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The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai

Page 18

by Bangqing Han


  Presently, Pine Wu pushed open the door and came in with two empty foreign bottles that he tossed on the ground, telling Simplicity, “Wait a little longer, I’m about finished.” Then he shut the door again and hurried off.

  It was fully an hour before he came back, already changed. He was wearing a fashionable padded jacket; even his shoes and small hat were brand new. Murmuring “Sorry to have kept you waiting,” he invited Simplicity to walk ahead of him; then he locked the door, and together they went downstairs. They passed through the bookkeeping office, out a side door, and followed the road to the Bund.

  “I arranged to meet Rustic in Nobility Alley. Let’s go by ricksha,” Pine Wu said and called two rickshas.

  The ricksha men, eager to please, ran hard all the way. In no time at all, they had arrived at the entrance to Nobility Alley. Pine Wu paid the ricksha men the two stacks of coins he had counted out and led Simplicity into White Orchid’s house. The maid, Sister Gold, welcomed them on the stairs, inviting them to sit in the little mezzanine room. She told Pine Wu, “Zhou and Zhang were here a while ago. They said they’d go and take a turn at the Splendid Assembly Teahouse.”

  Pine Wu told her to bring ink and a writing brush, and asked Simplicity to write the invitations: Mr. Crane Li at Grace Yang’s. Simplicity copied this out in a neat hand according to the set form. He was just coming to the second slip when they heard the menservants shout downstairs, “Young Mr. Wu’s friends are here.”

  Pine Wu got up abruptly and said, “No need to write anymore. They’re here.”

  As Simplicity Zhao threw down the brush, he saw a tall bearded man with a square face and big ears walk into the room; he was followed by none other than Rustic Zhang. Simplicity saluted the stranger and asked for his name. He learned that the man was Clement Zhou, a manager in an ironworks.

  “Honored,” Simplicity murmured.

  Everybody took a seat. Pine Wu handed the invitation to Sister Gold and told her, “Send it quick.”

  From her room, White Orchid heard the sounds of merriment and, thinking that all the guests had arrived, came over to entertain. The minute she saw Simplicity, she asked, “Was he the one who gave the party at the second-class house last night?”

  “He’s given two parties already. You were at the first one, remember?” Pine Wu replied.

  White Orchid nodded. She sat with them for a while and then returned to the main room to entertain her clients.

  In the mezzanine room, they chatted and waited until after the lamps were lit. Crane Li’s man, Second Kuang, came to say, “Our Eldest Young Master is having a Western meal with Fourth Master. He asked if there’s anyone who can stand in for him for a while?”

  “Do you play mah-jongg?” Pine Wu asked Simplicity Zhao.

  “No.”

  “We can wait a while,” said Clement Zhou.

  “Would you like to have dinner first?” Sister Gold asked.

  “Since they’re having a Western meal, we might as well go ahead with dinner,” said Rustic Zhang. So Pine Wu called for dinner.

  Soon Sister Gold came in and asked everyone to go and have wine in the middle room, where a table had been handsomely laid out. The four of them deferred to each other in seating order and left the seat of honor for Crane Li. White Orchid, who had just changed into party clothes, came out of her room to pour wine for everyone at the table, but Pine Wu stopped her hastily.

  “You be on your way. Don’t get your clothes dirty.”

  And so she left it at that, saying offhandedly, “Have a good time. I’m sorry I have a dinner call.” With this, she went out.

  Pine Wu raised his cup and urged his guests to drink.

  “If we drink, we can’t play mah-jongg later. Let’s just eat,” said Clement Zhou.

  Pine Wu urged Simplicity Zhao to drink. “You’re not playing mah-jongg, so you should drink more.”

  “I’ll have a cup or two,” replied Simplicity. “Let’s not be too formal.”

  “I’ll have one to keep you company,” said Rustic Zhang.

  The two of them drank up and showed each other the bottom of their cups. But just when Simplicity Zhao had got into the mood for wine, Crane Li arrived. Everybody rose and invited him to take the seat of honor.

  “I’ve had dinner. Have the four of you started playing yet?” Crane Li asked.

  Pine Wu pointed at Simplicity Zhao and said, “He doesn’t play, so we’re waiting for you.”

  Clement Zhou asked repeatedly for rice to be served, and they hastily finished their meal, wiped their faces with hot towels, and returned to the mezzanine room. The square rosewood table by the window had already been moved to the center; four animal-fat candles were burning bright. The table was neatly set up with ebony mah-jongg tiles inlaid with ivory, and four lots of chips. Pine Wu asked Crane Li, Clement Zhou, and Rustic Zhang to draw lots for the seating order. Sister Gold put their teacups and the high-stemmed candy dishes on small tables to their right and left. Crane Li called for the party chits to summon girls with, and Clement Zhou wrote for him: Grace Yang of Generosity Alley.

  “Anybody else?” Clement asked.

  “Not me, thanks,” said Rustic Zhang.

  “Now Simplicity will call one,” said Pine Wu.

  “Since I’m not playing, why call any girls?” said Simplicity.

  “Would you like to go in with me?” asked Rustic.

  “That’s a good idea,” said Crane Li.

  Rustic Zhang said, “Then write this down: Jewel, Hall of Beauties, West Chessboard Street.”

  Clement Zhou wrote it all down and handed the chits to Sister Gold.

  “Let him take a smaller share. Otherwise, it’d be embarrassing if you lost too much.” said Pine Wu to Rustic.

  “Make it twenty percent,” said Rustic Zhang.

  “How much would that be?” Simplicity Zhao asked.

  “Very little. You lose ten dollars at the most,” said Clement Zhou.

  Simplicity had to let it go at that, but he sat behind Rustic Zhang and watched him play one round as banker. He couldn’t make head or tail of the game and so went off by himself to lie on the divan and smoke.

  After a while, Grace Yang arrived, followed shortly by Jewel. “Where do I sit?” she asked Simplicity.

  Pine Wu replied, “Go and sit on the divan for a while. He wants to play ‘darling pairs’ with you.”

  Jewel Lu sat down on a stool by the divan while Mama Yeung took the water pipe out of her bag and filled it. Simplicity Zhao sat up cross-legged, took the pipe, and smoked.

  “Aren’t you playing mah-jongg?” Jewel asked.

  “I have no money, so I’m not playing,” Simplicity answered.

  She glanced sideways at him and sneered. “You’re wasting your breath. Who’s listening to you?”

  He grinned. “All right, don’t listen.”

  She pulled a long face. “Are you going to get me the ring or not?”

  “Don’t you see I haven’t got the time?”

  “You’re not playing; what have you been doing all this time?”

  “I have things to do, too. How would you know about them?”

  Again she pouted and muttered, “I won’t have it! Are you going to get it or not?”

  He grinned in silence.

  She poked a finger at his face and said, “If you don’t bring it round later, I’ll jab at your mouth with a silver hairpin; see if you can stand it.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t come. You sound too scary.” He smiled.

  Hearing this, she asked in a panic, “Who said you’re not to come? Let’s have this out.” While pressing for an answer, she clenched her teeth and pinched his thigh with all her might. He could not help calling out, “Aiya!” On hearing this, the mah-jongg players all laughed. She let go quickly.

  Clement Zhou called Sister Gold over. “So you people keep a crowing cock under the table! I’d like to borrow it tomorrow.” At this, everybody, including Grace Yang, laughed again.

  Frustrat
ed, all Jewel could do was curse in a whisper, “You’ll die young!”

  Simplicity Zhao turned his head slightly to take a peek at her. Her eyes were shiny with tears as she sat sedately, her face devoid of expression, not speaking anymore. He wanted to comfort her, but there was nothing to say. Suddenly, he saw somebody beckon to Mama Yeung through the gap in the door curtain. She went to find out what it was and then filled the water pipe for Simplicity again. He waved his hand to decline it.

  “We’re called to another party. Please excuse us for leaving early,” said Mama Yeung.

  But then Jewel whispered with her for quite a while. She then turned to Simplicity and said, “Young Mr. Zhao, you think it’s Jewel who wants the rings from you. Don’t you realize she’ll be scolded by her mother over this?”

  Jewel took over. “Think about it, yesterday you promised my mother, ‘All right, go and order it.’ Can I tell my mother that you’re refusing to do it now? If you don’t want to order it, it’s fine by me, but you’ve got to come round later and tell my mother face-to-face. D’you hear?”

  Afraid that the others would laugh at him, he said, “You’d better go; we’ll leave this till later.”

  She couldn’t very well say anything more and went away leaning on Mama Yeung’s shoulder.

  Crane Li said, “These second-class courtesans really have tactics of their own. They’re so used to it, they aren’t aware of the way they act.”

  Grace Yang snapped at him, “What’s it got to do with you? Who’re you to find fault with them?”

  Crane Li smiled and dropped the subject.

  Ashamed and annoyed, Simplicity Zhao went over to look at Rustic’s game. As it happened, they had won a little, which pleased him. Just then, the players had finished four rounds, and they swapped seats for the next four. Crane Li wanted a smoke, so he told Grace Yang to stand in for him. However, after just playing for one round, she called out, “I’m no good, either. You come and play yourself.”

  “You carry on,” he replied.

  “I had a good hand, but no win,” she said.

  Simplicity Zhao peeked at their side of the table and saw that Crane Li’s chips were almost gone. By the time Grace Yang finished another round, not one chip was left, and she insisted on playing no more, so Crane Li had to take over. He borrowed half a set of chips from the winner, Clement Zhou. Now Grace Yang took her leave.

  Soon the game came to an end. Crane Li was the sole loser and was down by over a hundred dollars. Rustic Zhang had some winnings, so Simplicity had six dollars coming to him. Clement Zhou made an appointment for another game the next day with the same people and asked Simplicity Zhao, “Feel like coming along?”

  Rustic Zhang stopped him. “He doesn’t play, let’s leave him out.” Clement Zhou said no more.

  Pine Wu asked Crane Li to smoke.

  “No, thanks. I have to be going.”

  Sister Gold hastened to say, “At least wait until the maestro comes back.”

  “Your maestro is really busy, isn’t she?” said Crane Li.

  “She has five or six party calls today,” said Sister Gold. “I’m afraid we haven’t served you well today, Young Mr. Li.”

  “No need to apologize,” Pine Wu replied pleasantly.

  So the party broke up. The men left Nobility Alley together, bade one another good-bye, and went their separate ways. Simplicity and Rustic Zhang returned to the Welcome Inn for the night.

  ::

  1. [The Chinese expression literally means “waiting by the city gate.” In old Chinese walled cities, all the gates were closed at night, but if an important personage needed access, a gate would be opened for him. Commoners who wanted to enter the city after curfew gathered at the gate and rushed in after the VIP. This expression was then transferred to brothel parlance to describe arrangements made to take advantage of the deflowering of a virgin courtesan. The brothel would line up several clients, making each of them believe he was being given the virgin’s first night, for which they each paid a hefty sum. E.H.]

  2. [Obviously, Simplicity spent the night with Jewel. Since she was a virgin courtesan, he must have paid for her deflowering, a fact that he is trying to keep from his uncle. His departure early in the morning suggests that Jewel had probably succeeded in frustrating his advances the night before. E.H.]

  CHAPTER 14 :: A lone whoremonger meets rough company, and a gang of conspirators runs a crooked game

  As Rustic Zhang and Simplicity Zhao approached the door of the Welcome Inn, the latter said, “I’ll just look in over there. Be right back.”

  Rustic assented with a smile and returned to the inn alone. The inn attendant lit the lamp and brought him hot water for his tea. Rustic set out the opium tray himself to smoke his fill. But before he had taken two puffs, Simplicity Zhao was back. Surprised, Rustic asked what had happened.

  Simplicity sighed. “Don’t even speak of it.” He then told Rustic in detail about Jewel’s demand for the ring. “Just now I took a look at them on Chessboard Street, and I could see there was a party going on in her room. Clients were playing the finger game, and girls were singing. I suppose it’s that man Shi.”

  “It seems to me there’s more to it than that,” Rustic said with a smile. “Think about it: You were together one day, and she’s got another client lined up already? Has he been waiting in the wings? It’s too much of a coincidence. You’ve been swindled, and so has the man Shi. Don’t you see it?”

  The truth suddenly dawned on Simplicity. The more he thought the whole thing over, the more likely it seemed. He was filled with regrets.

  “Don’t let’s talk about it now. Just don’t go there anymore,” said Rustic. “There’s something I have to tell you, too. I’ve got a job, right here at the Vitality Rice Shop, south of Sixteen Capes.1 I’m moving there tomorrow. With me gone, it makes no sense for you to stay in an inn by yourself. It’s best if you go home first and ask your friends to look for a job here for you. Otherwise, you may want to stay at your uncle’s shop. You’ll at least save on rent and meals that way, right?”

  Simplicity reflected for a long while and sighed again. “You’ve got a job now, while I have spent all that money and haven’t got a thing done.”

  “It’s difficult to find a job in Shanghai, you know? Even if you stay here for six months or a year, there’s no telling whether you’ll succeed. You’ve got to have ideas of your own. Otherwise, when you’ve used up your money, you won’t be able to get by, and you’ll be lectured by your uncle. That wouldn’t be much fun, would it?”

  Simplicity realized there was much truth in that. He asked, “When you play mah-jongg, how much do you win or lose each time?”

  “If the hands are no good, you could lose two or three hundred; that’s common enough.”

  “Do you pay up if you lose?”

  “Of course, you have to.”

  “How do you find all that money?”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know. In a place like Shanghai, once you’ve made a name for yourself, everything’s all right. These people whom you see socially seem to have money to throw away, but actually they’re not much different from you and me; they’re just better known. Without a name, there’s no way of doing business, not even if you have a lot of money at home. Look at Pine Wu; he’s quite penniless. But as he’s not entirely unknown, it’s nothing for him to see two or three thousand dollars come and go. As for me, I can’t compare with him, but if I go to the bank, four or five hundred is also mine to take. You just don’t know about things like that.”

  “What’s taken from the bank has to be repaid, no?”

  “That you have to figure out for yourself. You can borrow some from your business, or you may run into some opportunity and make a profit. A bit here, a bit there, and it’s paid up.”

  It sounded reasonable to Simplicity. He went on thinking about it but made no more comments. Shortly afterward, they both went to bed.

  The next morning, Simplicity woke up and saw that
Rustic had finished packing and had told the inn attendant to hire a pushcart. Simplicity hastened to get up and see him out to the front door, saying repeatedly, “If there’s any job, do put in a good word for me.” Rustic readily agreed to do so.

  Simplicity did not return to the inn until Rustic and the pushcart had gone a long way away. After lunch, he was about to go out to kill time and dispel his melancholy when a manservant from the Hall of Beauties arrived with Jewel’s card. Still resentful, Simplicity just handed him her fee for last night’s party, but the man dared not take it. Simplicity tossed the money down and walked out. The man picked up the money and caught up with him, pleading and cajoling, but Simplicity turned a deaf ear and went off by himself. He went to Fourth Avenue and had tea on the top floor of the House of Floral Rain. After four or five refills, he felt there was not much point in staying on. Since Jewel is so heartless, he thought, it’d be better if he just amused himself with Second Wang. Thereupon he left the House of Floral Rain and headed south past the Beaten Dog Bridge to New Street in the French Concession. Here, he located Second Wang’s door and went straight upstairs.

  There was no one in the room. Simplicity hesitated. He was about to withdraw, but as he turned around he saw Second Wang had followed him upstairs on tiptoe and was at the head of the staircase. Delighted, he made a show of bending down to look at her, saying, “Trying to scare me, eh?”

  Second Wang clapped her hands and laughed. “I was next door at Old Mrs. Guo’s when I saw you walk past with your head down. I knew you were coming to us, so I followed and saw you come in and peer all around. It was so funny, I almost burst out laughing.”

  “I had no idea you were right behind me. You gave me quite a turn.”

  “Why didn’t you see me? What’re your eyes for?”

  As they were talking, the old maidservant served the two usuals, tobacco and tea. Seeing Simplicity, she said with a smile, “Congratulations, Mr. Zhao!”

  He asked in astonishment, “What’s there to congratulate me for?”

 

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