Chapter 10 — Blacklisted

“Good news first,” said Lin Che, craning his neck upwards to meet his wife’s eyes.

“The mannequins have been exterminated,” she replied. “All of them. My uncle dealt with them personally.”

Lin Che’s arms lost the tension he hadn’t realised had been there since the start of this loop. “That’s lovely.”

“The bad news,” she continued, “is that he won’t sanction any further techniques to teach you.”

“Why not?”

Shen Yue pulled out a wooden chair from beneath the desk and placed it parallel to the mat Lin Che was on. She sat herself down and sighed.

“You haven’t formally been introduced to the family. In his view, you’re a mortal who married in — which means, until you’ve gone through the channels, you’re not recognised as a member.”

“What proper channels?”

“Introductions to the elders and an initiation ceremony. There’s a sequence to it, but honestly it’s not as formal as you’re imagining it to be.”

“Alright,” said Lin Che. “So when can we start?”

Shen Yue was quiet for a moment. “You’re being blocked from it.”

He looked at her, stunned. “Blocked?”

“There are certain members of the family who are opposed to your background. They’re using procedural grounds to delay the introduction… indefinitely.” She sighed and shot him a defeated glance before looking away. “It’s not something I can override unilaterally.”

Lin Che sat with this for a moment, trying to reason any way — any possible justification the two could have to formally introduce himself to the family. Despite not being sure of the procedures, he felt a sudden lightbulb in his mind:

“So they look down on me enough to block my access to anything,” he began. “But not enough to have blocked the marriage in the first place.”

Shen Yue looked down slightly.

It lasted maybe two seconds before she recovered, but that was enough time for him to understand and immediately wish he had never said anything out loud.

“Sorry,” he said.

She moved on immediately. “How did you get on with the Liuhe Breathing Method?”

“Uh, I’m not too sure. I think I’ve completed the first three harmonies, but the fourth is still giving me some trouble.”

In an instant, Shen Yue was on the floor just centimetres away from him. She slapped the mat a couple of times in barely-masked excitement, but Lin Che could still feel hints of that awkwardness from earlier.

“Show me,” she smiled. “You’re meant to be months away from second harmony.”

Lin Che closed his eyes and ran the first and second harmonies — he felt the sequential breath and the Qi holding its shape for much longer than this morning. The form felt more deliberate this time round, but was on the brink of dissipating, sort of like flexing an overworked muscle: it moved, but with great difficulty and at lesser motion.

He moved to the third harmony, letting the Qi gather at his root gate, before compressing it and holding for eight seconds. He released the Qi and it moved upwards before accumulating at his shoulder blades. He held it there, and felt the valve resist, before it gave way and the Qi pushed through to the base of the throat. He held the Qi there for eight counts before releasing.

The full loop completed.

He opened his eyes.

Shen Yue was watching him with narrowed eyes, and he could have sworn he could see a flicker of Qi in her iris. It was blue.

She ruffled her brows before standing up and sitting back down on her chair. Lin Che came to understand that his wife preferred having this sort of aloof power dynamic, despite her burger-eating mannerisms.

“You did the third harmony in an afternoon,” she said. “I’m not sure whether to congratulate you or be shocked. It takes most of our disciples weeks to get there, and that’s with them spending most of their days in a Qi-accumulating array.”

Lin Che raised a few fingers to his face, pretending to push a pair of imaginary glasses to the bridge of his nose. “I guess you could say I’m kind of impressive,” he joked in an overexaggerated voice.

Shen Yue stared blankly.

Lin Che coughed twice to dispel the atmosphere. “Anyway, is this talent good enough to be recognised by the mighty Shen clan? Enough for a formal introduction?”

Shen Yue hesitated. “About that… I was not meant to give you the Liuhe Breathing Method either, so no one knows you have been practising it. If they find out, I could be in a lot more trouble than I already am.”

“Glad to hear you’re already sharing sect secrets with me. Maybe you could accidentally leave some QR codes open once I’ve completed this technique, and, hypothetically, maybe they could be for techniques which are the natural progression to the Liuhe Breathing Method. Just hypothetically, of course.”

That joke got a small laugh.

“We’ll see how I feel,” she replied.

Shen Yue pushed herself off the chair and picked up the bag she left in the hallway. “I’ll make something to eat,” she said as her left foot moved past the threshold to the kitchen.

“Actually,” Lin Che interrupted. “I wanted to ask. Xu Fang mentioned wanting to have dinner with us. To meet you, I mean.”

Shen Yue turned.

“I’ll order food in,” he added. “I didn’t want you to have to do anything for it, and my cooking is, well, not something I’d inflict on a guest.”

“Or yourself,” she added.

“Or myself,” he confirmed. “Would you be free tonight?”

She considered this for a moment, before giving him a nod. Just as she left the kitchen, she flicked a couple of plums into her palm and walked in the direction of the living room.

Lin Che stayed on the mat for a moment longer, before opening his messaging app and tapping on the starred contact.

wife said you can come over tonight

Ding! The notification came just moments later.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

when is tonight?

come for around 7
or earlier if you can
she seems hungry

i’ll bring my finest suit

***

Xu Fang arrived at half past six on the dot, which was most uncharacteristic of him. He wore a jacket that was noticeably nicer than the one he’d had on Friday night, and was also carrying a small paper bag.

“I brought dessert,” he said, holding it up. “The small place on Renmin Road had a deal for the almond pastries.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” said Lin Che, already holding his arm out to receive the package.

“I know I didn’t have to.” He handed it over and looked past Lin Che into the apartment. “So where’s the lucky lady?”

“Living room.”

Xu Fang smoothed the front of his jacket with both hands, which was the closest he got to being nervous, and stepped inside the living room.

Shen Yue had already turned off the television when she heard the front door open. She was wearing the same clothes as earlier, which isn’t to say that she didn’t put in effort, but more so that she had a knack for always dressing well.

Xu Fang stopped walking.