Bai Qianlu's words followed her back inside.
Feng Suyin walked behind the twins through the estate's corridors, half-listening to Yilin's running commentary about which paintings she liked and why. Xuan was quieter than usual, which meant he was thinking. She'd learned to read the different qualities of his quiet.
She was still processing what Bai Qianlu had said. Give him a chance. Don't mistake caution for wisdom. Love after marriage can happen.
She wasn't sure she disagreed with any of it. That was the thing. She'd been carrying these arguments inside herself for weeks, in different forms, and Bai Qianlu had just said them out loud to her face.
What Bai Qianlu hadn't said: that she didn't deserve it.
"Why do you think so lowly of yourself?"
