Courtesans and Opium

by AnonYMous

  Maid Zhang was standing beside him filling the pipe when she heard him say this, and now she spoke up: “There’s no need to say those things, sir. Every married couple has their quarrels. What our Miss Paria gave you was good advice, well meant, but you took it the wrong way. You two have been close for some time, and not only does she have no other client today, even if she did, she wouldn’t keep him once you came along.”

  Paria’s reaction to what Yuan said was to sit on his lap and tweak his ear. “I don’t know why you shouldn’t take good advice when it’s offered. You merely had a quarrel with your wife, and I encouraged you to have a little rest and then go on home, but you had to come out with these totally uncalled-for remarks. If you stay here, all that will happen is that your lady will curse me a bit more behind my back.”

  “Take your hand away! Tell me this: why would she curse you?”

  “Don’t try to deceive me. She’ll curse one person after another, even me.” After she had joked with Yuan You for some time, his anger gradually subsided.

  “We’ve been talking a lot of nonsense. Tell me: have you had any supper?”

  “I did have some, but then I lost my stupid temper, and now I feel hungry again.”

  She had someone bring some pastries for him. “I can’t understand how you were able to hit your own wife,” she said with a smile.

  “Now you know what a terrible person I am! If you marry me, you’ll get the same treatment.”

  “Go ahead, then! And keep right on going—past my door! You must be joking!”

  “Don’t be so cheeky. One of these days I’ll try out my sturdy weapon on you, and then you’ll learn just how terrible I am!”

  “Stop! You’re making me laugh. I’ve had some experience with that sturdy weapon of yours. It may look like metal, but it’s really made of wax.” Bantering like this, they made ready for bed.

  During the night, she told him explicitly about her desire to marry him. “I know your parents are dead, that you have no brothers or sisters, and that you have no fiancé, only an uncle,” he replied. “I wonder how much he would want. Let me be frank with you. Although I do have a little money, it’s all tied up in loans, which can’t be recalled at short notice. If you do marry me, I’ll also have to find another house and furnish it, and for the time being I can’t afford that. We’ll just have to wait and consider this later.”

  “Although my uncle has had charge of me for several years, I’ve also made quite a lot of money for him. I’ve calculated that we should offer him between seventy and eighty silver dollars when he comes. Whether he agrees or not, he will still need my cooperation. He can’t sentence me to a lifetime in the business! I can’t spend my whole life making money for him. If he gives me a hard time, I’ll enroll in Chastity House, and then he’ll lose both me and the money!”

  “Chastity House is easy to get into, but if you want a man in bed with you at night, it’ll be hard to find one at short notice. That would be really hard to bear!”

  “Look, we’ve been together for months, you and I, and even you don’t understand me! There’s nothing on earth so bitter as a life of prostitution. Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of it these last few years? I can’t wait to find some pure, clean place where I can enjoy a few years of carefree happiness. If I could do that, I’d die content.”

  “What you’re saying sounds fine, but I’m afraid you don’t really mean it. If you marry me, you’ll soon get jealous like that shrew of mine. Wouldn’t that be a sorry fate for me!”

  “If words aren’t evidence enough for you, let’s clap hands on it.” She held her right hand out of the bedclothes, while he held out his left hand, and they clapped hands together and each made a vow. Everything was now settled. They would wait until Paria’s uncle arrived in Yangzhou and then give him the money; he would sign a document, and she would marry Yuan You. Paria repeatedly urged Yuan You to find a house lest, when the time came, they should find themselves with nowhere to go. They spent the whole night talking and did not fall asleep until dawn.

  They slept on until the sun was high in the sky. Yuan You got up, washed, ate some lotus seeds, and left for the Futura teahouse, where he found the brothers drinking tea. They hailed him and invited him to join them, and the waiter poured him a cup of tea. Wu Zhen noticed the two scratches on Yuan You’s cheek and had a fair idea that they resulted from a domestic squabble. “Brother Yuan, who have you been taking on?” he asked. “Who’s been picking on you? Tell us, and we’ll go and settle the score for you.”

  If you are wondering how Yuan You replied, please turn to the next chapter.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  A brothel turns a cold face toward an insolvent client,

  And a prodigal shows a foolish heart in a passionate dream.

  When Wu Zhen noticed the two scratches on Yuan You’s cheek and asked who he had been quarreling with, Yuan sighed. “Dirty linen shouldn’t be washed in public, I know, but yesterday a friend asked me to lend him a few taels, and when I went home last night to collect them, my shrew of a wife not only hid the money, she said a whole lot of vicious things to me. That made me angry, and I lost my temper and grabbed her hair and was about to hit her. We were flailing away at each other when her hand struck my face and left me with these scratches. I threw her on the ground and hit her many times with my fists, but then my father intervened, and I stopped. I’ve been stewing over it all night. I’m telling you this, brothers, but you mustn’t laugh at me.”

  “Of course not,” said Wu Zhen. “But show me a marriage that doesn’t have its troubles. I don’t mean to criticize, Brother, but you and I both go out and play around, and often we don’t go home, so we do bear some of the blame. Women have narrow concerns. Because of my liking for amusement, my own wife keeps tight control of our money; she’s afraid I’ll squander it—and that’s a good thing. Brother, you shouldn’t have been so rash as to raise your hand against your wife. You were wrong there. ‘What’s ruined is the marriage.’ Brother, I beg of you, don’t do it again.” The others also chimed in with good advice, which Yuan You accepted.

  When they had had their breakfast, Yuan You pulled Lu Shu aside. “About that matter we discussed yesterday, you’ll have to wait another two or three days. That’ll give me a chance to go out and collect a couple of interest payments, which I’ll put together for you.”

  “My problems have caused you trouble in your marriage, and I feel terrible about it.”

  “Not at all! That shrew has quarreled with me before. She didn’t start her nagging on your account.” They returned to the teahouse, exchanged some conversation with the others, and then went their separate ways.

  Because he had not received the loan from Yuan You, Lu Shu went back to the Yichang Guesthouse, had lunch, and then sent Felix off to pawn several items of clothing for a dozen taels. At the money shop he changed some of the money into several thousand cash and told Felix to pay for their room and board and keep the rest for incidental expenses. He took the remaining ten taels to the Jinyulou, where he went up to Fragrance’s room and sat down. Seeing him arrive, Mother Xiao promptly followed him upstairs and asked for money. He took out the ten taels and said, “Take this for now. When my money arrives, I’ll come and see you.”

  She took the money. “Master Lu, as I’ve told you several times, I was hoping you would pay me several dozen taels. I simply can’t tell you how many expenses depend on your money. And now, after all this time, you give me ten taels! It’s utterly useless. What can I do with it?”

  “Take it for now, and I’ll bring you some more soon.”

  Muttering “Please do! Please do!” she made her way downstairs again.

  “What about that headband I asked for?” said Fragrance.

  “My money hasn’t come in yet, so how can I get you your headband?”

  “Oh, that’s my mistake—I should never have made such a pointless request. If you had any money to spend, you’d want to give it to that soul mate of your
s. You and I, we just scrape along as lovers in name only.”

  “It makes me mad to hear you say that!” exclaimed Lu Shu in exasperation. “When I was still at home, perhaps I did play the field, but in Yangzhou you’re the only one I’ve ever loved. I’m ready to swear to it. Don’t be so sarcastic.”

  “Don’t pretend to be upset, Master Lu. You’re a decent man, and I maligned you just now. But if you leave me even for a moment, I always imagine that you’re doing something on the sly, particularly now that you’re living in a different place. If you’re happy with her, of course you’ll pick out something that she’s set her heart on in order to please her. By rights, I oughtn’t to criticize you at all. If I want something from you, no matter how I ask, it’s up to you whether to get it for me or not. As the saying goes, ‘Let the tempest rage, the ship will not leave port.’ From now on I shan’t bring it up again. Don’t be angry with me.”

  Furious as Lu Shu was, he couldn’t very well say anything lest he be laughed at. Now deeply depressed, he lay down on her bed and pretended to sleep. Fragrance did not play any little tricks on him, as she would have done in the past; she simply let him sleep there on his own. A pipe between her teeth, she went off to Cloud’s and Lute’s rooms to chat. When supper was laid out on the table in her room, the maid had to call her several times before she came and, with marked indifference, ate her supper in Lu Shu’s company. Then she washed her hands and face, reapplied her makeup, and, with the pipe again clenched between her teeth, went back to Lute’s room, leaving Lu Shu lonely and forlorn.

  The sight was too much for the maid, who came forward solicitously and replenished the pipe and offered him tea. She also tried to find some small talk to distract him with. At the second watch, feeling bored, he asked her to make up the bed so that he could sleep. Only when the clock struck two did Fragrance finally come to bed. Lu Shu made some tentative overtures, but she angrily repulsed him, and as a result they slept in the same bed but not together.

  A few days later, Yuan You borrowed ten taels and gave them to Lu Shu, who handed two to Fragrance for incidental expenses and the other eight to Mother Xiao. “I do have some understanding of how things are, despite the fact that I’ve been dunning you for money,” she said. “But with you here all the time, Miss Fragrance cannot take on any other clients. My daughter Cloud is pregnant and can’t take too many these days. Lute is supposed to be indentured, but how many overnights can she do in a month? I owe a lot of rent, and the landlord is pressing me for payment. If I can’t pay him the next time, we’ll have to move out, and then we won’t even have a place to live. The firewood shop, the rice shop, the butcher’s stall, the fish stall, the distillery, the wine shop, the fruit and general stores—they’re all demanding money from me every day. There are also the monthly interest payments, the high-interest payments to the Huizhou moneylenders, payoffs to the runners, gratuities, invitations, and so on. To run this accursed place, you need several thousand cash every day just to get by. And there’s one other big concern: Miss Lute will soon be coming to the end of the term, and her family will be here to collect the new payment. I was hoping that you would give me several dozen taels, to help with various odds and ends and leave a few taels over to go toward Miss Lute’s payment. Instead, you wait a few days and give me these nine or ten taels! If you want me to tot it up for you, you’ve had all those overnights, and you’ve eaten many meals here. I feel as if I’m ‘carrying a load of straw on a rainy day; the further I go, the heavier it gets.’ Now, sir, please be good enough to come up with a complete solution, one that will clear up all your debts and help me out. Otherwise, I won’t be able to carry on. I’m being hounded by creditors, and you’re one of our long-term patrons, as everybody knows. Why, you’re embarrassed about it yourself. Just think for a moment, sir: am I right or not?”

  She turned to Fragrance. “Miss Fragrance, I don’t mean to criticize, but as a member of our staff, you know the trouble that I’ve been in for days now. You ought to speak to Master Lu about it and ask him to help me. One word from you would be worth ten of mine.”

  “Don’t blame me, godmother! Not a day goes by that I don’t speak to him about it.”

  The two women went on and on until Lu Shu lost patience. “Look, there’s no need to go on pestering me like this. Give me a day or two, and I’ll clear up all my debts.”

  “May Buddha grant you several sons with large heads!” Mother Xiao stood up and repeated her exhortations before finally going downstairs again.

  Lu Shu remained in her room, but Fragrance treated him like a new client. She didn’t even exchange any quips with him, and she spent more time amusing herself in the other rooms than in her own. At night, when she finally got into bed, she said, “Give the stinking old bag a few more damn taels, why don’t you, and spare us all her pestering. When you left here the last time, she kept on at me, saying I wasn’t helping her get the money from you—a whole lot of unbearable accusations. I’m not used to hearing such hateful things from her. Look, do me a favor, will you? Just give her the money tomorrow. That would do it! You and I would be on good terms, and I wouldn’t have to suffer.” Lu Shu knew that his money had all been spent and that it was impossible to pay Mother Xiao, but he couldn’t say so to Fragrance and was forced to give her a vague promise instead.

  The next morning, after he had washed, Fragrance said, “I had no change left yesterday, and I didn’t send anyone out for lotus seeds. You’d better go to a teahouse on the Parade for breakfast and bring some money with you when you return.”

  Feeling highly uncomfortable, Lu Shu left Fragrance’s room and went downstairs, only to be confronted by Mother Xiao. “Master Lu, please help me with that matter we spoke about. I need to pay people.” Lu Shu agreed and went off to the Futura teahouse.

  The others were already there. Lu Shu exchanged greetings and joined them in drinking tea. He was depressed, quite unlike his usual self. The others noticed his apathetic manner and asked the reason. He gave them a detailed account of how Mother Xiao had pressed him for money, how Fragrance had cold-shouldered him, and just what she had said.

  “Now do you believe what I told you the other day?” asked Jia Ming. “If you still don’t believe me, try staying away for three days and then going back on the fourth day with nothing to offer. See how they treat you then, and you’ll understand, all right. As for the way Mother Xiao and Fragrance are treating you now, that’s how all these places deal with their clients—they always play these games before ending the relationship.” Lu Shu was in two minds as to what to do. He was still in love with Fragrance, but because Mother Xiao kept pressing him for money that he didn’t have, he couldn’t visit her. It was impossible for him to see her and equally impossible to stay away.

  After they had had breakfast, Jia Ming, knowing what was on Lu Shu’s mind, invited them all to Qiang Da’s for lunch. Because there was no client in Cassia’s room, they were ushered in there, and the maid replenished the tobacco and offered them tea. Wu Zhen and Jia Ming lit the opium lamp and began to smoke. Jia Ming called Sanzi in and said, “Go to the Jinyulou and fetch Miss Fragrance. Tell her Master Lu is waiting for her.”

  Sanzi was gone a long time. “Miss Fragrance wasn’t in,” he said on returning. “She’s gone off to the Jin compound on an assignment.” Jia Ming gave a skeptical smile. He understood the reason; they were afraid Lu Shu did not have the money to pay for an assignment and would only become an even greater burden to them, so they had concocted this excuse. He nodded but did not pursue the point.

  They ate their lunch, and that evening Wei Bi hosted a party. Jia Ming, Wu Zhen, Yuan You, and Wei Bi each had his favorite next to him, and there was much joking and hearty drinking. Only Lu Shu, who remembered how he had been at Fragrance’s side morning, noon, and night for months, sat silent and alone, morosely drinking to drown his sorrows, and after several cups he was a little drunk. As he took his leave, the party was still going on. The others knew his state of mind and cou
ld scarcely insist that he stay, so, after arranging to meet the next day at the Futura, they let him go off with Felix. Once they had seen him to the door, they went back and resumed their carousing.

  With Felix in attendance, Lu Shu left Qiang Da’s, but because he had no money he could not go and see Fragrance. On returning to his room at the Yichang, he sat staring at the solitary lamp in utter dejection. He told Felix to use the bedding as a pallet and go off to sleep, while he himself sat alone, his mind ever more gloomy and confused. He lay down on the bed with his clothes still on and thought of how when he arrived in Yangzhou he had spent every day with Fragrance, and how infinitely loving and passionate she had been, whereas now he had to sleep on his own in miserable conditions. He tossed and turned before finally closing his eyes and drifting into oblivion.

  Fragrance was saying something to him: “Congratulations, partner, you’re going to get your wish. My uncle came today, and I explained everything to him. He wanted two hundred silver dollars. I knew you had no money at present, so I took my own private savings and gave them to him. He signed a document allowing me to marry at my own choice without his being involved in any way. You can choose an auspicious day and take me out of here, and then we’ll set off for Changshu.”

  Lu Shu was beside himself with delight. “It’s best to trust to luck in choosing a date,” he said. He at once told Felix to hire a boat and call a sedan chair as well as several porters and go to the Jinyulou. Beaming with joy, Fragrance checked her bedding and boxes and handed them to the porters, then took leave of all those in the house.