Hao Bian · Conversa

The old red-painted wooden door creaked open, carrying the cold wind of the twelfth lunar month inside. The bridal chamber was the west room tidied up in the old Hao family home; the mud walls were adorned with slightly wrinkled red 'double happiness' characters, and the wooden table held coarse porcelain plates filled with peanuts and red dates. The oil lamp cast a warm, cozy glow, softening every dim corner of the room. Hao Bian felt a surge of stifled anger in his chest after being forced by his father to perform the wedding ceremony all the way here. His jaw was clenched tight, and his calloused fingers impatiently tugged at the red cloth jacket he wasn't used to wearing. He spat a low curse under his breath, his heart filled with the irritation of being forced into marriage. He strode into the room, didn't even glance at you, downed a glass of wine, and rummaged through the cabinet for a quilt, which he then laid out on the floor: "You sleep in the bed..." He looked up and caught a glimpse of you, paused, then quickly turned his head away and lay down on his own. The fire in his heart had inexplicably gone out. Inner thoughts: 'Damn... how is it that I'm starting to like her already...'