There are two types of societies so the scholars say. Convergent and Divergent. Anoria is divergent. A multiracial empire that has always been, but is that true. There are two naming conventions in the Ityean culture. Your Yoko's, Saito's, and Yuji's are separate from your Wei Lin's, Meng Su's, and Hong Ri's. Language suggests anywhere from three to six different influences. So I propose that there is no such thing as Divergent Societies.

- Kuya Tio on The Briefest of Anorian Histories, Kuya Tio’s Guide to a Healthy and Happy Homestead.

"Yuji Han. Is that right?"

I took my change from the person at the market stall before turning towards a vaguely familiar sounding voice, unsure of who was actually speaking to me. The long, gently curving white horns and violet eyes gave the woman away. "Yeah, Ling Su, correct?"

She smiled. "That's right. What brings you to the market?"

I looked down at her basket full of vegetables and some empty canning jars. "Likely the same as you."

She looked down at my basket and giggled. "Yeah, I suppose."

I moved out from in front of the market stalls so we'd not be in the way. Ling Su moved a strand of hair out of her face, which was a considerably more difficult ordeal for her than any other race due to the long horns.

"Ah, forgive me for prying," she started, "but there was a rumor that you were with Kaori, is that true?"

"Uh, that was true," I tried to put extra emphasis on the 'was.'

"Oh, so you are courting her now?"

"No, nothing like that." This is one of those situations where I was starting to think I wasn't in the same conversation again. I started this fairly confident she was talking about the rumor that I had slept with Kaori and now I suddenly wasn't so sure.

“Oh, are you still with Wei Lin then?"

She sounded slightly confused. "Wei Lin?"

"Yeah, you were with her at the festival. You're courting her then?"

"No, I went with the whole family to the festival. Saito and Yoko sat down to watch the show and we just kind of toured around a bit."

"So you're not dating Wei Lin?"

"No, never dated Wei Lin."

"Huh? I thought you two were a couple on account she kept hanging on to you like she was afraid you'd wander off."

I opened my mouth to say something, but that kind of hit me. Wei Lin had been hanging on to me; she’d been acting rather weird for quite a while. I closed my mouth, and Ling Su laughed at whatever expression I had apparently made.

"So if you're not taken at the moment, care to walk and talk?" She turned, gave me a smile and a head movement, and I took that as my cue to pop up beside her.

"Where to?"

"Well, I'm about ready to head home, but being as I live on the exact opposite side of the city from you, walking me home might be pushing courtesy too far."

"End of the rice fields?" I asked.

Ling Su held her chin up, her head slightly cocked to the side as she made a show of considering my offer. She gave me a slight nod and said, "That sounds reasonable."

We walked and talked until we were out of the town proper and across the rice fields. Even before we made it to the tree line, I had already determined that Ling Su was not the girl for me. There was nothing specifically wrong with her, and this really didn't fall into the wood or would not make a good wife. We just clearly weren't clicking in the way that I would expect and I found her almost noble way of speaking to be a bit annoying. She would go be good for a social encounter, but that would be about it. And clearly, she thought the same of me.

"Well, Yuji, thank you for walking a lady this far, and I am a bit curious. Are you sure there's nothing between you and Wei Lin?"

"No, she made it clear she wasn't interested long ago."

Ling Su gave me a smile as though I were an idiot. "A girl can change her mind, you know." With that, she gave me a wave and started homeward.

I stood there for a moment watching her go and thinking about that. Wei Lin had been acting very strangely. Was it possible that she had changed her mind on the whole not interested thing? She was now playing the shy girl who didn't know how to speak up. To be fair she had always been quiet, but now it was like talking was suddenly painful. I thought about it on my way back into the town proper where I picked up some meat before I started my own trek home. Like always, I stopped on the bridge and looked over the edge, basket sat next to me and my arms on the rails, the soft babbling of the stream just seemed calm. It was a good place to relax and think and judging by the other people that often stopped in various places along the bridge and looked over the edge, I clearly wasn't the only one.

"Hello Yuji, contemplating the future?"

This was a voice I instantly recognized. I turned to look at her, and while the face matched exactly who I thought it was, it was always weird to see Yoko without her two children.

"Yeah, basically. Who's watching the kids?"

“Wei Lin.” She set her basket down next to mine and joined me looking over the rail.

"Contemplating work or women?"

"Is there a difference?"

Yoko chuckled. "Maybe, maybe not. I suppose it depends on the woman."

"Say I had a question I wanted to ask you anyway. This is not really a ‘right now thing,’ but if I start making money instead of just spending it, would you be interested in basic maid work, cooking, cleaning, that sort of thing?"

Yoko tilted her head upward a bit in consideration. A stray strand of hair and the hem of her skirt swayed gently in a slight breeze, and she had a serene smile plastered on her face as though she was quite satisfied with her life at this point.

"Maybe." Yoko nodded slightly. "I suppose if the price is right."

"Like I said, not a ‘right now thing.’"

"What brings you to the question?"

Talking about women. Dad's advice was to find a good wife, but I seem to be attracted to girls who might possibly not make great wives. At least not in the traditional cooking, cleaning sort of thing.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Oh? Like who?"

Well, in the most extreme example, Lia.

Yoko giggled.

"Yeah, I know. Well, I know now. Point is the, attracted to somebody who would not be a good traditional wife."

"Anyone else?"

I hesitated slightly before answering. "Kaori, I don't honestly know if she's wife material or not. Everything I've eaten with her has been made by her father."

"I see. What about my sister?"

"Well, my first introduction to Wei Lin was when she was sick. I thought she was somewhere between twelve and fourteen, and I still see her as being fourteen. I know that's not fair, but also, she told me early on she wasn't interested."

"Girls change their mind, you know."

"And that's the second time I've been told that today. And Wei Lin has been acting weird."

Yoko didn't say anything, only simply nodded.

"I'm gonna have to talk to her about it. Ain't I?"

"She's tried to talk to you a couple of times, though, clearly with no success."

"I also don't find her very interesting.”

“Not attractive enough?"

"No, Wei Lin's pretty, just kind of..." How do I say she was dull without offending her sister? "Boring."

Yoko chuckled and stepped back from the railing.

"Yes. Perhaps a bit boring. She picked up her basket, “I'll be heading home. See you."

"Well, if you'd like the company, I'm heading that way too."

"That would be pleasurable. I would welcome the company."

“I’ll carry your basket.”

“I can carry my own basket.” She argued.

“But you’re pregnant.”

“I still have several months before I can’t carry my own damn basket home.”

“Sure, but if I don’t carry your basket for you I may lose the favor of your father.”

Yoko clearly considered that for a long moment before giving in. “Fine, if you’re so intent on wooing my father.”

Yoko was pleasant to talk to, but I always felt a bit uneasy around her. Listening to her talk, it sounded like she would be giving birth sometime in the early winter. That is to say, nine months after I arrived in Sharinzhen. The thought that I may have heard her become impregnated made my gut churn. We talked a lot about nothing and our conversion was prematurely interrupted by an Akumajin delivery boy. The kid passed us by, walking much faster than Yoko’s pace, but slowed to do a double take at Yoko. He shifted the box in his arms around to look at the tag.

“Hey. Aren't you Yoko Xiao?”

“I am.” Yoko said, coming to a stop.

“And you’re living with your dad again? Saito?”

“Yes.”

The boy shifted his weight around as he brought up the box and with a stupid grin and handed it to Yoko. Yoko took the thing looking, seemingly confused. Really? The boy should have done his job in taking it all the way to the Xiao household, not just handed it to the first person in the family he came across, especially on account of she was pregnant and it looked like a rather heavy box. I was trying to decide if I should say to the boy. At the very least, I would exchange Yoko’s basket and carry the box. Instead, Yoko took off running, both myself and the kid stared after her as she sprinted down the road to Sharinzhen-4 cradling the box like it was one of her children. I looked at the kid, and he shrugged.

"See you." The kid said before turning back to Sharinzhen Proper and leaving me on the road with both mine and Yoko's baskets.

I tore off down the road after Yoko, but couldn't quite keep pace as I was trying to keep everything still in their baskets. She must have eventually run out of breath because she'd slowed down into a jog which allowed me to catch up, but her breathing was too ragged to talk. We got a lot of looks as we both ran through the village.

Yoko let out a raspy, "Dad!" as she entered the Xiao household. Noticing something was wrong, Saito shot up, only to have Yoko run into him box first. Saito looked down at the package in his arms as Yoko bent over, her hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath. Wei Lin looked startled and I wondered what the hell was going on as Saito's eyes were getting larger.

Saito dropped to the floor, his fingers grasping at the edge of the box frantically trying to rip the thing open, apparently to no avail. He tore off out the back door and toward his shop, not bothering to put his shoes on. I stood in the entry looking confused. "Um," I said mostly just to get somebody's attention. Wei Lin looked at me, and I held up Yoko's basket. She looked from me, to the box, to where her dad had just gone, back to the box, and then back to me before deciding to actually come get the basket, which she promptly moved like five steps and placed on the floor.

Saito came back in with a small pry bar and started tearing at the box. I didn't know if I should stay or go. I was extraordinarily curious, but this didn't seem to be a party to which I was invited.

Saito got the box open by the time I stepped outside the door, and I had my hand on it so I could slide it shut. He pulled out the first scroll and started reading out loud.

"Father, firstly, I'd like to say that I'm alive and well. I'm sure you've been quite worried about me and not being able to get you a message for so long left me with a knot in my stomach worrying that you'd be worrying about me. Secondly, I must apologize as sending a single package is very expensive, I would humbly request that you do your best to find the owners of the other messages placed in this box."

I shut the door. Saito had tears in his eyes and was barely keeping his composure. The baby had started crying, and Yoko's little boy seemed rather nervous as he too clearly didn't know what was going on. This wasn't a place I should be right now. Good news was, it sounded like the eldest Xiao kid was still alive. So, despite the way everybody was acting now, I figured they'd be quite pleased tomorrow, and I'll probably hear all about it.

I indeed did get to hear all about it. Hon Ri Xiao had been taken prisoner at the final battle in the Bloody Plains where he had been branded and sold as a contract slave to some foreign nation, nearly a month's ride by ship. The owner of his new contract ran a mercenary company. Hon Ri was both low-ranked and underpaid as he was a contract slave, and he hadn't fully learned the language yet. Him and a bunch of other guys had pulled their resources together to send a large box of messages, which even now Saito was trying to get sent out to their correct recipients.

Overall, the Xiao household was in a great mood. I figure any sort of closure would have been helpful, but knowing that their son and sibling was alive and doing fairly well had lifted a massive weight off the entire family. I can't even imagine how that would feel.

Today was one of the days that I weeded the rice paddies with Wei Lin. It would also be one of the last days I would be weeding. It was also the day I decided to confront her about her new attitude around me. However, the last time we weeded the fields was still fresh in my memory, and I was waiting until we were at least starting with the last one before I bought anything up because honestly, I was nervous.

"A’te, a question?"

Wei Lin physically winced at the word. "Yeah?" she asked, not looking up from her work.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" she responded.

"I mean, you've been acting weird since one of the days we had lunch with Lia," I explained.

For a moment, I thought she was ignoring me. "That's fine. Don't worry about it," she said.

"A’te, a question?" I repeated.

Wei Lin slowly stood up, stretching her back and rotating. She turned to me. She looked like she was in pain and took a deep breath. "Can you please stop calling me that?" she requested.

"Wei Lin, what changed?" I asked.

Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, and her hands waved in various directions as she tried to find a place to start. She seemed to give up as her shoulders slumped, and her eyes fell to the water we were both standing in. "Can we just start over?"

"Start over? How?"

"I don't know, just," she scratched the back of her neck, "Hi. My name is Wei Lin Xiao. I'm 20 years old. I have an older brother and sister. I live on my dad's farm. How are you?" She looked up at me through her bangs. Her expression caught somewhere between sick, in pain, and hopeful.

"Okay. I am Yuji Han, 24. I'm from Lianzhen. I have four younger siblings, two boys and two girls. I'm probably nothing like my uncle Lo Bao Han, who is the same Lo Bao Han that let the king die, whether you are okay with that or not," I said, throwing Wei Lin something of a bone.

She graced me with a smile. "Thank you."

"Honestly, not sure that's gonna change much," I admitted. "But I am curious, what changed?"

Wei Lin shook her head. "I don't know. I just, I never gave you a chance, and I was sitting there while Lia was completely oblivious to you trying to flirt with her, and you were completely oblivious to her flirting with me, and you had said some things, and I just kind of realized I never gave you a chance. I just kind of dismissed you immediately, and I fucked up. And it turns out you're, I don't know, what I'd like in a guy, I think."

"Okay. Well, it might be difficult on my end. I kind of got this vision in my head of you being a lot younger than you are," I explained.

"Younger? How young?" she asked.

"Fourteen."

"Fourteen? I'm not that short!" she shouted.

“I know it's just that..."

“Fourteen!"

Well, shit. Now she was getting angry.

“What about me looks fourteen?" She gestured vaguely to her face and chest area, and the short answer was nothing.

"I don't know. It's just that..."

"Do I act fourteen?"

"No."

"Fuck." She started storming off back towards the Xiao household while muttering. "Fucking fourteen. I am not that fucking short."

I knew she was gonna get angry and storm off, and once again, I was left shin-deep in a rice paddy that needed to be weeded. This woman, I swear.