Xing'er pushed him away. "No. Wait until your mother comes to my house to propose marriage... then I... I'll—" Before she could finish, Xing'er turned and ran.
Shanzi stood there watching her retreating figure. It wasn't until Xing'er had rounded the corner and disappeared from sight that he started listlessly walking back.
Shanzimama had finished washing the bowls and was now inside, splitting lotus seeds.
The Jiangnan region was a major producer of lotus seeds.
Once fresh lotus seeds were picked and sun-dried, their dark, greenish-black shells became incredibly hard.
They had to be split open on a wooden block with a special cleaver.
The pay was a few coppers for every pound split, and Shanzimama had been doing it at home every day recently, managing to earn several dozen coppers a day.
Shanzimama was completely absorbed in her work when Shanzi's sullen, muffled voice sounded by her ear, "Mom—"
