A Flower’s Shade (9 page)

Shamelessly, Zha asked, "I suppose you weren't expecting me?"

Miss Yu ignored him.

With the same shameless expression, he went on, "I just knew you were still angry at me."

Miss Yu sat suddenly upright and glowered at Zha, "Why should I be angry at you? You deserve it, anyway. What makes you think you can come here?"

Zha said, "Me? I've been meaning to come see you, but I was worried you'd tear a strip off me."

Miss Yu laughed coldly and said, "Why should I tear a strip off you?"

As Huaifu handled the opium set, he listened carefully but with discretion to what Miss Yu and Zha said to one another. He wondered about this overdressed man, but could not guess his purpose. Every now and then, Huaifu stole a look at him.

"And who is this?" Zha said, looking askance at Huaifu.

Miss Yu understood what the look in Zha's eyes meant. She didn't care for that kind of look, and so she deliberately sought to mislead him, "Who do you think it is?" she said, mysteriously, leaving him guessing. He lost his color and observed for a moment, then gave himself a pensive look, thought a moment, shook his head, and said he couldn't guess. Miss Yu said: "You can say what you're thinking, if you have a guess, be brave enough to say so. You can say anything, whatever you like."

Zha laughed and said he didn't dare to shoot in the dark. Miss Yu sneered at him, "Go ahead, I dare you, ha! You think I don't know how you've worked it all out in your head? Huaifu, you ought to know who this man is. Let me tell you, this gentleman is the most renowned eligible young bachelor in this town of ours. Once upon a time, my father even wanted me to marry him. But he's such a lofty fellow, how could I ever aspire to reach such heights?" As she spoke she fell back onto the opium bed and gestured to Huaifu to continue blowing the smoke for her. She closed her eyes and spoke in a desultory fashion, "Liangzhong, why don't you have a puff or two?" Having spoken, she opened her eyes, and stared directly at Zha. Her intent gaze made him feel deeply ill at ease. Miss Yu laughed and remarked, "I know this thing scares you. Wasn't that the reason that the Zhas didn't want me as a daughter-in-law, because of my opium habit?"

Zha Liangzhong chuckled in embarrassment.

Miss Yu did not let up, saying, "What's so funny?"

Liangzhong changed the subject. "Where were you this morning, Miss Yu? You know, I've already been here once today, and was surprised to hear that you'd gone out."

"What's it to you, if I go out or not?" said Miss Yu, preventing him from changing the subject, and now fixing him with an unswerving stare, "You tell me. Was it or was it not on account of my opium habit that you Zhas dislike me?"

Liangzhong shook his head and said, "That's all in the past now. Anything you like, but don't let's bring all that up again."

Miss Yu glared at him, saying, "Why shouldn't I talk about it? You Zhas broke off the engagement, didn't you? Why shouldn't I bring it up again? Why ever not?"

Huaifu was listening carefully, but only half-understood. Even back at Yaoshan Village he had known that Miss Yu had been engaged to a man of comparable rank, and that the man or his family had broken the engagement, so that she had become an unmarriageable spinster. Everyone in Yaoshan knew this, and spoke of it as a good joke. Preoccupied with their conversation, Miss Yu had already forgotten all about the opium he was supposed to be blowing for her. For many years, she had awaited such an opportunity to blow off some steam. The Zhas and Zhens were very different families, although both were the great clans of the little town. Liangzhong's father cared a great deal about reputation, and just as the Zhen Estate began gradually to fall apart and go downhill, the Zhas were acquiring a distinguished reputation, and the entire family had moved to the provincial capital. For a time, Liangzhong's father had come into money due to his position as a high official, which apparently was only a little short of being governor. But before long, he had lost his ceremonial cap, and even his family property had been confiscated.

Liangzhong said sadly, "Don't let's talk about my family. In those days, it turned my dad's head, too. I'm afraid you already know that after my father lost his position, we Zhas have suffered an unspeakable fall."

Long before, when the Zha Family's fall had first reached her ears, Miss Yu had prepared a few choice words. For years, she had been awaiting the opportunity to speak them. But they had been kept inside too long, and the proud and angry Miss Yu had bitterly endured the wait for the moment of vengeance. Now Liangzhong had become the author of his own downfall, setting himself up for humiliation. Miss Yu deliberately pretended not to have really understood what he had said, although it could be seen at a glance that she was pretending: "You mean you Zhas have suffered a fall too? That's strange, since no one in your family smokes opium, and you're not like my father and my brother, with all their wives and concubines. Aren't you Zhas so different? So why should your family decline?"

A
large ceramic bathtub was being unloaded from the ship. The docks were empty, no one was about. There was a sudden downpour and the two workers unloading the bathtub were soaked in the blink of an eye, the sopping clothing sticking to their strong bodies, and delineating the firm muscles beneath. The old-fashioned bathtub was really very heavy, and only sturdy men could have lifted it. In the downpour, the boatmen lifted the tub under Huaifu's direction and carried it to the Estate. The rain was very hard, and outside the Estate gates the boatmen were compelled to rest a minute, placing the tub on its side and pouring out the rainwater that had accumulated inside. "This thing's as heavy as a coffin." one of the boatmen mumbled.

Miss Yu had ordered the bathtub especially from Shanghai, and it was said that it was an imported American product. Miss Yu had found out about the bathtub from a magazine she had read before her father's death. There had been an advertisement on the back cover, with an enormous ceramic tub in which lay a bare-shouldered foreign girl. The advertisement had provoked her interest, and when the full powers of the Zhen Estate had come into her hands, she had unhesitatingly written to the address in the advertisement. Thus, the Shanghai dealership had not only filled her order, but had even sent people all the way there to deliver the goods.

Once the bathtub was installed, Miss Yu took Huaifu to admire her new bathroom. After the renovation, the bathroom looked at first glance rather incongruous. In the spacious Chinese-style room there was now a lonely, thoroughly Western-style bathtub. Since there was no hot and cold running water, and no sewer system, the bathtub drain had to be plugged with a large wooden plug, never to be removed. In front of the bathtub was a cloth curtain, which was fortunate, for without it the bathroom would have seemed even emptier.

Miss Yu drew the curtain back and forth several times and then felt for the wooden plug. She tried to force it out, but of course it did not cede. Miss Yu was excitedly admiring her bathtub while Huaifu stood behind her, looking wretchedly at the curves of her body. Miss Yu belonged to the voluptuous type, and when she bent at the waist, her behind resembled a fully-inflated rubber ball. Even though she was clothed, he still felt that there was the dread of crime about it. The idea of Miss Yu bathing in this tub was enough to throw him into distraction.

Fourth had already boiled the water, and now he brought out a bucket of steaming water. Huaifu fixed his eyes on the water that the man now poured into the tub. The tub was so large that the bucketful of water only just covered the surface of the bottom of the tub. Fourth turned around to fetch more water, and Huaifu emerged from his daze, offering to help fetch more hot water.

When Huaifu saw Miss Yu again, she was already coming out of the bathroom. Having just finished her bath, she was now even prettier, her face a deep red, her hair all but soaked. Huaifu had been waiting, bored to tears, but as soon as he saw Miss Yu, he approached her submissively. Miss Yu went up to her dressing table, picked up a comb, and looked at her reflection as she combed her hair. Looking at her reflection in the mirror had been Miss Yu's habit since childhood. She liked to examine herself in the mirror, trying out various coquettish expressions.

Miss Yu wound her hair into the two thick braids she had seen on the girl student, and counterfeited an expression of innocence. It was an extremely fake innocence, and looked ludicrous instead. Huaifu pottered about, unwilling to go out. He came up behind Miss Yu and looked her. Her eyes shifted to Huaifu's reflection in the mirror. Huaifu saw that she was looking at him, and hastened to move away.

Miss Yu said, "Why are you always leering at me?"

Huaifu pretended not to have heard.

"Hey, Huaifu, I'm asking you a question!"

It was like a sudden awakening for Huaifu. In the mirror, he looked foolishly at Miss Yu. His simplicity made her laugh. The two of them looked at one another in the mirror, Miss Yu grinning, Huaifu rather ill at ease on account of her laughter.

"Do you think I'm very beautiful?"

Instantly blushing, Huaifu stammered, "Cousin, I guess, you're very beautiful."

"Who says I'm not as pretty as that girl, that student." Miss Yu said broodingly, looking at herself in the mirror. She thought of the coldness with which Xiaoyun had treated her, once he had seen that girl student, and her heart filled with bile. "What's so amazing about her? Just because she's been to those modern schools for a day or two."

Huaifu could not immediately recall who the girl student was. He just looked dumbly at Miss Yu, his eyes full of confusion. In his eyes, it went without saying that Miss Yu was the most beautiful woman alive. Ever since he had come into the Estate, there had been only one person, from beginning to end, and that was Miss Yu. He was perfectly willing to endure her teasing, he was willing to occupy this position somewhere between a butler and a servant, for he worshiped her as one worships a goddess.

"Go fetch Xiaoyun," Miss Yu commanded him, rather angrily. "Just tell him I need him for something."

Huaifu went obediently off to fetch Xiaoyun, as Miss Yu had commanded.

X
iaoyun was living in his sister's quarters. Huaifu could not be certain if he was there or not, but since these were Miss Yu's orders he dared not disobey, he could not disobey. As he was about to walk into Suqin's courtyard, Huaifu heard a familiar male voice saying something.

The familiar voice belonged to Zha Liangzhong, whom Huaifu had met the one time. The reason for Zha's reappearance in the Zhen Estate was very simple. It was to marry the daughter of the house. The once glorious Zha Family now had nothing at all, and the idle, dandified Zha Liangzhong had fallen so low that he now ran about trying to evade his creditors. He had suddenly realized that he must not let this opportunity escape; Miss Yu was the saving straw for him to grasp at. Since he had brutally rebuffed him, it occurred to him that he could try his luck here with Suqin. He believed himself very skilled at managing women, and of course he hoped that Suqin could play matchmaker for him. If she was willing to help, she would certainly be a stiff adversary, for though Miss Yu was capricious, she knew nothing of the world.

Just then Zha Liangzhong was standing in the courtyard speaking to Suqin. Both were laughing, and seemed to be getting along fine, one remark leading to another, growing more and more intimate. Xiaoyun was standing a little distance away, wearing his dark glasses, his face expressionless. He stood under the eaves and was playing with the bird in his cage. Because the conversation between Suqin and Zha Liangzhong had become too intimate, had almost become frivolous, Xiaoyun turned his head to watch his sister Suqin. Suqin sensed his displeasure and realized that some of what she had said might have been excessive. She smiled to cover her embarrassment and said, "Xiaoyun, whenever I see the way you look with those tilted glasses, it makes me want to laugh." As she said this, she was still looking at Zha Liangzhong. All of the muscles on Xiaoyun's solemn face constricted and he blurted out, "What's so laughable about the way I look?"

Huaifu had not gone inside right away, but had stood erect and motionless like a tree, eavesdropping on the conversation in the courtyard. The people in the courtyard seemed not to have noticed his presence. Huaifu was naturally introverted, and had always liked to eavesdrop on people's conversations and spy on people's secrets. Once he became part of the Zhen Estate, this bad habit had become worse and worse, and without intending to, he found himself always monitoring people.

"My brother's the same, he's not a kid anymore, but he refuses to find himself a serious occupation." she said off-handedly to Liangzhong, "A young man like that, playing all day with his birds."

Xiaoyun continued playing with the birds, "Who says I refuse to find something to do? But you tell me, sister, what kind of serious occupation is there that's worth my doing?"

Suqin said, "I just can't see how you can have studied for so long and not find anything suitable to do!"

Xiaoyun said with assurance, "You can't believe it, and neither can I."

"The young master Xiaoyun is quite right." Liangzhong said, taking the opportunity to currying favor with Xiaoyun. "These days, the greater your capacities, and the broader your learning—alas, the harder it is to find something suitable."

Suqin said in disbelief, "Hard to find something! If you really looked, you'd find something." It was just then that she saw Huaifu entering the courtyard. Huaifu greeted her as befitted her rank. Then he walked directly over to Xiaoyun. Having almost reached him, he said that Miss Yu had asked for him. Huaifu's sudden appearance dampened the mood for Suqin, who had been enjoying the banter. Seldom was she this happy, so the timing was unfortunate. Suqin didn't know what Miss Yu wanted with Xiaoyun, or why Miss Yu couldn't have come herself. She questioned Huaifu with some hostility. Huaifu glanced at the bird hopping in its cage, and replied respectfully, "Of course I don't know why the young lady wishes to see the young master."