Three Souls by Janie Chang

family.
    “Well, well,” Father said. “Let’s wait and see what happens. Plans made over wedding wine may come to nothing.”
    “What about Cha Zhiming?” I asked Tongyin. “Why is he still unmarried?”
    “Unmarried, yes, but his fiancée has been staying with them for a month each year since she was a girl. When Zhiming graduates, they’ll get married.”
    Then he tilted his chair back and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Don’t worry, Little Sister, all isn’t lost. I’ll ask Zhiming to make you his concubine!”
    I didn’t bother telling him how badly he had misinterpreted my look, for now Stepmother rose from her seat.
    “Please excuse me. I would like to take a stroll. After all that food last night, I think a long walk around the Old Garden is in order.”
    I stood up. “I’ll walk with you. Gaoyin, why not come with us?”
    ***
    The Old Garden had been designed as a retreat, with secluded spots where one could sit quietly to compose poetry or read. This we knew from a plan of the garden that had been drawn by the anonymous landscaper one of our ancestors had hired to create it. Halfway around the lake, an embankment of turf was planted with stands of oleander and pine that cast their shade onto the path. Together we ascended its ridge to where an ancient pine shaded a row of stone seats. A pungent resinous scent rose up to greet us as we walked over a layer of brittle needles.
    “Tongyin has no idea what a monster that friend of his—” I began.
    “Never mind Tongyin,” Gaoyin interrupted. “The question is, how can we keep Fei-Fei away from the Cha family?”
    “We could reject that once-a-year visit,” I suggested.
    “Not good enough. We’d have to tell Father why. And anyway, if Father agrees to even an afternoon visit, she would be in danger. The big question is how to avoid marriage to that family altogether.”
    “Let me figure out how to handle this,” said Stepmother. “Old Madame Cha is very traditional.” She took a deep breath and folded her hands in her lap. “As your father says, it may all come to nothing, so please, Leiyin, don’t do or say anything. You’ve warned us, but hasty actions will only create more problems.”
    “But shouldn’t we warn Father now?”
    “Third Stepdaughter, please trust me in this.”
    “Don’t fret, Leiyin,” said Gaoyin. “Stepmother will find a way through this.”
    I nodded. We sat for a few minutes in solemn silence.
    “Let’s talk about something else,” Stepmother said. “First Stepdaughter, when you were here for Sueyin’s engagement party, you came to me for advice. How is your situation now?”
    My sister’s face flushed and she looked almost shy. “I did as you suggested, Stepmother. One of my servants has a sister who just had a baby girl. I hired the sister and she brings the baby with her. I spend a good part of each day with the baby. She’s such a darling. I can hardly bear to be away from her.”
    “Good. Love the child as though she were your own.”
    “Why?” I asked. “Why have you taken in a servant’s child?”
    “Gaoyin is trying to conceive. I think her maternal essence needs help to flow more strongly. Sometimes fostering another’s child invigorates a woman’s essence.”
    Stepmother laughed at my skeptical look. “It’s a cure passed down from my mother’s family. Continue your walk, my dears. I need to get back to the house.”
    I held my tongue, but once Stepmother was well on her way around the lake, I shook my head. “That sounds like folklore, not science, Eldest Sister.”
    “We’ve exhausted science, both Western and Chinese. This is a bit of folklore that does no harm. I enjoy having a little one in our home.”
    “Is Shen so impatient for a son?”
    She put her head in her hands. “It’s Shen’s mother. She wants him to take a concubine because we have been married three years already. She’s impatient for a grandson.”
    “Shen adores you. He’d never take a