After doing the dishes, wei ying stepped out of the house for a walk through the farm. Granny wen's farm was quiet big, as expected she had given it on a lease, but a small part of it still served as her garden.
The garden was a well-maintained affair, it housed various flowering plants, like rose, plum blossoms, narcissus, several breeds of hyacinths and a patch solely devoted to the medicinal herbs.
There were a few vegetables as well, "You should visit our farms as well, mustard is in bloom." A-fan said. wei ying turned around to greet her.
"It's nice to meet someone, who is just like me." a-fan said. "How did you realize?" Wei ying spoke aloud something he did not want to.
"I was like this as long as I can remember, loved to play house with my sisters. Though, back then I hadn't realized that I was different, but now I do." she answered. Wei ying's childhood started to flash in front of his eyes.
"Mama! a-ying wants to be a mama too!" Wei ying remembered saying this, to which his mother had replied, "Hmm, then I'll tease my yingying over her future husband!" His mother had dissolved in a fit of giggles. "Don't you even dare marrying off my daughter, she is still her a-die's baby." He remembered her father getting protective, even at the thought of another man stealing his child.
Tears trickles down his- no her face, she wanted her a-die to meet Lan zhan so badly, she wanted every moment of freedom she lost to the jiang family's prejudice towards people like her. She lamented for every moment she and Lan zhan could've been together, but weren't.
She grieved for thousands of those moments, when she was whipped by madam yu for not acting like a boy, the moments when she wished her parents were alive. The years of fear of being rejected by the people she loved for being herself, would've been saved if her parents were alive.
She cried harder, remembering the times, when her shijie had gossiped about prevented men dressing or acting like women or how the jiangs cleaned this dirt from their land.
She cried for the times her shidi casted disgusted glances at cut-sleeves, lalas or any one who he considered 'abnormal'.
She cried for the kind jiejie, who was raped and killed by three jiang soldiers, yet the so called 'just' clan leader jiang, refused to punish her criminals.
Why? Was she so disgusting ? Was a person born is a wrong body so abhorrible? Then why her people hated people like her to such an extent.
"I know what you're thinking. I used to cry like this too, when my parents abandoned me, but granny came forward and took me in." a-fan said, hugging wei ying tightly.
"When I met you, I was happy that I met someone who understood me and heartbroken that one more girl has to suffer the fate I've." a-fan said, tears were staining her cheeks.
"It's alright, at least we've someone who loves us the way we're." Wei ying consoled her. A blush crept on a-fan's cheeks. "Can I call you jiejie?" A-fan asked hopefully, "Only if I get to call you mei mei." wei ying smiled. A-fan nodded and pulled wei ying in a tight hug.
"I think we should do some bonding activities!" wei ying said excitedly. "Let's have a sleepover!" a-fan exclaimed.
"In your room, both of my boys are sleeping in mine." Wei ying said. "I'll be back in a while." saying this a-fan left to clean her room.
Wei ying left to her, she was feeling free after a very long time. She was finally herself, she was living a life she dreamed (exclude lan zhan being sick and a war looming around.) of as a child.
The little girl in her was finally home.