Grandma Li Si, Lady Zhou, Grandma Li Si, Lady Gu, Lian Huahua and Lian Duoduo sat in a half-circle on the kang, while Lady He was bringing Lian Yaya onto the kang, taking off her shoes and socks, and placing her feet in front of Grandma Li Si.
Lian Yaya inherited her looks from Lady He, and her feet were the same: very broad and plump. Grandma Li Si grasped Lian Yaya's foot, looking it over several times, then measured it with her hands.
"How old is Yaya?" Grandma Li Si asked.
"She turned nine this April," Lady Zhou answered.
"That's too late to start binding," Grandma Li Si said.
"Otherwise we wouldn't have asked for your help," Lady He said with a smile, "The year before last, that girl Hong Xia was eleven when you bound her feet, and everyone praised them, saying they looked like they had been bound since she was very young."
Grandma Li Si's face twitched, and Lian Manman thought it must be a smile.