Mrs. He nodded, "Yes, that's her. I've known your Aunt Rui for decades; she wouldn't deceive me. You were able to get into Tonghua Entertainment back then because your Aunt Rui helped out."
He Jinxia was stunned; she wasn't aware of this. The vague impression in her mind was that Aunt Rui was just a... well, a very kind and amiable aunt, nothing more.
"Mom, wouldn't this be troubling her too much?"
Mrs. He shook her head, "Not at all. Your Aunt Rui recently moved to Qingdu and often comes over to chat with me. She keeps mentioning you, so don't worry, I've got a sense of propriety."
She decisively declared, "We'll meet her tomorrow. She used to spoil you when you were little, always buying you lots of expensive clothes and even wanted to make you her goddaughter. After you grew up and she moved to Imperial City, you hardly saw her anymore."
Now that He Jinxia had become a star, her visits home were few and far between, making it even harder to see her aunt.
It was rare for her to be back home and being able to stay for a while, and now that she was so sensible, Mrs. He decided to simply take her to visit.
***
The next day, He Jinxia's plans to sleep in were thwarted.
Early in the morning, Mrs. He entered her room, opened her suitcase to look for clothes, and unsatisfied with what she found, ran off to rummage through her wardrobe.
All morning, the sound of clothes hangers scraping against the metal rod was incessant, the "click-click" sharp and grating, impossible to block out even with several layers of quilts over one's head.
He Jinxia was forced to leave her comfortable bed, and she drifted languidly to the bathroom to wash up.
Mrs. He took this meeting with Aunt Rui very seriously, more so than the person involved herself. Leaning against the door, He Jinxia watched her mother dash from left to right, and right to left, tossing one unsatisfactory piece of clothing after another aside.
Moving closer, she could hear Mrs. He muttering, "How can there not be a single good-looking piece of clothing?"
Dressed in her nightgown, He Jinxia stretched hugely and said, "Mom, I'm fat, nothing looks good on a fatty."
Mrs. He turned and glared at her, "Nonsense! Where are you fat? You're not fat; you're sturdy!"
He Jinxia's mouth twitched, as she mercilessly stated a fact, "Mom, I weigh 200 pounds."
Mrs. He retorted, "Then why don't you say you're also 5 foot 7!"
Dragging her aside, Mrs. He brainwashed her, "You're tall, so of course your bones are bigger than others', and your bones are heavier; it's normal for you to weigh more than they do!"
He Jinxia, looking at her, emotionlessly repeated three words, "Two hundred pounds."
Mrs. He waved her hand dismissively, "Go on, out of my way, I'm picking out your clothes."
He Jinxia stepped back but didn't leave; instead, she leaned against the wardrobe, watching her mother choose clothes for her, her mind a bit foggy.
Frankly, she too thought that He Jinxia didn't really look that overweight.
Mrs. He was right about one thing; He Jinxia was tall.
Two hundred pounds on someone shorter would indeed be rolls of fat, but spread evenly on someone 5 foot 7, it was different. Though she was heavy, she was solidly so, not nearly at the point of being obese.
Four years ago, she was just a bit overweight, already tipping the scales at 150 pounds.
Thinking of this, He Jinxia looked down at her figure, and her mouth twitched again, deciding not to comfort herself anymore. With this tiger's back and bear's waist, she simply couldn't convince herself she was just sturdy.
"Alright, this is the one. You'll look absolutely great in it."
Mrs. He picked out a plus-size chiffon dress with ditsy floral prints, pale pink and sparse, casually scattered across the white fabric.
He Jinxia glanced at it, her eyebrows lifting as she looked at Mrs. He and suddenly asked, "Mom, you wouldn't have an ulterior motive, would you?"
Mrs. He's eyes flickered slightly before she stood up straight and said, "What motive could I possibly have? Aunt Rui lives in such an opulent place, asking you to dress formally is simply a matter of courtesy. It's getting late, go change quickly!"
Mrs. He urged He Jinxia into the bathroom to change. He Jinxia thought it made sense and did not ask any further questions.
As soon as the bathroom door closed, Mrs. He patted her chest, sighed with relief, and muttered to herself in a low voice, "This child, how did she become so sharp..."
***
Grand, magnificent, luxurious—these were the only words that came to He Jinxia's mind when she arrived at the house of the legendary Aunt Rui.
If it were Hua Country-style décor, He Jinxia could have eloquently praised it at length, but faced with the foreign luxury style, she was at a loss for words.
Before entering the three-story villa, He Jinxia turned and confirmed with Mrs. He again.
Mrs. He was much more composed than her and casually remarked, "Your Aunt Rui's husband, you should call him Uncle Sheng, is an entrepreneur, and her son is quite successful. Don't be nervous, Aunt Rui is very easygoing."
He Jinxia blinked and said in a low voice, "Mom, it's not about being nervous, I just have no memory of this Aunt Rui at all."
No sooner had she spoken than the sound of a "click" came from the front door, which swung open. He Jinxia turned to look and saw a middle-aged beauty in a cheongsam standing before them.
Upon seeing He Jinxia, the woman's eyes lit up and she quickly reached out to pull her inside, "Jinxia, Auntie hasn't seen you in so long. The last time I saw you, you were just ten years old, a tiny thing, and now in the blink of an eye, you've grown so much."
He Jinxia, a bit overwhelmed by the warmth, greeted her timidly, "Hello, Aunt Rui."
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Mrs. He and was suddenly taken aback to see that her mother was also wearing a cheongsam, matching Aunt Rui's as if they were sister outfits.
Aunt Rui's voice, laughing, said, "Very good, let Auntie have a good look at you. Indeed, a girl changes eighteen times between childhood and womanhood. Jinxia's features are all developed, completely different from when you were a child."
"But this skin, just as smooth and tender as when you were a child, so radiant." She said this while reaching out to pinch He Jinxia's cheek, without any awkwardness.
Mrs. He's voice came from beside her, "Oh, stop praising her. This child keeps getting fatter, and I don't know what to do with her."
Aunt Rui turned to Mrs. He and said, "It's okay to be a bit plump. I've heard that as long as you take good care of yourself during the post-pregnancy confinement and do reasonable exercise, you can slim down quickly, it's like being reborn."
Mrs. He's eyes brightened, "Really?"
Aunt Rui nodded, "Should be about right."
Mrs. He turned to He Jinxia. He Jinxia felt her eyelids twitch, and a bad feeling surged in her heart. She quickly interjected,
"Mom, I'm only twenty years old, isn't that too early to have children? Plus, I'm so fat, who would want me?"
Aunt Rui's gentle voice came, "Jinxia, you don't understand. What's wrong with being fat? With proper exercise and diet, you can slim down."
"My son used to be a two hundred pound teenager in high school. After working out like crazy, he slimmed down, and now everyone compliments him on how handsome he is."
"Look at you, even though you're overweight, it doesn't detract from your beauty, your skin is so nice, you have big eyes, a high nose, and just a rounded chin, but a rounded chin is a sign of prosperity and wealth, which is very good."
He Jinxia: "..." To be honest, Aunt Rui had indeed convinced her, at least a little bit.
But that didn't change the fact she was fat.