by Bangqing Han
Before they could start a conversation, one of the pages suddenly called Little Wang away on some unknown business. Simplicity finished lunch, washed his face, and waited until Little Wang returned. Then he thanked him and said good-bye, carrying his empty basket.
“Third Master is asleep. Second Miss wants another word with you,” said Little Wang.
Simplicity readily complied and followed Little Wang to the bamboo curtain in front of the main building. Little Wang told him to wait while word was sent in. Then a page rolled up the curtain. Second Treasure, resting a hand on Tiger’s arm, stood inside the threshold. She said, “Tell Mother I won’t be back till the fifth. When the call chits come, say I’ve gone to Suzhou.”1
Simplicity promised to do as she said and then was on his way out. Little Wang took the trouble to see him off at the front door and actually said, “Come and visit in a couple of days.”
Simplicity got on a ricksha and returned to Tripod Alley, where he told his mother in detail what he had seen. Mrs. Zhao was both delighted and impressed.
On the fifth, Simplicity went to order choice teatime snacks from the Garden of Plenty, and then he proceeded to the foreign store Hall and Holtz to buy various imported candies, biscuits, and fruit. Not until afternoon did they see Little Wang come on horseback. He was followed by two official sedan chairs and one medium-sized sedan chair, all of which stopped at their door. Tiger came out of the medium-sized chair to assist Second Treasure into the house, walking behind Young Master Shi. Simplicity darted up to salute him, one knee on the ground. Third Young Master again just nodded in acknowledgment. When they got to Second Treasure’s room upstairs, Third Young Master said, “Tell your mother to come out and meet me.”
Second Treasure told Tiger to go and ask her. Despite her unwillingness, Mrs. Zhao could not find any way to excuse herself, so she changed into a blouse and skirt of black raw silk and came upstairs shyly. Her faced flushed red after she managed to say the words, “Third Master.” He asked how old she was and whether she ate well. That was all.
Second Treasure said to him, “You sit here a while, I’ll go downstairs with Mother.”
“If there’s nothing particular, let’s go back soon,” he said.
She made an affirmative noise before going downstairs into the little back room, taking Mrs. Zhao by the hand. Only then did Mrs. Zhao feel at ease. “Where are you off to now?” she asked.
“We’re going home. Back to his house.”
“How many days will you be gone this time?”
“It’s hard to say. Mr. Qi of Rustic Retreat has invited him to visit on the seventh, and he wants me to go along. We’ll see after staying a couple of days there.”
Mrs. Zhao advised her earnestly, “Now, you look out for yourself. People like them are used to having their way. When they’re in love, they seem ever so nice to you, but if you put a foot wrong, they show their displeasure.”
At this remark, Second Treasure glanced outside. She shut the door, nestled against Mrs. Zhao, and spoke in whispers. She said this Third Young Master was heir to three branches of his family. In his own branch, he was married, but he did not have a son yet. His adopted mothers from the other two branches were consulting about his taking a wife for each branch, both of them to live in separate households. He was afraid that he might marry the wrong woman, so he was putting off making the decision.
Mrs. Zhao asked urgently in a low voice, “Did he say he’d marry you?”
“He said he’d first go home to talk it over with his adopted mothers. They have to settle on another one, and then he’ll marry both women at the same time. He told me not to do business anymore but to wait for him for three months. He’ll be back in Shanghai after getting things ready.”
Mrs. Zhao was so happy, she could not close her mouth for grinning.
Second Treasure continued, “Now tell Brother not to come to the house again. It’ll be so humiliating when he becomes a brother-in-law in the future. Don’t buy them any fruit either; they have too much of it. If there’re presents to give him, don’t you think I’d know what to buy?”
Mrs. Zhao nodded silently at everything Second Treasure said. The girl had much to say but didn’t know where to begin.
“It’s been a while now. He’s all alone. Go upstairs,” Mrs. Zhao hurried her.
Second Treasure walked out of the little room slowly, balancing on her tiny feet. Halfway up the stairs, she peeped into the mezzanine room through the latticed window and saw Simplicity and Little Wang lying side by side on the divan smoking opium. The servant girl, Clever, was leaning close to the divan, making facetious conversation. Annoyed by this sight, she hastened back to her own room.
Third Young Master Shi waited till she came close and then pulled nonchalantly at her blouse and whispered, “Let’s go home. There’s nothing else, is there?”
She saw small meatballs, steamed buns, and other snacks set out on the table, so she said, “Aren’t you going to eat some of our tea things?”
“You eat them for me.”
She struggled freed, pretending she had not heard him, and told Tiger to instruct Little Wang to get the sedan chairs ready.
Behaving like a new son-in-law, Third Young Master told Second Treasure to say good-bye and tender his thanks to Mrs. Zhao on his behalf. Mrs. Zhao, too shy to come out, packed a basketful of the assorted candies, biscuits, and fruit and gave it to Tiger to take it with her. Second Treasure looked back and frowned.
Mrs. Zhao whispered into her ear, “There’s no one to eat it if we leave it here. Why not take it with you and give it to their servants?”
Second Treasure did not have time to stop her. She hurried out the door and got in her sedan chair the same time as Third Young Master did. With Little Wang riding in front and Tiger bringing up the rear, the procession headed grandly back to the Shi residence at the north end of Big Bridge. The officers guarding the door stood at attention as the bearers carried the sedan chairs into the courtyard and set them down in front of the main building, where Third Young Master and Second Treasure got down, walked into the hall, and sat down shoulder to shoulder.
He saw Tiger bringing in the basket. “What is this?” he asked.
“Well, it’s imported stuff. You can’t find it anywhere else except in Shanghai,” Tiger replied with a smile.
He lifted the lid to look and then laughed out loud.
Second Treasure picked out a pine nut, shelled it, and put it to his lips. “Try it. After all, it’s a kind thought from my mother.”
He immediately assumed a solemn countenance and held out both hands for it. This made both Second Treasure and Tiger laugh. Then he called to a page to remove the pomelos in the display bowls and replace them with these candies, biscuits, and fruit and to place the two bowls high on the small stands of carved tree roots. His sincerity made Second Treasure extremely grateful, but there is no need to labor the point.
Two days later, it was the seventh night of the seventh month, lovers’ day. Third Young Master had Little Wang get everything ready early in the morning. Carefully made up and wearing her best clothes, Second Treasure looked more charming than ever. At ten in the morning, they received a note from their host hurrying them along, after which they got into their sedan chairs in front of the hall and, accompanied only by Little Wang and Tiger, went via First Avenue and Mud Town Bridge to the gate of the Qi residence, Rustic Retreat. The doormen begged to redirect them to the garden, so they threaded through another street to the main garden gate. The word on the plaque, written in clerical script, read “Conical Hat Garden.”
The garden attendants invited them in. The sedan chairs were borne straight to the Phoenix Pavilion by the lake. Second Bai and Devotion Yin welcomed them on the covered walkway, and Nature Shi and Second Treasure went up with them to the pavilion, where Aroma, Wenjun Yao, and Green Fragrance all came up to greet them. Nature Shi was surprised the girls had come so early.
“The three of us have been here for t
wo days,” said Aroma.
Devotion Yin said, “Harmony is the leader of a true love cult. A couple of days ago, he gave a wedding party for Second Bai and Wenjun. Today, the guests of honor at this seventh night party are you and your lady love.”
As they were talking, Harmony Qi emerged and walked toward them, tripping lightly. Nature Shi addressed him as Collegiate Uncle, saluted him with a deep bow, and asked after his health. Harmony Qi made a few modest remarks, glanced around, and saw Second Treasure. “Is this your lady love?”
“Yes, sir,” Nature Shi replied.
“Your Excellency,” Second Treasure said in greeting.
Harmony Qi, smiling, came over to Second Treasure, took her hands, and looked her up and down. He then nodded at Second Bai and Devotion Yin, saying, “She certainly has the style of a girl from a good family.”
Qi was over sixty. With his grizzled beard and air of innocence and sincerity, he made Second Treasure feel at ease. Everybody sat down and made light conversation. As she was still a stranger, Second Treasure did not say much. Harmony Qi told Aroma to show her the garden. Wenjun Yao and Green Fragrance, both in high spirits, also went along. The four of them walked down the steps on the left of the pavilion and came to a narrow winding path in the green shade of a bamboo grove. The path led to a stream, and they could make out on the other bank, hidden behind the trees, a cluster of gold and turquoise buildings of varying heights. They looked charming but inaccessible.
The four of them followed the stream into a crescent-shaped winding gallery. At both ends of the gallery, its name was inscribed in cursive script: Threshold of the Waves. Once past the gallery, it was curtains of pearls and painted pillars, turquoise tiles, and etched glass. Tall trees reached up to the clouds and brilliant red flowers shone in the sun. The building only had thirty-two chambers, but its visitors felt as if its eaves met up and its roofs were joined, that there were a thousand doors and windows, leaving them confused, not knowing where to go. Its name was Panorama Hall. In front of the hall, amid strange rocks and luxuriant foliage, a rugged peak rose abruptly: the Dragon Range. An octagonal pavilion on the range was called the Mid-sky Pavilion.
A palm arbor had been newly erected in the space between the hall and the hill. With about three hundred pots of jasmine blossoms displayed in the arbor, it did justice to the name Sea of Fragrant Snow. The four women were picking jasmine buds to wear in their hair when suddenly they heard someone calling from way up high. They looked up to find Aroma’s servant girl, Greenie, standing alone in the pavilion. She had a lotus flower in her hand and was beckoning to them, smiling. Aroma shouted for her to come down, but Greenie did not seem to hear; she kept beckoning. How could Wenjun Yao stand the suspense? She flew up to the hilltop. When she got there, she waved her arms to beckon the others to join her even more urgently. They were baffled.
“Let’s go and have a look,” said Green Fragrance. She stepped out, lifting the hem of her skirt to lead the way. Reluctantly, Aroma followed. Holding Second Treasure by the hand, she kept to the stone steps, pausing along the way and panting delicately, quite overcome by exhaustion.
The fact was, the name Conical Hat Garden came from Conical Hat Lake, the circular shape of which symbolized heaven and evoked a conical peasant hat. It occupied a couple of acres and so qualified as a lake. This Conical Hat Lake was situated in the center of the garden. To the southwest was the Phoenix Pavilion, which backed onto the water; to its northwest was Dragon Range, from where one could look down and see the entire garden.
Having arrived at the Mid-sky Pavilion, Aroma and Second Treasure could see that in the distance a group of colorfully dressed women was crowding around the fishing bank in the southeast corner of the lake, and a stream of servant girls and maids were heading there. “What’s going on?” they asked Greenie.
“A maid was picking a lotus flower when she saw a fish trap and gave it a pull, and up came a huge golden carp, so everybody has gone to have a look.”
“And I thought they were looking at something wonderful! My feet are all sore from so much walking,” said Aroma.
“Even with flat heels, I was tripping and falling,” said Second Treasure.
But Wenjun Yao, dissatisfied with this distant view, was determined to have a closer look. As the others talked, she streaked off again. Green Fragrance wanted to follow suit, but how could she catch up with Wenjun? The three women sat for a while longer before slowly descending Dragon Range.
“I want to go and change,” said Green Fragrance. So they parted company in front of Panorama Hall.
Aroma saw all the windows in Panorama Hall were open and the curtains were hanging low. Four or five menservants were busy arranging tables and chairs. She asked, “Are we having our meal here?”
“This is for tonight. Lunch will be served at the waterside pavilion,” the men replied.
Aroma said nothing in reply and took Second Treasure back to the Phoenix Pavilion along the original route. They were greeted by the sight of beautifully decked-out women and could smell their fragrances in the breeze. Four more guests had arrived: Iron Hua, Elan Ge, Cloud Tao, and Amity Zhu. Their girls, White Orchid, Snow Scent, Belle Tan, and White Fragrance, were already seated. Only Wenjun Yao remained standing. She had removed her outer garments and was just wearing a narrow-sleeved blouse of mandarin gauze. Leaning at the window overlooking the lake, she tried to cool herself with a straw fan.
“Did you see it when you got there?” Aroma asked.
Unable to speak, Wenjun signed with her mouth. Aroma turned her head around and saw a medium-sized jar for planting lotus set on an ice-bucket rack. In the jar was a golden carp measuring over a foot long. Second Treasure also gave it a fleeting glance.
“We should catch another one to make a pair.” Wenjun came over to them, gesticulating.
“You’d have to catch it then,” Aroma said teasingly. This brought a smile to every face.
::
1. Since Suzhou women had the reputation of being great beauties, courtesans all claim to have come from there.
CHAPTER 39 :: A drinking game sees ivory sticks fly at the pavilion, and golden carp draw fishing boats to compete on the lake
Two square tables were set in the Phoenix Pavilion with a casual meal of sixteen dishes, eight of them hot appetizers and eight main dishes. The guests followed the usual rule, and each sat with his own girl. Iron Hua, Elan Ge, Cloud Tao, and Amity Zhu took one table, and Nature Shi, Second Bai, Devotion Yin, and Harmony Qi the other. Everybody raised his cup to toast one another, and conventional etiquette was put aside. Second Treasure, still shy, did not join in.
“Don’t stand on ceremony when you’re here,” said Harmony Qi, “we all eat together and drink together. Just look at them.”1
And indeed she saw Wenjun Yao pick up half a crab marinated in wine, shell it, and eat it. As she ate, she said to Second Treasure, “If you don’t eat, nobody will serve you, and you’ll be hungry later on.”
Smiling, Aroma Su picked up a piece of pork belly with her own chopsticks and put it before Second Treasure. Only then did Second Treasure start eating.
“Since she’s a free woman, why be a courtesan?” Second Bai suddenly asked.
“The usual story: to make ends meet,” Nature Shi answered for her.
Harmony Qi heaved a long sigh. “This city of Shanghai is like a trap; too many people have fallen in.”
Nature Shi answered, “A relative of hers came to Shanghai with her and has become a courtesan, too.”
“What’s her name? Where does she live?” Devotion Yin asked immediately.
Second Treasure took it up. “Her name’s Flora Zhang. She’s in West Civic Peace Alley, in the same house as Belle Tan.”
Devotion Yin called across to the other table to ask Cloud Tao about Flora.
“Oh, she’s quite nice. She also looks like a respectable woman. Shall we call her here?” Cloud said.
“Later. We’re going to do some drinking now,” said D
evotion.
Harmony Qi asked Nature Shi to start a drinking game. Nature thought as he ate the first dish—shark’s fin—that since Cloud Tao and Amity Zhu did not like poetry and fine writing, this game had to have a broad appeal. He announced, “Well, I have an idea. Let’s each pick an item on the table and use quotation from the Four Classics to ‘stack a pyramid.’2 How about that?”
“Your word is our command,” everybody said.
The servants, used to attending such literary games, moved a small tea table over and opened a sandalwood stationery box that contained all the necessary equipment: writing brushes, inkstones, ivory sticks, and dominoes.
To take command of the game, Nature Shi first drank a cup of wine. “My key word is fish,” he said. “Let’s draw lots for our turn. The one who comes last will be the next commander.”
“But there aren’t many quotations in the Four Classics we can use for ‘fish,’” said Harmony Qi.
“Let’s give it a try and see,” replied Nature Shi.
The eight men each drew an ivory stick and wrote down a quotation from the Four Classics on it, followed by his name. The servants collected all the sticks, meticulously copied out the quotations on colored notepaper, and then submitted it for their inspection. Both tables were vacated as they read it. They praised one another in unison and then each drank a cup to mark the end of round one.
Cloud Tao, being the next commander, chose the word “chicken.” They drew lots again with the ivory sticks, after which they all remained silent. Some paced around with their eyes on the ground, while others did word counts on their fingers. Wenjun Yao found the game boring. The key word “fish” reminded her of something, and, after hastily downing two cups of wine, she dashed off. Thinking she was just bored, Second Bai paid no attention. When everyone had written his quotation on the ivory stick, the servants again had it all copied out for their perusal and mutual admiration. It was then Iron Hua’s turn to be commander.
