None of the villagers would be awake by the time a mysterious mysterious figure emerged on one of the drifting clouds But if any of them happened to sit up and glance outside they’d see the hunched figure carried what looked like a fishing fishing rod Yet this was no ordinary fisherman The man would sit cross legged on the edge of the cloud his silhouette illuminated by the bloated moon behind him He’d dangle the rod in the air and then cast a line as easily as if he were fishing from a rowboat on the river For the next few hours he’d quietly reel in his invisible catches and place them carefully into a porcelain jar Then as silently as he had appeared he’d vanish into the shadows None of the villagers ever laid eyes on him or on the mysterious mysterious things that he placed in his jar But I have from my quiet home on the moon above And I’ve seen two children with him on those clouds One boy and one girl 2
Chapter Two 二 The Duel Ming Dynasty 1500s A D Mei pointed her weapon upward like an umbrella With her strong pose and steady concentration the twelve year old could almost pass as a warrior from the Imperial Imperial City that is if the warriors wore tunics used knobby branches as swords and were forced to wait an eternity for their dueling partners to present themselves Hurry up Yun she sighed Wait replied Mei’s twin brother who approached slowly holding a similar wooden branch He fumbled with the stick trying to find the best way to grip it between his fingers There’s a proper way to hold this in combat in order to maximize the length of the blade Well the imaginary 3
blade Yun corrected himself matter of factly This of course is merely a substitute for a real sword Come on I’ve been waiting for five minutes All right all right Yun took his place so that the pair stood opposite each other in the shade of a willow tree beside the Pearl River They were identical in terms of age and most features dark eyes straight black hair lightly toasted skin but their personalities were as different as night and day Mei was the impatient one adults often said she was as restless as an ant on a frying pan Yun was the careful cautious one who adults said moved at an ant’s pace Above the willow tree the sky was a pale blue the morning morning sun unusually warm The calendar said late autumn but the air felt like early summer The yellowing grass tickled the twins bare feet The siblings however didn’t have time to appreciate the weather More important things were at stake that morning They’d made a bet earlier that whoever lost the duel had to give the winner their share of desserts for a week As the Mid Autumn Festival was two days away a loss meant missing out on their grandpa’s famous batch of mooncakes And that was out of the question All right on the count of three Mei readied her stance One two counted Yun Three They swung their sticks Wood bounced off wood Mei separated easily and jumped forward her black braids swaying swaying Her branch sliced the air and hit Yun’s knee With a yelp Yun tumbled backward Well that was easy said Mei 4
That’s not fair protested Yun rubbing his backside You know I’m nearsighted Like most of the other villagers Mei and Yun’s family were too poor to afford eyeglasses Yun had grown accustomed to navigating with blurry vision and most of the time it wasn’t a big deal But certain endeavors like dueling avoiding mud puddles or counting approaching horses proved tricky Mei rolled her eyes We were standing inches apart not miles She also noted it was odd that Yun claimed to be blind as a bat yet was sharper than an owl whenever the bedsheets at home weren’t perfectly symmetrical or when Mei’s dish had two more bean sprouts than Yun’s That’s different replied Yun who prided himself on his precision and neatness It’s much easier to see what stands out when it shouldn’t Anyway let’s start over This time we’ll give me a three second head start Why The extra three seconds make up for my lack of good eyesight and subsequent reaction time It’s only fair No wait Actually four seconds is better Four You’d have me beaten in four After several more minutes of arguing the twins decided to call a temporary truce until they figured out a new way of determining a winner Yun lay down in the shade thinking while Mei began climbing the willow tree Mei was a good climber the best in their village She had a lightweight build and was quick on her feet She could tell which branches were the sturdiest and identify invisible grooves for footholds By the time Yun looked up his sister was already high above the ground 5
