Dragon Land

by Maureen Reynolds

  ‘I’ll buy myself a new suit,’ Sandy said before looking at Marie. ‘You’ll have to buy something nice as well. Lizzie doesn’t want you turning up in your woolly jumper and thick tweed skirt with those clumpy shoes you wear.’

  ‘I beg your pardon, Sandy, but I’m well aware what to wear, thank you very much.’

  Jonas smiled at this spat, but I was a little bit worried. Marie was a lovely person, but her wardrobe was very limited and more suitable for the Highlands of Scotland than humid Hong Kong.

  However, I needn’t have worried. I chose a white dress with a matching hat. On my wedding morning Marie appeared in my bedroom wearing a very smart cream suit, court shoes and a little hat with a flower.

  Sandy couldn’t believe his eyes. ‘Good God, Marie, you look wonderful, and I didn’t realise you were so good-looking.’

  ‘Well, that’s just because you never looked hard enough,’ she said.

  I had written to Margaret to tell her my good news and had received a letter saying how pleased she was for us both and asking me to send some photos of the day.

  The wedding was due at midday, and before we set off for the church, Marie gave me a small box with a silver St Christopher medallion on a thin chain.

  ‘This belonged to my mother, Lizzie, but I want you to have it. I hope it will keep you safe in Shanghai, as St Christopher is the patron saint of travellers.’

  I was overcome with emotion. ‘Thank you, Marie,’ I said as I placed it around my neck. ‘I’ll treasure it forever.’

  The wedding ceremony was brief, but as we emerged from the church Jonas and I were man and wife. It all felt so unreal, as if I was living in a dream. We went to the hotel, where I was hoping Mr Wang would be waiting. I had invited him to the ceremony, and while he said he couldn’t manage it he said he would be at the hotel. He was sitting in the lobby, but he stood up when we approached.

  ‘I can’t leave the shop for long, Lizzieeeee, but all the blessings on your marriage.’ He shook hands with Jonas and then handed me an intricate-looking box. ‘It has a hidden message inside, but you have to figure out how to open it first.’

  ‘Oh, thank you, Mr Wang. You have been one of my best friends since coming here and I will always treasure this gift.’

  He inclined his head, wished us all good day and walked out of the hotel.

  ‘I wish he could have stayed,’ I said to Jonas. ‘He’s been a dear, dear friend to me.’

  Sandy had arranged for a bottle of champagne to be served with our meal, and as the food was all Chinese cuisine I supposed he had ordered what he liked. Marie ate very little, but she said she enjoyed everything except the champagne, saying she normally just had a small sherry now and again, so Jonas ordered some for her.

  It was six o’clock before we finished; then with a flurry of goodbyes, Marie and Sandy left to go back to the school.

  ‘We’ll come down to see you both off tomorrow,’ said Sandy. ‘When does your ship sail?’

  Jonas said it was eleven o’clock in the morning.

  Marie looked at Sandy and said tartly, ‘That should give you time to get over all the food and drink you’ve eaten.’ She turned to me and gave me a hug. ‘Goodbye, Lizzie. I hope you’ll be very happy in your new country.’ She shook Jonas’s hand. ‘Goodbye, Jonas.’

  We were then left on our own. Jonas said, ‘Let’s go for a walk.’ I put my jacket over my dress and we set off towards the harbour. There was a full moon and the water shimmered in its glow. Lights from the moored sampans also lit up the sky, while the shops had small lanterns outside their doors. It was magical, and I felt so alive walking beside my husband. He took my hand, and at the end of the street was Mr Wang’s shop, so we went inside.

  Mr Wang wasn’t there, which surprised me. A young girl was behind the counter, and when I asked her about him she said, ‘I am Mr Wang’s niece. He has retired to his bed early.’

  This statement worried me. ‘Is Mr Wang all right?’

  She smiled and nodded. ‘He has a headache, but he will be down in the shop later. He has had too much rice wine.’

  As we walked towards the hotel, we were laughing. ‘I didn’t know Mr Wang liked his rice wine,’ I said.

  Jonas laughed. ‘His niece said he had a bottle behind his cash desk and he’s ill because he doesn’t usually drink. She said he’s going to miss you very much and he was drinking to celebrate your wedding.’

  I felt touched by this and knew I would miss Mr Wang very much too.

  Jonas had booked a room at the hotel for the night, and as we went in through the front door I suddenly felt apprehensive. A few months ago I had been a single teacher who had never had a boyfriend, and here I was now, a married woman.

  I had bought a lovely new nightgown for my honeymoon, which we were spending on the ship going to Shanghai, and as I slipped it on after my bath, Jonas was standing by the window.

  He turned as I entered and came across and held me tightly, giving me such a passionate kiss I almost fainted. But I managed to kiss him back, and I knew I had been waiting all my life for this wonderful moment as we slipped into bed together.

  I awoke later in the night and the moon was shining through the window. Suddenly I recalled a film I had seen with Laura and Pat about such a scene and at the time we almost swooned. Later, Pat said it was all Hollywood fantasy and quite slushy. I made a mental note if I should ever see her again to tell her it wasn’t a fantasy and it certainly wasn’t slushy; it was romantic and full of love, celebrating the commitment we had both made.

  The next morning we headed for the docks, where the ship was waiting to take us on our journey to China. Sandy and Marie were already standing on the wharf as our luggage was loaded on board.

  Sandy said I looked radiant, and I blushed, much to his amusement, but Marie was her usual efficient self.

  ‘Now remember and write to us, Lizzie, and let us know all about your new home.’

  I said I would. ‘Thank you so much for all you’ve done for me, both of you, and I promise I will keep in touch.’ I put my hand over my St Christopher necklace. ‘Thank you for my lovely present as well, Marie.’

  Then with a final hug from her and handshakes from Sandy, Jonas guided me up the gangplank. He turned as we reached the top.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll look after her, and thanks for everything.’

  Marie began to cry. She wiped her eyes, as if feeling guilty at her emotion, but I saw Sandy put his arm around her shoulders.

  As the ship slowly moved away from the dock, we stood at the rail and waved a farewell, not only to Marie and Sandy but also to Hong Kong. For a brief moment, I wondered if I would ever see it again, but my life now lay in Shanghai with my new husband and I couldn’t have been happier.

  36

  SHANGHAI

  The last time I had been on a sea voyage I was alone, but I was now travelling as a married woman with my husband and there were still times when I felt I was existing in a dream. Everything had happened so fast that the reality hadn’t hit me yet. One thing, however, was clear in my mind. I loved Jonas, and I realised I had done so since the very first moment I saw him in Mr Wang’s bookshop. Up till then I hadn’t believed in love at first sight, thinking it was just a figment of the imagination in books and in the films, but I now knew it was real.

  As we sailed on the South China Sea, Jonas told me about his life in Shanghai.

  ‘I’ll be away a lot, Lizzie, as a freelance writer. Alex and I travel around looking for the news stories for the paper and also for our next book.’ He gave me an anxious glance. ‘I did mention that, didn’t I?’

  I laughed. ‘Of course you did. You pointed out all the pitfalls I would face, but you also mentioned all the joys, so don’t worry, I want to be with you, no matter where you live.’

  He sighed. ‘Well, that makes me feel a lot happier. Marie kept giving me some worried frowns, almost as if I was abducting you to live a life of debauchery.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worr
y about that, Jonas. It’s part of her upbringing to be cautious about everything foreign. Sandy, on the other hand, embraces everything oriental. No matter where he lives in the world, he will love the local culture and especially the food.’ I stopped. Thinking about Sandy suddenly filled me with nostalgia. He had been such a delightful companion on our many evenings out and I was grateful for those memories.

  Jonas was describing our house. ‘It’s not a large place, but it’s situated on Bubbling Well Road, that’s the road to Nanking, and our neighbours are a lovely couple: Zheng Yan and his wife Ping Li. You’ll like them. We’ll be living in the International Settlement, and although we are in China we’ll be under the jurisdiction of the British government. There’s a large population of Britons, especially in the police force, so there will no problem with coping with a foreign language.’

  I said it all sounded wonderful, but I secretly hoped it would be more like the China I had read about all those years ago in the library in Dundee.

  We were nearing Shanghai and were now sailing up the Huangpu River. Jonas was keen to point out the various landmarks, but when the ship docked at one of the wharves, all I could see was the Bund.

  ‘This is the financial centre of the Settlement,’ he said. ‘This is where all the money is made.’

  Jonas had described it to me, but seeing it with my own eyes was another matter. He pointed out various buildings, but to be honest I was a bit disappointed. Though it was huge and teeming with life, the buildings were just like those in any other western city. I had expected to see temples and fragrant gardens.

  I was hoping for a rickshaw ride, but Jonas got a taxi to take us to the house. He must have seen my face, because he smiled.

  ‘Never mind, Lizzie, you’ll see the Chinese way of life as well. Tomorrow I’ll take you on a rickshaw ride around the city.’

  As the taxi wound its way into the city, I was pleased to see hundreds of Chinese people going about their daily lives. The taxi driver had to dodge the rickshaws and the carts piled high with goods. I also saw some little men carrying two heavy loads on bamboo poles that they had placed across their shoulders. I felt so sorry for them, as they looked ready to collapse as they made their way forward with bowed backs. Apart from that I was fascinated by the scenes that flashed by the car window, and before long we arrived at the house on Bubbling Well Road.

  Jonas carried our luggage up the small drive to the door. It was a single-storey house with a wooden veranda that ran the length of the front, and I was immediately struck by how similar it looked to the house in Carnoustie.

  The garden was a fragrant mixture of flowers and bushes, and I noticed that the windows and their shutters were clean and shining. I wondered briefly if Jonas was the cleaner, but he had been in Hong Kong for a few weeks before our marriage and everything looked spick and span.

  The front door opened and we were met by a tiny Chinese woman dressed in what looked like cotton pyjamas. Her hair was jet black and tied back in a loose bun. It was difficult to guess her age, as she could have been anything between thirty and sixty.

  Jonas called out, ‘Hello, Madame Zheng, I want you to meet my wife, Lizzie.’

  The woman came down the steps with her arms outstretched and a big smile on her face.

  ‘Lizzie, I’m Ping Li, and I welcome you to Shanghai,’ she said, bowing her head.

  I wasn’t a tall woman, but faced with this tiny person I felt awkward as I towered over her.

  ‘I’m so pleased to meet you, Ping Li. My husband has spoken of you and your husband so much that I feel I already know you.’

  Her face broke out in another smile that caused tiny wrinkles to form around her eyes.

  ‘Please come in. My husband is at work, but you will meet him tonight. I have prepared tea and rice cakes for you.’

  I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped over the threshold, as everything was clean and tidy. Either Jonas was a domestic god or this tiny woman had spruced the place up for our arrival. There were vases of fragrant flowers on a few of the well-polished surfaces, and she disappeared into the small kitchen before reappearing with a tray of tea.

  Jonas said it was great to see her again.

  ‘Thank you for cleaning up all my untidy mess, Ping Li.’

  ‘So he isn’t a domestic god after all,’ I thought. We drank the tea from small china bowls, and the small rice cakes were delicious. I wondered if the Zhengs shared the house with us, but Jonas said, ‘Zheng Yan and Ping Li live in the house next door and they’re wonderful neighbours.’

  Ping Li smiled. ‘Thank you, Jonas, and I hope to be a wonderful neighbour to Lizzie. Now I must go back and prepare the evening meal for my husband.’

  ‘Where does he work?’ I asked.

  She looked very proud as she answered. ‘Zheng Yan is the head shipping clerk at the British Shipping Company. You would have passed by his office when you arrived at the dock.’

  Jonas said he hadn’t seen him, but that the office looked very busy.

  ‘Yes, he told me a lot of ships were due in today, so he will have been busy with all the extra work.’ She looked at me. ‘A great deal of China’s trade comes into the docks of the Huangpu River, so my husband has a very responsible job.’ She stood up. ‘I hope we will become good friends, Lizzie.’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure we will, Ping Li, and I look forward to meeting your husband.’

  After she had gone, Jonas showed me round the rest of the house. There were two bedrooms, a small kitchen and bathroom, and it was simply furnished, but I was enchanted with it.

  Jonas looked worried. ‘I hope you like it, Lizzie. You can throw out the furniture and buy new things if you want.’

  I said I was happy with everything and I wouldn’t dream of throwing anything out. All I wanted in my life was Jonas, and the house was secondary to him.

  Before I could ask him what he would like for his evening meal, he said, ‘I hope you don’t mind, but Sue Lin and Alex want us to join them at the Palace Hotel tonight.’

  I said I didn’t mind.

  Before getting ready for our meeting with Alex and Sue Lin, Zheng Yan arrived home from work and came into the house with his wife. He was a small man, around five foot three inches, only a couple of inches taller than his wife, and he was dressed in a dark-coloured suit with a white shirt and blue tie. He looked very smart, and his wife gazed at him with a proud look on her face.

  Jonas went and put his arm around his shoulders. ‘Zheng Yan, come and meet my wife, Lizzie.’

  He was very formal as he shook my hand and bowed. ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Lizzie.’

  Ping Li hovered in the background, but I asked them to sit down and have some tea.

  Jonas asked Zheng Yan, ‘Have you had a busy day?’

  ‘Very, very busy, Jonas. Lots of ships coming in with their cargoes, and of course I have all the paperwork to fill in. Then there are the passenger ships, but they are someone else’s job.’

  Jonas said he had noticed that. ‘I looked out for you when we arrived, but you must have been busy.’

  ‘Yes, yes, I was very busy.’

  I put the tea tray on the table and we all sipped the bowls of fragrant tea.

  I asked them, ‘Have you always lived here in Shanghai?’

  ‘No,’ said Zheng Yan. ‘I come from Hong Kong, where I worked with the British Shipping Company, but I came to supervise the offices here.’ He looked at his wife. ‘Then I met my wife, who comes from Shanghai, and we got married ten years ago.’

  Ping Li nodded. ‘It was a fortunate move for my husband to come here and meet me. Now we are both very happy.’

  I was amused by her statement, but I kept a straight face. I liked the way she spoke for both of them and the way he beamed at her when she said something.

  ‘I make dresses for the Star department store. It is a high-class shop and my dresses sell very well.’

  ‘That’s wonderful, Ping Li. I must go and see this shop, as my mother also worke
d in a department store in Dundee. She was in the millinery department – we always called it the hat shop!’

  Ping Li clapped her tiny hands together. ‘Then we have so much in common, Lizzie, and we will be great friends.’

  ‘Oh, I do hope so,’ I said with feeling. I suddenly felt a rapport with my neighbours and I was glad that I had them living in the next house.

  After they departed, it was time to get ready to go to the hotel. ‘Is it a very grand hotel?’ I asked Jonas.

  He shook his head. ‘I really don’t know much about it, as I don’t normally go out to hotels, but it certainly has an impressive frontage, so maybe we had better dress for the occasion.’

  I went to look out my silver-grey satin dress that I had last worn on board the ship to Hong Kong, as I wasn’t sure if I should wear my white wedding frock or not. Jonas came through wearing a light-coloured suit that made him look so handsome, but he was muttering about it being a bit tight.

  ‘I don’t normally wear suits like this, as I like being casually dressed.’

  I told him he looked great in it, and he looked in the mirror and said, ‘Do I really?’ He still sounded unsure.

  By now I had decided on the silver-grey dress, and I pinned my hair up and caught it in a lovely clasp I had bought in Hong Kong. It was shaped like a dragon, and I had loved it when I spotted it in a small shop in the bazaar, but this was the first time I had worn it.

  Jonas stood behind me and caught my eye in the mirror. ‘I’m so glad I met you that night in Mr Wang’s shop, Lizzie. I fell in love with you that night, but I didn’t want to tell you in case it frightened you away. Then when you wrote to tell me you were leaving to go back home, I realised I couldn’t let you go.’

  I turned and held his hand. ‘I fell in love with you that night as well, Jonas, but I was also frightened you maybe had a wife and children and I would embarrass you with my protestations of love.’

  ‘Well, it’s all turned out for the best,’ he said. ‘We’ll have years and years of happiness to look forward to.’

  I felt a sliver of ice in my stomach. I didn’t like predictions like this, especially after my mother’s experience, but I smiled at him. ‘Of course we will,’ I said with my fingers crossed.