Ai could defeat her Dad, he had to be very good.

"Go on kid, no harm done," Then Mr.Xia grinned, "At least he wouldn’t make you play the Qin if you won."

"Dad!"

**********

The war between Si Ye and Yu Her raged on for one shi chen. Eventually, Si Ye emerged the victor but by a very narrow margin.

"I’m impressed, Miss Xia." Si Ye said admiringly. "Not many people can see through that trick of mine. And where did you learn that brilliant move?"

Yu Her didn’t know why but her heart was beating very fast. And the way he was looking at her now, she could feel the heat racing up her neck into her face. She winced when she heard herself squeak," Really...it’s... it’s nothing, Mr.Ai. Just a matter of practice. I…I have to go now. I have to get dinner for everybody tonight. Dad’s punishment, you know." She quickly excused herself.

"Gentlemen," Mr.Xia coughed politely. "It still hasn’t stopped raining. Looks like you’ll have to spend the night here. Well I can’t let you go back to the inn dressed like * that*. Nonsense, we would love to have you join us for dinner."