48
Since women themselves no longer bothered with such
springtime senti ments and he, a man, was still
afflicted with such thoughts, he felt ridiculous. A
woman like Miss Pao, for instance, would never have
time for springtime longing, but Miss Su? It would be
hard to tell, for she seemed to be the model of the
traditional beauty of sentiments. He had promised to
visit her, and why shouldn't he visit her once?
Although he knew the visit might lead to com
plications7 he also realized that life was too
terribly boring and there were so few ready-made girl
friends. He was like an insomniac disregarding the ill
effects of sleeping pills and thinking only of the
immediate relief.
When Fang Hung-chien arrived at the Sus' residence, he
imagined Miss Su dashing into the living room, full of
laughter and noise, and chiding him for not having
come sooner. Instead, her doorman served him tea,
informing him, "Miss Sn will be right out."
In the Sus' garden, the peach, the pear, and the lilac
trees were in full bloom. It was only the end of
February by the lunar calendar, but the flowers were
already in bloom. He wondered what would be left of
the spring scene by the time of the Ch'ing Ming
Festival in early April. One of the windows in the
living room was open, and the fragrance of flowers
baked by the sun was thick enough to stuff one's nose
and warm enough to make one drowsy. The fragrance of
flowers resembles the odor of garlic and onions: both
are scents from plants but smell meaty and not much
different from the thick smell of human hair at a
summer dance. Among the wall scrolls was a poem by
Huang Shan-ku,2 calligraphed by Shen Tzu-p'ei. The
first line read, "Flower scent overcomes man, making
him wish to break Zen."3 He was amused by the line,
thinking that if a monk had been affected by the
fragrance outside the window, the monk had already
violated his principle of total concentra tion and
this transgression was similar to a monk's eating
meat. After looking at the scrolls and antiques in the
room for more than three times, he was struck by the
thought that the foot stroke of Shen Tzu-p'ei's
character for "man" closely resembled the tiny bound
foot of an elderly Peking maidserv ant. The top part
of the leg character was stiff and bulky while the
bottom part suddenly came to a tiny point and ended.
Some foot that was!
Just then Miss Su appeared. Her faint smile was like
an overcast sky on a cold dreary day. As she shook his
hand, she said, "I haven't seen you for a long time,
Mr. Fang. What brought you here today?"
She shook my hand with such warmth at our parting last
year but now grasping her hand is like clutching a
cold-blooded shark fin. We were on such good terms
when we parted, so why this reserve today? Hung-chien
won dered. Like a student who has crammed for an
examination but finds he has forgotten everything
after a night's sleep, Hung-chien could only lie,
saying that he hadn't been in town for more than a few
days and had made a point of coming to see her. Miss
Sn courteously thanked him for "honoring her
49
with a visit," and asked him where he was "making his
mark." He stammered that he had not yet found a job,
was thinking of going to the interior, and for the
time being was helping out at a bank run by a
relative.
Eyeing him, she asked, "Isn't the bank run by your
father-in-law? Mr. Fang, you are really something!
When was the wedding? Here I am, an old classmate from
years back, and yet you kept your wedding all to
yourself and didn't breathe a word about it. You were
coming home to get married after you got your Ph.D.,
weren't you? That's really a case of having your name
on the golden rolls4 and figured candles in the
nuptial chamber-what they call double happiness. I
haven't had the honor of meeting Mrs. Fang."
Fang Hung-chien felt so ashamed that he wished he
could hide some where. Remembering the news item in
the Shanghai paper, he said quickly that she must have
obtained that information from a newspaper. Roundly
cursing the paper, he briefly recounted, in the manner
of the Spring and Au tumn Chronicles,5 the full story
behind his having an adoptive father-in-law and a fake
doctorate. By purchasing a fake degree he was thumbing
his nose at the world, he said; by accepting an
adoptive relative, he was conforming to tradition, he
argued. Then he added, "When I saw that item in the
paper, first I thought of you, of how you would
ridicule and despise me. I even got into a big row
with my so-called father-in-law about the whole news
release."
Her expression gradually changing, Miss Su said, "What
for? Why nat urally all those insufferable, vulgar
businessmen expect a return on their mon ey. You can't
expect them to understand that true learning doesn't
depend on a degree. Why quarrel with him? After all,
this Mr. Chou is your elder and he does treat you well
enough. He has the right to put the item in the paper.
Anyway, who's going to notice it? Those who do will
forget it the moment they turn their backs. You thumb
your nose at the big things, yet you take the trivial
things so seriously. This contradiction is hilarious!"
Fang Hung-chien sincerely admired Miss Su for her
eloquence. He re plied, "When you put it that way, I
don't feel so guilty anymore. I should have come and
told you everything earlier. You are so understanding!
What you said about my getting hung up on trivialities
is especially perceptive. The world's major issues can
always be dealt with in one way or another; it's the
minor issues that can't be treated carelessly. Take a
corrupt official, for in stance. He would accept
millions in bribes but would never steal a man's
wallet. I suppose I am not consistent enough in my
cynicism."
Miss Su felt like saying, That's not true. He doesn't
steal the wallet be cause it isn't worth stealing. If
there were millions in the wallet and stealing it were
as safe as taking bribes, he'd steal it too. But she
kept her thoughts to herself, eyeing Hung-chien
momentarily; then staring down at the designs on the
rug, she said, "It's a good thing that cynicism of
yours doesn't apply to everything. Otherwise your
friends would always be afraid that while you
~~were humoring them on the outside, you were laughing
at them inwardly."
Hung-chien quickly went out of his way to assure her
how much he valued friendship. In their conversation,
she revealed that her father had al ready gone to
Szechwan with the government,6 that her brother had
gone to work in Hong Kong, that her mother, her
sister-in-law, and she herself were the only ones at
home in Shanghai, and that she was thinking of going
to the interior. Fang Hung-chien said perhaps they
could again be travel compan ions going to the
interior. Then she mentioned she had a cousin who had
fin ished her first two years of college at their alma
mater in Peking, and that since the university had
moved to the interior because of the war, her cousin
had quit school and stayed home for six months but was
planning to resume her study again. It so happened
that the cousin was at the Sus' that day, so Miss Su
went in to get her to meet Hung-chien. They all could
become travel companions in the future.
Miss Su led out a cute little girl of about twenty and
introduced her to Fang, "This is my cousin, T'ang
Hsiao-fu." On Miss T'ang's charming, well-
proportioned, round face were two shallow dimples; one
look at her fresh and natural complexion, which most
girls would have had to spend time and money to
imitate, was enough to make one drool and forget his
thirst, as though her skin were a piece of delicious
fruit. Not especially large, her eyes were lively and
gentle, making the big eyes of many women seem like
the big talk of politicians-big and useless. A
classics scholar, upon seeing her love ly teeth when
she smiled, might wonder why both Chinese and Western
traditional and modern poets would want to turn into
the pin in a woman's hair, the belt around her waist,
the mat on which she slept, or even the shoes and
socks, that she wore, and not think of transforming
themselves into her toothbrush. Her hair unwaved, her
eyebrows unplucked, and her lips un adorned by
lipstick, she appeared to allow nature to take its own
course with regard to her looks and had no wish to
amend it in any way. In short, she was one of those
rarities of modern civilized society-a genuine girl.
Many city girls who put on all the precocious airs
cannot be considered as girls; then there are just as
many others who are confused, silly, and sexless, and
they too
don't deserve to be called women. Fang Hung-chien
immediately wanted to impress her, while she called
him "elder senior schoolmate," a respectful term of
address.
"That won't do," he protested. "When you call me
'senior,' I feel like a prehistoric relic. Why do you
add the word 'elder'? It's my misfortune to have been
born too early. Not being lucky enough to go to school
at the same time you did is something I regret. If you
call me 'senior' again, you're just deliberately
reminding me that I'm old and out of date. That's too
cruel."
Miss T'ang said, "Mr. Fang, you are too concerned with
insignificant details. Forgive me. I'll first retract
the word 'elder.'"
At the same time Miss Su said lightheartedly, "Aren't
you ashamed? Do you still want us to call you Little
Fang like they did on the boat? Hsiao-fu, ignore him.
If he can't accept the honor, then simply don't call
him anything."
Fang Hung-chien noticed that the trace of a smile
lingered on Miss T'ang's face when she was not
smiling, like the last few notes that float in the air
after the music has ceased. Many women can smile just
as sweetly, but their smile is only facial muscle
calisthenics, as if a drill master were barking the
order, "One!" and suddenly the whole face would be
wreathed in smiles, then "Two!" and just as suddenly
the smile would vanish, leaving a face as blank as the
screen in a movie theater before the movie starts.
Trying to make conversation, he asked what Miss
T'ang's major at col lege was. Miss Su, on the other
hand, wouldn't let Miss T'ang tell and insisted that
he guess.
Fang Hung-chien said Miss T'ang's major was
literature, which was wrong; he then said it was
education, which was also wrong. When he found
chemistry and physics were both wrong, he resorted to
one of Chang Chi mm's English expressions: "Search me!
Don't tell me it's mathematics. That would be too
much!"
Miss T'ang then told him. It was actually quite a
common subject-polit ical science.
Miss Su said, "It's still too much. In the future she
will be our ruler, a lady official."
Fang Hung-chien said, "Women are natural political
animals. Political tactics, such as saying yes and
meaning no, retreating in order to advance, are what
they know from birth. For a woman to study political
science is really developing the innate through the
acquired; it is as superfluous as adding flowers to
embroidery. In Europe when I attended Professor Ernest
Peyg mann's lectures, he said men have the capacity
for creative thought and wom en for social activity.
Thus, men's work in society should be turned over to
women, so that men can seclude themselves at home to
think at leisure, invent new science, and produce new
art. I think that makes a lot of sense. Women don't
need to study politics, but if present-day politicians
want to succeed, they should all imitate women. In
politics roles are being reversed."
Miss Su said, "You're just purposely spouting weird
ideas. You like that sort of thing."
Fang Hung-chien said, "Miss T'ang, your cousin really
doesn't appreciate the respect I'm showing her. I
speak of women participating in government, yet she
turns around and laughs at me for purposely spouting
weird ideas! You be the judge as to who's right. As
the old saying goes, 'The house must first be put in
order before the kingdom can be ruled and the country
paci fied.'7 How many men, may I ask, can take care of
domestic chores? They rely on women to manage the
house, yet they go around boasting about how
great men will run the country and bring peace. If
they can't be bothered with trivial little domestic
chores, then it's just like building a house by first
positioning a roof in midair. There are several
advantages in handing over the state and society
completely to women. At least it would reduce the
chances of war. Maybe diplomacy would become more
complicated and there would be more secret treaties,
but women's biological limitation would make them shun
war. And even if a war started, since women aren't as
mechanically minded as men, they would probably use
simple weapons and apply basic military maneuvers such
as pulling out the hair, scratching the face, and
pinching the body. In such cases damage would be
insignificant. At any rate, the new women today have
already balked at raising a lot of children. By that
time they'll be so busy managing the affairs of the
state that they'll have even less time to procreate.
With the population down, wars probably won't even
occur."
Miss T'ang sensed that Fang Hung-chien was saying all
that to attract her attention. Laughing to herself,
she said, "I can't tell whether Mr. Fang is insulting
politics or women. At the least, it's not
complimentary."
Miss Su said, "Oh, great, you spend all day beating
around the bush try ing to flatter her and she not
only doesn't appreciate it, she doesn't even un
derstand it. I suggest you save your breath."
"It's not that I don't appreciate what he said," said
Miss T'ang. "I am truly grateful that Mr. Fang is
willing to show off his eloquence. If I were studying
mathematics, I bet he would have some other viewpoints
and say that women are natural calculating animals."
Miss Su said, "Maybe he would say that if someone like
you wanted to study mathematics, he'd stop hating
mathematics from then on. Anyway, no matter how you
put it or how ridiculous the arguments get, it's all
just talk. I never knew he had such a glib tongue. I
guess I found that out on the boat returning home.
When we were classmates in college, his face would
turn scarlet whenever he saw us co-eds from a distance
and get redder the closer he came. It was so red that
we'd get hot and uncomfortable all over just look ing
at his face. We used to call him 'The Thermometer'
behind his back since his facial coloring indicated
his relative distance from girls. It was so much fun.
I never would have thought that once he'd gone abroad
he'd get so thick- skinned and brazen-faced. Maybe he
got his training from running around with girl friends
like Miss Pao."
"What rubbish!" said Hung-chien nervously. "What's the
point of bring ing all that up? You co-eds are really
something! You act serious in a person's presence, but
as soon as his back is turned, you tear him apart. You
really have no sense of decency!"
When Miss Su saw how distressed he had become, her
displeasure at see ing him show off in front of Miss
T'ang completely vanished. She said with a
52
53
smile, "Look how upset you are! You yourself are
probably guilty of fancy talk in front of people while
belittling them behind their backs."
At that moment a tall, thirtyish, imposing-looking man
walked in. While
Miss T'ang greeted him as "Mr. Chao," Miss Su said,
"Oh, good, you're here.
I'll introduce you: Fang Hung-chien, Chao Hsin-mei."
Chao Hsin-mei shook hands with Fang Hung-chien,
superciliously glanc ing at him from head to toe as if
Hung-chien were a page from a large-type kindergarten
reader to be glossed over at one glance. He asked Miss
Su, "Didn't you come home with him on the boat?"
Hung-chien was dumbfounded. How did this Chao fellow
know who he was? Then it suddenly occurred to him that
Chao might have seen the item in the Shanghai paper,
and the thought made him feel uncomfortable. Chao
Hsin-mei looked smug to begin with, and after hearing
Miss Su confirm that I Hung-chien indeed came home
with her on the same ship, he acted as if
Hung-chien had turned into thin air and ignored
Hung-chien completely. If Miss Su hadn't bothered to
speak to him, Hung-chien would really have felt that
he had thinned into nothingness, like a phantom of
early dawn upon the cock's crowing or the Taoist
truth, which can be "looked at but not seen, expounded
but not grasped."
Miss Su explained to Hung-chien that Chao Hsin-mei was
a family friend, a returned student from the United
States, a former section chief of the for eign office
who had not gone with the office to the interior
because of illness. She added that he was at the
moment a political editor at the Sino-American News
Agency. She did not, however, recite Hung-chien's
background for Chao Hsin-mei, as if Chao already knew
all about it without being told.
With a pipe in his mouth, Chao Hsin-mei lounged on the
sofa; looking at
the ceiling light, he asked, "Where do you work, Mr.
Fang?"
Somewhat annoyed by the question, Fang Hung-chien felt
he must an swer it. And since the "Golden Touch Bank"
didn't sound impressive, he
answered vaguely, "For the time being I'm working at a
small bank."
Admiring the smoke ring he had blown, Chao Hsin-mei
said, "A great
talent gone to waste. Such a pity! Such a pity! What
did you study abroad,
Mr. Fang?"
"I didn't study anything," said Hung-chien crossly.
Miss Su said, "Hung-chien, you studied philosophy,
didn't you?"
Chortling, Chao Hsin-mei said, "In the eyes of those
of us engaged in real work, studying philosophy and
not studying anything amount to one and the
same."
"Then you'd better find an eye doctor right away and
have your eyes
examined. Eyes that see things like that must have
something wrong with
them," said Fang Hung-chien, purposely guffawing to
cover up his ill feelings.
Chao Hsin-mei, quite pleased with the wisecrack he had
made a moment
ago, was for the moment unable to say anything in
reply and puffed away furiously on his pipe. On the
other hand, Miss Su tried hard not to laugh, though
she was a little ill at ease. Miss T'ang, meanwhile,
sat with a distant, aloof smile on her face, as if she
were watching a fight from the clouds. It sud denly
dawned on Hung-chien that Chao's rudeness toward him
had stemmed from jealousy, for Chao had obviously
taken him as his love rival. All of a sudden, Miss Su
began calling Fang Hung-chien Hung-chien instead of
Mr. Fang, as though she wanted Chao Hsin-mei to know
her intimacy with Fang. Having two men battle over her
must be a woman's proudest moment, Fang reflected.
Well, why should 1 make myself Chao's enemy for
nothing. Let Chao go ahead and love Miss Sul he
decided.
Unaware of Fang Hung-chien's intention, Miss Su
thoroughly enjoyed the battle of two men over her, but
she was worried that the exchange might get too fierce
and in a moment separate the victor from the
vanquished, leav ing only one of the two as the sole
survivor and terminating all the excitement around
her. She was even more worried that the vanquished
might be Fang Hung-chien. She had tried to use Chao
Hsin-mei to rouse Fang Hung-chien's courage, but
perhaps Fang Hung-chien, like the war news in the
newspapers for the last few days, had been
"maintaining the present strength through strategic
retreats."
Chao Hsin-mei's and Su Wen-Wan's fathers had been
colleagues and had rented a house in Peking together
during the early years of the Republic. Hsin-mei and
Miss Su had been friends since childhood. When Mrs.
Chao was pregnant with Hsin-mei, everyone thought she
would have twins. By the time he was four or five, he
was as tall as a seven- or eight-year-old, so that
whenever the servant took him on a trolley car, the
servant would always have to argue with the conductor
over the "no fare required for children un der five"
rule. Though Hsin-mei's body was huge, his head,
resembling a large turnip with nothing in it, was not.
In grade school he was the butt of his classmates'
jokes; for with such a large target, no shot could
ever miss the mark. With Miss Su and her brother and
sister, he used to play "cops and robbers." The two
girls, Miss Su and her now married older sister, could
not run very fast, so when it came their turn to play
the "robber," they insisted on being the "cop." When
Miss Su's elder brother played the robber, he re fused
to be caught. Hsin-mei was the only one who would be a
good little robber and take a beating. When they
played Little Red Riding Hood, he was always the wolf,
and when he ate up Miss Su or her sister, he would
pick them up and make a strange expression by rounding
his eyes and opening his mouth wide. In the part where
the woodcutter kills the wolf and cuts open the wolf's
stomach, Miss Su's brother pressed him into the mud
and tried to dig at his stomach. Once Miss Su's
brother did really cut through his clothes with
scissors.
54
55
While Hsin-mei was amiable by nature, it didn't follow
that he therefore must have a poor mind. His father
believed in physiognomy, so when he was thirteen or
fourteen, his father took him to see a famous woman
physiog nomist who praised him for his "fire planet
square, earth shape thick, wood sound high, cow's
eyes, lion's nose, chessboard piece's ear, and mouth
shaped like the character for 'four.' "And she said
his physiognomy fit the description of a high official
according to her Hemp Robe fortunetelling book.8 More
over, she predicted that he would achieve great fame
and high political status surpassing that of his
father. From then on Hsin-mei considered himself a
statesman.
When Hsin-mei was little, he had a secret crush on
Miss Su. One year when Miss Su was critically ill, he
overheard his father say, "Wen-wan is sure to recover.
She is destined to be an official's wife and has
twenty-five years of a 'helpmate's fortune.'" He
henceforth concluded that she would be his wife since
the woman physiognomist had predicted he would be an
official. When Miss Su returned from abroad, he
thought he would renew their childhood friendship and
propose to her at an appropriate time. But to his
surprise, when Miss Su first came home, every other
word she said was Fang Hung-chien, a name which she
abruptly dropped after the fifth day. The reason was
that she had discovered an old issue of a Shanghai
newspaper and her sharp eyes had noticed an item in it
that others had overlooked.
It must be said that her long years of friendship with
Hsin-mei did not add up to love, just as in winter no
one can add today's temperature to yesterday's to come
up with a warm spring day for tomorrow. It must also
be said that Hsin-mei excelled in making speeches in
English; his resonant and fluent American speech,
resembling the roll of thunder in the sky, when oiled
and waxed, would slip halfway through the sky.
Speeches, however, are delivered from a podium, with
the speaker looking down at his audience. On the other
hand, a marriage proposal has to be made by the person
stooping down to half his height and earnestly
entreating the other with an uplifted face. And since
Miss Su was not his audience, he never had a chance to
exercise his talent.
Though Chao Hsin-mei was jealous of Fang Hung-chien,
it was not an it's-either-you-or-me type of enmity.
His haughty rudeness was an imitation of Mussolini's
and Hitler's attitude toward representatives of small
nations during negotiations. He thought he could
overwhelm and scare off Hung chien with the forbidding
mannerism of Mussolini or Hitler. But when he en
countered a retort from Hung-chien, he could neither
pound the table nor roar like the Italian ruler or
raise a fist in a shout of authority like the German
leader. Fortunately he knew the diplomat's secret of
using a cigarette to create a smoke screen if he found
himself temporarily at a loss for ~vords. When Miss Su
came to his rescue and asked him about the ~var, he
proceeded to
recite from memory the editorial he had just written.
Continuing to ignore Fang Hung-chien, he kept up his
guard against Fang; his attitude resembled that of a
person toward germs when inquiring after the health of
someone with a contagious disease.
Hung-chien was not interested in Hsin-mei's talk and
thought primarily of striking up a conversation with
Miss T'ang, but Miss T'ang was listening to Hsin-mei
with rapt attention. He prepared to wait for Miss
T'ang to leave, then he would get up himself and ask
her for her address when they left to gether.
Hsin-mei finished analyzing the current war situation,
looked at his watch and said, "It's now almost five
o'clock. I'll run to the newspaper office for a while
and then come take you to dinner at the 0 Mei-ch'un.
If you want Szechwanese food, that's the best Szechwan
restaurant. The waiters all know me there. Miss T'ang,
you must join us; Mr. Fang, if you are in the mood,
why not come join the fun? I'd be glad to have you."
Before Miss Su could answer, Miss T'ang and Fang
Hung-chien both
said it was late and they had to go home. They
declined the invitation but
thanked Hsin-mei, nonetheless.
Miss Su said, "Hung-chien, stay a while. There's
something I want to talk to you about. Hsin-mei, my
mother and I have a social engagement today, so let's
eat at the restaurant some other day, all right?
Tomorrow afternoon at four-thirty, all of you are
invited to come here and have tea with Mr. and Mrs.
Shen, who've just returned from abroad. We can have a
good chat."
When Chao Hsin-mei saw Miss Su detain Fang Hung-chien,
he left in a huff. Fang Hung-chien rose and intended
to shake hands with him but had to sit down again.
"That Chao Hsin-mei is strange. He acts as if I had
offended him in some way. He hates me so much that it
shows on his face and in his speech."
"Don't you hate him too?" asked Miss T'ang with a sly
smile.
Miss Su blushed and scolded her, "You're awful."
When Fang Hung-chien heard Miss Su's remark, he dared
not deny hating Chao Hsin-mei but merely said, "Miss
Su, thanks for inviting me to
tea, but I don't think I will be coming."
Before Miss Su could open her mouth, Miss T'ang said,
"You can't do
that? It's all right for the audience not to show up,
but you're one of the prin cipal actors. How can you
not come?"
Miss Su said, "Hsiao-fu! If you utter any more
nonsense, I'm not going
to pay any attention to you. Both of you must come
tomorrow!"
Miss T'ang left in Miss Su's car. Hung-chien, face to
face with Miss Su, tried his best to say something
that would dilute or clear the thick and stifling
atmosphere of intimacy. "Your cousin has a sharp
tongue. She seems quite intelligent too."
56
57
"That girl is very capable for her age. She has a slew
of boy friends that she fools around with!"
Hung-chien's disappointed look sent a twinge of jeal
ousy through Miss Su's heart. "Don't think she's
naive. She is full of schemes! I always thought that a
girl just entering college who is already involved in
love affairs can't have much of a future. I mean, how
can someone who runs around with boys and leads a wild
mixed-up life still have time for study? Don't you
remember our classmates, Huang Pi and Chiang Meng-t'i?
Who knows what's become of them now?"
Fang Hung-chien quickly said he remembered them. "You
were quite popuiar yourself in those days, but you
always looked so arrogant. We could only admire you
from a distance. I never dreamed that we would be such
good friends today."
With that Miss Su felt better. Then she brought up
some old school mat ters; and when Hung-chien saw she
really had nothing important to say, he said, "I'd
better be going. This evening you still have to go out
with your mother on a social engagement."
Miss Su said, "I don't have any engagement. That was
just an excuse, because Hsin-mei was so rude to you. I
don't want to make him any more arrogant."
Hung-chien said nervously, "You're too kind to me."
Miss Su glanced at him; then lowering her head she
said, "Sometimes I really shouldn't be so kind to
you." The tender words he was supposed to say at that
point squirmed in the air and rushed to the tip of his
tongue to be spoken. He didn't want to say them, yet
he couldn't remain silent. As he saw Miss Su's hand
resting on the edge of the sofa, he reached out and
patted the back of her hand. She drew back her hand
and said softly, "You go now. Come a little early
tomorrow afternoon." She walked him to the door of the
living room. As he crossed the threshold, she called,
"Hung-chien." He turned around and asked what was the
matter. She said, "Nothing. I was just watch ing you.
Why did you dash forward without even turning your
head? Ha, ha, I have become such an unreasonable
woman. I wanted you to grow eyes at the back of your
head. Come early tomorrow."
When he left her, Fang thought he had become a part of
spring, at one with it in spirit and no longer the
outsider of two hours ago. As he walked along, his
body felt so light that it seemed the ground was
floating upward. Just two small matters bothered him.
First, he should never have touched Miss Su's hand; he
should have pretended he didn't understand what she
meant. Being too softhearted, he had often catered to
women without intending to, because he didn't want to
offend them. In the future he'd just have to talk and
act more decisively and not let things get serious.
Second, Miss T'ang had many boy friends and might
already be in love with someone. So vexed by
this fact, he struck his cane violently against a
roadside tree and decided he'd better quash all hope
from the very start. What a disgrace it would be if he
were to be jilted by a teen-age girl!
Disconsolately, he hopped on a trolley car and saw a
young couple sitting nearby whispering tender words to
each other. On the boy's lap was a pile of high school
textbooks; the girl's book covers were all decorated
with pictures of movie stars. Though she was no more
than sixteen or seventeen, her face was made up like a
mask kneaded out of gobs of rouge and powder. Shanghai
is certainly avant-garde culturally. The phenomenon of
high school girls painting and plastering their faces
to attract men is rare even abroad, he reflected. But
this girl's face was so obviously faked, for no one
would pos sibly believe that powdered wafer cake
pasted on her face could be her own. It suddenly
occurred to Fang that Miss T'ang did not use any
makeup. A girl who works hard at making up either has
a boy friend already and has discov ered a new
interest or value in her body, or else she's looking
for a boy friend and is hanging out a colorful
eye-catching signboard to attract a man's atten tion.
Since Miss T'ang dresses plainly, she obviously
doesn't have a man in her life, he concluded. His
conclusion had such a profound psychological basis and
had followed such precise logical reasoning that he
couldn't sit still in his seat.
When the trolley car reached his stop, he rushed ahead
and jumped off without waiting for the trolley car to
come to a stop, nearly falling down as he did so.
Luckily, by supporting himself with his cane and
pushing against a utility pole with his left hand, he
managed to check his downward momen tum. He broke out
in a cold sweat from the scare, and a layer of skin
was scraped from his left palm. He was also rebuked by
the trolley car attendant. When he reached home he
applied some tincture of merthiolate to his palm,
blaming Miss T'ang for his mishap and promising to get
even with her later. Like foam, a smile floated up
from his heart to his face, and the pain was im
mediately forgotten. It didn't occur to him, however,
that the scrape might have been punishment for his
having put his hand on top of Miss Su's a while ago.
The next day when he arrived at the Sus, Miss T'ang
was already there. Before he had sat down, Chao
Hsin-mei came. Chao greeted him and then
said, "Mr. Fang, you left late yesterday and came
early today. This must be a good habit you developed
in the banking business. Your diligence is com
mendable. Congratulations."
"Thank you, thank you." Fang Hung-chien had thought of
saying that Hsin-mei's early departure and late
arrival must be in the bureaucratic tradi tion of a
yamen mandarin,9 but he changed his mind and kept the
thought to himself. He even smiled pleasantly at
Hsin-mei. Hsin-mei, on the other hand, had not
expected him to be so meek and was startled to find
that he had struck
58 59
at thin air. Meanwhile, Miss T'ang looked surprised
and so did Miss Su at the lack of drama. However, Miss
Su assumed that Fang's meekness was the mag nanimity
usually demonstrated by the victor, and since
Hung-chien knew she loved him, Hung-chien felt no need
to quarrel with Hsin-mei.
Mr. and Mrs. Shen arrived. While introductions were
made and pleas antries exchanged, Chao Hsin-mei picked
the sofa nearest Miss Su and sat down. The Shens sat
together on a long sofa, and Miss T'ang sat on an em
broidered couch between the Shens and Miss Su. Next to
Mrs. Shen, Hung~ chien sat by himself. He had no
sooner seated himself than he regretted it immensely,
for Mrs. Shen had an odor about her for which there is
an elegant expression in classical Chinese as well as
an idiom in Latin, both using the goat as a
comparison: yun-ti and olet hircum (smelling like a
goat). Mingled with the scent of face powder and the
fragrance of flowers, this smell was so strong that it
made Fang Hung-chien queasy, yet he was too polite to
smoke a cig arette to dispel the stench. Here was a
woman just returned from France all right, bringing
back to China a whole "symphony of foul odors" from
the Paris marketplace. Fang never ran into her while
in Paris, and now of all times there was no escape
from her; the explanation seemed to be that Paris was
big while the world was small.
Mrs. Shen was rather odd-looking and very heavily made
up; the two black bags under her eyes were like round
canteen bottles, filled probably with hot, passionate
tears; the thick lipstick had been washed into her
mouth and colored the yellowish, rough ridges of her
teeth red, making her teeth look like hemorrhoids
dripping with blood or the clues to a bloody murder in
a detective yarn. Her speech was full of French
exclamations such as "Tiens!" and "0 la la!" as she
squirmed her body around into various seduc tive
poses. Each twist of the body let off a fresh wave of
the smell. Hung chien wished he could have told her
that it was quite enough if she'd just talk with her
mouth and be careful not to twist herself in two.
Mr. Shen's lower lip was thick and drooping. One could
tell at a glance that he was a man who spoke much and
quickly as though he had diarrhea of the mouth. He was
describing how he had propagandized the war to the
French and how he had won the sympathy of quite a few
people for China's cause. "After the withdrawal from
Nanking,'0 they all said China was fin ished. I said
to them, 'During the war in Europe, didn't your
government also move the capital out of Paris? Yet you
were the final victors!' They had noth ing to say to
that, no sir, not a thing."
Hung-chien was thinking, Governments may be able to
move their capi tals, but 1 can't change my seat.
As though offering an expert's opinion, Chao Hsin-mei
observed, "An excellent answer! Why don't you write an
article about it?"
"Wei-lei [Mrs. Shenil put those remarks of mine in the
foreign corre spondence column in a Shanghai paper.
Didn't you see it, Mr. Chao?" asked Mr. Shen with a
touch of disappointment.
Mrs. Shen twisted around and gestured at her husband,
saying with a coquettish smile, "Why bring up that
thing of mine? Who'd ever have no ticed it?"
Hsin-mei said quickly, "Yes, I did see it. I was very
much impressed. Now I remember, it had the part about
relocating the capital."
"I didn't see it," Hung-chien interrupted. "What was
it called?"
Hsin-mei said, "You philosophers study timeless
questions, so naturally you don't read newspapers. It
was called-uh-it's on the tip of my tongue. Why can't
I think of it just now?" He had never read the article
in the first place but couldn't pass up the chance to
humiliate Hung-chien.
Miss Su said, "You can't blame him. He probably was in
the country at the time the article appeared, and he
might not have seen any newspapers. Right, Hung-chien?
The title is quite easy to remember: 'Some Letters to
My Sisters in the Motherland.' At the top was a
headline in large type which went something like this,
'A Verdant Island of Europe in the Azure Blood of
Asia.' Mrs. Shen, is my memory correct?"
"Oh, that's right," said Hsin-mei, slapping his own
thigh. " 'Some Letters to My Sisters in the
Motherland' and 'A Verdant Island of Europe in the
Azure Blood of Asia.' Beautiful titles. What a good
memory you have, Wen wan!"
Mrs. Shen said, "Gee, you even remember that silly
thing of mine. No wonder all the people who know you
say you are a genius."
Miss Su said, "If it is something good, you don't have
to remember it. It'll leave a deep impression by
itself."
Miss T'ang said to Hung-chien, "Mrs. Shen wrote her
article for us women to read. You're one of the
'brothers in the motherland,' and you can be forgiven
for not having noticed it."
Since Mrs. Shen was not young and since her letter was
not addressed to her "nieces and grandnieces in the
motherland," Miss T'ang, by reading it, had been
elevated to the status of Mrs. Shen's sister.
To make amends for his forgetfulness, Hsin-mei
flattered Mrs. Shen, say ing that the Sino-American
News Agency was going to publish a women's magazine
and asking for her help. The Shens grew even more
friendly to ward Hsin-mei.
The servant drew the curtain separating the dining
room from the living room, and Miss Su invited
everyone to step inside for refreshments. Hung chien
felt like a criminal having been granted a pardon.
When he finished eating, he returned to the living
room and quickly sat next to Miss T'ang.
60 61
Mrs. Shen and Chao Hsin-mei were so deeply engrossed
in their conversation that they could not be
separated; since he had a stuffy nose and a cold Hsin
mei didn't mind being close to Mrs. Shen. Meanwhile,
Mr. Shen was dropping hints to Miss Su with the
intention of having Uncle Sut' find him a position:
in Hong Kong. On the other hand, Fang Hung-chien
decided his luck that day had turned for the better,
as in the expression "After the bitter comes the~
sweet," and he asked Miss T'ang in a whisper, "You
didn't eat anything just now, as if you didn't feel
well. Are you better now?"
"I ate quite a bit," said Miss T'ang. "There is
nothing wrong with me."
"I'm not the host; you needn't be polite with me. I
clearly saw you drink, a mouthful of soup, then frown
and play with the spoon without eating any thing
else."
"What's so interesting about watching someone eat? Is
it polite to keep staring at someone? I didn't like
you watching me eat, so I didn't eat. That's what you
did to me-Ha, ha, Mr. Fang. don't take it seriously. I
really didn't know you were watching others eat. Tell
me, when you were sitting down' next to Mrs. Shen, why
did you turn your face away and hold your mouth
tightly shut as if under torture?"
"So the same thing happened to you!" Fang Hung-chien
and Miss T'ang laughed intimately, having now become
comrades in adversity.
Miss T'ang said, "Mr. Fang, I'm a little disappointed
today."
"Disappointed? What were you hoping for? Wasn't that
smell strong enough for you?"
"It's not that. I thought for sure that there'd be a
lot of fireworks be tween you and Chao Hsin-mei. Who
would have thought there'd be nothing."
"I'm sorry that there wasn't any nice drama for you to
watch. Chao Hsin-mei misunderstands my relationship
with your cousin. Maybe you are under the same
misunderstanding. I just let him be the provocateur
today, while I sit back without returning his salvos
to let him know I have nothing against him."
"Is that true? Wouldn't a mere indication from my
cousin clear up the misunderstanding?"
"Maybe your cousin has her own ideas. Dispatching a
general on a mis sion isn't as effective as
challenging him to do it as a mission impossible.
There has to be a major adversary before Mr. Chao's
ability can come to the fore. Too bad this tired old
soldier can't live up to the fight and for that matter
isn't interested in the fighting."
"Why not be a volunteer?"
"No, it'd be like dragging in a conscript." As he said
this, Fang Hung chien regretted having spoken so
flippantly, since there was no guarantee that Miss
T'ang wouldn't pass all this on to Miss Su.
"But often the underdog gets more sympathy from the
bystanders."
62
~ealizing that this remark could be misconstrued, Miss
T'ang blushed. "I mean, my cousin might be aiding the
smaller, weaker people."12
Hung-Chien was so overjoyed at hearing this that his
heart skipped a beat. "That's her business. Miss
T'ang, I'd like to invite you and your cousin for
dinner tomorrow at the 0 Mei-chun. May I have the
honor?"
Miss T'ang hesitated and before she could answer,
Hung-chien went on, "I know it's very presumptuous of
me. Your cousin told me you have many friends. Though
I am unworthy, I'd like very much to be included among
them."
"I don't have any friends. My cousin was talking
nonsense. What did she say to you?"
"Oh, nothing in particular. Just that you are very
good at socializing and know quite a few people."
"That's ridiculous. I am just an ignorant country
girl!"
"You're being polite. Please come tomorrow. I wanted
to go to that res taurant but didn't have a good
excuse. I'm using you two as a pretext so I can enjoy
myself. Please oblige me by accepting the invitation."
Miss T'ang said with a smile, "Mr. Fang, there's
something behind every thing you say. If that's the
way it is, I'll certainly come. What time tomorrow
evening?"
Hung-chien told her the time. Relaxed and happy, he
heard Mrs. Shen speak in her sonorous voice, "The time
I attended the World Conference of Women, I observed a
widespread trend. Women all over the world are now
going in the direction of men." Hung-chien was both
startled and amused, thinking, h's been like that
since ancient times. Mrs. Shen shouldn't have to
attend a women's conference now to find that out.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Shen continued, "All the occupations
that men have held, such as members of par liament,
lawyers, journalists, airplane pilots, women can hold
and perform just as well as men. A Yugoslav woman
sociologist gave a lecture at the con ference in which
she said that with the exception of women who were
willing to be virtuous wives and mothers, career women
could be called 'the third sex.' Though the women's
liberation movement is a recent development, al ready
there have been such outstanding achievements. I would
venture to say that in the near future the distinction
between the sexes will become an his toric term."
Chao Hsin-mei said, "You're right, Mrs. Shen. Women
today really are capable! Wen-wan, take Miss Ilsu
Pao-ch'iung, for instance. Do you know her, Mrs. Shen?
She helps her father manage a dairy farm and handles
major and minor chores herself. Outwardly she looks so
dainty and refined. You could never tell what she
does."
Hung-chien said something to Miss T'ang, whereupon
Miss T'ang burst out laughing.
63
Miss Su said, "Pao-ch'iung is more clever than her
father and is actually the behind-the-scenes manager."
Disgusted by Hung-chien's closeness to Miss T'ang, she
asked, "Hsiao-fu, what's so funny?"
Miss T'ang just shook her head and laughed.
Miss Su then said, "Hung-chien, if there's a joke let
us hear it."
Hung-chien too shook his head and said nothing, making
it even more apparent that he and Miss T'ang were
sharing a mutual secret. Miss Su became quite vexed,
and Chao Hsin-mei, putting on his most supercilious
expression, said, "Maybe the great philosopher Fang
was expounding some optimistic philosophy of life,
which made Miss T'ang so happy. Right, Miss T'ang?"
Ignoring Hsin-mei, Fang Hung-chien said to Miss Su, "I
heard Mr. Chao say he couldn't tell by looking at Miss
Hsu that she runs a dairy farm. Maybe Mr. Chao thinks
Miss Hsu ought to grow two horns on her head so that
people could tell who she is at one glance.
Otherwise, you could never tell what she does, no
matter what she looks like."
Chao Hsin-mei said, "That makes no sense. If she grew
horns on her head and turned into a cow herself, how
would that show she's a dairy manager?" While he was
speaking, he looked around the room and roared with
laughter, feeling he had trounced Fang Hung-chien
again. Determined not to be the first one to leave, he
entrenched himself deeper into the sofa.
Having achieved his aim, Fang Hung-chien did not care
to stay any longer and wanted to leave while there
were still enough people present to make his parting
from Miss Su a little easier. Since he hadn't been
near her that day, Miss Su made a point to see him to
the hallway. Her reasoning was similar to warming
one's hands in front of the stove before stepping
outside on a cold day.
Hung-chien said, "Miss Su, I didn't have a chance to
talk with you much today. Are you free tomorrow
evening? I'd like to invite you to dinner at the O
Mei-chun. I don't care to have Chao Hsin-mei invite
me. I just wish I were an old customer. I probably
can't order the dishes as well as he can."
The fact that Fang was still at odds with Chao
Hsin-mei gave Miss Su an uplift in spirit. She said
with a smile, "Fine. Just the two of us, then?" As
soon as she said this, she felt a little embarrassed,
having realized that the ques tion was unnecessary.
Fang Hung-chien said hesitatingly, "No, your cousin is
also coming."
"Oh, she is. Have you invited her?"
"Yes, I did. She promised to come-to accompany you."
"All right then, goodbye."
Miss Su's parting manner dampened Fang Hung-chien's
high spirits. He felt the situation between him and
the two women was too difficult to handle. and prayed
that he would be able to handle it smoothly and
cleanly and let Miss Su's affections toward him die a
painless death. He heaved a sigh for Miss
64
Su. Though he didn't love her, he had become
softhearted because of her. It's just too unfair! She
is too scheming. She shouldn't be so easily hurt and
she should bear the situation without complaint. Why
does love have to lower one's mental resistance and
make one so weak that one can be easily manip ulated?
if God really loved man, He would never be the master
of man, he thought. If his thoughts had been made
known to Chao Hsin-mei, Fang Hung-chien would have had
to listen to Hsin-mei's abuse about how "the
philosopher is up to tricks."
That night Fang's sleep was fitful, like rice-flour
noodles without elastic ity or stretchability. His joy
burst from his dreams and woke him four or five times.
Each time he awoke, he seemed to see T'ang Hsiao-fu's
face and to hear her voice. Her every word and gesture
during the day he tried to impress upon his heart.
Moments later he would drift to sleep only to awake
with a start a moment later, feeling his joy had been
robbed by sleep. Once more he would mentally review
the day's happiness. When he finally awoke and got up,
he found the sky dull and grey. He had not chosen a
nice day for a dinner party, he thought, and wished he
could have pressed blotting paper against the pale
rain clouds to dry them up.
Monday was usually the busiest day of the week at the
bank. Fang wouldn't be able to leave the office until
after six o'clock in the evening. Since he wouldn't
have time to come home and change before going to the
restau rant, he got dressed in the morning before
Leaving for work. Imagining he were Miss T'ang, he
judged his appearance in the mirror through her eyes.
In less than a year since his return from abroad, he
had acquired more wrinkles on his forehead, and since
he hadn't slept well the night before, his complex ion
and eyes were dull and lusterless. His acquisition of
a new love two days ago had made him meticulously
aware of every last blemish in his appearance in the
manner of a poor man with only one dress suit who
knows its every spot and patch. Actually, to other
people, his complexion looked the same as ever, but he
found himself particularly ugly that day. Thinking
that the color of his necktie made his sallow
complexion greenish, he changed neckties three times
before going down for breakfast.
As usual, Mr. Chou was still in bed, so Fang ate with
Mrs. Chou and Hsiao-ch'eng. As Fang was still eating
breakfast, the telephone outside his bedroom upstairs
rang. At home, he seldom had a moment's peace and
quiet, and when irritated by the phone, he would often
think his fianc6e's life had been snatched away by
that "soul-snatching bell" of the telephone. The maid
servant came down to say, "Telephone, Mr. Fang. It's
someone named Su, a woman." As she spoke, her eyes
passed the message to Mrs. Chou and Hsiao ch'eng,
whose eyes were so busy that they resembled ripples in
a spring pond in the breeze. Hung-chien had never
expected Miss Su to call, and he was sure Mrs. Chou
would quiz him about the call. As he bounded up the
stairs to an 65
swer the phone, he heard Hsiao-ch'eng remark in a loud
voice, "I bet it's Su Wen-wan." The other day in his
history class Hsiao-ch'eng had incorrectly identified
the family name of the Manchu rulers Ai-hsin
Chiao-1o13 as Ch'in-ai Pao-lo (Dear Paul); for his
mistake he had received a severe reprimand from his
teacher, and the reprimand had so infuriated him that
he was playing hooky and staying home that day. On the
other hand, after seeing Miss Su's name once, he had
it memorized.
As Hung-chien picked up the receiver, he felt the
entire Chou family were listening in with bated
breath. "Miss Su?" he said softly. "This is Hung
chien."
"Hung-chien, I thought you'd still be home so I called
you up. I'm not feeling well today, so I won't be
going to the 0 Mei-chun this evening. I'm very sorry.
You mustn't get mad at me."
"Is Miss T'ang going?" As soon as the words came out
of his mouth, he regretted having said them.
Incisively, she said, "I have no idea." Then in a
distant tone, she went on, "Of course, she will be."
"What's wrong with you? Is it serious?" He knew his
inquiries were already too late.
"It's nothing. I just feel too tired to go out." The
implication was ob vious.
"Well, I am relieved to hear that. Take good care of
yourself. I'll cer tainly see you tomorrow. What do
you like to eat?"
"Thank you. I don't want anything." Pause. "Well,
then, I will see you tomorrow."
After Miss Su hung up, it occurred to Hung-chien that
as a matter of courtesy he should cancel and schedule
the dinner for another day. Should he call Miss Su and
ask her to tell Miss T'ang about the postponement? But
he really didn't want to. Just as he was pondering
over the matter, Hsiao ch'eng came running and jumping
along, yelling at the top of his lungs all the way,
"Dear Miss Su, have you come down with lovesickness?
What do you love to eat? I love baked sesame buns,
fried puffs, five-spice beans, dried bean- curd
strips, dried mucus, stinky salt-preserved fish."
With a yelp, Hung-chien grabbed Hsiao-ch'eng, cutting
short his pro posed menu and frightening him into
begging for mercy. Hung-chien gave him a light pat and
dismissed him. He then went downstairs to finish his
breakfast. As expected, Mrs. Chou was waiting to query
him in detail. "Don't forget, you must make me your
adopted mother," she said.
"I'm waiting for you to get an adopted daughter. The
more daughters you get, the wider is the selection for
me. This Miss Su is only an old class-. mate. Nothing
serious between us, so don't worry," Hung-chien
quickly an swered.
66
The sky gradually cleared up, but because of the phone
call that morn ing Hung-chien's high spirits had been
considerably dampened. He felt un worthy of such a
beautiful day as he had planned it, and he felt as if
a tent were about to collapse on him. Miss Su was up
to mischief, no doubt. And if she didn't come, so much
the better as that would leave just Miss T'ang and
himself. But without a third person, would Miss T'ang
come? he wondered. He hadn't asked Miss T'ang for her
address and telephone number the day before, so he
couldn't find out if Miss T'ang knew about Miss Su's
not com ing to the party. Miss Su would surely let
Miss T'ang know. What if Miss T'ang had asked Miss Su
to tell him that she wasn't coming either. That would
be disastrous!
At the bank he assisted Chief-secretary Wang with
letter writing. His mind preoccupied with his own
affairs, he made a few errors in the drafts of letters
he wrote. Wang corrected them for him, chuckled, and
said, "Brother Hung~chien,i4 the eyes of this old
clerk are still pretty sharp."
By six o'clock when he still hadn't received any word
from Miss T'ang, he began to get nervous but didn't
dare call Miss Su to ask about Miss T'ang. Around
seven, he briskly walked over to the 0 Mei-chun and
engaged a pri vate dining room, preparing to wait for
Miss T'ang until eight-thirty. If by that time she
still hadn't come, then he would have to eat alone.
Waiting pa tiently and never raising his hopes too
high, he lit a cigarette and then snuffed it out. The
evening was too chilly for him to open the windows,
yet he was afraid the odor of smoke might fill the
room and offend Miss T'ang. He opened the book he had
brought to the bank to read during his spare time but
not a single sentence made any sense. When he heard
the waiter greeting a customer outside, his heart
fluttered. The dinner was for seven-thirty, and it was
just seven-forty-five by his watch. She couldn't
possibly be coming this early, but suddenly the
curtain was drawn, the waiter stood aside and in came
Miss T'ang.
In his heart what Hung-chien felt was gratitude, not
joy. After greeting her, he said, "I am sorry Miss Su
couldn't make it today."
"I know. I almost didn't make it myself. I tried
calling you but couldn't get through."
"Then I'm grateful to the telephone company. I hope
their business pros pers and their lines get so busy
that telephone calls to make last minute changes of
plan won't get through. Did you call the bank?"
"No, I called your house. This is what happened. Early
this morning my cousin called me saying she couldn't
come to dinner and had already informed you. I said I
wouldn't go either, in that case. She wanted me to
tell you my self and gave me your phone number. I
dialed and asked, 'Is this the Fangs' residence?' A
woman answered in your native dialect-I couldn't
imitate the way she said it-'This is the Chous'
residence. There is only one person named |
