Twenty five

There was no nose but a wide mouth took most of the space on the face. He even added three buck teeth.

"Do you have a brush and some ink on you?" Dong Mei asked.

"I can't carry ink and a brush. I left them at home," he replied, "what do you need them for?"

Dong Mei smiled, "just to add to the plan."

"What's wrong with my plan?" Cang Mang asked.

The first drawing was the ugly stick man, talking to another stick man and seeming to nod the head.

The second drawing had a table filled with food and the ugly stickman chewing barbarically while a scared stick man hid under the table.

The third has a bridge, with the ugly stickman seeming to be shouting while the other stick man hid somewhere, also in fear.

One has a market, another has a hill, another had a residence but one thing was similar about them; the ugly stick man always seemed to be quarreling if it was not eating while the other stickman hid in fear.

How was that even a plan? She didn't understand it. She really felt that she wanted to give him a few hits to the head. If it hadn't been for the fact that she really wasn't interested in any of them, she would have beaten him.

A flute sounded in the distance. The notes it played were lively and coarse but it still sounded passable.

Cang Mang looked in the direction of the sound, "he has arrived."

Dong Mei was startled by the news and grew anxious. When Cang Mang called her out saying it was another chance to meet someone, she simply walked out the way she was.

It wasn't like the first time were she tried to dress up in case she came across Bai Yang Wei. From her years of experience, she knew that he didn't like to be locked up at home. He preferred to move up and about to find knowledge and learn from the world. For example; he would carry his books on plants and herbs and go to the forest to find the actual things.

For the second meeting, she ignored whatever she felt Bai Yang Wei would be up to and simply walked out in an ordinary grey pinafore with cream long sleeves. It was held at the waist by a cream sash. Her hair was held in a single low braid. And that was it.

When the flute music ended, Cang Mang whistled back a loud tune.

Dong Mei was anxious, but she really had nothing to do. She wasn't going to fret about an appearance she could not change.

"You!" she unconsciously held Cang Mang's arm, "are you sure about this?"

Cang Mang nodded before climbing out of the trench, "come," he held his hands out to her.

She was still anxious about the proceedings. She really wished she didn't have to be part of any of it.

She held his arms and raised herself up enough for him to take a hold on her waist. He easily lifted her out of the trench and placed her down.

Before long, a man arrived. There was nothing exceptional about him. He was about the same height as Dong Mei. He wore an ordinary brown farmer's outfit and he still had his harvesting basket on his back. He held a short bamboo flute in his hand and a bright smile on his lips.

Dong Mei felt a rough touch against her hand. She looked down to see Cang Mang gently tapping her hand. It was only then she realized that she was still holding onto Cang Mang's arm and her hold had gotten unnecessarily tight. She quickly let go.

The two men finally met and cupped their fists and bowed in greeting.

"Gu Wuque," Cang Mang introduced, "this is Dong Mei."

Dong Mei felt disrespected. She was being introduced by her maiden name to a random man she had never met before. Even her parents wouldn't do that. She really wanted to pull Cang Mang's ears.

Gu Wuque cupped his fist and bowed to Dong Mei.

Dong Mei didn't feel that whatever was happening was right. It felt shameful. She felt like she was sinning against her parents. Was she so undesirable that men had to be prepared behind her parent's back?

She smiled, "Gu Wuque, the name is suitable and strong."

"The young miss's name, great scholars would write many verses about it," Gu Wuque returned the compliment.

Cang Mang smiled, "it's good to see everyone is getting along," he turned to Dong Mei, "Gu Wuque comes from Tianqi village a few li from here. He came to exchange some foods and find herbs in our hills. He leaves in a big family so they have a big piece of land on which they stay."

Dong Mei frowned. Wouldn't that mean that she would have several mothers in law? From his sisters to his cousins to his family friends, all those that married in before her would come back to bully her. They had a big peace of land which meant that they had a lot of work to do. Plus it was so far from her village. Where would she find time and energy to walk all the way back to her village to complain to her parents?

Everyone knew that the less in-laws anyone had to stay with, the less pressure they had on them. So that Gu Wuque was a big pot of trouble stirring, right from the moment he was born.

"This," Cang Mang indicated Dong Mei, "is the village chief's only child."

The smile on Gu Wuque's face wavered. He looked at Cang Mang with a slightly questioning gaze. Cang Mang simply smiled.

Their interaction gave Dong Mei the idea that Cang Mang hadn't given the poor guy enough details for him to invest in the occasion.

Dong Mei huffed haughtily. She half expected the man to run for the hills and the mention of it.