The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai

by Bangqing Han

  “River Blossom,” Jade replied.

  “In that case, why were you crying?” Cloud asked.

  Jade hung his head in silence.

  Cloud calmly gave his brother this advice: “Don’t be preoccupied with your own grief to the exclusion of everything else. Why d’you think so many people came here today? This mourning for Water Blossom is but an excuse; they came for your sake. They’re afraid that, had you come alone, the thought of Water Blossom would trigger another outburst of tears. They hoped that their presence would be a diversion, that it’d help you forget a little. Now, even if you can’t forget, you should at least try and put on a happy face and talk and laugh a little so they’ll know you appreciate their kindness. Think about it; isn’t what I said right?”

  Jade remained silent. The maid came in just then to report, “The table is ready.” Cloud was about to ask Harmony Qi whether hot towels should be served, but Amity Zhu said, “Why ask? Just tell them to go ahead.” The maid made an affirmative noise. Cloud wrote out a call chit for Cloudlet Chen and handed it to the maid to take downstairs for dispatching.

  By the time the menservants brought the hot towels, the patrons and courtesans had gathered in the center room, seated at two tables. By consensus, Harmony Qi took the seat of honor, Second Bai came next, and Cloudlet Chen was in third place. The others had already settled in their seats. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Cloudlet did his best to please and flatter Harmony Qi, and conversation flowed congenially. In response to his brother’s instructions, Jade also tried to join in occasionally.

  Presently, Clever Gem, Cloudlet’s girl, arrived. Everyone told her to sit next to Cloudlet. Clever Gem, being an adaptable person and seeing that other girls around the table partook of food and wine at their ease, followed their example when she joined them. Harmony noted her adaptability and remarked on it with approval. This made her want to show off more than ever. She played the clown with great success, bringing merriment to the entire gathering. The party was not at all dull.

  Harmony suddenly thought of something and asked Second Bai Gao, “The elegy you wrote mentions the origin of Water Blossom’s illness and says that there are lots of twists to the story. What’s that about?”

  And so Second Bai explained in detail how Water Blossom, as a courtesan, could not be a wife and how her frustration and sorrow made her ill.

  Harmony could not help sighing aloud. Then he said, “A pity! A great pity! If I had been consulted, I’d have come up with an idea.” Second Bai asked what it was. “Easy,” Harmony said. “I’d have adopted Water Blossom as my daughter. Who could object then?”

  Everyone was silent when they heard this. Only Jade Tao thought it was a wonderful scheme. He thought that when Water Blossom first became ill, such a scheme might have saved her life. But now this was just empty talk, and it was too late for regrets. At this thought, he could not hold back a flood of tears, and he hurriedly slipped into Belle Tan’s room.

  Second Bai said, “It was my fault. I got carried away and forgot about Jade’s feelings.”

  Wenjun Yao cut in, “Water Blossom was too nice about it. Why can’t a courtesan be a wife? That was just nonsense circulated by busybodies. If I were her, I’d have given any gossiper a good slap in the face.”

  Her words generated much merriment, but Harmony Qi put a stop to it, saying, “Let’s not dwell on this anymore. Talk about something else.”

  Second Bai said abruptly, “There’s something interesting here; I’ll show you.” He left the table and went swiftly into Flora Zhang’s room, took out a tattered volume of erotic paintings, and handed it to Harmony.

  Harmony looked through it carefully. “It shows good skills with the brush. A pity it’s incomplete,” he said and passed it around.

  “It looks like the work of the Jade Vase Hermit, but I can’t find any proof,” Second Bai said.

  “Well, would a well-known painter sign such pictures or put his seal to them?” Harmony commented.

  “Harmony collects such items. D’you want to start your own collection with this?” Devotion Yin said to Second Bai.

  “You’re the owner of this, are you? From the way you welcomed us in just now, it seems you own this house, too,” Second Bai said teasingly.

  Devotion ignored the general laughter. “Seriously, you can have it. Flora has given it to me.”

  Second Bai knew Devotion would make it up to her in some way. “All right, I’ll stand you dinner for this.”

  “It’ll have to be at the Old Banner though. Hire a function hall,” Devotion said.

  “A function hall it will be, then.”

  When the raised voices reached Jade Tao next door, he thought there was an argument, so he quietly wiped away his tears and returned to the table.

  “I suppose we’re all invited, right?” Harmony said.

  “Yes, we’ll meet after the festival, on the eighteenth. That’s settled. The seven of you here at the table will excuse me for not sending you written invitations,” Second Bai said.

  “We’ll be there” was the unanimous reply.

  Jade asked Cloudlet Chen in a low voice what it was all about. Cloudlet took the volume of erotic paintings and explained to him, but Jade was in no mood for something like that. He just leafed through it and pushed it aside. Harmony Qi saw that Jade was only trying to put up a cheerful front and that the darkening sky was threatening rain, so he suggested that the banquet end early. Everyone obeyed him. Seeing that the other girls did not disperse, Clever Gem hesitated about leaving. Cloudlet Chen told her surreptitiously, “Go.” Only then did she leave.

  After the party was over, Cloud Tao wanted to go home and see to his affairs. With Whistler Tang out of town, Amity Zhu had no helper and was busier than ever at such festival times. The two of them excused themselves to Harmony Qi. Harmony was going to invite Cloudlet Chen to the garden, but the latter also excused himself, pleading he was too busy.

  “Then you must come at the Midautumn Festival,” Harmony said.

  Before Cloudlet could reply, Cloud Tao promised on his behalf.

  “Are you coming back?” Harmony turned to Devotion.

  “You go on ahead. I’ll be back shortly.”

  So Harmony, Second Bai, Modesty Zhu, and Jade Tao, each taking his girl, saluted the others in farewell and returned to the garden in their carriages. Belle Tan and Flora Zhang saw them out all the way to the front door. After that, Amity Zhu got up to leave, and Green Fragrance went with her sister, White Fragrance, in their sedan chairs. Only then did Cloudlet Chen try to find out from Cloud Tao what the midautumn function in Conical Hat Garden would be like.

  “It’s not really a function,” said Cloud. “We’re supposed to be viewing cassia blossoms in the daytime and the moon at night, but seriously the fun is still the girls and the wine.”

  “I heard that after drinking one has to compose a poem, is that true?” Cloudlet asked.

  Cloud gestured with his hand to indicate that was not true. “There’s no such thing. No one would want to do it! If you feel like it, you’re of course welcome to write a poem, but you’d never do it as well as their own people, so why parade your weakness?”

  “Since it’s my first visit, do I have to send in a formal visiting card?”

  Cloud waved the idea off. “Once he’s invited you, he’ll leave word with the gatekeepers, and your name will be entered into their books. Just turn up at the garden gate in everyday wear and tell them who you are, and a manservant will show you in. When you see Harmony, salute him casually and don’t ever put on airs. As you’re in business, just act like a businessman.”

  Cloudlet had some more questions, but Devotion Yin came in just then from Flora Zhang’s room to say that he was returning to the garden. After that, Cloudlet also rose to say he was going to East Co-prosperity Alley.

  “It’s Elan Ge’s party, isn’t it? I’ll go with you and mingle for a while before returning to the Old City,” Cloud said.

  Clo
udlet agreed to wait for him, so Cloud hastily put on a summer silk robe and a lined gauze jacket. Instead of seeing them out, Belle just said, “Send for me right away.”

  Cloud followed Cloudlet downstairs, and then each told his ricksha or sedan chair to go and wait at East Co-prosperity Alley. They crossed the street side by side, heading for Snow Scent’s house. On entering her room, they saw a pair of tall red candles burning brightly on the dressing table. They asked in surprise what the occasion was. Elan Ge just smiled. Snow Scent replied as she offered them watermelon seeds, “It’s nothing.”

  A moment later, three of their old friends, Prosperity Luo, Lotuson Wang, and Benevolence Hong arrived one after another.

  “Neither Amity nor Whistler will be coming. It’ll just be the six of us. Let’s all sit down,” Elan Ge said.

  After checking the call chits, Little Sister said, “Mr. Wang’s is missing.” Elan asked Lotuson Wang whom he would call, and Lotuson went and wrote down the name “Gold Phoenix” himself. Then, giving precedence to one another, they sat down.

  When Little Sister was filling the water pipe for him, Benevolence Hong took the opportunity to ask her softly, “Why the tall red candles?”

  Little Sister told him in a low voice, “Our maestro is due for a happy event. We’ll be calling in a midwife.”

  Benevolence immediately offered his congratulations to Elan Ge and Snow Scent. Upon hearing the news, the others all called out, “Congratulations! Congratulations! We’ll borrow your wine to drink to you. Three cups, everybody!”

  Elan just laughed, but Snow Scent pretended to be displeased. “There’s no reason to congratulate me. Little Sister is talking nonsense.”

  This was taken in the wrong way, and they said to her in all seriousness, “It’s a proper and happy event. There’s nothing embarrassing about it.”

  Snow Scent heaved a sigh. “I’m not embarrassed. Lots of people lose their sons when they’re all grown up; now in my case it’s just been two months. How do we know whether he’ll make it or not? It’s too early for congratulations.”

  Hearing the way she put it, the dinner guests couldn’t go on teasing her. Then she sighed again and said, “It’s not just difficult to bring them up, some people have sons who turn out to be no good. No matter how happy they make you when they’re born, they’re exasperating when they grow up.”

  Before she had finished speaking, Elan shouted at her laughingly, “Oh, shut up! Don’t you think it’s also exasperating for them to listen to you go on and on?”

  She reached out a hand to pinch his arm. “You’re the one who’s exasperating!”

  He cried out, “Aiyo! Ouch!” This made everyone laugh uproariously. Even Little Sister and the girls who had been called to the party could not suppress their mirth.

  Seeing that Green Phoenix and Gold Phoenix had come early, Prosperity Luo wanted to start the finger game right away. Just then, Belle arrived. She said to Cloud Tao, “It’s raining. Do you have to go to the Old City?”

  Cloud insisted on going because he had some important documents to see to. He turned to ask Prosperity to let him be banker first, to which Prosperity agreed. The other guests stretched out their hands to attack Cloud Tao’s bank.

  In her corner, Green Phoenix took the opportunity to ask Prosperity Luo, “Why didn’t you come today?”

  “I was afraid your mother would start nagging again.”

  “Oh, she’s all right, and the ransom is settled. The price is still a thousand,” Green Phoenix said.

  Greatly surprised, Prosperity asked, “If it’s still a thousand, why didn’t she agree to it before? And why does she agree now?”

  Smiling sarcastically, Green Phoenix replied after a long pause, “I’ll tell you later.”

  His heart was pounding wildly, but he dared not press her.

  As soon as Cloud Tao had served his term as banker, he was in a hurry to go home and took his leave together with Belle. Prosperity’s mind was not on the wine. Although he took over as banker, it was just to keep his end up. He was waiting for all the called girls to leave so he could arrange with Lotuson Wang to go for a tea party. Cloudlet Chen and Benevolence Hong were quick to sense this, so they turned the wine cups upside down and asked for rice to be served. The host, Elan Ge, did not press them to drink either, and the banquet was hastily wound up.

  Prosperity Luo ordered his sedan-chair bearers to light the lanterns. He got into his chair in the parlor, as did Lotuson Wang. When they left East Co-prosperity Alley, strong wind and pelting rain lashed into the sedan chairs. Promotion and Talisman, who were walking alongside them, lowered the blinds and helped to steady the chairs by lending a hand at the poles. When they arrived at Green Phoenix’s in Generosity Alley, they alighted in the parlor, and Prosperity urged Lotuson to go ahead of him.

  Green Phoenix welcomed them into her room. She invited Lotuson to sit on the divan and told Mama Zhao to light the opium lamp before she made tea. Gold Phoenix, who was in the room opposite, hurried over to greet “Brother-in-law” and then said, “Mr. Wang, do come and smoke in my room.”

  “It’s just the same here,” Lotuson replied.

  “I’ve made lots of toasted pellets,” Gold Phoenix said.

  “Well, just go and fetch them,” said Green Phoenix.

  Gold Phoenix hadn’t thought of that, so she rushed back to her room and brought over seven or eight opium picks, each with a pellet at its tip. Lotuson, who had been originally taken with her girlish charm and intelligence, was now touched by her eagerness to please him and felt that she was better than a mature courtesan. He accepted the pellets gladly, saying, “Thank you for all the trouble,” and then pulled her down to sit beside him. She half sat and half reclined on the divan to watch him smoke.

  Wriggling awkwardly and self-consciously, Pearl Phoenix filled the water pipe for Prosperity Luo, but Prosperity pushed it aside and asked eagerly about the matter of the ransom. Green Phoenix laughed and sighed over it as she recounted what happened.

  CHAPTER 48 :: Mistake after mistake bars the gates of the mansion, and swindle after swindle exemplifies the ways of the marketplace

  Green Phoenix told Prosperity Luo what happened right in front of Lotuson Wang. “My mother is a nice person, after all. If you listen to her talk, you may think she’s got the gift of the gab, but in fact she’s not particularly clever. Well, she was so angry with me, she couldn’t eat for three days! Yesterday, after you had gone, she threw a tantrum in her own room. This morning when Mama Zhao went downstairs, Mother told her I was no good. She said, ‘I bought clothes and jewelry for her worth ten thousand dollars. Originally, I thought I’d give her quite a lot of it when she ransomed herself, but now I won’t give her any at all.’ Now, I was upstairs and happened to hear that, and I was angered as well as amused, so I went to make myself clear to Mother. I said, ‘The clothes and jewelry were bought with money I earned. When I’m here, those things are mine, and no one else should touch them. But when I buy back my freedom, I have no right to take them with me. I need to make this clear to you, Mother, even if you want to give them to me, I’ll just say, “No, thank you.” Let alone clothes and jewelry, I won’t even take a hair yarn or a shoestring. I’ll take off everything I wear and give it back to you, Mother, before I walk out of this house. You can put your mind at rest, Mother, for I don’t want any of it.’ Well, it turned out that she really meant to give me some of it, and when I made it clear I didn’t want any, she was delighted. So she agreed to my ransom price of a thousand and picked an auspicious day for the event. The agreement will be signed on the sixteenth, and I’ll move out on the seventeenth. It’s all been finalized. Now isn’t that quick? Even I didn’t expect it to be so easy.”

  Prosperity was very happy for Green Phoenix, while Lotuson was full of admiration for her independent spirit. “There’s this saying, ‘A worthy son does not live on his share of the inheritance, and a worthy daughter does not wear the clothes in her trousseau.’ It fits you to perfectio
n!”

  Green Phoenix replied, “As a courtesan, one has to work things out for oneself if one wants to do well. Now if I ransom myself and incur a debt of five or six thousand, then whether I do good business would be beside the point; I wouldn’t count as someone who’s done well. This time, I’m acting with a blueprint in hand. Several of my patrons are not in Shanghai, so they don’t count; I only have two patrons who are here. If both of them look after me a bit, I’ll do all right. Though I can cope with a debt of five or six thousand, I don’t see any sense in taking clothes and jewelry from her. You’ve put it so well, Mr. Wang. ‘Clothes in the trousseau’ are gifts from one’s own parents, but even then a worthy daughter wouldn’t want to wear them, so why would I want anything from the madam? Even if I took them, they’d only be worth a thousand dollars or so. Would that be worth all the trouble?”

  Lotuson was still full of praise for her. Prosperity, though aware that there would be extra expenses after her ransom and prepared to be especially considerate, had not expected the expenses to come to so much. He asked thoughtfully, “How come you’ll be in debt for five or six thousand?”

  “Well, work it out yourself: the ransom is a thousand; however hard I skimp, clothes and jewelry will be at least three thousand. Then there are three rooms to furnish, won’t that take another thousand? And on top of this, there’re some odds and ends, so all together won’t it be five or six thousand? I’ve told Mama Zhao and a downstairs manservant whom I’m taking with me to go and borrow three thousand dollars. When the ransom is paid up, I’ll just buy a few essentials and make the move. The rest can wait.”

  Prosperity fell silent. Lotuson, after smoking four or five opium pellets, sat up cross-legged. Gold Phoenix immediately went to fetch the water pipe for him, which he took from her and filled for himself.

  There was a long pause, after which Prosperity asked about the move. Green Phoenix told him briefly that she had chosen three upstairs rooms in Prosperity Alley and would be renting jointly with Jade Wenjun downstairs. Aside from the maid and the manservant who’d come with her, she’d hire four others: a bookkeeper, a cook, a servant girl, and another manservant. The rosewood furniture would be rented for the time being, and if she found it suitable, she would discuss the purchase price.