Along the River (9 page)

Great excitement follows this announcement. Everyone can tell that Baba is very pleased at such honor being granted to one of the servants in his household. In the midst of the congratulations, I look across at Ah Wang. I think it’s safe to say that there’s at least one person among us who is not sharing in the celebrations.

Cricket Fight

I
t doesn’t take Ah Wang long to take out his bad temper on the newly named Ah Zhao. He goes out of his way to find the dirtiest and most unpleasant jobs for him to do, such as building a wooden lid for the latrine to hide the filth in the reeking outhouse.

“I don’t think I want to be called Ah Zhao,” Ah Zhao grumbles to us a few days later. “Ah Zhao has to work one hundred times harder than Ah Li ever did!”

Gege laughs. “Baba says it’s a fantastic honor to be granted the royal surname. His Majesty might even commission you to do other work for Him in the future.”

“I don’t mind what my name is—provided I get paid for my work. Five ounces of silver isn’t bad for carving a single jade dog!”

“Not bad? What an understatement!” Gege exclaims. “How does it feel to be a rich man?”

“Much the same as being a poor one. I’ve entrusted all my money to your
baba
, to keep for me, so I don’t lose it or get robbed.”

“Speaking of Baba—there’s a big birthday coming up for him. It’s his fortieth,” Gege says. “Now that you’re famous, how much will you charge for painting a dragon for his birthday? Baba was born in the Year of the Dragon. He loves dragons, and I know he admires your work.…”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Your
baba
is my benefactor. I won’t charge anything for the painting, but please give me some time. It will be my honor to paint a special dragon for your father’s fortieth birthday. But why don’t you and Little Sister do something special for him yourselves, as well?”

Gege shrugs. “I don’t think so. My work is technically satisfactory, but it’s nothing to get excited about, and next to yours it definitely lacks something. Let’s face it, Ah Zhao… you’re the nearest thing I’ve met to a genius.”

Three days later, we walk past Ah Zhao’s shed on our way to breakfast and hear crickets chirping. Gege pushes open the door. Inside, we find Ah Zhao tending to an assortment of creepy crawlies, each in its own separate bamboo cage: two crickets, a cockroach, a lizard, an earthworm, a bat, a snake, a frog and a rat. I find his collection repulsive and fascinating at the same time.

“Where do all these nasty animals come from?” I ask.

“Quiet! Genius at work!” Ah Zhao announces. “You’re disturbing my new morning routine. I need to take my pets outside for some fresh air.”

“Correction! Big Nose is conducting his insect orchestra and training a spooky new menagerie!” Gege says.

I find the bat especially frightening. Its face is a cross between a rat and a fox, but it has wings instead of front legs. Ah Zhao says it hangs upside down when it sleeps.

“Its eyes are so tiny,” Gege says.

“Its ears are so enormous,” I add.

“And a face only a mother can love,” Ah Zhao laughs. “I once saw a bat perch itself on the back of a cow and bury its head in its neck. I thought the bat was drinking the cow’s blood, so I poked it with a stick. The bat flew straight at me and scared me out of my wits. It has a wingspan four times the size of its body.”

“Why are you keeping all these weird animals in your shed?”

“My goal is to combine the most frightening features of each of my pets here to draw a special dragon for your
baba
’s birthday. My dragon will appear natural and eerie at the same time. Here, take a look at this!”

He shows me a sketch of a horrible monster with horns, antennae, a beard, wings, claws and protruding teeth. The picture sends a shiver down my spine.

Meanwhile, Gege is examining the two crickets, each in its own little bamboo cage covered by wire netting.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Ah Zhao says proudly. The crickets have black faces with wide jaws, slim reddish brown lacquered bodies and powerful hind legs bent at an angle. One is bigger than the other. Two long antennae protrude from the tops of their heads.

All of a sudden, the smaller cricket raises its wings and begins to sing. The other soon joins in.

“Why don’t you put them in the same cage?” I ask.

“They’d kill one another. Crickets need their own space.”

“Look at this one!” Gege says. “It has a pretty flower design on its wings. The other one is bigger, but I bet mine is a better fighter.”

“No way!” Ah Zhao declares.

“How about a fight between the two?” says a voice from the doorway, and there’s Baba with a big smile on his face. Ah Zhao quickly hides the dragon sketch.

“Baba!” Gege cries in delight. “I didn’t know you’re interested in cricket fights!”

“You don’t know much about your old father, do you?” Baba says, striding forward and peering at Ah Zhao’s zoo with interest. “Lively specimens! Where do they all come from?”

“I got up at the crack of dawn three mornings in a row to hunt for them in the northern hills,” says Ah Zhao. “I spent ages turning over stones, searching under bushes and digging in the undergrowth. It’s a special project for your birthday. That’s all I’ll say for now.”

Baba beams with pleasure. “How did you catch the bat?”

“There’s this cave where bats like to hang out. Thousands and thousands of them roost together, hanging upside down. I set a trap and caught one. That was easy.”

“Which creatures were the most difficult to catch?” Baba asks.

“Believe it or not, the crickets. The season is too early. The few that are around are mostly very small. I tested and rejected a lot of them. Finally, I heard loud chirps coming from beneath a massive stone slab. There must have been dozens of them, because a veritable cricket concert was going on. I dug a couple of holes, took a blade of grass and tried to pry out the insects, but they wouldn’t budge. So I poured some water from my drinking flask down the hole. Sure enough, a small cricket sprang out and landed in my net. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was in luck. It was so feisty! While I was examining it, a bigger one crawled out and hopped into the air. I caught it just in time! The two of them are both great fighters! The best!”

“How can you tell?”

“Remember the testers I caught earlier? I pitted them against one another and these two ended up with the best record.”

“What do you feed them?” Baba asks.

“I grind up boiled rice, tofu and apple and put the mixture in their cages. I like to hear them sing, so I sleep with them next to my pillow. Their songs bring me good luck.”

“How do you know so much about crickets?”

“Cricket fighting is taken very seriously in the village where I was born. Every summer, my
baba
would take me to the northern hills to hunt for crickets. He’d organize cricket fights and place bets on them.”

“Did he win lots of money?” Gege asks eagerly.

“Sometimes, but not very often. People cheat a lot.”

Ah Zhao turns away, and it’s clear he doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“How does one cheat in a cricket fight?” Baba says.

Ah Zhao is smiling again. “Easy! You paint a scent on your cricket’s head, a scent that crickets don’t like. Your cricket soon gets used to it, but the other crickets smell it and walk away without fighting.”

“Fascinating!” Baba says, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

“Baba, why are
you
so interested in crickets all of a sudden?” I ask.

“Little Sister, you are so observant! The truth is, I am obeying orders from my boss, Commissioner Ye.”

“Commissioner Ye!” Gege exclaims. “What does
he
want?”

“His niece, Lady An Kai
, is the Emperor’s favorite concubine. She has persuaded His Majesty to set up a championship cricket match on her birthday at the Palace. Her Royal Highness wants to win, so she asked my boss to send her a few good fighters. My boss told them it’s not cricket season yet, but Lady An Kai doesn’t want to wait until autumn.”

“My two crickets here will be Lady An Kai’s prizefighters!” Ah Zhao avows with confidence.

“Are they male or female?” Gege asks.

“Both are males. Female crickets don’t fight.”

“Let’s have a trial match between them now!” Gege says, rubbing his hands gleefully in anticipation. “My little one against your big one.”

“We need to name them first,” Ah Zhao says. “Any suggestions?”

“I’ll call mine Brave Heart!” Gege shouts.

Ah Zhao turns to me. “Would you like to name the big one?”

“How about Valiant Warrior?” I suggest.

“Valiant Warrior he will be!”

Ah Zhao places the two crickets in a basin. “Old Master!” he says to Baba. “Do you wish to make a bet?”

“No money today. But I think Gege’s Brave Heart will win.”

The two insects are looking at one another, face to face, but there’s no interaction. Ah Zhao plucks a bristle from his paintbrush and gently teases the two long feelers protruding from Valiant Warrior’s head. Suddenly Valiant Warrior raises his head and opens his fangs. Brave Heart springs into action in response. The two fall on one another violently. They push and pull and wrestle. It’s over in an instant.

Sadly, I see Valiant Warrior turn away in retreat while Brave Heart jerks his body, tilts his tail, spreads his wings and begins to chirp a victory song, loudly and triumphantly.

Gege raises his fist in delight, as if he has won the fight himself! “The winner!” he cries. “Brave Heart the Champion!”

“That was merely the first round,” Ah Zhao says, smiling. “Didn’t I tell you this is a three-round match?”

He removes the two crickets from the basin and places them in a box made of paper. This time, Valiant Warrior refuses to advance no matter how much Ah Zhao pokes him with his bristle. Meanwhile, Brave Heart is marching forward and rattling his feelers aggressively. Seeing this maneuver, Valiant Warrior turns around and retreats to the edge of the box with his feelers pointed downward.

“Valiant Warrior is admitting defeat,” Baba says. “He doesn’t want to fight anymore. No second round, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Ah Zhao says. “Watch this!” In one motion, he scoops Valiant Warrior into his hand, makes his hand into a fist and shakes it a few times, then throws the insect into the air with a flourish. Ten seconds later, he catches the flying Valiant Warrior in midair and repeats the routine five times. Finally, he places Valiant Warrior opposite Brave Heart in the paper arena.

This time, things are different. Valiant Warrior faces Brave Heart without flinching, obviously eager for combat. They pause for a second before fencing one another with their feelers. Brave Heart soon spreads his mandibles. Not to be outdone, Valiant Warrior does the same. Their jaws interlock. They push and pull for a few seconds.

Gege and Baba sit on the side of Brave Heart, while Ah Zhao and I are perched behind Valiant Warrior. Ah Zhao hands each of us a blade of beard grass to stimulate the insects. Everyone looks on with trepidation. Gege and Baba cheer loudly at Brave Heart’s every move throughout the contest. I say nothing, but can feel my heart racing.

Suddenly Valiant Warrior wrestles Brave Heart to the ground and gets on top of him. Brave Heart retreats into a corner while Valiant Warrior breaks into song.

We can hardly believe our eyes!

“Talk about reversal of fortune!” Gege says dejectedly. “How did you turn Valiant Warrior from loser to winner so fast?”

Ah Zhao shrugs his shoulders. “It’s well known that a cricket that loses a match will refuse to fight again until the next day. But I’ve seen gamblers toss losing crickets into the air and turn them into instant winners by making them fly. I think something happens to crickets when they fly.…”

“They start winning!” I exclaim, full of admiration. “You’re so smart!”

“What about the third and final round?” Gege says. “To be fair, you must let both of them fly for a little while before they face one another.”

“Ah! But life is not fair!” Ah Zhao proclaims.