47
Shui
Liu
Can
looks
around
the
room,
fairly
awed
at
what
he
sees,
then
he
and
his
handmaiden
sit
down
to
breakfast
.
Long
years
of
wandering
have
not
made
Shui
Liu
Can
too
cultured
at
the
dining
table,
we
see
as
he
grabs
dumplings
from
one
bamboo
steamer,
forcing
them
into
his
mouth,
and
using
the
ladle,
scoops
up
huge
helpings
of
rice
porridge
from
the
claypot
into
his
bowl
.
His
handmaiden
starts
laughing
at
her
Master
.
YUN
XING
TONG
You
are
embarrassing
the
young
lady
here,
I
say
.
SHUI
LIU
CAN
Well,
ha
ha,
I
think
she
is
used
to
it
.
Its
the
way
that
she
always
has
seen
me
.
YUN
XING
TONG
Oh
is
it?
The
handmaiden
giggles
quietly
and
lifts
her
eyes
up
to
Yun
Xing
Tong
.
HANDMAIDEN
Yeah,
thats
the
way
he
eats
.
YUN
XING
TONG
Really,
did
all
those
years
away
make
you
lose
your
table
manners?
SHUI
LIU
CAN
Not
really,
just
made
me
realize
how
unimportant
they
could
be
.
Shui
Liu
Can
keeps
stuffing
buns
and
dumplings
into
his
mouth
while
slurping
porridge
.
He
drinks
the
tea
straight
from
the
pot
.
Yun
Xing
Tong
just
smiles,
bordering
on
laughing
at
the
sight
of
this
middle
-
aged
man,
seemingly
prematurely
aged
with
streaks
of
grey
in
his
hair,
and
yet
with
the
mannerisms
of
a
child
.
He
sees
as
he
passes
the
teapot
over
to
the
handmaiden,
who
pours
it
into
her
own
cup
and
drinks
.
The
two
seem
to
enjoy
the
breakfast
tremendously,
particularly
Shui
Liu
Can
himself
.
It
is
at
this
moment
that
something
that
the
Handmaiden
seems
to
have
noticed
all
along,
but
has
not
remarked
upon,
starts
commenting
.
HANDMAIDEN