by Bangqing Han
“Surely, it was your own fault,” said Benevolence. “What were you doing in New Street? If you hadn’t gone there, would they have come to your inn to beat you up?”
This silenced Simplicity.
“Now there’s nothing else to say; wait till you’re a little better and then go home quick. And don’t you come to Shanghai again.”
Simplicity hesitated a long time before confessing that he owed the inn for his room and board and they were holding his luggage. Benevolence gave him another scolding and then worked out the amount for his room and board and his traveling expenses back home. He gave Simplicity five dollars and told him to go straight home and not to tarry on any account. How could Simplicity dare to object? He just kept saying “yes.”
Benevolence repeated his admonitions several times before saying good-bye. As he walked out of Hope Hospital, he thought he should attend to some business matters, so he headed south. Near Beaten Dog Bridge, he saw someone walking straight toward him. To his surprise, it was Cloud Tao’s younger brother, Jade. The latter was in such a hurry that he kept his head down and never even noticed Benevolence.
He grabbed Jade by the arm. “How come you’re walking down the street all on your own? Where’re your sedan chair and your servant?”
When Jade Tao saw it was Benevolence, he saluted him hastily.
“Are you on your way to East Prosperity Alley?” Benevolence asked.
Jade nodded, smiling.
“Then take a ricksha!” Benevolence called one over. “Have you got no change?”
Jade nodded again with a smile, so Benevolence fished a handful of copper coins out of his pocket and gave it to Jade. Seeing how solicitous Benevolence was, Jade could not very well refuse. He got on the ricksha as he was told. Benevolence also got himself a ricksha to go back to Flourishing Ginseng Store on Salt Melon Street in South End.
After Jade Tao had parted company with Benevolence Hong, he went straight to Fourth Avenue, stopping at the entrance of East Prosperity Alley. He gave all the copper coins to the ricksha man and went into Water Blossom’s house.
The maid, Big Goldie, happened to be washing and starching clothes in the courtyard. Seeing him, she exclaimed, “So here you are, Second Young Master! Did you see Laurel Blessing?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“He went to look in on you. Where’s your sedan chair?”
“I didn’t take the sedan chair.”
As they talked, Big Goldie propped up the bamboo curtain with a stick for him to enter.
He took care to walk noiselessly into the room, where he saw Water Blossom lying in bed. The pale turquoise summer silk bed curtains were hanging down.
The servant girl, Beckon, was dusting the furniture. Thinking that Water Blossom was still asleep, he signaled her with a hand to keep quiet and sat down in a high-back chair. But Beckon told him in a whisper, “She had another sleepless night last night. She insisted on getting up after she had gone to bed, and each time she did she had a fit of coughing. She didn’t really go to sleep till dawn.”
“Is she running a fever?” he asked at once.
“Not really.”
“Quiet. She needs to rest some more.” He signaled Beckon to keep silent.
But just then Water Blossom started coughing in bed again.
CHAPTER 18 :: A lined jacket conveys Jade Tao’s deep love, and an expensive banquet allays White Fragrance’s wrath
Hearing Water Blossom cough, Jade Tao dashed over to her bedside in alarm and lifted the bed curtain to look at her face. She turned her head around, glared at him for a long time, and then sighed.
“Aren’t you feeling well?” he kept asking her.
She did not answer him directly but said, “You’re a fine one! How many times did I tell you to come as soon as you got back yesterday? You just won’t do as I say. No matter what I tell you, you treat it like a breeze that brushes past your ears.”
He explained hastily, “That’s not true. Yesterday, we got back late, and there were relatives at home, so Elder Brother said, ‘What’s so important that you have to rush out of the city at night?’ What could I have said to that?”
“Humph, don’t talk nonsense to me. It’s not as if I know nothing about your character. It’d be unfair to accuse you of seeing another woman. It’s just a case of out of sight, out of mind, let live or die, nothing to do with you, right?”
He forced a smile. “Even if it was out of sight, out of mind, it was only for one night. Didn’t I think of you and come here first thing this morning?”
“It’s all right for you. You fall soundly asleep, and when you wake the night has passed. D’you know that for someone who can’t sleep and just sits there, one night seems longer than a year?”
“It’s all my fault. I made you suffer. Please don’t be angry.”
She coughed a little more and then said slowly, “Last night, the weather made me nervous, too; it rained endlessly. River Blossom was out on a party call, and Beckon was filling the opium pipe for Mother, which left just Big Goldie here, dozing in a chair, so I told her to tidy up and go to bed. After she was gone, I sat by myself on the divan for a bit, and it rained harder than ever. Gusts of wind hit the window pane, making a clatter like someone was banging on it. The curtains even blew up and flew right into my face. It nearly scared me to death. There was nothing I could do but go to bed. Yet once in bed, how could I sleep?
“A party had just started next door, the noise of the finger game and singing gave me a terrible headache. When the party was finally over, that clock on the table went tick-tock, tick-tock; I wasn’t listening to it, but it just burrowed into my ears. Then I got up again to listen to the rain, and it was falling ever so merrily; I looked at the sky, and it was never going to be dawn. I didn’t shut my eyes until half past two, but the minute I did, I heard you come. A sedan chair came all the way into the parlor, and I saw you get out, but you paid me no attention and just ran straight out of the house. I shouted out at once and ended up waking myself. As I woke, I heard that there really was a sedan chair in the parlor. From the sound of metal-heeled boots walking on the wooden floor, I could tell there were several people there. I scrambled out of bed at once, didn’t even put on more clothes, and opened the door to ask, ‘Where’s Second Young Master?’ The menservants replied, ‘There’s no Second Young Master.’ I said, ‘Then where did the sedan chair come from?’ They answered, ‘It’s River Blossom coming back from the parties.’ They all laughed at me for being groggy with sleep. I went back to bed, but there was no way I could sleep. I never stopped coughing till dawn.”
Jade frowned, worried by what she said. “Why did you act like that? You must take better care of yourself. The wind was so strong last night, yet you got up in the middle of the night without putting on more clothes and went outside your room; didn’t you feel cold? If you don’t take care of yourself, it’s no use even if I keep a daily watch over you.”
“But would you really watch over me every day?” she replied, smiling. “It’s easier said than done. I know my fate is not a happy one. All I ask is for you to keep me company for three more years. If you’d agree to that, I’ll die content. And in case I don’t die and you decide to marry somebody else, I won’t interfere either. I’m just asking for three years, and you won’t even agree to that, so why talk about keeping watch over me every day?”1
“The minute you talk, you come out with something unlucky. You have a widowed mother whom you can’t leave. In three or four years’ time, when your brother is married and can take over the house, you and your mother can come live with me. Then I’ll really keep watch over you every day, and you’ll be happy.”
“You’re born to have a happy life, but mine is not a blessed fate.” She smiled again and said. “I was just thinking, you’re twenty-four now; in three years, you’ll only be twenty-seven. If you take a wife then, you’ll still have decades to grow old together. I’m just asking for three years, so even if you think I’m unf
air to you, you should be able to bear with me.”
“What’s all this nonsense you’re talking?” he answered with a smile. “You’ll be the wife I’ll grow old with.”
She said no more. Now River Blossom entered the room through the back door, her hair still uncombed. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she asked Jade, “Brother-in-law, why didn’t you come yesterday?”
With a jolly smile, he pulled her over by the hand. She stood leaning against the dressing table.
Water Blossom noticed that her young sister was wearing nothing but a tight undershirt of pale pink Huzhou silk. She asked, “How is it you didn’t even put on any clothes?”
“It’s hot this morning,” she said.
“Nonsense! Go and put some clothes on quick.”
“No! It’s terribly hot as it is.”
Just as they were talking, Beckon came in with a lined magenta jacket and said to River Blossom, “Mother is scolding, too. Quick, put it on.”
But she still refused, so Jade took the jacket and draped it over her shoulders, saying, “Just put it on for now. If you feel hot later, you can take it off, all right?”
River Blossom had little choice but to obey. Beckon then went and fetched hot water for her to wash her face and comb her hair. Water Blossom also wanted to get up.
“You get a little more sleep. It’s still early,” Jade interposed.
“I don’t want to sleep anymore.”
He helped her sit up in bed but still tried to dissuade her, saying, “Why don’t you just sit in bed for a while and chat with me?”
Yet Water Blossom still insisted. When she at last got off the bed, she felt that her nose was blocked, her voice hoarse, her head giddy, and her legs weak. The coughing, though, was a bit better. Supporting herself on some chairs and tables all the way, she walked to the divan and sat down, where he followed her and lowered a curtain. Now Big Goldie came in with some bird’s nest soup for Water Blossom, but after a sip or two, she just told River Blossom to eat it. As River Blossom finished her toilet, Water Blossom got up to wash her face.
“Your hair looks fine. There’s no need to do it again,” said Beckon. Knowing that she couldn’t sit up for long, Water Blossom agreed. Big Goldie dipped a narrow brush into the toilet water and gently brushed her hair a few times, after which Water Blossom attended to her sidelocks herself. That was enough to exhaust her, and she lay down on the divan, panting.
The sight of Water Blossom’s frailty worried Jade, but he put on a smiling face. River Blossom, however, stood in front of him and stared at her sister.
“What are you looking at?” Water Blossom asked.
River Blossom was speechless. She just smiled.
Big Goldie, who was putting away the mirror box, responded. “She sees that Elder Sister is not well. She’s not in such good spirits, either, don’t you know?”
River Blossom took it from there. “My sister was quite well yesterday. It’s all Brother-in-law’s fault! I won’t have it!” So saying, she dived into his arms in protest.
He smiled and comforted her immediately, saying, “They’re fooling you. Your sister is not unwell. She’ll be all right a little later.”
“If she isn’t, then you’ll have to give me back a healthy Elder Sister!” demanded River Blossom.
“You have my word. I’ll give you a healthy Elder Sister later.”
Only then was River Blossom reassured. Lying on the divan, Water Blossom gradually closed her eyes, as if about to doze off.
“Why don’t you go back to bed?” Jade suggested.
She held up a hand to indicate she wouldn’t, so he took a woolen blanket from a rattan chair and put it over her.
“It’s heavy!” she said, annoyed, and pushed it off.
Not knowing what to do, he went to lower the other window curtain. Still afraid that Water Blossom would catch cold if she fell asleep, he tried to keep her awake with small talk and started telling her about the scenery he saw on his visit to his ancestors’ graves. River Blossom listened with the liveliest interest, but Water Blossom said with distaste, “Why d’you have to be so tiresome? I don’t want to listen to this.”
“Then promise me you won’t fall asleep,” he said.
“I won’t, don’t worry.”
He sat cross-legged on the edge of the divan to watch over her. That left River Blossom extremely unsettled; whether sitting or standing, she could not keep still. Yet when Water Blossom told her to go outside and amuse herself for a while, she refused. A moment later, Big Goldie came in with their lunch.
“How’s your appetite?” Jade asked Water Blossom. “Do try and have a bite.”
“I don’t want any.”
Seeing that her sister would not even eat, River Blossom thought she must be seriously ill. Agitation made her flush red in the face, and she was on the verge of tears. This made Water Blossom smile.
“What’re you acting like this for?” she scolded. “I’m not dead yet. I don’t have any appetite now, so I’ll eat later.”
Knowing she had overreacted, River Blossom tried her best to control herself. To set the young girl’s mind at ease, Jade pleaded with Water Blossom to eat a little, so Water Blossom told Big Goldie to buy her some congee and took half a bowl of it. River Blossom did not have much of an appetite, either, and only had one bowl, while Jade Tao was never a big eater anyway. When they had finished, lunch was cleared away and they washed their faces. Jade was about to send River Blossom away on some excuse when Beckon came in to report, “Mother is up.”
As River Blossom dawdled, Jade told her to hurry up. “If you don’t go to her quickly, Mother is going to scold.”
Only then did she leave, her reluctance to go tinted by a little embarrassment.
Jade and Water Blossom were alone in the room; not a sound was heard. Unexpectedly, Jade’s brother, Cloud Tao, came in a sedan chair to look for him shortly after four. He was invited into the room, where they greeted each other and sat down.
“Are you unwell?” Cloud asked Water Blossom.
“’fraid so,” she replied.
Big Goldie busied herself with the teacups, but Cloud stopped her. “I’m just here to have a brief word with him. Don’t bother about the tea.” He then said to Jade, “The third of the third month is Script Li’s birthday. Amity Zhu has sent a circular around saying he has reserved the Panorama Garden for a day’s performance and dinner, but Script is wary of disturbing the government officials and has turned down the invitation. That’s why Amity has asked a few others to club together for another party at Bright Pearl’s. It’s a small affair, but both of us are included. I’ve come to tell you ahead of time: on the day, you don’t have to go to the Panorama Garden, but you must turn up at Bright Pearl’s.”
Although Jade Tao promised repeatedly to go, he stole a look at Water Blossom. Cloud Tao happened to notice and addressed her with a smile, “Would you let him go and mingle for a while?”
Embarrassed, she answered pleasantly, “Eldest Young Master, I’m surprised by your question. This is a matter of propriety, so of course he should go. Why would I stop him?”
Cloud nodded. “That’s right. I’ve always said Water Blossom is a sensible girl. If she clings to him despite the demands of propriety and refuses to let him go, then what love is there to speak of?”
She couldn’t very well say anything to that, so she just smiled, whereupon Cloud Tao said, “I’m going.”
Jade hastily got to his feet, and Water Blossom saw Cloud Tao off as far as her own door.
Once Cloud got onto the street, he told his sedan-chair bearers to take him to the Zhu residence. The bearers, who knew the place well, took the chair along East Prosperity Alley and then turned eastward into Middle Peace Alley. As they approached the Zhu residence, Amity Zhu’s man, Longevity, had already seen him and came up to report, “My master is at the Lins’ in Generosity Alley.”
At this, Cloud Tao ordered the sedan chair to turn around. They went down Fourth Avenue to Whi
te Fragrance’s in Generosity Alley. He saw Amity Zhu’s sedan chair standing at the door, so he got off and went in.
When he arrived upstairs, Amity Zhu welcomed him into the room and said immediately, “I was just going to ask you here. I can’t do everything myself. Why don’t you take care of the arrangements at Bright Pearl’s?”
Cloud then asked for the details of the arrangements.
Amity Zhu took a rough list out of his pocket. “There’ll be the two of us and our brothers, plus Pragmatic Li and his nephew; the six of us will be hosts. We’ll get Old Merit Yu to come along to keep our guest company. Lunch will be Western, dinner will be a complete Manchu-and-Han feast. We’ll have three all-girl opera troupes, one in the daytime starting at eleven o’clock, two in the evening starting at five. What d’you think?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Seeing that they had finished their consultation, White Fragrance came up to offer Cloud Tao some watermelon seeds. Cloud, having put away the list, got up and said, “I still have something else to attend to. I’ll see you around.” Amity Zhu did not detain him but just saw him off at the stairs with White Fragrance.
When they were back in her room, she asked, “What was that about?”
After he had explained everything, she said, “So, you’re giving a party, but instead of doing it here, you’re going to suck up to Bright Pearl. You’re infuriating!”
“It’s not my party. There’re six of us clubbing together.”
“Wasn’t it your party the day before yesterday?”
He had no answer to that, so he just laughed.
“Mine’s a small place; naturally it’s not fitting to invite His Excellency here. I’m afraid you, too, must have found this place lacking. Now that you’ve found a large place, you’re going to be more comfortable.”
“Now this is really a surprise,” he said smiling. “It’s not as if I’ve been seeing Bright Pearl, so why are you jealous?”
