by Bangqing Han
“Then go back to sleep.”
River Blossom made an affirmative noise. After a long pause, she called again. “Elder Sister, I’m afraid.”
Jade Tao cut in, “We’re both here; what is there to be afraid of?”
“There’s somebody outside the back door.”
“The back door is shut. You’re just dreaming,” he said.
After another long pause, she switched to “Brother-in-law,” saying, “I want to sleep at your end, too.”
Water Blossom answered at once, “No. Brother-in-law is kind enough to let you sleep here. You mustn’t make any more trouble.”
River Blossom, not daring to insist, fell silent. After another long pause, there came the sound of low moaning. Jade Tao said, “I’ll sleep at that end to keep her company.”
Water Blossom agreed, so he took a small pillow and turned around to sleep at the other end. Overjoyed, River Blossom folded her arms and legs close together and snuggled up into his arms. As Jade Tao did not much mind the heat, he just lifted a corner of the quilt. After she was settled, she looked up at him and asked, “Brother-in-law, what were you and Elder Sister talking about just now?”
He gave a vague answer.
“Were you talking about me?”
“Hush now. Elder Sister couldn’t sleep because of you, so stop being a nuisance.”
She finally fell silent, and the night passed uneventfully. The next day, Water Blossom was the first to wake up. Though she had had a long rest, she still felt lethargic and so remained lying in bed. By eleven o’clock, Jade Tao and River Blossom both woke up. Water Blossom immediately asked about the young girl’s fever.
Jade Tao answered for her, “It’s gone. Her temperature came down at dawn.”
River Blossom did feel quite bright and cheerful. She dressed and got out of bed together with Jade. Then she washed her face, did her hair, and ate breakfast like the lively little girl that she was. Water Blossom, on the other hand, felt physically weak and mentally drained. She might have looked her usual self to other people, but Jade Tao knew that her illness got more serious every time it recurred. He was worried but had to keep it to himself.
When lunch was served at noon, River Blossom called out in concern, “Elder Sister, get up.” Water Blossom felt too tired to answer. Though River Blossom kept calling her, she just turned a deaf ear. River Blossom shouted in alarm, “Brother-in-law, come! Why is Elder Sister not talking?”
Annoyed, Water Blossom managed to get this out, “Hush! I want to sleep.”
Jade Tao quickly dragged River Blossom away, warning her, “Now don’t kick up a fuss. Elder Sister is unwell.”
“Why is that so?”
“It’s all because of you. You passed your illness to her, and you got well.”
Greatly agitated, she pleaded, “Then tell Elder Sister to pass it back to me. I don’t mind being ill. With Brother-in-law keeping me company and Elder Sister chatting with me, I quite enjoyed it!”
Her words made him laugh. He said, “Let’s go and have lunch.” Though she did not feel like eating, she kept him company.
After lunch, Fair Sister Li came in to comfort Water Blossom. She was clearly worried. Jade Tao said, “Yesterday, we heard of a good doctor. I’d like to get him to have a look at her.”
Hearing this, Water Blossom held up her hand to object. “Your brother jokes about me always falling ill. Don’t ask him about doctors.”
“I’ll ask Vigor Qian directly,” he said. As she did not object, her mother urged him to go and see Vigor Qian.
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1. This arrangement means Second Treasure has to share her earnings with the maid and manservant as well as the sing-song house.
CHAPTER 36 :: A strange love feeds on constant squabbling, and a miracle cure depends on the good doctor
Jade Tao went by sedan chair from East Prosperity Alley to Vigor Qian’s residence on Avenue Road. He sent in his visiting card and was invited into Qian’s study, where tea was served and host and guest sat down. After the usual polite exchange, Jade brought his hands together in a salute and asked for Qian’s help to invite Second Bai Gao.
Vigor Qian gave his promise, but he then said, “Second Bai is a bit of an eccentric; there’s no telling whether he’ll agree to it. It happens that he has invited me to dinner tonight at East Co-prosperity Alley. I’ll take the opportunity to ask him in person and then send you an answer by messenger, OK?”
Jade Tao expressed his gratitude over and over again and then solemnly took his leave.
That evening, Vigor Qian waited until he had received the note to hurry him before he got into his ricksha and headed for Big Feet Yao’s in East Co-prosperity Alley. Wenjun Yao’s room was upstairs, where Constance used to be. As Vigor Qian went in, he was greeted by Elan Ge and the host, Second Bai. Taking advantage of this interlude before the arrival of other guests, Vigor Qian relayed Jade Tao’s request. As predicted, Second Bai turned him down. Thereupon Vigor Qian spoke in detail about the devotion Jade Tao and Water Blossom had shown to each other. Even Elan Ge felt deeply moved. Wenjun Yao, who was sitting to one side, jumped up and asked, “Are you speaking of Water Blossom of East Prosperity Alley? She’s deeply in love with Second Young Master Tao. I’ve seen them several times; they always come and go together. How come she’s ill?”
“She’s been ill for some time now. That’s why they want to ask your Mr. Gao to have a look at her,” said Vigor Qian.
Wenjun Yao said to Second Bai, “In that case, you’ve got to go and cure her. In the Shanghai brothels, clients and courtesans all cheat on each other; everybody’s shameless. Now, these two are truly in love, yet she’s got the rotten luck to fall ill. You must cure her so she can be held up as an example for all those shameless clients and courtesans.”
Elan Ge could not help laughing. A smiling Vigor Qian turned again to Second Bai, who had in fact made up his mind to go but still made a show of shaking his head. This made Wenjun Yao so anxious that she ran over to him and held him by his wrists, asking, “Why wouldn’t you take the case? D’you think she deserves to die?”
“I just don’t want to. Do I need a reason for it?” he said with a smile.
She glared at him and shouted, “That won’t do. If you refuse to go, you must give a reason.”
Smiling, Elan Ge intervened. “He’s fooled you, Wenjun! Once he knows about someone like Water Blossom, he’s more than happy to treat her.”
She let go of Second Bai’s hands, but her eyes were still fixed on him as she grumbled, “If you refuse to go, I’ll drag you there if I have to.”
He clapped his hands, laughing his head off. “So I’ve come under your control now!”
“It’s all because you were unreasonable,” she responded.
Vigor Qian then asked Second Bai to make an appointment, and he proposed, “Tomorrow morning.” Qian told his ricksha puller to deliver the message to Water Blossom’s house. In no time at all, the ricksha puller came back with two of Jade Tao’s visiting cards, on which was written: “Please honor me with your company at a tea party at noon tomorrow.” Under that was the venue: Water Blossom’s at East Prosperity Alley.
“Let’s invite him over right now,” said Second Bai. An invitation was immediately written out, and a manservant was told to deliver it. Jade Tao came right away. He happened to arrive at the same time as the other guests, Iron Hua and Devotion Yin. Second Bai called for hot towels to be served, and everybody moved over to the table.
Second Bai was a generous host who plied his guests with wine. Jade Tao was the only one who did not drink. Iron Hua and Devotion Yin both prided themselves on their capacity, while Elan Ge and Vigor Qian just consumed token amounts.
The minute the girls arrived, Second Bai called for the large wine cups and offered to play everybody at the finger game. Jade Tao, in the seat of honor, declined with an apology.
“You can have substitutes for the drinking,” said Second Bai.
Jade Tao reluctant
ly complied. His penalty wine was given to Big Goldie by River Blossom.
When Devotion Yin’s turn came, he raised objections, saying, “You have a whole lot of people here drinking for you, but I’ve only got Green Fragrance. It’s too much of a disadvantage.”
“In that case, let’s not have any substitutes,” Second Bai replied.
“Fine,” said Devotion.
Second Bai lost all three games and so had to drink three penalty cups in a row. The other three guests, however, had substitutes as they saw fit.
Second Bai put the large wine cups in front of Iron Hua. The latter said, “Your round as host doesn’t count. You should play another round as banker.”
“Later,” Second Bai replied.
Iron Hua then started a bank himself with twenty cups. Devotion Yin, who only wanted to get at Second Bai, did not object when he saw White Orchid substituting for Iron Hua. Before long, the banker’s twenty cups were knocked off.
“Who will be banker next?” Iron Hua asked. Everybody looked at each other mutely; none accepted. Second Bai suggested that Devotion Yin should go ahead.
“You go first. I’ll be the challenger,” replied Devotion Yin.
Second Bai followed his predecessor’s example and poured out twenty cups. Devotion rolled up his sleeves and launched his challenge. He was on an unbreakable winning streak, and Second Bai lost game after game. Wenjun Yao tried to substitute for the penalty wine, but Devotion forbade it. After five games, Second Bai became extremely vigilant and finally won three. Devotion only drank two cups himself; the other one went to Green Fragrance. Second Bai sneered at him, but Devotion pretended not to notice. Wenjun Yao was so angry, she turned her head away.
After he had finished the penalty wine, Devotion Yin laughed and said, “I’ll give somebody else a chance at you.” Vigor Qian, who sat next to him, kept whispering to Green Phoenix about confidential matters and told Elan Ge to play instead. Elan, who thought that the wine cups were much larger than usual, gave half a cup to Snow Scent every time he lost. Devotion Yin did not seem to notice. But when Second Bai lost, Devotion immediately filled a cup and gave it to him, saying, “You’re a good drinker; have it yourself.”
Second Bai was about to take the cup when Wenjun Yao reached out a hand and covered it. “Just a minute. If they have substitutes, why not us? Give it here.”
“I’ll drink it myself. I feel like drinking just now,” said Second Bai.
“If you want to drink, you can have a whole vat after the party. But now I will take this for you.” So saying, she pulled at his sleeve. As Second Bai was still holding on to the cup, it fell and got smashed, splashing wine all over him. This caught everybody at table off guard; even Vigor Qian and Green Phoenix stopped talking. The maids waiting at table picked up the pieces and brought a towel for Second Bai to wipe off his gauze gown.
Devotion Yin said nervously, “Drink for him, by all means. If the two of you should start fighting again, it’d be the undoing of me.” So saying, he hastily filled another cup for Wenjun Yao, who drained it in one gulp. He cheered.
Vigor Qian was puzzled by what Devotion had said. The latter explained, “Don’t you know that their relationship is built on fighting? At first, they just got on all right, but the more they fought, the closer they became. Now they’re of course inseparable.”
“But what do they fight over?” Vigor Qian asked.
“Who knows? They fight whenever they have the smallest disagreement, and neither of them will give in during the fight. But afterward they’re all lovey-dovey again. They’re just like kids; they drive you mad!”
Wenjun Yao snickered and looked at Devotion from the corner of her eyes. “Yes, we’re kids, and you’re a big boy, right?”
“I’m not all that big, but I do all right. Do you want to try?” he replied.
“Aiyo! I reared you until you were the little man, and now you’ve learned to tease me. Where did you learn to be so clever?”1
As they bantered, Vigor Qian managed to break Second Bai’s bank, so Wenjun Yao drank two more cups for him. Vigor Qian, on a winning streak, only left three cups of wine for Iron Hua to deal with.
After Second Bai’s bank was broken, the girls left together. Devotion Yin then cut his own bank by half, to just ten cups. After that, Elan Ge and Vigor Qian teamed up for ten cups as well. Seeing that Jade Tao did not drink, Second Bai refrained from indulging his full capacity and instead ordered the wine to be removed and dinner served. Before Jade Tao took his leave, their appointment for the next day was reconfirmed, and Second Bai saw him off at the stairs.
Jade Tao headed back to Water Blossom’s at East Prosperity Alley, where he alighted from his sedan chair in the parlor and walked softly into her room. It was dark, lit only by a lamp on the dressing table. The pink bed curtains were hanging down. Fair Sister Li and Beckon were in the room to keep Water Blossom company. He asked in a low voice how she was doing. Instead of replying, Fair Sister just pointed to the bed.
He lit a candle at the lamp and then lifted the bed curtain. Water Blossom was panting feebly. This looked quite different from her previous illness. He raised the candle to examine her complexion. She opened her eyes and fixed them on him without a word. He touched her forehead and the palms of her hands: a slight fever.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
She took a long time to answer, “No.”
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
After another long pause she answered, “Don’t worry, I’m all right.”
He withdrew from the bed, blew out the candle, and asked Fair Sister, “Did she have supper?”
“I kept trying to tell her to eat a little congee, but she just had a mouthful of soup and nothing else at all.”
They looked at each other in silence for a long time. Suddenly, Water Blossom called out from the bed, “Mother, you go and have your smoke.”
“I will. You get some sleep,” Fair Sister replied.
River Blossom happened to come back just then from a party and was eager to see Elder Sister. The fact that both Fair Sister and Jade were in the room made her think that Elder Sister was seriously ill. She turned pale. Jade Tao held up his hand to calm her fears, saying softly, “Elder Sister is asleep.” Reassured, she went to her own room to get changed.
Water Blossom again called out, “Mother, do go and rest.”
“All right, I’m going,” said Fair Sister. She turned around and said to Jade Tao, “Won’t you come sit a while at the back?”
Since there was not much he could do there, Jade Tao told Beckon to watch over Water Blossom and followed Fair Sister through the rear door to her room. After they had sat down, she said, “Second Young Master, I want to ask you something. When she first got ill, she herself was extremely anxious and would start crying as soon as we talked. But just now when I went in to see her, she spoke not a word, didn’t even answer my questions. She looked like she wanted to cry, but there were no tears. What’s happening?”
He nodded in agreement. “I also felt that this was different from before. Let’s ask the doctor tomorrow.”
“Second Young Master, one thing occurred to me. When she was little, we went to worship at the city god’s temple. There, she got surrounded by beggars and had a bad fright. Perhaps we should hold three days’ service for her there and ask for the city god’s help. What d’you think?”
“That’s fine.”
As they were talking, River Blossom came running in to look for him. He asked, “Is there anybody in your sister’s room?”
“Beckon is there,” River Blossom replied.
“Why don’t you go and keep her company as well?” Fair Sister said to her.
Seeing her hesitate, he stood up and asked to be excused. Taking River Blossom by the hand, he returned to Water Blossom’s room. They tiptoed up to the leather chair by the bed and sat down in each other’s arms. Beckon took the opportunity to sneak out for a while. All was quiet. River Blossom, with her thumb i
n her mouth, sat abstracted in his arms, worrying about something. He did not prompt her, just kept his eyes on her. Her eyes gradually reddened and filled with tears. He patted her shoulder and asked with a smile, “What grievance are you thinking of?” She laughed.
Beckon, who heard his voice, thought he was calling and came in promptly.
“It’s nothing.”
She turned to go. Actually, Water Blossom was still awake. “Beckon,” she called out. “Go to bed when you’re done.”
Beckon promised she would and turned to ask Jade Tao, “Would you like some congee?”
Jade Tao declined, so she went to freshen up the tea instead.
“River Blossom,” Water Blossom called out again, “you should go to bed, too.”
Naturally, she refused, so Jade Tao made up a reason to send her off. “Elder Sister got ill because of all the trouble you made last night. If you sleep here again, Mother will tell you off.”
Beckon happened to bring in the teapot just then. She also said, “River Blossom, Mother tells you to go to bed.” The young girl had no choice but to follow Beckon out of the room.
Jade Tao wanted to stay up, but thinking that this would upset Water Blossom, he closed the door and lay down in bed beside her, pretending to sleep. But at her every toss and turn, he got up to attend to her needs. At dawn, she started snoring softly. Only then did he get some sleep. Not long afterward, he was wakened by the menservants walking back and forth outside. When Water Blossom tried to persuade him to rest a little longer, he insisted that he had slept enough.
He thought she seemed a little better, certainly not as irritable as yesterday. Taking advantage of their early-morning solitude, he asked lovingly, “What is it that makes you unhappy; why don’t you tell me about it?”
She sneered. “How can I ever be happy? There’s no need to ask.”
“If there isn’t anything else, when you’re a little better, I’ll rent a house in the Old City. You and Mother can move there and ask the bookkeeper to help your brother take care of the sing-song house. What d’you think?”
This went so completely against her wishes that she just sighed and looked more miserable than ever. He panicked, put on a smile, and apologized for saying the wrong thing.2