Hearing the cock crow, I rub my eyes, opening them slowly. The shape of a man’s figure in brown, towering tall before me, manifests before my eyes.

“Han? What are you doing here?” I struggle to sit up before peering under the sheets. It is a chilly night, so I am still in my undergarments, although I have opted for my short underpants rather than the long ones that reach down to my ankle.

“It’s dawn,” he says coldly, scanning the room as if he is trying to find evidence of my infidelity. “Your sister would have finished the first step of her marriage preparation.”

In Tuyi, our marriage traditions...