A Concubine for the Family: A Family Saga in China (37 page)

“But I invited him long ago.” Bright Crystal extricated herself firmly.

“That owner of the uniform company writes bad propaganda in Hong Kong. Mr. Chou cannot be a manager anymore. We will take over the factory!” General Goto did not mean to reveal his intention, but he felt the need to gloat.

“Oh!” Bright Crystal was too shocked to respond. Her heart was beating wildly, and her mind raced ahead. She knew she must buy more time. Fawning to placate the general, she whispered smiling, “We must not be hasty. You must be comfortable here. Give me a week. I’ll have your kimono and a tatami room ready.” She looked at him with a meaningful wink. “Only one week.”

General Goto was more stirred than ever. He had waited a long time to make this move. But Lt. Kamasaki’s uncle was a major general, and Goto did not wish to offend the lieutenant. He was uncertain how Bright Crystal and Glorious Dragon were related to Iris Kamasaki. It was not easy to collect information. Since the lieutenant was in the
Kempetai
, bypassing his authority on espionage was highly irregular. He’d had to select a special agent, and after eight months, he still lacked a clear understanding. The agent insisted that Mrs. Kamasaki was once a servant in a country manor. But that seemed preposterous! Who had ever heard of a maid speaking English and quoting Shakespeare? The agent must have listened to envious gossip. General Goto was impressed by Iris’s social graces and secretly admired Lt. Kamasaki’s unusual choice of a wife. He recently had learned that Bright Crystal, Glorious Dragon and Iris were not related, and that General Chin had been Bright Crystal’s sponsor. Clearly, Lt. Kamasaki would have no right to interfere, now that General Goto had decided to take over the sponsorship.

He turned away from Bright Crystal with a smirk. “I’ll wait one week and no more!” He paced the room in irritation. It would not do to have Kamasaki see him under the spell of a woman. “I’m coming back in one week, exactly! I expect my quarters to be ready for me.” He turned abruptly, preparing to leave when Bright Crystal extended her hand for him to kiss.

“Do you have to leave?” Bright Crystal purred. “We are all going to be so disappointed!” She smiled and set her dimples into full view. “Please, General Goto, leave a few guards at the front gate to protect me!” She knew it would be better to have the guards openly stand watch, keeping away Chinese spies.

General Goto left feeling very pleased with himself. He speculated that perhaps Bright Crystal had been hoping for his protection all along. Mr. Chou might not be her lover after all. Dashing young men were seldom faithful or constant. But General Goto hoped she wasn’t expecting to marry him, since he already had a wife in Japan. Ah, that Kamasaki’s American education had spoiled the women, he thought. Bright Crystal must be fishing for a husband. Yes, it would be more comfortable to have a Japanese-style house to share with Bright Crystal. He would give her a week to get ready. Where could she go? He gave a casual order to the two guards at the front gate to note the identity of all visitors.

Bright Crystal, highly agitated when General Goto finally left her house, lit one cigarette after another. Feeling defiled and uneasy, she knew her coquettish behavior, which had so captivated the men around her, had now trapped a viper. Over the years, she had cultivated the movements of her mouth, her eyes, her dimples, and the gestures of her hands. She even learned to control the lifting and arching of her brows. Her charm had brought her financial security, social influence and even passionate love. But she now realized that she was playing with fire, and Glorious Dragon had been drawn into her destructive flame. When at last her friends arrived, she collapsed into Dragon’s arms, babbling, apologizing and ranting her outrage.

The crisis brought Bright Crystal’s father from the kitchen, who joined them in their deliberations. Everyone agreed that Glorious Dragon should go into hiding immediately. If a way could be found, they should both escape to Hong Kong and then America, where they might begin life anew as a common working couple.

“No, I cannot go until I personally avenge my country in one battle,” Glorious Dragon proclaimed after some thought. “I’m sorry, Akiro, if this will cause you trouble. Your military government and some of our corrupt generals have inflicted so much pain and destruction that I simply cannot run away without lifting a finger to help.”

“We know you have already helped a great deal,” Iris said. While others might speak of Glorious Dragon as a sycophant to the enemy, she knew he had given generously to the support of all the kinsfolk in Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Lt. Kamasaki shrugged and paced. He wanted to smuggle Glorious Dragon and Bright Crystal onto a ship for Hong Kong, but he could not help his friends fight his army.

“My Dragon is correct.” Everyone was surprised to hear Bright Crystal’s support. “We must redeem ourselves on the battlefield.” She lowered her head. Her eyes were full. No one could doubt her resolve.

Her father moved close to her. He held her hand and nodded mechanically as if in a trance. “I understand. Old Yuan told me the German consulate has been looking for a cook. I will go and apply. You have done more for your old father than I could ever hope for.”

“Oh
ba-ba
, you are a dear.” Crystal wept in her father’s arms.

“Akiro.” Glorious Dragon stood up to face his friend. “You and Iris must leave now. What we need to do cannot involve you. We appreciate what you have already done for us.”

Iris and Lt. Kamasaki looked on their friends with admiration, anxiety, and sympathy. “There is a cargo freight liner leaving for Hong Kong in a month’s time. If you want to get on it, try to send this to Iris at the uniform factory.” Lt. Kamasaki took off his American high school ring. “This will be your secret password. Then check into the International Hotel under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Kam. I’ll get in touch with you then.”

Bowing, the men shook hands while Glorious Dragon thanked his Japanese friend again for his help. Iris and Bright Crystal lingered in each other’s arms.

In the evening, Bright Crystal called General Goto and requested that he send construction workers and painters to refurbish her house. The guest suite on the second floor must have new sliding screen doors and window shades; the finest tatami mats must be ordered for the floor; bathroom fixtures must be changed into the Japanese style, and the whole house given a fresh coat of paint.

Flattered by her elaborate plans and preparations, General Goto agreed not to visit. He would wait to be surprised at the end of the week. Glorious Dragon and Bright Crystal talked far into the night and planned their escape.

The next morning, Glorious Dragon left openly in his limousine, going straight to the banks to transfer most of his funds to America. At the last bank, he sauntered into the men’s room and peeled off his Western wool suit, revealing a crumpled cotton tunic and trousers. He slipped out of the bank with the noonday crowd and disappeared. His chauffeur reported him missing after waiting for him the whole day in the bank’s parking lot.

General Goto sent droves of workers and one spy. He was recognized at once because he was the only one who smoked and paced more than he worked. Whenever Little Snow or Little Lotus brought the workers food and drink, he took the first and largest helpings. Soon the serving girls brought the workers beer and wine.

Bright Crystal came out to inspect the workers the first afternoon. She held a perfumed handkerchief over her mouth as if the dust was overpowering. The small dash of pepper in her handkerchief made her sneeze, tear, and cough. She ran back to her room and called General Goto. Little Snow pinched her nose together and spoke for her mistress, complaining of the dust and the cold she was catching. She asked for more workers to speed up the work.

The next day, the whole house became more confused than ever with the added workers. Bright Crystal emerged from her room coughing and sneezing to inspect their progress. She could barely reach the staircase because of the severity of her sneezing attacks. That afternoon, she changed into a maid’s cotton suit, and stole down to the kitchen to bid her father farewell. She walked out her front gate like a housemaid carrying a basket. The guards at the door took no notice; so many servants and workers had been passing all day.

The maids brought food and drink to the spy and flirted with him. They complained about the extra chore of nursing a sick woman.

While Bright Crystal was supposedly sick in bed with a cold, Little Snow continued to call General Goto everyday in her pinched voice and discoursed on her health, the house, and what she most wanted the general to buy for her.

“Oh, a Rolls Royce would be divine!”

The general huffed, puffed, and temporized. “I am not a rich man, but I will try.”

Early in the morning on the fifth day, Little Lotus ran to the spy in alarm. Bright Crystal was missing from her room. The frightened guards had no idea how she could have eluded them. No one had entered or left the house last night. Both the front and back doors had been guarded, and the high walls surrounding the garden were covered with shards of broken glass on top.

Three nights earlier, a man in a worker’s suit had met a maidservant by the dock of the Hwangpo River. They took a sampan and were carried to Hangzhou. There, they got help from Lao Wang and caught a train. By the fifth day, Glorious Dragon and Bright Crystal had reached Changsha, in Hunan Province.

O
N THE TRAIN Bright Crystal asked, “Why are we going to Changsha?”

“The rail line between Hankow to Canton is an essential supply route for the Chinese guerrilla forces in the region. Changsha is a key rail center,” Glorious Dragon explained.

“How are we to fit into their war plans?” Bright Crystal snuggled close, resting her head on her Dragon’s shoulder. It was hard to find comfort on the hard seat of a rattling train.

Glorious Dragon moved to one end of the seat. He spread out his jacket to cushion Crystal and drew her head down to rest on his lap. “One of my classmates from high school, Tall Man Wu, is an administrative assistant to General Hsueh of the Ninety-ninth Army. Changsha is under its protection.”

“Have you been in touch with Tall Man Wu? Does the army want us?” Bright Crystal yawned.

“Yes.” Glorious Dragon played with her hair. “I have been secretly buying and shipping arms and ammunition there. You sleep and rest.”

When they finally arrived in Changsha, Tall Man Wu welcomed them warmly. As they drove in town, Crystal felt cheered by the sight of children running and laughing in the marketplace. People gossiped and joked on the streets, but a rancid smell of raw meat and vegetables filled her nostrils.

They were offered a suite of rooms in a mountain retreat away from the bustling town. Glorious Dragon protested. He had come to fight; he would not be treated like a guest benefactor. Bright Crystal concurred, and they were moved into a peasant’s home closer to town.

The mud-floored hut featured a crude table, several stools, and one armchair. The door and windows were hewn from slabs of pine, and rice paper served as windowpanes. The buffeting cold winds of November whistled through the hut’s many crevices. Bright Crystal hopped onto the
kan
as soon as she entered the house. The
kan
, a platform bed, was built with bricks and cement. Cotton quilts on the surface helped to soften it. Several times a day, a peasant came with charcoal or wood to feed the fire in its belly, so the
kan
was also where they warmed their tea. Though Bright Crystal missed her city comforts, she was determined to make herself at home in this rude cottage.

From their mud-walled hut, Tall Man Wu led them to the supply depot, which was clustered behind the frame and brick buildings near the town’s south end. A high earthen wall surrounded the compound with trenches on all sides. They toured the trenches. Crystal learned the names of different firearms in the depot and Dragon peppered his friend with many questions on the details of the operations. Tunnels connected this part of the fortress to the administration building, where they took their meals in the officers’ dining hall.

They were also initiated into the beaten paths of short cuts and safe passages that led into the sandbagged embankments and other fortifications around town. There were reports of skirmishes nearby. Everyone anticipated a major battle. They soon became accustomed to the sight of soldiers walking about with guns strapped to their backs.

Since neither Bright Crystal nor Glorious Dragon was familiar with firearms, Tall Man Wu taught them how to use the carbine, the submachine gun, and the grenades. Everyday they practiced target shooting in the numbing cold. Soon, they no longer jumped, when they heard explosives.

The soldiers wore cotton-quilted winter uniforms. When the pair first changed into the bulky gray garb, they pointed to each other and laughed at their rounded shapes. “We’re like two rolls of stuffed sausages!” Bright Crystal cried. Now they wore the practical uniform day and night to keep warm and be ready for action at any hour.

“I still don’t think I can handle a gun, my Dragon,” Bright Crystal whispered as she cuddled in her lover’s arm on the
kan
. They gazed at the thatched roof, where a frame of parallel twigs supported a thick mat of hay. The clean smell of drying hay pervaded the room, and the novelty of simple, Spartan living seemed romantic.