试听90秒24 第5章 相亲闹剧（4）

第5章 相亲闹剧（4）

“The Fong family honors the Hua family with this exquisite tea set,” the Matchmaker went on, a glimmer of approval in her eyes. “A gift from the Imperial Family.” 
Mulan, Li, and Xiu bowed their heads in gratitude. While it was tradition for the Matchmaker to not reveal details to either family about the other family, there was always a way to glean a little bit. In this case, as Mulan stared at the beautiful teapot on the table in front of her, she knew that Fong Lin’s family was well-off, at least more so than hers. The Huas’ teapot was faded and their cups mismatched. This new one would stand out on their threadbare shelves. The pressure to be perfect felt even greater. Mulan’s family would benefit from her marriage to a successful man. She had to pull this off. 
Mulan was just starting to believe she could get through the meeting when she looked over at Xiu. Her younger sister’s eyes were wide with fear. Following her gaze, Mulan saw a large spider slowly unspooling itself from the ceiling toward the table. Inch by inch it made its way down ... right toward Xiu. It dropped onto the table, its long, hairy legs undulating beneath it. 
Underneath her mask of white makeup, Mulan felt the color drain from her face. If the spider took even one step toward Xiu, the girl was certain to scream and the Matchmaker would be furious. Smoothly, and thankful for the mask her makeup provided, Mulan reached out and placed the teapot over the spider. Then she returned her hands to her lap. But not before shooting her sister a look. 
The look, unfortunately, was not lost on the Matchmaker. Her own eyes narrowed. “Is something wrong?” she asked. 
“No, Madam Matchmaker,” Mulan said in her most demure voice. “Thank you.” 
The Matchmaker’s lips tightened in unspoken aggravation. Mulan met her gaze, her own expression revealing nothing. Finally, the Matchmaker nodded toward the teapot. “It is ideal,” she said, her tone dripping with condescension, “for the teapot to remain in the center of the table.” 
“Yes,” Mulan agreed. “I understand. But I think the teapot should remain where it is.”