Gorgeous photo by @onetruedaydreamer
Hi fairy friends!
Welcome back to day 2 of our readalong for our June Adult featured book: Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao. I hope you’re all loving the book so far!
Today we’re reading from chapter 8 to the end of chapter 12. Let’s go!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Shanghai Immortal by A. Y. Chao , from chapters 8 to 12. Please only read on if you’ve finished this section!
-!SPOILERS!-
Lady Jing takes Mr Lee to see where the Joss money comes into immortal Shanghai and he’s taken aback by how similar it all looks to his Shanghai! Then Lady Jing is taken aback, quite literally, by her sword catching her heel and Jing and Tony have a moment when he catches her. There’s something blooming here, right? Am I the only one seeing it?
Actually, scratch that. There WAS something blooming and then Jing’s fangs did their thing and Tony drops her. Eek.
The tour of immortal Shanghai continues, and unfortunately Tony Lee continues to speak in his ‘courtly piss fart’ and even the ghosts don’t understand him. He wants Lady Jing to translate but she refuses!
Oh, Tony has got her all worked out. If she acts as his translator he will have Master Chu send her a suit! She’s not settling though, she wants his trousers now.
We’re taken to Lady Gi, and I like her already! In exchange for some news about her partner Lang, Gi fits Tony with a changpao and alters his trousers to fit Jing. Jing seems to admire Tony’s muscular form in his new fitted changpao…
Jing decides they’ll go to Old Zao’s to get some gossip, but along the way her fear of water gets the better of her and she seems to pass out. I hope Tony caught her and I hope it was romantic. Swoon!
Next stop is Madame Meng’s and considering it also acts as a bridge to ‘oblivion’ I’m not at all surprised by Tony’s apprehension, even after Jing assures him it’s safe. Scratch that, Madame Meng seems nice!
Soo has set the treasury on fire and hurt Pixie and Cutie while doing it, she really is the worst. What’s worse than that is the guards blame Jing. They think she did this.
She’s escorted to Big Wang and he thinks she did it too. This is so unfair. Oh… never mind. Big Wang knows she didn’t start the fire. Then why is he reprimanding her?
Lady Soo is after the dragon pearl like Jing thought. It’s annoying that due to the drama Soo’s causing, Jing has to be sent away to mortal Shanghai so she doesn’t cause trouble. It wasn’t even her that caused the trouble this time.
Nevermind… this isn’t actually a punishment so it seems. Lady Jing is excited! I’m cackling at Big Wang talking through her daytime routine as if she’s a baby though.
Tony Lee. The world does not deserve you. When Big Wang says they’ll have to go through the docks, Tony knows her fears. Instead of outing her he asks Big Wang if there’s another way and tells him that he’s afraid of water. It doesn’t really go to plan though and it ends with Tony agreeing the best way for him to cross is probably in a bag.
Jing helps him out of that one, thankfully, but it still doesn’t help with the fact that she is deathly afraid of water and this is the only way through.
No. My heart. Tony is doing all he can to distract Jing while she panics, including using the courtly piss fart she hates just to rile her up and make her forget what’s happening, AND IT WORKS. We don’t deserve him. Every Jing needs a Tony.
And with that, we’re welcomed into mortal Shanghai.
What was your favourite part from today’s section? Mine has to be Tony distracting Jing!
What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai?
Do you have a favourite character so far?
I am loving this so much and I’m so excited to see what Jing and Tony get up in mortal Shanghai! I hope you’re loving it too, fairies!
Love,
Shannon
Mr. Lee is slowly growing on my. I cannot wait to see how this progesses. At the beginning I did struggle with the amount of cursing but now I start getting used to it and find it a bit funny . Can’t wait to see how they get on/ what happens next in human shanghai!!!
It is interesting learning more about how immortal Shanghai is mimicking the architecture of mortal Shanghai while also retaining some older parts.
I have a feeling Lady Jing is going to accidently attack someone or somebody is going to get hurt and it won’t be pretty.
Lady Jing is an okay protagonist. Though honestly I am tired of reading piss-fart so many times. I am not a fan of repetitive use of words but I can kind of understand why she refers to it as such.
1.What was your favourite part from today’s section?
I am not sure. I LOVED the ‘distracting Jing to get her on the boat’ part. It was so gentle and mindful of Lee to come up with something like this, but to be honest we’ve seen him do something this kind to her a couple of times now <3 but on the other hand … I cannot "unsee" the scene where Jing visited her pet pixius and their wiggling butts!!
2. What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai?
I don't really know, she 'll probably do what she was told she should not do… so she'll investigate and look for clues to sue soo… however, I would love to see Lee take the lead and show us more of himself, where he'll feel not as threatened as he does in jing's Shanghai. Also, I wouldn't mind more bonding and sweet scenarios of both <3
Do you have a favourite character so far?
Wiggling pixius 😉
I do like to see more of Lord black, he is a mystierous and interesting character and even more powerful as big Wang (when I remember correctly). But I do like Lee, too. He seems to be a very observing and gentle character I do not see that often but I am afraid that there will be something terrible, we just don't know yet…
I’m really digging the (sorta) grumpy/sunshine dynamic with Jing and Tony. He’s such a sweetheart!
I hope they get to go dancing in mortal Shanghai! I want them to go dancing haha
My favourite part from today’s section is meeting Puffy and Cutie! They are adorable and I would love to be able to give them belly rubs.
Now that Lady Jing and Tony are in mortal Shanghai I think we will see a reverse of what happened when Tony first ventured into Immortal Shanghai. I love their blossoming relationship so far and I think it would be so cute for them to explore the city together. Although I do think that trouble will not be too far behind them!
I do not have a favourite character so far but I think that will change as we enter day three of our readalong. This is as I feel the story is starting to blossom.
1. What was your favourite part from today’s section?
I also loved how Mr Lee knew exactly what would distract her! Another moment I found hilarious was all the tiny roosters. This world is so much fun.
2. What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai?
I honestly have no idea. Shenanigans, I’m sure.
3. Do you have a favourite character so far?
Not specifically, but I love all the side characters. They’re so entertaining.
I also want to take a moment to say: I see what you guys did with the endpaper design! The front is immortal Shanghai and the back mortal Shanghai. Such a wonderful little detail.
1) Look, you can’t give me giant pets and expect me not to fall in love. I’m sad Tony didn’t get to meet those two. This needs to be rectified and they better be fine.
2) I expect Jing will cause mafan and Tony will pull out all his hair from stress and try to stop her from hurting herself and others. I also expect this to somehow help Jing unlock her fox spirit abilities.
3) Mr Lee is just precious. I know he’s hiding something, but I have my fingers crossed it is honourable.
What was your favourite part from today’s section?
I liked seeing Big Wang’s interacting with Jing towards the end of this section.
What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai?
Jing will get into trouble for sure. I also wonder if she finds out more about herself and about Tony. I am guessing she actually is strong but hasn’t tapped into her potential yet.
Do you have a favourite character so far?
No favorite character yet. I think I need to get to know Tony more before I form an opinion about him.
I love that all of Jing’s plans fall through. Darling girl is trying her best and being thwarted at every turn! Jing getting the pants suit was wonderful though. From her strong arming Tony into trading his clothes to Jing getting Lady Gi to fit them! I like that we got to see her succeed even in a small way.
Only chaos can happen in mortal Shanghai! Jing attracts trouble like no other. I loved her total high getting to the moral world. Seriously though, what was Big Wang thinking sending her to the center of a mortal city when she has only ever been around one living human. I am excited to see the chaos she will bring to mortal Shanghai. I’m so excited for her to see the sunset and the stars!
I adore Old Zao! Gotta love a wise, secret keeper that makes the most delicious food in the city! Jing needs some people on her side and Zao seems like they have her back even when she doesn’t realize or fully appreciate it.
I would say the part with the pixiu was my favorite, but the part where Big Wang gave Mr Lee Lady Jing’s eating habits made me actually laugh out loud – it definitely stole the show for this section.
I predict chaos and plenty of sass from Lady Jing as she discovers just how different mortal Shanghai is! I’m really excited for the rest of this book.
So far, Mr Lee is absolutely stealing my heart, I think he’s probably my favorite character at the moment!
What was your favourite part from today’s section? Mine has to be Tony distracting Jing! I liked the bit with Jing’s fangs coming out and seeing the vampire half of her.
What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai? I think Jing will be as awkard as Tony was in immortal Shanghai and they will have swapped roles a bit now.
Do you have a favourite character so far? Lady Jing! I really love her personality and it’s so fun to read. Can’t wait to see what’s next for her
What was your favourite part from today’s section?
My favorite part from this section was when we met Cutie and Puffy, they seem so lively, that I was truly concerned about their wellbeing when Lady Soo infiltrated the Treasury. I hope they make other appearances throughout the book.
What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai?
Knowing Lady Jing, she will continue to seek answers about her Grandmother’s desire to get the Dragon Pearl back and in so doing, possibly causing Chaos in Mortal Shanghaiin the process.
Do you have a favourite character so far?
Big Wang and his personal guards are my favorite characters so far, since they have to handle Lady Jing’s rebelious teen-esque outbursts. I am hoping that they can put some sense into that girl, she is becoming quite an unrully character and as others stated in Day 1, this book is giving me serious YA vibes. Hoping it turns around soon.
1. What was your favourite part from today’s section? Mine has to be Tony distracting Jing!
I think the same! I liked how he knows about her fear for water and tried to go another way to mortal Shanghai and when that wasn’t possible, distracting her
2. What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai?
I think Tony will show Jing around mortal Shanghai, a bit like she did when he was in immortal Shanghai
3. Do you have a favourite character so far?
Not really at the moment
Things are getting more interesting. Wonder what mischief she’ll get up to in mortal Shanghai. I think there’s more to Mr Lee than meets the eye. Or at least I’m hoping.
A part of me loved the section with Cutie and Puffy, before they were hurt of course. Another part that I liked was when Lee distracted Jing in the boat. I think only chaos will happen in mortal Shanghai, probably Jing is going to learn some valuable lessons. I do no have a favorite character so far but I love all the side characters. They’re so entertaining.
1) I have to agree that Tony distracting Jing was my favorite part of this section! I love that they’re becoming more comfortable around each other, too.
2) I think she’s going to struggle with control more on the mortal side [I mean, all the fresh blood?? Most new vampires struggle with it in stories, and, as much as she isn’t “new”, she’s new to being surrounded by the temptation in a way she isn’t on the immortal side!], but I think she’s also going to struggle with growing attached to Mr. Lee, AND struggle with not getting herself in trouble.
3) Ooooooo, that’s tough! Maybe Old Zao? Tony is growing on me, too, but I’ve liked Old Zao nearly since the beginning.
1. I like the part with Cutie and Puffy.
2. There’s going to be mafan as Lady Jing explores mortal Shanghai. When she recovers from that faint, she’s probably going to be mortified to remember she licked Mr Lee’s face, twice.
3. I kinda like Big Wang, makes me wonder what was really the exchange between him and Lady Jing’s mother for him to take Lady Jing under his care.
I really liked this section, though I will say, i wonder what age of maturity Lady Jing is. Some of the things she does or says seem like things teenagers would do/say. I am really looking forward to so growth in Lady Jing. My favourite part of this section is also when Tong Lee distracts Lady Jing when they are on the boat. I thought it was really sweet! In fact, I loved seeing more of Tony Lee this section because we are finally pealing back his layers to see more of his personality. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they both react to Mortal Shanghai. I hope that Tony Lee opens up a bit more now that he is in “his realm.” As for favourite character, I’m still not sure yet. It’s definitely going to be one of these two, but I’m not sure who just yet.
All of my favourite parts are always when Tony Lee gets freaked out or nervous by something! It’s as if he didn’t realise he was visiting Hell!
I think Lady Jing is going to really struggle in mortal Shanghai, particularly with bloodlust! And I don’t think she’s going to drop the issue with Lady Soo any time soon!
I think my favourite character is actually Big Wang. I think he has a bigger heart than Lady Jing realises – she constantly says that he just bought her but I do think that he genuinely cares about her as his own.
Random thoughts:
– Tony is definitely growing on me. He seems so sweet, yet resolute. I really enjoyed it when he distracted Jing.
– I can’t wait to see the development of Jing and Tony’s relationship!
– I don’t think Jing is aware of the real motives behind the deal between her mother and Big Wang… something is definitely up.
– Lord Black’s (brief) apparition absolutely intrigued me (could he be a potential love interest too?)
My favorite part was the moment that Tony caught Jing hehe.
I think in mortal Shanghai, Lady Jing will get to explore to her heart’s content and grow from the experience. However, I don’t think she’ll be able to resist going to the hulijing and cause some trouble!
So far, I like Lord Niu/bullhead. I like how he is a father figure to Lady Jing. Less harsh that Big Wang, and more outwardly caring.
I’m excited for more shenanigans and Tony/Jing moments!
What was your favourite part from today’s section?
I love the animals, they are so cute and I love the theme of “dangerous” animals being named super cute names and that they are super kind to Jing because animals always have a better sense of who is a good person than humans do, they don’t worry about heritage, or looks, they just like the heart of the person.
My least favorite part is probably when Big Wang talks to Lady Jing, like I can tell that he is getting frustrated with her but continues to be kind and doesn’t really raise his voice that often, but he wants her to take a position that she doesn’t want and he talks to her in a patronizing way and that rubs me the wrong way.
What do you think will happen now that they’re in mortal Shanghai?
I think that she is going to realize there are more important things than what she focuese her attention on in the other Shanghai, and that she gets to see the world in a whole new way.
Do you have a favorite character so far?
My favorite character is Lord Black, he is so mysterious and that makes him kinda attractive…I just hope he’s not evil. He doesn’t give off evil vibes, but we haven’t interacted with him much. I do love Mr. Lee though, he is just a tiny little naive guy who wants to help Lady Jing but can only seem to succeed in angering her, and it’s so funny.