Bride of the Moso Prince (20 page)

             
“That old head, always had his luck with women.”

             
Sharon couldn’t hold her laughter any longer. To her relief, Namu and Charlene also laughed.

             
“See, you were jealous of the Empress!” Charlene smiled, “and you den
ied
it last time.”

             
“I wasn’t!” Naruma coughed, choked by
the smoke, “otherwise I would
take care of her daughter when she was away. But I had problem with all his other women, they were all worthless. Look at the children they bore him. He could have made better use of his juice on me.
”

             
Namu and Charlene giggled again. And when Sharon realized what ‘juice’ meant, she giggled with them.

             
“She’s not bragging,” Charlene said to her sister, “Naruma’s family is known for their beauty genes.”

             
“No doubt about it!” Sharon nodded and looked at Namu. She wondered at that moment: how does Nobul feel about this Moso Beauty?

“
But Sadama is different. She turned out to be a beautiful girl… and her boys are fine
. That Nobul is a killer, very much like that son of a bitch.”

Namu was still giggling when she asked the old woman, “Are you saying that my grandpa was handsome?”

“
What
a question
!
If he weren’t handsome why would I go to bed with him?”

             
Naruma’s enraged look and her frank answer made the y
oung women
giggle again.
She herself also laughed, “Forgive me. Even though I’m a hundred and two years old. I still remember those trifles from youth. Memories don’t go away as you age. Instead you live on them… Help yourself with the flower seeds. We had a good year.”

             
She urged Sharon and Charlene, and then her eyes lingered on Sharon again,

             
“Ah, talking about Nobul, I’ve just gotten a peculiar premonition.” Her eyes never left Sharon’s face as she spoke, “History might repeat itself…if I’m right about it…may goddess help you, Namu!”

             
“Grandmother!” Namu protested. But the old woman shrugged, still kept her eyes on Sharon.

             
Sharon shook her head and decided that there was no need to be reserved with the frank old woman. “Naruma,” She said, meeting the piercing eyes of the old woman, “I’m very much flattered by being compared with the late Empress, but I’m not her, and I’m not interested in her grandson either.”

             
“You see, the same pride, same spirit,” the old woman laughed, “I like it. But don’t be so sure of yourself, young woman. Being a hundred years old, I can see things that you can’t!”

             
As the old woman let out a puff of smoke, Sharon tried to read her fortune in the white curls that she imagined being the strokes of the character “fate” in Chinese.

             
The next day Sharon was able to do some work.
             

             
At dinner Charlene said to Sharon, “Now you have a reason to stay. We’re going to have visitors tomorrow. The Ethnic Cultural Conference which I had missed because of my vertigo closed yesterday and a bunch of people decided to come here. My advisor, Dr. Lewis and Dr. Yang from University of Beijing are coming here tomorrow and th
e rest of them
including my friend Becky will come the
day after. They will have
a
scenery
conference
for a couple days
.”

             
“What does it have to do with me?”
Sharon had met some of Charlene’s school friends at a party. They were all well-behaved, smart kids, but all they would talk about were theories and hypotheses, which Sharon had little to say.

             
“You can help to entertain them.”

             
“But they have the whole village for that purpose.”
             
“Come on, Sharon. Dr. Lewis can’t speak Chinese and Dr. Yang doesn’t speak English well. I would be really busy talking, don’t you think?

             
Sharon sighed. There goes her plan of leaving early. But somehow she was not entirely disappointed.

             
Dr. Lewis and Dr. Yang arrived in the morning the next day. Dr. Yang was in his fifties. He had small statue and grey hair. Under a pair of gold rim glasses, his small intelligent eyes gleamed.
He was wearing a blue shirt and grey cotton pants and looked serious.
Dr. Lewis however, did not look like a college professor
at all
.
Although his blond hair was turning grey, his blue eyes were enormous and he had a boyish look about him.
He was skinny and tall, wearing a black T shirt with a picture of primate evolution in white printed in the front, and the letter “Darwin” printed on the back. Under his skinny leg blue jeans, he wore a pair of pointed toe boots.
Sharon guessed that he couldn’t be more than forty.
He was handsome, and a bit ‘cool,’ but
she couldn’t detect any “brillian
ce” t
hat according
to
Charlene, had been responsible for the adoration of numerous female students, herself probably included.

The professors were restless. As soon as they had arrived they asked Charlene to take them to visit the village. Under Charlene’s request, Sharon went with them. The houses were more or less the same as
Naruma’s
.  In fact, according to Charlene, all the houses in the village were built to the same plan.

In the afternoon Charlene suggested that they should go hiking in Gemu mountain and see the famous Gemu Cave. The two professors were delighted by the idea, and so was Sharon.

There was a hiking trail along the lake, newly built by the villagers, to benefit the tourists and hikers in the region. Having a fantastic view on the side, it was hard to keep one’s eyes looking straight ahead while walking. The lake was not just a lake, but contained a whole copy of the world around it, including the turquoise sky, the silver clouds, and the pine green mountains. Islands floated in the middle had the company of their own reflections. Even the sun was admiring itself in the lake.
Some villagers were gathering algae on boats, cheerfully singing and laughing.
On the far end, Gemu the goddess was looking over them.

Breath-taking, Sharon thought as they went, greedily absorbing the scenery. Then she spotted Empress Island and her fragile content was all destroyed. Nobul, where on earth was he? Sadama told them over dinner that he had gone to Lijiang fo
r a new contract. It had been more than two
day
s
already, wasn’t it time to come back? And why was she expecting that jerk to come back at all?

What a paradise!” Dr. Yang
, who hadn’t talked much, suddenly
exclaimed when the four of them were resting on their way.
And after awhile he composed a poem:

The m
ountains
embrace
the lake,

And the lake reflects the mountains.

Leaves of boat
s
float on
silver
clouds
,

And happy Moso sing in golden rays
.

Oh,
Goddess Gemu
must
be jealous:

T
heir world is a
true
paradise!

Sharon
clapped her hands
and Charlene
whistled as the professor read the last line.
They translated it into English for Dr. Lewis. He offered his praises and said, “Charlene always told me that it’s heaven on earth here. I
doubted it at first but now I
must
say I
agree with her. You’re lucky to do your thesis here, Charlene.”

“Of course!” Charlene said, “
B
ut I didn’t expect it. In fact I
was
expecting
the worst. Ask my sister, she tried to stop me from coming, telling me that I would have to use
the
outhou…”

“Stop it.” Sharon interrupted her sister.

“
She did?
” Dr. Lewis
guessed the rest
, “but now, I’m sure she’s thankful that you brought her here. Am I right, Sharon?”

Sharon nodded, “Yes. I am now. But just a few days ago I was worried sick.”

“Well, since Charlene has recovered, there is no need to worry. Just enjoy your stay.” Dr. Lewis put his hand on Sharon’s shoulder, “It’s a
perfect place to fall in love, don’t you think?”

Sharon didn’t answer, but smiled uncomfortably
. Dr. Lewis was very unscrupulous in his language, and very un-professor like, in her opinion.

While Charlene and Dr. Yang started to speak in Chinese about the lives of the Moso, Dr. Lewis seemed to be interes
ted in Sharon’s life. Deliberately
keeping a distance between them and the other pair, he asked about her web-designing work, about what kind of books she read, what movies she liked, and even what kind of food she preferred in the
U.S.
. Finally he asked her whether she had a boyfriend.

“No,” Sharon answered reluctantly
. She was offended by that personal question. After all, they were not much more than strangers.

“How come? An attractive young woman like you?”

Sharon was confused momentarily. She knew from Charlene that anthropologists had a habit of being nosy, but she wasn’t his research subject. Besides, there was a flicker in Dr. Lewis’ eyes, and Sharon interpreted it as lust. She was annoyed and somewhat disgusted and wanted to ignore that question. But thinking that he was Charlene’s advisor, she repressed her anger. 

“I was busy, that’s all.” She quickened her pace, thinking that the proximity to the other members in the party might deter further personal questions from Dr. Lewis.

I see,” Dr. Lewis said quickly as he kept up with her, “then I must suggest you use your vacation wisely.”

Sharon rolled her eyes and didn’t respond to that comment.

But her silence did not discourage the persistent professor. He insi
sted to tell her about himself and
filled Sharon’s ears with the boring details of his res
earch on gender differences
on mate preferences.

“Women prefer successful, wealthy men, and a man’s age or look is less important to them. But to a man, a young and beautiful woman is the most attractive. Therefore, a man normally marr
ies
a younger woman, while a woman rarely marr
ies
a younger man.
This is a result
of biological evolution. In a pre-historical world, a woman who preferred a man rich in resources had more chances to raise healthy children, and
these children, would in term
pass down
the gene
s
that carried such preference. On the other hand, a man who preferred
an older woman
didn’t have a chance to pass down that kind of genes.
”

           
Sharon had not
only
heard the theory from Charlene, but had also read about it
in the
magazines. She always thought it offensive.
Although she
felt annoyed, after a moment’s pause,
she
responded
, “Didn’t Elizabeth Taylor marry a man twenty years younger than her?”

          
Dr. Lewis shrugged, “A rare example.”

         
“
There are plenty others,” Sharon
retorted
, “
Edith Piaf,
Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon,
Madonna, L
orraine Brocco, Norma Shearer  …
”

    
     
“Ok, there are exceptions,” Dr. Lewis
relented
, “But I’m not saying that this kind of marriages do not exist. I’m saying that it’s not the norm.
It’s an
abnormal
behavior, excuse my bluntness.
You have to agree with me that not many people think old women are attractive, while it’s different with old men. It’s not surprising to see a twenty year old woman being madly in love with a sixty year old man, but it’s rare to see a twenty year old man madly in love with a sixty year old woman.”

    
    
He sounded convincing, but Sharon argued nonetheless: “I don’t think this is a result of evolution.
I think culture plays a role.  On TV and in books, we
saw
examples of young women falling in love with older men, but seldom
saw
the opposite, therefore our thoughts and behaviors
were
influenced.”