Page 36 of Worth Fighting For

“Good afternoon,” I say to the sheep. “I am Zhou, and I am here to shear you.”

The sheep does nothing to indicate it heard me. I reach out to pat it. Like the cow, the sheep feels far sturdier than I am prepared for, but this time I’m not as shocked as before. I turn around to see Shang standing there looking concerned, flanked by James and Mushu. Behind them is a gaggle of aunties and uncles. Auntie Jiayi has her hands clasped under her chin, looking worried. Auntie Lulu is shamelessly holding up her phone, recording me.

“Shears, please.” I hold my hand out to Shang.

He hesitates. “If you don’t do this right, you could nick Geraldine.”

It takes me a second to realize that Geraldine is the large black sheep I’m supposed to shear. “Geraldine is in fine hands,” I say with a lot more confidence than I feel. I’ve shaved my legs plenty of times, probably thousands of times by now, and I’ve only nicked myself a handful of times. I can totally do this. I reach out and pluck the electric shears smartly from Shang’s hands. “Thank you.”

Then, before I can chicken out of this, I put my hands on Geraldine’s shoulders and lift. To my surprise, Geraldine doesn’t fight it, instead letting herself be lifted up, so she’s standing on her hind legs, and then held against my legs. Geraldine’s unexpectedly heavy, but I’ve braced for it, planting my feet firmly on the ground to support the sheep’s weight. For a moment, I blink in surprise. I’ve somehow maneuvered Geraldine into the correct position.

“Very good, Zhou!” Auntie Jiayi calls out. There are murmurs of agreement from the others.

There is a half breath where I swear I lock eyes with Geraldine and a look of understanding passes from the sheep. It’s a look that says:You got this, girl.Or maybe I’m losing my marbles.

I grip the electric shears tight and turn them on. Steadfastly ignoring the stares on me, I bend over and begin, starting from Geraldine’s chest and moving the shears down toward the lower belly region. To my complete and utter surprise, the shears move easily, slicing through the soft fleece. It leaves behind a path of smooth, short wool. A shot of pure endorphins floods my senses and I very nearly jump up and whoop. Fortunately, I stop myself in time and keep going, doing another neat path down to the belly. Recalling the TikTok, I make sure to cover Geraldine’s teats with my free hand to avoid nicking them.

It doesn’t take too long before Geraldine’s entire belly is shaven. I stare in wonderment at my handiwork.

“Very smoothly done,” one of the uncles murmurs.

The others nod at me with expressions of approval. I catch Shang’s eye and let a smirk take over my mouth. In response, he tries—and fails—to fight back a smile.Don’t lose focus now.I force myself to turn back to Geraldine.

Now comes the tricky part. I have to shift Geraldine to her side so that I can begin shearing her sides. Moving my right foot a step back, I maneuver Geraldine, who acquiesces quite happily, flopping to her side and staying there. My breath comes out in a wobbly laugh. Channeling the TikTok video, I begin to run the shears up Geraldine’s hind leg, from the hoof up to the butt. The wool is far thicker on this side than on the belly, and I can feel more resistance. I push harder on the shears to keep them going, and before long, the effort begins to cramp my hand.

James crouches next to me. “You okay?” he says.

I don’t spare him a glance. “Yep.” I keep my focus on Geraldine.

“Only it looks like you’re struggling a little.”

“Nope” is all I manage to huff out. Geraldine’s weight plus the friction of the thick wool are adding up.

“James,” Shang says in a warning tone.

“I just don’t want her to nick the sheep is all. It’ll get skittish if she does.”

Do not lose focus, I tell myself again. I keep going, watching in satisfaction as Geraldine’s hind leg comes free from its thick, matted wool.

“You need help,” James says, and without warning, he reaches out and grabs Geraldine’s hoof.

The movement knocks the shears askew, and I experience the next two seconds in horrified slow motion as my tired, stiff hand loses control of the shears. As the shears swerve, I see the whirring blades bite into Geraldine’s skin. Geraldine jerks, her entire body bucking up, and knocks into my legs. “Sh—” I cry out as I lose my balance and topple over backward, straight into a bucket of dirty water. Freezing water sloshes over my neck, shoulders, and back. “Not again!”

Laughter. They’re laughing. Anger shoots through me, hot and fast. I cough out spatters of dirty water and when I open my eyes, Shang is leaning over me, his arm outstretched toward me. My pulse is thrumming so furiously it’s more like a whir than any discernible rhythm. They’re laughing at me after making me hurt poor, sweet Geraldine. I don’t think twice before reaching up and accepting Shang’s hand. Then, before he can pull me up, I yank, hard.

I’m rewarded by a glimpse of pure shock taking over Shang’s features as he loses his balance, then he lands on top of me. He manages to break his fall with his arms, but enough of his weight lands on me to make me feel winded. His body is solid, rock-hard, and incredibly warm. For a moment, we both forget to breathe as our eyes meet, mere inches apart, and it’s only then that I question the wisdom of yanking this ridiculously hot guy down on top of me. Close up, he should look less attractive. He should. His pores should be grossly visible, perhaps I’ll find blackheads on his nose, or an errant nose hair or two. But no, defying all laws of nature, Shang is even more captivating up close. His scent envelops me, a mix of something leafy, like rosemary, and a subtle hint of cologne. I could lose myself in that smell forever.

Or not.

Because the next second, it hits me that Shang is braced on his forearms on top of me and his family is all around us, some of them squawking “Are you okay?” and the rest of them guffawing and slapping their legs.

I place a hand on Shang’s chest to push him off (my traitorous mind goes:Pecs! Pecs!) and he springs away like he’s just been burned. Oh well, I can hardly blame him for that reaction, given I’m the one who pulled him down. With fluid grace, Shang hops back up to his feet. I clamber up as well, immediately scanning the barn for poor Geraldine. She’s a few paces away, huddling close to Auntie Jiayi, who is murmuring softly in her ear. Guilt pierces my chest. I’ve hurt that lovely animal.

“James, what the hell?” Shang says in a low voice.

“I was just trying to help, man,” James says. “Not my fault that Zhou here freaked out and nicked the sheep.”

“I had it under control,” I say, fighting to keep my voice even. Damn it, what am I doing, arguing with our potential partners? Baba would most definitely never do anything like that. I rein my temper in and add, “But I appreciate you trying to help.”

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