It was times like this that Dee regretted that sliding doors made of paper and would did not make a satisfying slamming noise. The past four years that she had been friends with Manchu he had never exhibited this kind of thought pattern or behavior. Since when had he decided that women were there to serve men? And whom had he learned this from? Certainly not from Jiaoshu or Quon Wing. Both men had always shown respect to any and all women, be it a servant or a loved one. She hadn't been home more than ten minutes when there came a soft knock on her door.

{Yes?} she asked.

{Xiaohu? Is everything ok? May I come in?} Li Rong asked, sliding the door open a few inches.

{Please,} Dee replied, opening the door to let the woman in.

Li Rong's belly was just getting round enough to show and the woman took pleasure in wearing clothing to accentuate her swelling abdomen. Now the woman flowed into the room in a rose colored robe tied above the swell of her belly. Her long black hair was tied up in a high bun and held in place with enameled rose clips. With natural grace, Li Rong sat herself in one of the two chairs at Dee's desk.

"Come, sit child," she said, reverting to English.

Dee sat in the opposite chair, folding her hands in her lap. Silently she waited for the woman to announce the reason for her visit.

"I hear there was an argument between you and Manchu in the market. What was it about?"

"He's being an impossible boy! What he said to me was uncalled for and just plain rude," Dee said, scowling.

"So I've heard. But what did he say, exactly, that could make you so angry with him? Certainly it was not that bad," Li Rong said, placing a hand over Dee's folded hands.

"But it was! He was telling me that Jiaoshu and Quon Wing were only having me do chores and cook to train me to be a wife when I'm older. He said they were just letting me play at being a warrior! Ping said when a woman is older she just needs to take care of her husband and give him children. Then he told me that I needed to be controlled and he was going to find someone in the market to buy me."

Li Rong suppressed a smile at the last. Manchu definitely was being a boy and these two were at the right age to "hate" the opposite sex. Still it worried her about where Manchu was getting these ideas. Neither her husband nor Jiaoshu would teach a child such a thing. Both men always taught their students to respect each other, male or female, as well as a healthy respect for women in general.

"I see," she finally said after a moment's silence. "I must find out where Manchu is getting these ideas from and put a stop to it. Quon Wing is speaking to him about what happened. However, you will both be serving punishment for fighting. No excuses, Xiaohu!" Li Rong added sharply before Dee could defend herself. "Though Manchu is wrong on his ideas, you should have come to us with this instead of knocking him over to fight. Please be a good girl and do your punishment without argument. I know it is hard when you feel so much in the right, my dear, but you must learn patience."

Dee nodded staring down at her hands and blinking back tears at the injustice of it all.

Tilting the girl's chin up, Li Rong smiled at her. "Never forget, Dee Lemma, that a woman will always hold a greater power over a man. She will always use her head before she will use her hands to fight her point. It also doesn't hurt that the man who will love you will be in awe of you and all you can do. I know Manchu said you must do this for a man because it is a woman's job. But I don't do these things for Quon Wing because it is my duty. I do these things for him because I love him and wish his life to have a few less worries in it. Do you understand, child?"

She thought this over for a minute, then said, "I think so, Li."

Again the woman smiled at the little girl. "If you do not fully understand now, you will one day. Any man who wins your heart will be a lucky one, I can tell." Giving Dee's cheek a loving pat, Li Rong stood and left the girl's room. As she slid the door closed behind her, Li Rong had a final thought on the matter. Any man who wins her heart will have to be very special and able to handle her spirit.

For a while Dee simply stared out the window thinking on what Li Rong had told her. By the time Quon Wing knocked at her door to collect her for her punishment, Dee had come to a conclusion: A man needed a woman in his life far more often than a woman needed a man. Yet the loving relationships she saw between Jiaoshu and Li Mei and Quon Wing and Li Rong proved to her that there could be a healthy balance with the right pairing. As Dee and Manchu ran back and forth across the courtyard with buckets of water, Dee decided that she wanted any relationship she entered to be as mutually rewarding as her teachers had.
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