“I think so.”
Ho Yung smiled. “Are you hungry?”
For the first time in days Pei realized she was hungry. “Yes, I am,” she said.
“Come, then.”
She followed Ho Yung downstairs. He left her in the dining room and went to the kitchen to find something for them to eat. As Pei waited, she remembered how uncomfortable she felt the last time she’d eaten in this room. When Ho Yung returned, he carried a tray of sweet buns and coconut tarts.
“The tea is coming,” he said, setting the tray down.
They ate in a silence Pei felt very comfortable with. When they had finished eating, Ho Yung sat back and asked, “What will you do in Hong Kong?”
“I’m not certain yet,” Pei said, though she knew many of her sisters had gone into domestic work. “I have some money saved.”
“If you should ever need anything, I’ll be happy to assist you in any way I can,” Ho Yung said, looking away from her.
“Thank you,” said Pei shyly. “But we can take care of ourselves.”
Ho Yung remained silent, watching her. Thinking she might have offended him by her response, Pei then asked, “When will you leave for Hong Kong?”
“In a few days, after everything here has been settled and I can close the house.”
She simply nodded, feeling awkward under his gaze.
Then, before Ho Yung could say anything else, Pei stood up, thanked him for the food, and quickly made her way back upstairs.
The next morning, as they waited for the ferry, Pei saw crowds of people negotiating for the few seats left on the boat. Cars inched their way toward the dock, loaded down with household possessions. Soldiers patrolled the area, and watched as those who were turned away vowed that they would be back the following morning. Each day it became more difficult to leave Canton. Rumors of the Japanese moving in brought fear and hysteria to those trying to leave.
Ho Yung looked on anxiously and gave Pei a card with his Hong Kong address on it. “If you ever need anything …” he said.
Pei tried to smile. “I will call,” she said.
“Take care of yourself,” he said awkwardly. Then, without any warning, he leaned forward and kissed Pei quickly on the forehead.
Pei stepped back, hot and flushed. Ji Shen was pulling on her arm to leave. “Thank you” was all she could say before she began moving away from him.
As they boarded the ferry, Pei knew she was leaving a large part of her life behind. The sisterhood had scattered, but she would remember it always. She prayed that Chen Ling and Ming would make it safely to the countryside, where her father still lingered alone with his ponds. And somewhere out there was her sister, Li. Pei vowed never to give up until she found Li again, no matter how long it took. She knew the Japanese would waste no time before descending upon Canton and Yung Kee. Like locusts, they would sweep down and leave nothing. She hoped that all those she loved would be safe. Yet she knew her own most frightening days lay before her in Hong Kong. She could only look forward.
As the ferry slowly moved away from the dock, Ji Shen moved quickly ahead of Pei, finding two seats near the front of the boat. Pei stopped once and looked over the railing to see Ho Yung still waiting on the dock. He was looking up, his hand shading his eyes against the sun, but he couldn’t possibly see her in the crowd of people surrounding her. In him, she once again saw a glimmer of Lin, which warmed her. Pei missed Lin more than she would have thought possible. She stood watching, gathering strength to carry this last image of Lin with her on the journey. Then, reluctantly, against the rocking of the ferry beneath her feet, Pei turned around and headed toward the front of the boat, where Ji Shen was waiting.
Hong Kong harbor came into view after a long, uncomfortable journey. For hours the ferry moved along the calm waters, verity empty of other boats. Only then did Pei remember the cloth bag Moi had given to her when she left Yung Kee. Without knowing, she had carried it faithfully all this way, only to have it rolling back and forth under her seat with each rise and fall of the boat. She reached down and pulled the cloth bag up. Ji Shen had scampered up to see the approaching harbor. When Pei untied the string and looked into the bag, she saw several jars filled with herbs and dried fruit. Pei couldn’t help but smile.
“Come look!” Ji Shen yelled to her.
Pei closed the bag and placed it back under her seat before joining Ji Shen at the railing. There was Hong Kong, rising before them in all her splendor. Pei had never seen anything so beautiful before, in the warm spray. Tall buildings loomed in the shadows as hundreds of sampans moved to and fro. The sky was open and clear as the peaks rose up toward it like dark gods, and an excitement punctuated the salty air. “It’s so big!” cried Ji Shen. For the moment they were safe. Pei took a deep breath and could feel Lin’s presence there beside her, watching and smiling as the boat danced upon the water toward Hong Kong.
ALSO BY GAIL TSUKIYAMA
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
Dreaming Water
The Language of Threads
Night of Many Dreams
The Samurai’s Garden
Praise for Gail Tsukiyama and Women of the Silk
“[Tsukiyama’s] story is full of understanding … presented in a beautifully natural way.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Richly embellished with fascinating details … the genius of this novel is that its readers do not experience the ‘quaint’ customs as quaint but immediately feel at home with an alien culture.”
—Houston Chronicle
“[Tsukiyama] evokes the far-removed rural world of the silk workers with wit, grace, and keen insight.”
—The Washington Post Book World
“An auspicious debut, this sensitively written, impressively researched novel covers twenty years in the life of Pei … . Tsukiyama’s simple, elegant, and fluid prose weaves a vivid picture of rural China … . She has opened a window onto an aspect of China few outsiders ever see.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A beautiful and sensitive story … .”
—Library Journal
“In this understated yet fully engaging first novel, Ms. Tsukiyama opens a door long closed on one small room in the fascinating complex of Chinese women’s history.”
—The News & Observer
“Women of the Silk is a quiet book that carries a loud message … . [Tsukiyama] has given us a moving picture with none of the stridency that so often accompanies a tale of oppression. She lets the women of the silk speak for themselves.”
—The Pittsburgh Press
“Tsukiyama’s first novel paints a picture of wonder, self-reliance, and determination.”
—Times Record News
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
WOMEN OF THE SILK. Copyright © 1991 by Gail Tsukiyama. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Book design by Susan Hood
eISBN 9781429952293
First eBook Edition : July 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tsukiyama, Gail.
Women of the silk / Gail Tsukiyama.
p. cm.
ISBN-1 3: 978-0-312-09943-5
ISBN-10:0-312-09943-6
1. Country fife—Fiction. 2. Women silk industry workers—Fiction.
3. China—Fiction. I. Title
PS3570.S84 W6 1991
813’.54—dc20
91-21006
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