Page 29 of He Is My Bride

To Li Ying’s relief, it didn’t seem like Grandmother Linming had had to hear it from the press first—or Madam Wang—or at least she had enough grace to pretend she hadn’t heard any rumors.

Li Ying stepped forth and held out his hand, and the three aunties leaned in to see his diamond.

“It’s quite discreet,” said Madam Wang, almost disappointed.

You call this discreet?!

“I think it’s befitting of the Wu style,” said Madam Wu, the frail but pretty little lady. “They aren’t known for their exuberance, but rather quiet elegance.” This was the grandmother of Wu Hanrong and Wu Yiyi, Hanjun’s great-aunt by marriage.

“When did this happen?” asked Grandmother Linming, gently taking Li Ying’s hand to touch her thumb upon the ring.

“On Christmas Day. Hanjun proposed to me privately in his home.”

“That boy is indeed as Wu as they get,” said Madam Wang. “No sense of bravado.”

“Well, congratulations, Li Ying,” Grandmother Linming said calmly, letting go of his hand, and Li Ying couldn’t read her air.

The other madams congratulated him, and brisk Madam Wang spoke:

“Now that we’ve learned Wu Hanjun has finally found himself a woman, let’s have a proper look at her.” She twirled her finger to signal for Li Ying to turn around.

Not knowing what else he should do, Li Ying spun around for the aunties, feeling like a cow in a cattle market.

“She’s very tall, isn’t she?” Madam Wang commented. “What do they say, ‘everything’s bigger in America?’”

You’re one to talk, ma’am! Li Ying thought, although Madam Wang had probably only meant his height—or his broad shoulders.

“But, little sister, doesn’t she look healthy?” Grandmother Linming said.

“Yes, but my dear,” Madam Wang leaned forth to address Li Ying as if to give sage advice, “it wouldn’t hurt to put on more weight before thinking of children.”

So am I too big or too small?

“I like your shoes, Miss Li,” said little Madam Wu, and smiled at Li Ying, blissfully changing the subject. She really was the MVP of group situations, just like her grandson, Hanrong.

“Thank you, auntie!” Li Ying latched onto her friendly words .

“Well,” Grandmother Linming spoke authoritatively, taking charge of the situation, “as you can see, Li Ying, the three of us are like sisters: we cherish each other and the entire family’s prosperity.”

So, I have to get three out of three, all of you, to approve of me? Got it.

“We enjoy cooking together,” Grandmother Linming continued. “Would you join us in the kitchen today?”

“It would be an honor to cook with the aunties!” Li Ying was being as pleasant as he could, but luckily, charm came naturally to him.

“Please teach me so I can tell my Grandma back home: I have learned from the best aunties in Shanghai!” And Li Ying gave a proper bow, like one would bow before a teacher.

Madam Wang chuckled. “Isn’t she so-very charming!”

“Please, sit down first, have some tea, and tell us of your time in Shanghai,” Grandmother Linming said and gestured at an armchair.

Li Ying sat down and sated the aunties’ curiosity, making sure to praise their hometown at every turn. Although Madam Wang was from the North, as her late husband had been before moving South for work.

ILi Ying recognized that Madam Wang spoke with the same accent of Mandarin as her son, Wang Guosheng, a more standard Beijing accent that Li Ying’s own accent was closer to, as opposed to the soft speech of the native Shanghainese Wus.

Madam Wang didn’t hide her nosiness and soon asked how Li Ying had met Hanjun, and Li Ying gave the well-rehearsed, family-friendly version, where he definitely wasn’t drunk at the big pharma -sponsored dinner for medical students, where Hanjun had been doing PR for his company.

Definitely hadn’t flirted with Hanjun shamelessly and given him his number—only to hang up on Hanjun when the man had called him weeks later, because Li Ying had totally forgotten about the whole thing and thought Hanjun was some phone solicitor.

Poor Hanjun had thought Li Ying had been toying with his feelings, but no, the younger man was just hopelessly scatterbrained.

It had taken a few more misunderstandings and back-and-forths before the two of them had actually ended up going on a date.

“So, you study medicine?” asked little Madam Wu. “What kind of doctor will you be?”

“A good one, I hope!” Li Ying gave a chuckle.

Instead of telling the aunties of his dream of becoming a criminal pathologist, he said, “I have been told I would do well in pediatrics, and I do like working with children.” But I like forensics more.

He wasn’t outright lying, but Li Ying didn’t think becoming a pathologist would be viewed as a very ladylike dream.

After finishing their tea, the aunties and Li Ying moved to the kitchen.

The kitchen was large and well equipped, but Li Ying was self-determined and quickly figured out where all the tools were.

He took initiative in prepping once Grandmother Linming had told him what they would be making: borscht, steamed crab, soup dumplings, Dan Dan noodles, duck, and grass jelly for dessert.

Li Ying was charged with the noodles, since he’d previously boasted about it being his specialty.

“Have you ever made Shanghainese soup dumplings?” Grandmother Linming asked Li Ying.

“No, I haven’t. Will you please teach me, Auntie Wang?”

“Of course.” Grandmother Linming seemed to appreciate Li Ying’s attitude.

Once everything else was coming along, they all made the dumplings together, sitting around the kitchen table to stuff the shells with gelatinized soup, and Li Ying listened to them gossip about the other Shanghai families:

“The Lins have recently acquired another fashion brand into their portfolio, did you hear?” Grandmother Linming said.

“By heavens, it will soon be impossible to wear any domestic brands without that smug Mister Lin looking at you and saying: ‘Ah, thank you for your support!’” Madam Wang complained .

“He’s aggressively seeking to expand in the international market as well,” Grandmother Lingming went on. “But luxury fashion is much more competitive than what he’s prepared for, while his capital has been made with silk exports, and he’s running into many challenges.”

“But Mister Lin is an extremely good salesman,” spoke little Madam Wu, “his hard work may be rewarded yet. Meanwhile, the Huang family seems to be growing their business year after year without any difficulty. It would be a good time for Mister Huang’s son to step up.”

“It’s the growing middle-class, dear,” Grandmother Linming said. “Demand for meat will just keep rising. All Mister Huang will have to do is keep the course and build more butcheries.”

“But his son, that Huang Xiang,” said Madam Wang, shaking her head, “he seems to have grown into a useless dandy, loitering with models all day instead of helping his father with their meat-packing business.”

“Mm. He ought to learn what sets these old family businesses apart from their competitors is how involved the leaders still are in their respective trades, instead of just leading from behind their desks,” Grandmother Linming said, her pride in her family apparent.

“There’s still a sense of craftsmanship. ”

“Isn’t that right,” agreed little Madam Wu. “All the Wus have studied some level of traditional Chinese medicine, not just trade, so they understand the philosophy at the root of the company’s business.”

“Is it enough if one marries a doctor, I wonder?” asked Madam Wang slyly as she looked at Li Ying.

“Hanjun is very knowledgeable about traditional medicine too,” Li Ying said while doing his best to make pretty, presentable dumplings. “He’s helped cure my cough with chrysanthemum tea, for example. He’s very good.”

“And does Li Ying, as a doctor of Western medicine, appreciate traditional Chinese medicine?” asked little Madam Wu .

“I think all theories are worth putting into practice and seeing what yields the best results,” Li Ying said. “This is the way of science. If it works, I would use it. Taking ideological stances in such matters is just silly.”

Madam Wang was the one to break the following silence, “Not just a pretty face, Little Sister Li has a brain in that head of hers!”

Why does Madam Wang have to sound so surprised about it? Li Ying wished the aunties would have gossiped more about the other families, to gather intel on who was who in the Shanghai circles, but alas, they dropped the goss.

After the dumplings were prepared, they returned to their respective tasks in the kitchen. Before he started on the noodles, Li Ying went to see Grandmother Linming start preparing the borscht.

“Junjun likes this dish—” Li Ying started before he remembered himself, yet Grandmother Linming didn’t seem to mind him calling her grandson by his pet name, so Li Ying continued, “He makes it often.”

“He grew up with this, much like you grew up with your grandmother’s noodles.”

“If Hanjun grew up with his grandmother’s recipe, I would like to learn it. So I can always make Hanjun happy when he eats this and remembers his grandmother.”

Grandmother Linming smiled warmly and agreed to teach him the secrets of Shanghai-style borscht, a recipe adapted to local tastes from Russian immigrants.

Li Ying wasn’t a calculating person and he was genuine in his desire to learn to cook it, but he had to admit he’d probably just netted many approval points from Grandmother Linming.

Li Ying thought he wasn’t doing too bad.

But there was still the actual family dinner to conquer.

While the dishes were starting to be ready, the rest of the Wus arrived one by one: cousins Hanrong and Yiyi came first by Hanrong’s car, him having driven them from work.

The brothers came to greet the aunties and Li Ying, and Hanrong too gave Li Ying his warmest congratulations on his engagement. He had already known:

“Hanjun told me today,” Hanrong said.