Mulan and Xuehui

My brother brought back two dresses from Jiangnan: an ethereal blue gown and an ordinary yellow dress.

He told my younger sister to choose first.

I slapped him.

“Does this family not give you enough money?

Couldn’t you buy two of the same dress?

One lovely, one plain—are you trying to drive a wedge between us?”

“If I don’t see two matching dresses tomorrow, I’ll tell every girl in town what a stingy miser you are!”

Early the next morning, the blue gown was waiting outside my door.

Father bought two baskets of oranges.

The one on the left was for my sister; the one on the right was mine.

I peeled an orange from the right-hand basket and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Sweet, is it?

Well?”

“If they aren’t sweet, why did you buy them?

Since you did, you’re finishing them!”

After that, the mere sight of an orange made Father queasy.

I told my sister, “Whenever they give us two things and one is worse than the other, make them put it right.

They favor you now, but tomorrow they might favor someone else.”

“We have to stand up for what’s rightfully ours!”

She nodded firmly.

On our sixteenth birthday, Mother approached me, trembling.

“Mulan, I’ve tried, but I simply cannot find twin brothers of marriageable age!”