A Concubine for the Family: A Family Saga in China (32 page)

With dramatic flicks of his white kerchief, Old Ting told of cousin Yu Wei’s increasing opium addiction and how cousin Chou Ling also resorted to pawning the family heirlooms and furs for her expenditures at the gaming table. Purple Jade quickly agreed to buy the important pieces, all the while calculating how she would justify such purchases to her husband. In the end, she added a leopard coat that was cousin Chou Ling’s pride and joy. It would be a great loss of face for all the Chous if someone outside the family should be seen wearing it. To avoid recrimination and safeguard the family treasures, Purple Jade would use the fur to line her winter silk robes, so no one need ever know. Of course, she would never display the jewelry.

Golden Bell thought her father’s suggestion for planting flowers in the skywells was a wonderful idea.

“What do people plant in their gardens in Hong Kong, Mrs. Curtis?” Golden Bell asked her biology teacher.

“I’m not sure. Something tropical, I suppose.”

Confused about the British colonial culture and the American colonial past, Golden Bell thought people in Great Britain and America might share the same habits and enjoy the same gardening patterns. She asked again: “How about America? Do they plant tropical flowers too?”

“I suppose they do in the south.”

“What do you think the English and the Americans might grow here?”

“England is a very small country in the north.” Mrs. Curtis took out a map. “Let’s see if we can find a place in America that has Shanghai’s climate.”

Golden Bell huddled close. “See here.” Mrs. Curtis pointed. “Shanghai is about the same latitude as Savanna, Georgia, in the United States.” She rummaged through her bookcase. “Here is a book on Georgia. You may find something about its vegetation.”

The school bell rang, and Mrs. Curtis had to leave for the next class. “Chinese gardens are famous for their elegant designs. The cherry blossoms, peonies, night-blooming cereus all originated in China. For best results, I would consult a local gardener for something indigenous.”

Golden Bell’s heart ached when she remembered their garden in Hangzhou. She had been so busy absorbing novel Western ideas that she had seldom given a thought to her home. Now the memory of her playful days among the lilies, roses, jasmine and azaleas filled her with longing.

She learned that the state flower of Georgia was the Cherokee rose, though the picture in the book did not look like a rose. Golden Bell asked Old Chen to plant roses, peonies and other flowering bushes in their front skywell. Golden Bell consulted with Old Chen about where and when such a flower should be planted. She was frequently seen in the garden showing Old Chen pictures. Old Chen now considered himself a gardener more than a rickshaw-puller. He ran faster whenever they approached home. Each morning he knocked on the door and presented the Huang women with a fresh bouquet for the house. He always had a special flower for Golden Bell, because he had been given so much face by her consultations. The girls wrote: “Father, you are right about how people can be beasts, but Old Chen is certainly not one of them.”

Purple Jade was so proud of her daughter that she proclaimed to her husband: “Our Golden girl has matured!”

Purple Jade thought Mr. Kam a very fine young man. But he had many traits that she could not understand. She asked her brother: “I noticed that when he bows, he does not hold his hands together the way we do, but lets them fall on his knees like the East Ocean Devils.”

“Mr. Kam must have had to work with the enemy so much that he has taken to their ways.”

As Mr. Kam did not have a family in Shanghai to arrange for the bride’s gifts, he paid the Huangs a handsome bride price. The sum was so generous, Purple Jade was reluctant to accept it. Glorious Dragon assured her that Mr. Kam was wealthy and most grateful that the Huangs had given Iris such a fine education. Purple Jade spent all the money on the wedding and Iris’s trousseau.

In spite of tension about Mr. Kam’s identity, the wedding was a success. The Huang women were particularly happy to see so many familiar faces from Hangzhou. Iris’s uncle, the gardener, and his family stayed in Petain Road for a whole week.

Purple Jade was grateful that her husband had ordered the family away from the public wedding in the city registry. Iris wore a white gown, and Purple Jade could not help thinking how strange it was for her to be married in the mourning color. Comely Brook spent hours fixing the veil and the silk tulle around the skirt. The girls were disappointed that they could not attend the Western ceremony. They thought Iris’s white silk gown was gorgeous. She looked like a movie star. At night, Iris was dressed properly in her red gown — all embroidered and beaded. Since she had been officially married that morning, she did not wear the red headdress, but wore red flowers in her hair instead. Everyone proclaimed Mr. Kam a lucky man.

“What a shame the war has prevented his family from attending!”

“His relatives should have seen this pretty bride!”

No one would have guessed that Iris had been a maid. Since the groom’s friends had gone to the public wedding, only the Huang family relatives and friends attended the banquet that evening.

As Mr. Kam did not attempt to speak Shanghainese or the Hangzhou dialect, most guests shied away from him. His wealth and obvious lofty status overwhelmed Iris’s relatives. They socialized among themselves. All appeared dignified, properly attired in the finest robes that Purple Jade had bought for them with Mr. Kam’s money. Iris was happy that she was given so much face.

Purple Jade confided in Comely Brook, “Our ancient saying is absolutely true:

Everyone was surprised to see Miss Tyler. She had suddenly grown old. Her hair had turned white, and Lao Wang told the Huangs how her vigilance and generosity had saved his daughter and countless other women from defilement. Iris had helped Miss Tyler organize the women into nursing squads to care for the wounded Japanese and Chinese alike when Hangzhou was raided. Now the people considered Miss Tyler their savior.

“When the East Ocean Devils came, I should have sent Peony and Little Six to her,” Purple Jade whispered to Comely Brook. “Rich or poor, male or female, we are certainly born equal in our needs and suffering. If our husband does not object, I will approve Golden Bell and Silver Bell’s conversion to Miss Tyler’s religion!”

The girls were stricken to see how sad and worn their teacher looked.

“Have you been ill, Miss Tyler?” Golden Bell asked.

“No, I’ve been just fine. But the Methodists in New York want to transfer me to a seaport where I can be evacuated easily.”

“Will you be coming to Shanghai?” Silver Bell’s eyes lit up.

“Or Hong Kong?” Golden Bell added.

“Maybe, maybe.” Miss Tyler smiled. “Say your prayers, and all will be well.” Somehow, her colorless tone did not sound reassuring.

When the Hangzhou kinsfolk told of the fear and destruction caused by the enemy, Comely Brook told them about the Japanese family that had moved next door.

“The woman looks rather sickly and pale, but the little girl is very sweet and has come visiting several times, bringing gifts. Somehow she found out that Silver Bell understands English. They have managed to communicate in a common language!”

The country folks made tittering noises, predicting disaster if the girls became friends.

“We threw away the gifts of course, but Silver Bell tasted a piece of cake and said it was filled with bean paste, just like some of our sweets.”

None of the Huangs had ever seen the father, but some nights they could hear him when he came home drunk and beat his wife. Old Chen wanted to go and help the woman, but since they were East Ocean people, Purple Jade thought it best not to interfere and not show too much neighborly concern.

“I went to visit with some flowers from our garden one day,” Comely Brook said. “The man was gone, but the woman was dusting and polishing a beautiful Ming desk. It looked just like that Ming desk
Tai-tai
had in her Hangzhou room, with the curved sides and a wing-like top.”

“They’re all the same — robbers and killers!” someone responded.

“The poor woman almost cried when she thanked me for the flowers.” Comely Brook nodded and looked embarrassed. “She pointed to her little girl and said in halting Chinese, ‘only a female!’ She was all bruised on the face.” Comely Brook patted her face here and there. “But her house was full of Chinese antiques, and everything was immaculately clean.”

“It is such a shame that the Japanese people have taken so indiscriminately from our culture.” Purple Jade sighed. “Our ancient arts would surely add grace to their lives. Unfortunately, they also added brute force to our traditional scorn for the feminine Sex. Brook-
mei
, we must feel sorry for that woman. We can call that man a brute, a thief, and an enemy, but she has to care for his loot and honor him as a husband!”

Lt. Kamasaki did not understand the Chinese spoken all around him. He thanked Ms. Tyler for her care of the Japanese soldiers, but he insisted that Japan’s principal aim was to drive out the white men and form a united Eastern culture with the Chinese.

Golden Bell grew impatient with Miss Tyler’s polite silence. She rolled her eyes and said in English, “We prefer Christianity from the white man rather than your brute force.”

Lt. Kamasaki immediately apologized for the crimes of his country. “The irony is, my army thought that the terror would create a subjugated people, but instead they have united your country, given you a true sense of nationhood.”

Suddenly there was a great commotion at the front of the restaurant. Somehow Lao Wang, the accountant, found out Iris was marrying a Japanese. “Why should a Chinese flower get stuck to a pile of East Ocean dung?” he shouted again and again.

Glorious Dragon quickly had him restrained. Two men dragged him off to his bed in the hotel. Glorious Dragon returned to apologize. “Lao Wang is drunk. He’s reliving the horrors of the Japanese invasion!”

Purple Jade did not understand the meaning of Lao Wang’s howling insults. She also apologized. “Our country folks have suffered too long. Everyone, please forgive the rowdiness.”

Both girls felt sorry for Iris now. Since Lao Wang knew Mr. Kam was Japanese, everyone in Hangzhou would know eventually, and Iris would never be able to visit her old hometown again. The girls still considered Lt. Kamasaki wonderful — a different sort of Japanese, but they thought it would be difficult even for Iris to socialize with people who had behaved like beasts.

The next day, Purple Jade examined the accounting books Lao Wang brought for her inspection. She questioned him on his uncharacteristic outburst during the wedding celebration.

“I’m red-faced from shame.” Glorious Dragon had coached Lao Wang well, strictly forbidding him to breathe a word about Mr. Kam’s true identity. “
Tai-tai
, please forgive my poor capacity for wine.” He looked Purple Jade straight in the eye. “My stomach can no longer tolerate festive food. For months, we’ve all been living in semi-starvation.”

“That’s all right! I understand.” Purple Jade trembled with embarrassment. “I should have known everyone is barely subsisting.”

“Yes, I have stopped collecting rents from the tenant farmers because the East Ocean Devils are levying such heavy taxes, but what can anyone live on?” Lao Wang cried openly now.

“You’ve done the right thing.” Purple Jade ordered some of her family heirlooms to be sold and gave clear instructions as to how the money should be distributed among her former retainers.

P
URPLE JADE TOOK Comely Brook to see the female obstetrician Glorious Dragon recommended. They were kept waiting a long time in Dr. Rankling’s office. Comely Brook stretched and fidgeted.

“Look.” Purple Jade pointed to the examination table. “This is the perfect height for a massage.” She motioned Comely Brook to lie down. She rubbed and squeezed her back and shoulders.

Before Dr. Rankling walked in, she watched them quietly by the door. When they finally introduced themselves, Purple Jade was most pleased that the doctor spoke very good Shanghainese. The doctor was gracious, soft spoken and asked many questions about Chinese medicine. After giving Comely Brook a thorough pelvic examination and pronouncing her healthy, she led Purple Jade on a tour of her facility.

Purple Jade noted Dr. Rankling’s gray hair and decided she might be in her fifties. She was impressed by the painstaking care Westerners took in disinfecting and cleaning all their instruments. When they met a male colleague in another office, Purple Jade was surprised to be introduced as “a Chinese doctor.” She was also fascinated by how the male doctors treated Dr. Rankling as an equal. For the first time, she could see that Western ways would be liberating — that her daughters’ modern education could lead them to accomplishments in important professions. Imagine, both Golden Bell and Silver Bell might become doctors someday! It was intoxicating to think that such possibilities could be open to her girls.