Chapter Text
“Yes grandmother, ‘you needn’t concern yourself with the woes of strangers beneath us’,” Baoyu parrots, letting an exasperated huff tickle his nose, “but-”
His grandmother’s eyes wrinkle further with a simple smile at his rare show of frustration and Baoyu feels whatever confidence he spent hours building up deflate like an abused balloon. Her lips form that same shape from his childhood memories where little Baoyu would show her his proudest chicken scratch of a drawing with a cheerful grin. Amusing and not to be taken remotely seriously despite now being a fully fledged adult.
“Anyway, the increase in price will take effect-”
Her ramblings flow through one ear and out the other as Baoyu “chimes” in with small nods and a well trained polite smile that eases its way back onto his face. That’s how it typically is. Though the role of the head of the Jia Health Insurance will eventually fall into the lap of Yuanchun, his older sister, grandmother likes to share her final plans for the company with him. Plans that usually involved further dragging away that safety net from the bottom rungs of their clientele. Like increasing the monthly costs. Lessening the amount of service that the basic insurance will cover. She would allow for a lengthy pause, inviting him to have his say. Not like it mattered. She would dismiss even the mildest disagreement, warning him not to wear his heart on his sleeves for those who don’t deserve it.
Why dangle an opportunity to be heard in front of his nose in the first place? He doesn’t know. Perhaps she sees his sensitivity as a source of entertainment these days since most are too busy buttering her up, hoping to gain a prime spot in her will one day. He wouldn’t put it past her. A chance to personally dim that light in his eyes. Things were easier when all of this felt like water carelessly dripping off his back. But he can’t go back to that time. He won’t go back.
A cold brittle hand clasps over his, dissolving those rather bitter thoughts. Baoyu’s lips curve into what he hopes is a convincing enough smile.
“Miss. Baoqin asked about you today. Now, why would your fiancee ask me when you seem to be so readily available?”
She gives an airy chuckle at her own question. She doesn’t need to give the “suggestion” of going to see her. He knows what his role in the family is.
“Thanks for telling me. I’ll go visit her. Soon,” he swiftly adds, spotting his grandmother’s raised eyebrows.
Her satisfied look lasts for about a second before her thin lips form a frown. “Quite a shame that your travels have sadly made your colors dull. But not to worry. Soon, you’ll be closer to home and around those that will restore your luster.”
The usual jab at his previous lifestyle dolled up in faux concern. For now, he would rather bite his tongue in half than fail to hide that flicker of annoyance.
“Of course, grandmother.”
“Soon” didn’t necessarily mean “right now.” Instead of making a beeline towards the Xue family place of business, he wanders back home. As soon as his feet land on the threshold, a hand goes between his collarbones to loosen his tie that was drawn so tightly around his neck, Baoyu was surprised it still allowed for air flow. As though sensing his audacity to feel more comfortable inside his own home, his mother’s nervous face peers around a corner before rushing forward to “fix” his tie.
“Thanks, but there’s no need for that mother,” Baoyu states, pushing her hands away with gentleness that matches the tone of his voice.
His mother purses her lips as though preparing to lightly chide him for the horrid state of his tie right after leaving his grandmother’s side, but she fortunately doesn’t push the scandal any further. His family, well mostly his grandmother, wanted the treasured child of the Jia family to have his own special place once he reached a certain age, but he insisted on continuing to live under the same roof with his immediate family. They were never the close knit sort, as his parents left most of his childhood care in the hands of maidservants and private mentors, but he found some comfort in their presence nonetheless. He’ll take their fussy overprotectiveness over the usual passive aggressiveness anyday.
“How was the meeting? Have you visited Baoqin yet?”
It was less of a meeting and more like moments where grandmother maintained decor not to laugh too loudly at his suggestions, but it isn’t worth elaborating on.
“It was fine. Grandmother had….interesing ideas again,” Baoyu replied listlessly. In all honesty, he had forgotten most of the finer details.
“Fine” and similar vague words were his go to responses and it never failed to get an automatic small smile on her delicate face.
“As for Baoqin, I will visit her tomorrow.”
Her smile is replaced by a similar frown that grandmother wore just moments ago. But unlike her, there’s nothing in her changed expression that pushes for more urgency on his part. His dear mother is thankfully rather passive for a woman who could practically have anything brought to her with just a flick of her wrist. Especially if she brings up her son’s name.
“Be sure to send my greetings to her. Oh! Speaking of Baoqin, your father and I have been finalizing the wedding invitation designs. Tell me what you think about -”
Their conversation leads to her showing him sample designs with a rare sparkle in her twilight eyes, all of which look equally nice and probably cost the equivalent of half a well paid City worker’s monthly salary. When Baoyu notices her expression lift ever so slightly when he eyes the invitation decorated in pale blues, whites and shimmering pearls, he settles on that one. It made no difference to him.
“Excellent choice,” she says while lightly patting his shoulder. “Now come look at the guest list with me.”
“Looking at the guest list,” involves his mother reading from a list longer than his legs and with him just nodding and humming along at the spoken names. She only hesitates on just three names:
Jia Qiu. One of his oldest cousins. A relatively stoic man, but someone with a heart of gold once you get to truly know him. He’s been going on business trips for as long as Baoyu has known him. It was a long meaningful conversation with him that set him off onto a brighter path. He continues to be grateful for the lessons he learned that day.
“Qiu might be difficult to reach. He’s always traveling around like you were.”
“It’s fine. If it manages to reach him in time, I’m sure he'll come.”
Jia Zhu. A name that makes his mother’s lips stretch thinner than usual. An older half brother born from his father's previous marriage. Baoyu was showered with almost suffocating attention while Zhu was treated as a mere afterthought. In their youth, he never bothered to hide his jealousy, creating a prickly relationship between the two. Last he heard of Zhu, he had a son who is the splitting image of him. He always hoped that the child’s existence had cooled off his temper.
“Send him an invite. If he wishes to come, he can.”
Baoyu sees her fingers twitch towards a nearby pen, clearly tempted to scratch his name off the list.
Xue Pan is another name that makes her lips so stretched out that they nearly disappear from her face. A cousin of Baoqin who makes his distaste for him everyone’s problem.
“He can come,” he declares with a nod. “There will be too many important people around for him to make much of a fuss.”
His mother’s chest deflates with relief. “O-Of course.”
The rest of the names are said without any hesitation. She rolls up the list, strides towards him and, much to his surprise, gives him a light affectionate pinch on his cheek.
“It felt like only yesterday I was listening to your mentor telling me how much your math skills have improved and now….you’re getting married! Aren’t you excited?”
Yes, he wants to say, but that’s not exactly true. He doesn’t even suffer from a terrible case of “pre-wedding jitters” that Daiyu told him Baoqin was currently inflicted with. To him, it just feels like another duty he must fulfill. Marry into another family with almost equal wealth and prestige thus making it easier to one day combine their companies into one huge megacorp. Just like his eldest sister. And maybe the same fate will be rolled out for Xichun, his youngest sibling, too.
But it does come with a maelstrom of feelings, many of which are very conflicted. If his newly found backbone had more sturdiness to it, he would just call off the wedding despite the amount of time and money poured into it and deal with the fallout of several people wanting to skin him alive as a result. He doesn’t dislike Baoqin at all. He likes her just as much as anyone could adore a childhood friend. And for that reason, Baoyu thinks she deserves someone who would treasure her fully. His mother insists that love will eventually bloom like flowers in the spring time. Just like it did between her and his father. A small part of him hopes that it’s true. If not, it wouldn’t affect the way he would treat any future offspring of theirs.
“It's a new interesting path in my life. I’m curious to see where the wind will take me,” Baoyu replies with his eyes peacefully closed.
His flowery language easily makes up for the lack of a definite “yes.” His mother gives an approving nod before finally letting him be. But his solace only lasts for a few seconds as he manages to bump into his father upstairs. Fortunately for Baoyu, he’s not as overly enthusiastic about wedding plans and their brief conversation centers more around the guest list.
“Are you sure you want Zhu to come?” his father questions with an almost stern look. “Don’t you remember-“
“That he’s your son too,” Baoyu quietly cuts in. “Besides nothing and nobody is forcing him back home. I doubt he’ll show up or even send a gift in his stead.”
His father’s face twitches at his reminder before he sends him away with an abrupt goodnight.
Before Baoyu rests his tired head, he removes a book from his desk. It's a dog-eared brown thing with a tattered strap and looks totally out of place in a room as luxurious as his, but he smiles brightly at it. Inside, there are pictures of the sights and people he met on his travels as well as a yellowed receipt from his first outing at a normal restaurant. A musty hole in a wall filled with the kind of people that would make his parents grip their chests in fear. He couldn’t have been happier stuffing himself inside that cigar smoke filled eatery.
With a longing sigh, he snaps it shut and tucks it back into its safe place.
“Baoyu!”
Baoqin’s cheerful call of his name ends with her wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders for a welcoming hug. Too tightly in fact as though she’s expecting him to spin her around like doting couples do on TV. But Baoyu isn’t that type of course so her feet remain firmly planted on the ground. She is closely flanked by Daiyu who gives him an almost shy wave from behind her lady’s back.
Daiyu is another childhood friend, born in a family with little means of ascending to some place higher. Still, their large social gap never interfered with their friendship, though there was one point in his life when their connection waned and was later restored by Baoqin becoming his betrothed. Now she spends a lot of time filling in the blanks of Baoqin’s likes and dislikes to him in secret all while encouraging him to go along with the marriage even if his heart isn’t in the right place.
I understand how you feel but…I worry more about what sort of consequences you’ll face if the wedding were to be canceled, she once told him with a sympathetic expression.
Baoqin is usually followed by an additional helping hand. A young dark haired man who, to Baoyu’s slight disappointment, is strangely nowhere to be seen.
She clings to his arms with a relieved look on her tired face. “So glad to finally have you here again. I’m sure you parents have been talking your ears off about the wedding too. Once I told mother that you’re coming over soon, she barked at some poor maids to bring out the better quality tea cups, but…it did finally give me a break.”
She’s thankfully nothing like her mother. A bright well mannered young lady with straight brown hair that flows down her back and eyes that belonged on a doe. Many people have told him that no other woman could fulfill the role of becoming his wife and they wouldn’t be entirely incorrect.
Baoyu lets out a light chuckle. “Parent. Father doesn’t comment much on the wedding.”
“Lucky you,” she mumbles before finally letting him go. “Oh, and don’t forget that you’re free to add on to the guest list. I know I will. Better tell them now before they start sending out the invitations.”
Oh right. There were some people he wanted to invite. Several of them in fact. Many of which will fail spectacularly to blend into a large crowd of social elites. He’ll be sure to catch his fainting mother just in time and somehow pacify his silently fuming oldest sister.
“Thanks for the reminder.”
Baoqin wastes little time making Baoyu and Daiyu feel comfortable enough for the usual round of family gossip. Her tales are certainly worthy of being funded into a weekly soap opera. Such as her cousin Pan nearly getting into a fist fight for the third time this week or her mother yelling at her father for eyeballing a particularly busty maid again. Her favorite cousin, Baochai, was apparently caught sending love letters to some mystery man.
Even Baoyu feels brave enough to sprinkle in his own family drama. “Grandmother once told me she had some reservations about Yuanchun taking over the family business. She said she had the right kind of guts but is much too self-centered.”
Baoqin’s mouth opens wide with shock. Daiyu too looked surprised.
“Hah, well she’s not wrong. Imagine if Yuanchun knew though. No offense to you, but I would love to see that smirk finally slip off that mightier-than-thou mug of hers.”
“Hmmm, love is a strong word to use, but it might make her do some self-reflection,” Baoyu replies with too much hope in his voice.
Even Daiyu scoffs, bringing sudden attention to her which clearly has her feeling taken aback.
“Well…nothing particularly interesting ever happens with my family as you know,” she begins awkwardly, eyes flickering to the floor.
“Ah, but you hang out with all the other servants and bodyguards, I’m sure they have lots of gossip to share,” Baoqin teases, making Daiyu’s face turn pink with bashfulness.
“They do…but I try not to listen.”
He can already see that mischief in her eyes. Before she can bat her eyelids in Daiyu’s direction, the door opens with a sudden click and…
In comes the dark haired man who has caught Baoyu’s eyes for a number of years now.