by Amy Kwei
Righteous Virtue remained behind to sell property and settle accounts. He shipped more heirlooms to Shanghai every day and told his wife that there might be looting during the war. Proper furnishings were necessary to maintain “face” in their Shanghai house during their short sojourn in the city.
When Shanghai Harbor had been under siege for one month, Righteous Virtue gave detailed directions to the servants to manage the house. He departed, his car stuffed with family valuables. At the last moment, he included one small basket of silkworms, now already fat and snowy white. The gardener supplied a box of mulberry leaves wrapped in a cool wet cloth.
The car crawled through village streets, hugging the ancient north-south canal that had carried silk to Beijing for centuries. The chauffeur finally reached the highway between Nanking and Shanghai. As they approached the city, they heard muffled gunshots. The Chinese were piteously deficient in firepower, and the Japanese navy lobbed bombs into the Chinese sections.
“The East Ocean Devils do not dare bomb the foreign concessions,” snorted Ah Lee. Righteous Virtue did not reply. He was used to the chauffeur’s jaunty ways. In his youth, the novelties of the city had always drawn him into a whirlwind of activities — intoxicating but also exhausting. Now tension strained his taut muscles. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Better to let the chauffeur think him asleep, he thought, than see his anxiety.
Shops and windows were all shuttered in preparation for the violence to come. Sandbags fortified stately buildings. Few people were about.
Suddenly an ocher flash lit the eastern sky. Their nostrils filled with smoke. Righteous Virtue opened his eyes. The gray concrete buildings were silhouetted against a dusty pink sky. He listened for the bomb, but could not distinguish the rumble from the pounding of his heart. There was a gnawing flutter in his stomach; he lit a cigarette with shaking hands.
“That’s a big one!” Ah Lee exclaimed. “But I’ve seen bigger!” He had made several trips to the city within the last weeks.
Righteous Virtue did not know how to respond to such bravado, but he was thankful for the confidence with which the chauffeur threaded the car through the streets leading to the French concession.
The streets came alive as they neared the foreign territory. There had been a migration of people and beggars toward the safety zone. Defeated, shuffling figures filled the streets among temporary lean-tos. The odor of human sweat, cooking grease, and street dust penetrated the car.
Ah Lee blasted his horn and slowed the vehicle to accommodate the dense crowds. Importuning hands quickly surrounded the car. To give alms now would be to incite a riot.
Soldiers came, brandishing their rifles. The crowd thinned, but some hardy bodies clung to the car. A soldier yanked at the collar of a frayed cotton jacket, and a whole strip of cloth came off like peeling paint on a dilapidated wall. The man fled, hugging what remained of his clothes to his chest. Several men began laughing. The tension broke; the ragged men dropped off the car.
Righteous Virtue gave the soldiers a guilty, furtive glance as he passed out two packs of cigarettes. The soldiers quickly cleared the way for them.
The chauffeur stretched himself with impatient languor, his bravado restored. “They’re lucky the soldiers let them stay. They’d be sitting ducks if they were forced to return to the Chinese section.”
Righteous Virtue averted his eyes from the dispossessed masses. He hid behind clouds of cigarette smoke, and cursed the education that had left his emotions vulnerable to the plight of these benighted human beings. The chauffeur, with his callused sensibility, was better equipped for survival.
As Virtue stared ahead through a haze of smoke, he saw a woman picking lice off her daughter’s hair. They sat at the mouth of their lean-to, basking in the sun and watching the bombs hit the Chinese sections. There was such lyric tenderness on the woman’s face that Righteous Virtue started with sharp recognition. This could have been Purple Jade doing Silver Bell’s hair!
WHEN GLORIOUS DRAGON returned to Shanghai, he exaggerated his public attention toward Iris to divert suspicion. He would not visit Bright Crystal without Iris. Bright Crystal understood his prudence, and Iris was briefed on how to play her role. She began her induction into high society.
These new precautions were necessary, because when Crystal was feeding Glorious Dragon his supper in the hospital one evening, a stranger opened the door, stared at the loving scene and said, “Sorry, wrong room!”
Several unexpected incursions followed, and Dragon became aware of strange men hovering near him when he exercised outside his room. He realized with a shudder that Bright Crystal’s passionate care had been a serious blunder. General Chin must know by now that he was her lover and not a “tang cousin.” He and Crystal were brazen to act like hosts in the house the general had provided! With Shanghai under fire, it would be easy for General Chin to kill them both. But why didn’t he? Perhaps the general still required Crystal’s services. She could turn the foreign business contacts against him. Perhaps the general was just biding his time, letting them live in fear and humiliation.
Glorious Dragon had left Shanghai to urge his sister to leave Hangzhou as soon as he was discharged from the hospital. Iris’s presence was a fortuitous gift.
One day, Glorious Dragon received an urgent call from Bright Crystal. She was weeping hysterically. Two ruffians had raped her personal serving girl, Little Lotus, behind their house. They also sent a message to her mistress: “Never see your lover again, or suffer the same fate!”
The young lovers met immediately. They were paralyzed with fear and indecision. “You mustn’t come here any more,” Bright Crystal cried, tears streaming down her face.
“The Japanese may take Shanghai very soon,” Glorious Dragon whispered. “They will neutralize General Chin’s power.”
“It won’t be easy living under the Japanese! General Chin still has underworld connections.” Bright Crystal wiped her face, smearing her make-up. “Shouldn’t we both run away now?”
“Where should we go?” Glorious Dragon began to pace. “I can’t join the Communists in the northwest, so the most logical place is overseas!”
“Who will take care of my father if I leave?”
“And who will manage the Chou family businesses?”
“General Chin often brags about his long arm of influence.” Bright Crystal sobbed. “He can always have us assassinated overseas. I know he believes in revenge.” She trembled uncontrollably.
They stared at each other, mute with anxiety. All their defiant frivolity evaporated.
Glorious Dragon folded his Crystal into his arms. Finally in a tight, angry voice he said: “We’ll stay and wait, but we must not meet again.” The stakes were too high for everything he held dear.
Bright Crystal nodded in silence and packed a bag for her Dragon. Weeping and shivering, she intuitively understood his anger — the helplessness of a fearless Dragon.
Glorious Dragon avoided Avenue Joffre from that day on, posting bodyguards around himself wherever he went.
When Righteous Virtue finally arrived at the house on Petain Road, the insular peace and warm greetings cheered him.
“My lord, you’ve finally come. Purple Jade and Comely Brook bowed their welcome in tandem. Purple Jade and the girls looked fresh and taller in their modern sheaths. Comely Brook, however, had reverted to wearing her pajama-style work clothes. With her expanding girth, she was happy to forgo her fancy sheaths in favor of the simple cotton outfits she made herself. Righteous Virtue smiled broadly, muttering his praise: “You all look wonderful, wonderful.”
“Father, look at the piano uncle Dragon bought us!” said Golden Bell.
“Oh Father, you brought my pets! Look, they didn’t grow much during the last months! Peony must have neglected them!” Silver Bell rushed the silkworm basket to the library and cleared out the rice paper littered with the worms’ droppings. She lined the basket with fresh paper and replaced the worms. She then picked up a few
and held them against the window light. The worms were now snowy white, but not translucent and pink, which meant they were not ready to make cocoons.
“I don’t think Peony fed them regularly. Look how they weave their heads back and forth looking for leaves!” Silver Bell quickly spread out the fresh supply her father brought. A soft crunching sound sifted through the human voices.
“My lord, what was the state of our home when you left?” Purple Jade asked. In the cramped disorder of her quarters, she yearned for the serenity of her Hangzhou home.
“Everything is under lock and seal at home, but already we hear the distant rumble of guns,” answered Righteous Virtue. “There is sad news from the Northern Village. Hoping for leniency, the villagers formed a welcoming party for the East Ocean Devils. They waved the Japanese white flag and treated the soldiers to wine and meat. But the soldiers demanded women, and the people didn’t have enough time to hide.” He looked at his family, uncertain if he should continue.
“Tell us all,” his wife said. “It is worse to leave things to the imagination. We hear the guns and wait in apprehension.”
“You can hardly imagine such horror — rape and rampage all over. Our national army lacks the firepower to protect us, but the peasants are resisting valiantly. Hai, there is such suffering and loss.” He sighed, looking at the worried faces of the women dear to him. “We’re safe in the French concession. Technically, this is French territory, so the East Ocean Devils would not dare to commit atrocities here. We did right in coming here.”
“Our home is in the hands of fate now,” Comely Brook said as she served tea. “I’ve moved all your personal belongings to your room upstairs, my lord.” Household chores occupied her mind.
“I’ve learned to handle the stairs slowly, with no unnecessary trips,” said Purple Jade. “Brook-mei and I share a room now and the girls and Iris share the third bedroom.”
Purple Jade dutifully gave a positive picture of their lives in this small house. As the virtuous wife, she would neither burden her husband with her feeling of stifling confinement, nor whine about the thin walls and her negligent daughters who sometimes talked too loudly in their room. Many days and nights she had sat up longing for the scent of bamboo, cherry blossoms and cedar. On moonlit nights, she remembered the hourly change of shadows playing outside her windows. She yearned for an accounting. Did they buy the spring wheat to brew the special liquor? Did the cook smoke the hams? Did they catch enough fish to salt?
With an impatient flourish of her hand, she smoothed the side of her hair. “As you must have heard, Iris is working as a receptionist in our factory, and the girls are doing well in the Chinese-Western school.”
“The McTyeire School is very hard, so I’ve been tutoring Silver Bell in English,” Golden Bell added.
“Is she a good student?” her father asked.
“Oh Father, I can sing all the songs from the movies!” Silver Bell ran to the piano. “Uncle Dragon is so much fun! I can’t read the music he bought me, but I can always pick out the tune. I’ve been practicing every day! Let me sing for you:
‘Come, come, I love you only, my heart is true . . .’”
Her father laughed. “Golden Bell, does she know what she’s singing?”
“I’m not sure,” answered Golden Bell mystified. “She is always more interested in the music.”
“Hush, Silver Bell, your father needs to rest. What are you singing anyway?” asked Purple Jade.
“Oh, it’s about a calm, calm peaceful evening.” Golden Bell improvised, giving her father a conspiratorial look.
“My lord, the girls have gone to so many movies! I think it is shameless and sour meat to watch the foreign devils hug each other and dance with hardly any clothes on. But Dragon loves to indulge the girls, and there is so little for them to do in this small house.”
“It is amazing how Silver Bell can pick out the melody with her right hand and improvise with the left. Has she had lessons?”
“No,” answered his wife. “Should I inquire about getting a teacher for her?”
“No, it doesn’t seem necessary. Jade, you’ve managed well. The girls are thriving here, in spite of the chaos outside.” Righteous Virtue smiled and sipped his tea. He was feeling at home already.
His wife nodded. “I do hope the silkworms will remind them of home and who we are.”
“Oh thank you, Father, for bringing the worms. I do miss climbing the mulberry tree. But Father, I simply adore Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddy!” gushed Silver Bell.
“My favorite is Loretta Young!” Golden Bell said. She brought her father a scrapbook of movie-star photos and playbills.
“Lo-eh-lee-tai-Yah!” Purple Jade said, trying to pronounce Loretta Young’s name.
Righteous Virtue smiled and the girls laughed.
Golden Bell called out: “That is ‘Sixth Moon’s Sun’! Mother, your Chinese translation from English sound is so funny!”
“Really, I don’t see what’s the use of bothering. They all look the same: such big eyes, noses, and mouths. It is most uncouth to have so many pictures taken showing all those teeth!” Purple Jade grinned in mock horror.
Everyone broke up laughing again. “Oh Mother, you’ll have to go to the movies more often!”
“Now that you’re here, my lord, we should hire a cook. So far Winter Plum has been a ‘one foot kick’: cooking, cleaning, and washing. Perhaps we should bring Peony here to help. It is safer for her here as well. Brook-mei is working too hard —”
A loud banging at the door interrupted her. Glorious Dragon rushed in with a large package under his arm.
“I’m in danger!” He huffed. “Girls, go into the library. Sing as loudly as you can and lock the door. Jade, Virtue, don’t let anyone get in there! I have no time to explain.” He ran past them into the servants’ quarters.
Winter Plum ran in shouting: “There are soldiers in the front and back streets everywhere. Some are at the front door now!”
“Oh my lord, the East Ocean Devils have come! Girls, go! Do as your uncle said.” Purple Jade herded her daughters into the library. The girls locked the door. Silver Bell banged on the piano and sang as loudly as she could:
“Come, come, I love you only . . .”
Righteous Virtue went to the window to look. He mumbled: “No, they can’t be the East Ocean soldiers. They’re wearing the uniforms from our warehouse.” He opened the door.
“I am Huang Righteous Virtue of the Hangzhou legislative council. Why are you here?”
“We have General Chin’s warrant to arrest Chou Glorious Dragon. He has committed acts of high treason! We’ve seen him enter the house!”
Righteous Virtue could not utter one word of protest as the soldiers brushed past him and strutted into the house. Purple Jade and Comely Brook stood guard in front of the library door, stretching out their arms to block the soldiers. Inside, Silver Bell finished one song: “Oh come, he— ro mine.” Then she proceeded to a new tune: “Give me some men, who are stout-hearted men . . .”
The soldiers faced the two women immediately. “Open the door; we have orders to search the house!”
“Oh spare them, they’re my only daughters!” Purple Jade began to wail. “Take me, take me, I am an old woman.”
“Take me!” Comely Brook threw herself at the captain. “I’m a pregnant woman. Your ancestors will curse you, you beasts!”
Taken aback by the hysterical women, the soldiers turned to Righteous Virtue. “Please calm the women! We’re not the East Ocean Devils. We won’t harm your daughters.”
The women cried and wailed, releasing weeks of tension and fear. Righteous Virtue attempted to calm them. When they were finally led away, the soldiers found the library door locked from the inside. The girls continued to sing. They ignored the knocking and commands to open the door.
The soldiers bunched together and rushed the door with their shoulders. Purple Jade and Comely Brook screamed as the frightened girls banged the piano i
n a frenzy, though no more sounds came from their mouths.
The door caved in with a loud crash as the soldiers fell into the library. They found the two trembling girls huddled by the piano, a basket of silkworms on the table, books and movie star pictures by the chairs, and no place anyone could hide.
“Where is Chou Glorious Dragon?” the captain demanded.
Everyone looked on with terror-filled eyes, but no one answered. The captain spat in disgust and ran out of the room. A quick search was made of the rest of the house. In the end, the captain said: “The spy was mistaken. We must have entered the wrong house. Our deepest apology.” The soldiers bowed as they left the house.
While the house was in turmoil, a soldier had slipped out the back door. He had helped the guards on the back street disperse the curious throng that had gathered. When Glorious Dragon reached the end of the street, he melted into the crowd, hailed a pedicab, and took off his uniform. Soon, he arrived at the river and disappeared.
“IT SEEMS I’VE arrived just in time. I’ll have to manage the factory somehow without Dragon,” Righteous Virtue said, wiping his damp brow. “It must be General Chin’s order to arrest him.”
The women were shamefaced at the spectacle they had caused. Still shaken by the ordeal, Purple Jade mumbled: “These stories of rape and disaster must have unnerved me. I didn’t even notice that the soldiers spoke Mandarin with a southern accent.”
“My poor country.” Righteous Virtue avoided looking at the embarrassed women. “The East Ocean Devils are devastating our land, while our best soldiers are settling quarrels between jealous lovers!”
“Does anyone know where Uncle Dragon is?” Golden Bell asked.
“It is best not to know,” her father answered. “In fact, I’d better put up a reward by the East Asian Uniform for any information leading to our manager’s arrest!”
“Dragon is so clever.” Purple Jade grimaced. “He told us to do just the right thing.”
