A Flower’s Shade

by Ye Zhaoyan

  Liangzhong continued on the same topic, making a big deal of his relationship to Miss Yu. "Miss Yu and I were little children. Some things happened in days gone by, I wonder whether you know about them, Master Xiaoyun?"

  "What bygone events would Xiaoyun not be likely to know?" Miss Yu's eyes were still fixed on Xiaoyun, sneering as she asked Liangzhong, "Even I don't seem to remember us being little children together. What are these bygone events you're talking about? Come on, tell me."

  Liangzhong said, hypocritically, "Miss Yu, I have never forgotten the love there was between us."

  "You tell me just what you mean." Miss Yu said angrily, "When was there any love between you and me?"

  Xiaoyun put his dark glasses back on. For him, the glasses were an important prop. As long as he had them on, he had his conceit and arrogance back. Once the glasses were on, Xiaoyun turned back and looked gravely at Miss Yu through his dark glasses. Miss Yu couldn't help laughing at the way he looked.

  Liangzhong laughed brazenly along with her.

  Miss Yu suddenly opened her eyes wide, looked at Liangzhong and teased him, "Liangzhong, are you still dreaming that I'll marry you someday?"

  "Every dream I have, is of that day!" Liangzhong said shamelessly, grasping greedily at this sentence.

  "That's fine, you just keep dreaming then." Miss Yu laughed and shot him a glance. This kind of talk about marriage always excited her, and also offered an optimal opportunity to tease Liangzhong, "Why don't you take a leak and have a look at yourself in the reflection? You think I'll marry you? I told you, I know all the filthy tricks you have up your sleeve. Ha! I know everything. Your dad didn't like me smoking opium, so he didn't want me as a daughter-in-law. But now heaven's given you your just desserts, and your family's toast. At least in the Zhen Family we're still breathing, we're still hanging on. I know what you're here for, and you think I don't. You've come running after my family property."

  Liangzhong said, "But I really do like you, with all my heart, Miss Yu."

  "What you like is money. What you like is this Estate!"

  "I understand what you mean to say, Miss Yu, it's that I'm not good enough for you. But I really am shameless, I'm a warty toad, I want to feast upon your pale swan's flesh, I do like this money, I like this Estate." Liangzhong said, thinking he might as well do away with pretense, "Let me tell you, I've been waiting for this day, waiting for the great red knot of marriage to be tied upon me. I've been waiting, thick-skinned and brazen-faced. Do you believe me?"

  This naked confession made Miss Yu laugh heartily.

  That had been Liangzhong's intent, since making a woman laugh was the first step to success in such matters. He struck his forehead and said solemnly, "See, we've been talking so much, I forgot," from his pocket he fished out a bright red poster to which he gave a flick of a wrist so that it unfurled and its black writing could be seen. "In this matter, you really have to do me the honor of your presence, The Glory Troupe is visiting our county, their big star Miss Sophie is coming too, and their performing the newest in the modern, Civilized plays. And yours truly happens to be acquainted with Miss Sophie, so you really have to come show your support. If you don't, I'll really be too humiliated. You really have to do me the honor.

  It was not difficult to convince Miss Yu. She looked with excitement at Liangzhong. While Old Master Zhen had been alive, he had invited theater troupes to perform privately at the Estate. Miss Yu had always liked that sort of artificial liveliness. Liangzhong graciously invited Xiaoyun, "Master Xiaoyun, you can come too." Xiaoyun did not express an opinion. He reacted as though he were a stranger to them, looking at Liangzhong as though he didn't quite understand what he was saying.

  Miss Yu looked at Xiaoyun and mischievously demanded, "I'll go as long as Xiaoyun keeps me company."

  7

  On the sports grounds of the middle school, on an open-air stage built for the occasion, the Civilized troupe was in lively action. In front of the stage there were rows of the better seats, made from schoolroom chairs and tables. The local gentry and some officers in military attire were sitting on the podium. Miss Yu was also sitting in a very preeminent place, and her clothing was almost excessively showy, a little garish. Xiaoyun and Huaifu were sitting on either side, and Suqin and Ai'ai were also close by. Everybody stared with excitement at the stage, while only Ai'ai wore a look of melancholy on her face. Ai'ai seemed preoccupied, actually quite unhappy. Suqin was tall and large, while Ai'ai was slender and small, so that the two of them together often looked like a mother with her daughter.

  At the right, in front of a stage, there was a long row of soldiers who had come down from the north. During that period, they were in hasty retreat. Many parts of China were suffused with the smoke and gunpowder of the fighting warlords. But this town was a little paradise, far away from the war, and though soldiers were always passing through, all they did was pass through. It seemed that the warlords, so eager to make war on each other, didn't to have the heart to go to war here, they seemed to fear that the hail of bullets would destroy the little town's peaceful atmosphere. For many years, the little town had been a place where people took refuge from the war.

  The crowd was enormous. Liangzhong was behaving as though he were a very busy man, running in and out of the crowd, strutting and swaggering about, greeting every acquaintance. From a distance, he waved at Miss Yu's party, but Miss Yu was focused the stage. Just then, Suqin lowered her head and said something to Ai'ai. When she raised her eyes, she found that her eyes met Liangzhong's gaze. He responded with an easily expression, and under the influence of his temptation, Suqin's eyes flashed improperly, too. Immediately, Liangzhong winked at her, in the manner of an experienced man. Ai'ai noticed Suqin's demeanor, and her already gloomy expression now showed signs of an irrepressible jealousy. She tugged at Suqin's sleeve, and told her to look at the play that was being performed on stage.

  An actor in the Civilized Play suddenly broke into a speech, lamenting the criminal feudal tradition of arranged marriage. He looked the part of an angry young man: in a dark long-sleeved gown, a scarf wrapped around his neck, sweating from every pore: "A marriage must be a union of love, and only love can be the reason for uniting man and woman together. Love is the greatest thing humanity has, a great creation and a great recreation. In Europe, there was Romeo and Juliet, not to mention Nana…" the actor quickly became hard to hear, and only his gestures and movements could be made out, for in the audience there had been a great disturbance. Although there was nothing more common in the Civilized Plays of those days for unrelated improvised speeches to be inserted into the play, but still no one could make out why, when everyone was performing a perfectly fine play, he was suddenly there droning away. One officer gave a peculiar shout, and then all of the soldiers were booing.

  The performance of the Civilized Play continued. Miss Sophie appeared, and the disturbance in the audience calmed down, followed by peculiar cheers. It was obvious that Miss Yu had lost interest in watching the play. She turned her head and whispered something into Xiaoyun's ear. Xiaoyun didn't understand her, so Miss Yu stooped to repeat the whisper. Now Xiaoyun understood and rose; then he and Miss Yu crept off. They had been gone quite some time before Huaifu and Suqin noticed. Suqin didn't particularly care and kept watching the renowned Miss Sophie. But a spark of uncontrollable jealousy appeared in Huaifu's eyes. He had long since noticed that Miss Yu adopted entirely different attitudes towards him and towards Xiaoyun. Her attitude towards Huaifu was like towards an obedient dog who could be commanded at will. But, consciously or unconsciously, she was always making concessions to Xiaoyun.

  Besides the rows of desks and chairs where the officers were sitting, there was also a large section of the audience that was standing to watch the show. Miss Yu and Xiaoyun squeezed their way through the crowd, and finally disappeared out of Huaifu's field of vision. At the same time, Liangzhong squeezed his way through of the crowd as well, and finding himself near her seats, he discov
ered to his disappointment that Miss Yu had already disappeared. Only Huaifu was sitting there, discomfited—as well as Suqin and Ai'ai, who were absorbed in the play. Suqin happened to turn her head and saw Liangzhong, who was just then approaching her. Too eagerly, she invited him to sit by her side. Liangzhong peered all around, took a seat, and paid Suqin some gallant attention. Suqin gave an undisguised and inappropriate laugh.

  The Civilized Play continued. There were repeated disturbances in the audience, and as for the play on stage, it had a great many incomprehensible bits. People could not understand very well what the actors were saying in their shrill voices. Huaifu left his seat, looking about for Miss Yu and Xiaoyun. He didn't know where they had gone. Extreme disappointment appeared on Huaifu's face. Everywhere he saw elated audience members, but he himself felt lost and helpless. Since he couldn't find Miss Yu, he could do little but let his eyes drift back to the place where they had been sitting where, from a distance, he made out Suqin and Liangzhong, happily chatting.

  Suqin and Liangzhong were flirting. Ai'ai, beside Suqin, began to get fidgety and watched the play with great hostility, though she couldn't help hearing them talk. Their chatter disgusted her.

  Suqin was saying, "If I were silly enough to believe everything you men tell a girl, I'd really be a fool."

  Liangzhong was saying, "Sister-in-law, cross my heart, if I ever deceived you, I'll do whatever you say."

  "What could I make you do?"

  "Whatever you liked."

  "Men are all the same, why should I believe you?"

  Liangzhong said, sincerely, "Me? I'm different from other men."

  Ai'ai turned and rolled her eyes hard at Liangzhong. Liangzhong took advantage of this, and of Suqin's momentary inattention, to wink at Ai'ai. Ai'ai turned moodily away.

  8

  Xiaoyun and Miss Yu had already reached the backstage. A group of children was playing there, and Miss Yu childishly walked straight through the group and watched the actors performing from backstage. Xiaoyun followed seriously behind her, looking at her without saying a word. Miss Yu's behavior in public places was always a little strange. Having grown up in the isolation of the Estate, she always felt curiosity and incomprehension for the outside world. Although she was no longer young, was in fact an old maid, but in front of other people, she was always doing things that weren't quite appropriate for her age. Her behavior was deformed, unruly, and thus naturally also laughable.

  Miss Sophie was on stage, acting grief. Miss Yu was watching Miss Sophie's look of blank horror. Watching the show from backstage was very different than from the front. Miss Sophie's tears flowed copiously; she had thrown herself into the role, it was like she had been possessed. On her heavily made up face, a line of tears had left traces of their passage. Miss Yu watched her, letting the play absorb her.

  Miss Sophie's role was a student who had been forced to marry a warlord. After marrying the tyrant, she was secretly meeting her old friend. Her old friend was a young student, filled with ambition and erudition, and he had given a dagger to the student that Miss Sophie was playing. The old lover had choked on tears and then cleared out, and after some very sorrowful lyricism in a particularly extended speech, she had taken out the dagger and struck it forcefully into her own bosom.

  Miss Yu blanched in fright and gave a screech. She rushed headlong onto the edge of the stage, but just as she was doing that she finally remembered that this was a show, because she saw that Miss Sophie had only stuck the dagger into her armpit. From where Miss Yu was standing, one could see very clearly the tip of the dagger sticking out in back. This struck her as utterly ridiculous, and she burst out laughing like a child.

  Xiaoyun felt that Miss Yu looked rather foolish standing at the edge of the stage. She was quite an embarrassment, since at least a portion of the audience could see, from where they were sitting, not only the show on the stage, but also Miss Yu's performance. He came up to Miss Yu and pulled her away. She didn't seem to think there was anything excessive about her behavior. Xiaoyun pulled Miss Yu away, and again they crossed through the playing children. The Civilized play really was not worth watching, and Miss Yu felt they might as well go back. She decided to return without letting the other members of their party now. Let them fuss about trying to find her after the show.

  Xiaoyun rode his bike, Miss Yu riding on the back, and they set off for home. They rode along the river, talking about one thing or another. It was a relief for Xiaoyun to leave the sports field behind, he hadn't wanted in the least to watch the play in the first place. The noisiness of the event irritated him. Miss Yu's suggestion that they go home had perfectly matched his own inclination. Practically no one was on the road. And so Miss Yu was sitting on the back of the bicycle, tightly gripping Xiaoyun's waist, like any lovely girl, smiling without a care.

  One after another, wooden boats in full sail passed them, going in the other direction. Miss Yu watched the sails with curious eyes. The boats were packed with soldiers in full uniform. There were trackers for each boat, pulling the boat from the banks. When the soldiers saw Xiaoyun and Miss Yu riding along the embankment, they made flippant gestures at them which looked a little lewd. A few of the soldiers even called out to them. Distracted, Xiaoyun began to wobble violently. Miss Yu was scared to death and fell off the bike. Xiaoyun swerved badly and nearly took a tumble himself. The soldiers on the wooden boats laughed wildly. In front of them was the little bridge they had crossed before. Xiaoyun dismounted and, with Miss Yu, pushed his bike towards the bridge.

  Xiaoyun and Miss Yu stood on the bridge and watched the boats disappear into the distance. It was a calm and sunny day, and they walked against a blue sky and white clouds. Miss Yu couldn't help remembering the girl student who had stood with Xiaoyun on that bridge to talk to him. The mobile expressions and attentive gaze of the girl again appeared before Miss Yu's eyes. Miss Yu, trying to imitate the girl's expression, asked Xiaoyun curiously, "Has the war been on out here all this time?"

  Xiaoyun felt the risibility of Miss Yu's hopelessly naïve question. The papers were incessantly reporting on the war, on the warlords' struggle for the land, a take-no-prisoners, irreconcilable fight. First it had been Duan Qirui and Wu Peifu fighting, and then it was Wu Peifu and Zhang Zuolin. They had already had a war once; but now a second war was necessary. A perfectly fine country had been riddled with holes and ravaged by disease. Xiaoyun sighed, "Ever since they got rid of the Qing Emperor, we've had nothing but wars. There's warlords everywhere, so many there's some you've probably never heard of."

  Miss Yu said, "In any case, there's no war here, right?"

  Xiaoyun said peevishly, "There's nothing good about there being no war, either."

  "So you like war." Miss Yu said, hearing the peevishness in his voice and immediately needling him, "So go join the army. No one's stopping you."

  Xiaoyun said, "Why should I join the army? The world outside is bigger than you imagine. There's lots of things you can do besides joining the army."

  As Xiaoyun spoke, they had reached the high point of the bridge. He looked into the distance, and drifted into reverie. Miss Yu knew that he had knocked about in the outside world, and looked at him with some envy. The world outside was indeed enormous, and Miss Yu understood that she knew too little. The things that were happening in the little town alone filled her with amazement. Just imagine how much was going on outside the little town, then. Another sailboat was approaching in the distance; Xiaoyun walked his bicycle down off the bridge, gesturing at Miss Yu to sit on the back. There was a wobble as he mounted the bike, and then they were on their way again.

  Miss Yu held his waist rather nervously while she thought about the outside world. She asked, carefully, "Xiaoyun, do you really mean to go away again?"

  9

  It was hard to guess what the result of any meeting between Xiaoyun and Miss Yu would be, unless it was in argument. As long as they were together, it seemed certain that an argument would arise. Thus, they made t
heir way back happily, both of them in good humour, but as they talked and talked, they nevertheless ended up fighting about nothing at all, for no reason except that they were like oil and water. They had already arrived at the gates of the Estate. Just as they were coming in and had crossed the gates, something occurred to Xiaoyun. As though something had upset him, his mood soured. He slipped back into the character of the cynical, cold and arrogant young man.

  Miss Yu didn't mind at all, she crossed excitedly back into the Estate, and turned back to say, "The show was no good today, but we had a good time." She didn't understand why Xiaoyun's face had clouded. Fine just a moment earlier, now he was suddenly angry. Xiaoyun was neurotic, and his mercurial moods were really unbearable. She had experienced this mood, and didn't want to argue with him, so she asked cautiously, "Hey, Xiaoyun, what's wrong with you?" First Xiaoyun said nothing. Evidently, he wanted to cloak his anger in silence. But he was not good at dissimulation, and so he retorted coldly, "Why, what is wrong with me?"

  "Why are you angry all of a sudden?" Miss Yu asked, looking at him.

  "What's there not to be angry about? As soon as I pass through these Estate gates, there's no way I can be happy anymore." Xiaoyun said, half-seriously.

  "But no one's offended you. Why should you be angry?"

  "Why should I be happy?" Xiaoyun said sourly. "You told me to bring you home. Well, haven't I brought you home?" He had intended to carry the bike over the threshold and into the Estate, but now he changed his mind, and stood there, immobile.

  Evidently, Xiaoyun didn't want to go into the Estate with Miss Yu. Miss Yu's pleasant mood evidently, and her short temper abruptly reappeared. In the Estate, her wish was a command, and no one dared answered her in such a wishy-washy way. Angrily, she said, "What's wrong with you? What's the big deal about you? Always lashing out at people."