18
be spotted by them. He couldn't make up his mind, yet
he didn't want to give up hope.
Suddenly he heard light, brisk footsteps, seemingly
from the direction of Miss Pao's cabin. His heart
leaped up, but was then pressed down by those
footsteps, as if each step trod upon it. The footsteps
halted. His heart likewise stood still, not daring to
stir, as though someone stood upon it. A long moment
passed and his heart was oppressed beyond endurance.
Fortunately, the footsteps resumed with renewed speed,
coming closer. He was no longer in doubt, his heart no
longer restraining itself. Wanting to shout with joy,
he hopped from his bed and without getting his
slippers all the way on, opened the door curtain to a
whiff of Miss Pao's usual talcum powder.
When he woke the next morning, sunlight filled the
room. By his watch it was past nine. He reminisced how
sweet the night's sleep had been, too deep even for
dreams. No wonder sleep was called the land of dark
sweetness. He then thought of Miss Pao's dark skin and
sweet smile; later when he saw her he'd call her "Dark
Sweetness," making him think of dark, sweet chocolate.
Too bad that French chocolate wasn't any good and that
the weather was too hot for eating it, for otherwise
he would treat her to a box. Just as he was loafing in
bed thinking of that nonsense, Miss Pao tapped on the
outside of his cabin, called him "Lazybones," and told
him to hurry and get up so they could go ashore and
have fun.
When he finished combing his hair and washing up, he
went to her cabin and waited outside a long while
before she finally finished dressing. Breakfast had
already been served in the dining room, so they
ordered and paid for two extra servings. The waiter
who served them, Ah Lix, was the one in charge of
Fang's cabin. When they had finished eating and were
about to leave, Ah Liu, instead of clearing away the
things on the table, smiled at them gleefully and
stretched out his hand. In his palm were three
hairpins. Mouthing Cantonese Mandarin,22 he said in a
jumbled roundabout way, "Mr. Fang, I found these just
now while making your bed."
Miss Pao flushed crimson and her big eyes seemed about
to pop out of their sockets. Mortified, Fang cursed
himself for being so stupid as not to have checked his
bed when he got up. He pulled out three hundred francs
from his pocket and said to Ah Lix, "Here! Now give me
back those things." Ah Lix thanked him, adding that he
was most dependable and would certain ly keep his
mouth shut. Miss Pao looked elsewhere, pretending she
knew nothing about it.
After they left the dining room, Fang gave the
hairpins back to Miss Pao, apologizing as he did so.
She angrily flung them to the floor, saying, "Who
wants them after they've been in the filthy hands of
that wretch!"
The incident ruined their luck for the whole day.
Everything went
19
wrong. The rickshaws took them to the wrong Place;
they paid the wrong amount of money when they went
shopping; neither one had any good luck. Fang wanted
to go eat lunch at the Chinese restaurant where they
went the evening before, but Miss Pao was set on
eating Western food, saying she didn't want to meet
anyone they knew from the ship. They then found a
Western-type restaurant that looked respectable enough
from the outside; but as it turned out, there wasn't a
single thing edible from the cold dishes to the
coffee. The soup was cold, and the ice cream was warm.
The fish was like the Marine Corps. It apparently had
already been on land for several days; the meat was
like submarine sailors, having been submerged in water
for a long time. Besides the vinegar, the bread, the
butter, and the red wine were all sour. They
completely lost their appetites while eating and
couldn't hit it off in their conversation either. He
tried to amuse her by calling her the affectionate
nicknames "Dark Sweetie" and "Miss Chocolate."
"Am I so dark then?" she asked heatedly.
Stubbornly trying to justify himself, he argued, "But
I like your color. This year in Spain I saw a famous
beauty dancing. Her skin was just a little lighter
than a smoked ham."
"Maybe you like Miss Six's dead-fish-belly white. You
yourself are as black as a chimney sweep. Just take a
look at yourself in the mirror," she answered him
none too logically. With that she flashed a triumphant
smile.
Having received a thorough blackening from Miss Pao,
he could hardly go on. The waiter served the chicken.
There on the plate was a piece of meat that seemed to
have been donated by the iron weathercock on a church
steeple. Try as she might, Miss Pao could not make a
dent in it. She put down her knife and fork, saying,
"I haven't the teeth to bite into this thing. This
restaurant is a total mess.~~
Fang attacked the chicken with a greater
determination "You wouldn't listen to me," he said
through clenched teeth. "You wanted to eat Western
food.~~
"I wanted to eat Western food, but I didn't ask you to
come to this miserable restaurant! After the mistake
is made, you blatue someone else. All you men are like
that!" She talked as though she had tested the
character of every man in the world.
After a while she somehow managed to bring up Dr. Li,
her fiancé, say ing he was a devout Christian. Already
piqued, Fang became disgusted upon hearing this. Since
religious belief hadn't had the slightest effect on
her be havior, he'd just have to use Dr. Li to get in
a few digs at her, he thought. "How can a Christian
practice medicine?" he asked.
Without any idea of what he was driving at, she looked
at him wide- eyed.
20
r
He added some rice-water "milk" to the scorched
bean-husk "coffee" in front of her, and said, "One of
the Ten Commandments of Christianity is 'Thou shalt
not kill,' but what does a doctor do but
professionalized killing?"
Unamused, she shot back, "Don't be ridiculous!
Medicine saves lives."
Seeing how attractive she was when aroused, he decided
to provoke her further. "No one who saves lives could
be religious. Medicine wants people to live. It saves
people's bodies. Religion saves people's souls and
wants them not to fear death. So if a sick man is
afraid of death, he'll call a doctor and take
medicine. If the doctor and the medicine prove
ineffective and there's no escape from death, then
he'll get a minister or a priest to prepare him for
his end. To study medicine and be religious at the
same time comes down to: 'If I can't help a sick man
to live properly, at least I can still help him die
properly. Either way he can't go wrong by calling me
in.' It's like a pharmacist running a coffin shop on
the side. What a racket!"
She was greatly incensed: "I suppose you won't ever
get sick and have to call a doctor. Your big mouth and
glib tongue are spouting all kinds of nonsense. Well,
I study medicine too. Why do you malign people for no
reason?"
Alarmed, he apologized. She complained of a headache
and wanted to return to the ship to rest. All the way
back he was very apologetic, but she remained in low
spirits. After seeing her to her cabin, he slept for
two hours himself. As soon as he got up he went to her
cabin, tapped on the partition, and called her name,
asking if she felt any better. To his surprise, the
curtain opened and Miss Six came out saying Miss Pao
was sick, had thrown up twice, and had just fallen
asleep. He was at once chagrined and embarrassed; he
said something lamely and beat a hasty retreat.
During dinner everyone noticed Miss Pao's absence and
teased Fang, asking him where she was. He mumbled,
"She's tired. She isn't feeling well."
Gloatingly, Miss Six said, "She ate with Mr. Fang and
came back with an upset stomach. Now she can't keep a
thing down. I'm just afraid she's con tracted
dysentery!"
The callous men students laughed heartily and spouted
all sorts of non sense, asking, "Who told her to eat
with Little Fang23 behind our backs?"
"Little Fang is a real disgrace! Why can't he pick a
clean restaurant when he asks a girl out to eat?"
"It couldn't be the restaurant's fault. Miss Pao was
probably too happy and ate so much she couldn't digest
it all. Right, Little Fang?"
"Little Fang, you didn't get sick? Oh, I get it! Miss
Pao's beauty is such a feast to the eye,24 and you got
your fill just looking at her and didn't have to eat."
"I'm afraid what he feasted on wasn't beauty but-" The
speaker was
21
going to say "cooked meat"; then suddenly thinking the
words would be inelegant in front of Miss Six and
might be passed on to Miss Pao, he picked up a piece
of bread and stuffed it into his mouth.
Fang actually hadn't had enough to eat during lunch
but now could no longer stand everyone's teasing.
Without waiting for all the dishes to be served, he
took off, causing the others to laugh even harder. As
he stood up and turned around, he saw the waiter, Ah
Lix, standing behind him and giv ing him an
understanding wink.
Miss Pao stayed in bed for a day or two; then she
finally got up. She still toyed with Fang but not as
freely as before. Perhaps because they would be
reaching Hong Kong in a few days, she had to cleanse
her mind and body in preparation for meeting her
fiance.
Three or four students and the Suns were going to
disembark at Colon to take the Canton-Hankow train.
With departure imminent they gam bled away for all
they were worth, only lamenting that lights were not
per mitted in the dining room after midnight. On the
afternoon before arrival in Hong Kong, they exchanged
home addresses and made repeated promises to see one
another again, as if the shipboard friendship was
never to be forgotten.
Fang was about to go on deck to look for Miss Pao when
Ah Lix fur tively called him. Ever since the day he
had given Ah Lix the three hundred francs, he felt
uneasy whenever he saw Ah Lix. Hardening his
expression, he asked Ah Lix what the matter was. Ah
Lix said that among the cabins he took care of there
was one vacant; he asked Fang if Fang wanted it for
the eve ning, saying he would only ask six hundred
francs for it. With a wave of the hand, Fang said,
"What would I want with that?" and bounded up the
steps two at a time, with Ah Lix laughing scornfully
behind him. He suddenly realized what Ah Lix had had
in mind and his face burned with shame. He went up to
sputter out the incident to Miss Pao, cursing that
scoundrel Ah Lix. She gave a snort, but as others were
coming up, there was no chance to say anymore.
During dinner, Mr. Sun said, "Today, to mark our
parting, we should
live it up and gamble through the whole night. Ah Lix
has an empty cabin
which I've reserved for two hundred francs."
Miss Pao threw Fang a contemptuous glance, then
immediately stared at
her plate and ate her soup.
Mrs. Sun, feeding her child with a spoon, asked
meekly, "We'll be going
ashore tomorrow. Aren't you afraid of getting tired?"
Mr. Sun said, "Tomorrow I'll find a hotel and sleep
for days and nights
on end. The engines on the ship are so noisy, I've nor
been sleeping well."
Meanwhile, Fang's self-esteem had deflated like a
rubber tire under Miss
Pao's glance. After dinner Miss Pao and Miss Six were
unusually intimate,
going about arm in arm and never leaving each other's
company for an in stant. He followed them lamely onto
the deck. As he watched them talk and laugh without
letting him squeeze a word in edgewise, he felt silly
and humil iated; he was like a beggar who, after
running after a rickshaw for some dis tance without
getting a cent, finally has to stop but is reluctant
to give up. Looking at her watch, Miss Pao said, "I'm
going down to sleep. The ship will dock before dawn
tomorrow so we won't be able to sleep well in the morn
ing. If I don't go to bed early, I'll be all tired out
and will look a wreck when I go ashore tomorrow."
Miss Six said, "You're so concerned about your looks.
Are you afraid Mr.
Li won't love you? If you look a little weary, it'll
make him dote on you so
much more!"
Miss Pao said, "Is that the voice of experience? Just
think. Tomorrow
I'll be home. I'm so excited I am afraid I won't be
able to fall asleep. Miss Six,
let's go on down. We can lie down in the cabin and
talk more comfortably."
With a nod to Fang they went down. He burned with such
rage inside that it seemed enough to set the end of
his cigarette aglow. He could not understand why Miss
Pao had suddenly changed her attitude. So was their
relationship to end just like that? When he was at the
University of Ber lin, he had heard the lecture on
Eros by Ed Spranger, a professor xvell known in Japan,
and so he understood that love and sexual desire are
twins which go together but are different. Sexual
desire is not the basis for love, and love is not the
sublimation of sexual desire. He had also read manuals
on love and other such books and knew the difference
between physical and spiritual love. With Miss Pao it
wasn't a matter of heart or soul. She hadn't had any
change of heart, since she didn't have a heart. It was
only a matter of flesh changing its flavor over time.
At any rate, he hadn't suffered any loss and may even
have had the better of it, so there should be no cause
for com plaint. He tried to console himself with these
clever phrases and careful cal culations, but
disappointment, frustrated lust, and wounded pride all
refused to settle down, like the doll which always
rights itself when pushed over and even wobbles about
more vigorously.
At the crack of dawn the next day, the ship reduced
its speed and the sound of its engines altered rhythm.
Fang's cabinmate had already packed his things, while
Fang lay in bed, thinking that since he and Miss Pao
would never meet again, he would see her off with due
courtesy, no matter what. Ah Lix suddenly entered with
a woeful look and asked for a tip.
"Why do you want money now?" asked Fang angrily.
"It'll be several
days before we reach Shanghai."
Ah Lix explained in a hoarse voice that Mr. Sun and
the others playing
mahjong had been too noisy and had been caught by the
French who had
22
23
raised cain. He had lost his job and in a little while
would have to pack his bedding2~ and get off the boat.
Fang secretly rejoiced at this piece of good fortune,
then sent Ah Lix off with a tip.
During breakfast those disembarking were in low
spirits. Mrs. Sun's eyes were red and swollen and the
corners seemed saturated with tears; the y were like
the dew on flower petals on a summer morning, and the
slightest touch of the finger would cause them to
drop. Miss Pao noticed there was a new waiter on duty
and asked where Ah Lix had gone, but no one answered
her.
Fang asked Miss Pao, "You have a lot of luggage. Would
you like me to help you off the ship?"
In a distant tone of voice she answered, "Thank you.
There's no need for you to bother. Mr. Li is coming
aboard to meet me."
Miss Six said, "You can introduce Mr. Fang to Mr. Li."
Fang wished he could have crushed every bone in Miss
Six's thin body to lime powder. Miss Pao ignored Miss
Six and, after drinking a glass of milk, rose
hurriedly, saying she still hadn't finished packing.
Heedless of everyone's jesting remarks, Fang put down
his glass and followed her. Miss Pao didn't even
glance around, and when he called her name, she said
impatiently, "I'm busy. I don't have time to talk with
you."
He did not quite know how to show his anger. Just at
that moment Ah Lix appeared like a ghost and asked
Miss Pao for a tip. Miss Pao's eyes ex ploded with
sparks as she said, "I tipped you yesterday for
waiting on the table. What other tip do you want? You
don't take care of my cabin."
Ah Lix silently reached his hand into his pocket and
after a long time pulled out a hairpin. It was one of
those Miss Pao had flung away the other day. While
sweeping the floor he had found only one of the three.
At first Fang wanted to scold Ah Lix, but seeing how
seriously Ah Lix had pulled out this magical object,
he couldn't help laughing.
"You think it's funny?" Miss Pao snapped. "If you
think it's so funny, you give him some money. I don't
have a cent!" And with that she turned and strode off.
Afraid that a disgruntled Ah Lix might run his mouth
off to Dr. Li, Fang gave Ah Liu some more money,
charging it up to his bad luck. Fang then went on deck
by himself and watched disconsolately as the ship drew
up to the Kowloon wharf. Other disembarking
passengers, both Chinese and non- Chinese, also came
up. He hid himself in a corner, not wishing to see
Miss Pao. On the wharf, policemen, porters, and hotel
agents who had come to greet passengers were clamoring
noisily; a group of people were waving handkerchiefs
at the ship or gesticulating. He was sure Dr. Li was
among them and wanted a closer look at him. Finally,
the gangplank was lowered, and after the immigration
procedures were completed, friends of departing
passengers swarmed aboard. Miss Pao rushed into the
arms of a balding, dark,
24
pudgy man in big glasses. So this was the fiance he
was supposed to resemble! He looked like that? Well,
of all the insults! Now he understood everything. That
remark of hers was nothing but a "come-on." Up to this
time he had been quite pleased with himself, thinking
she had taken a liking to him. Who would have thought
that having been tricked and made use of by her, he
was even being secretly ridiculed by her. What was
there to say except that adage, which was so old it
had grown a long white beard and so stale it was
moldy: "Women are the most dreadful of all!" As he was
leaning against the railing and thus lost in thought,
Miss Six's soft voice unexpectedly came from behind
him, "Are you staying on board daydreaming, Mr. Fang?
Some body has gone and left you! You have no one to
keep you company!"
He turned around and saw Miss Six dressed with
elegance and charm. Without knowing what possessed
him, he said, "I'd like to keep you com pany, but I'm
afraid I haven't the good fortune or the
qualifications!"
Having made this rash remark, he braced himself for a
polite rebuff. A spot of red appeared on Miss Six's
cheeks beneath her lightly applied rouge, spreading
out like oil stains on a piece of paper, covering her
face in an instant and making her look bewitchingly
bashful. As if barely able to raise her eye lids, she
said, "Who, me? I don't think I'm important enough!"
Spreading out his hands, he said, "Just as I said, you
wouldn't give me the honor.~~
"I want to find a hairdresser to have my hair washed.
Would you like to go with me?" she said.
"Splendid!" he said. "I was just about to go get a
haircut. When that's taken care of, we can take a
ferry to Hong Kong and go up to the Peak26 to have
some fun. When we come down, I'll take you to lunch.
After lunch we can have tea at Repulse Bay27 and in
the evening see a movie. How's that?"
With a smile she answered, "Mr. Fang, you've really
thought of every thing! You've planned for the whole
day." She didn't know Fang had only passed through
Hong Kong once on his way abroad and couldn't even re
member the directions.
Twenty minutes later, Ah Lix took his bag of clothes
to the dining hall to await the French supervisor to
clear him for going ashore. Through the porthole he
caught a glimpse of Fang Hung-chien behind Miss Six,
descend ing the gangplank with his hand around her
waist. He couldn't repress a feeling of surprise and
admiration as well as scorn. Unable to express these
complicated feelings in words, he spat a mouthful of
thick saliva into the spittoon with a loud "Tsui!"
2
IT IS SAID that "girl friend" is the scientific term
for sweet heart, making it sound more dignified, just
as the biological name for rose is "rosaceae
dicotyledonous," or the legal term for divorcing one's
wife is "ne gotiated separation by consent." Only
after Fang Hung-chien had escorted Miss Six around
Hong Kong for a couple of days did he realize that a
girl friend and a sweetheart were actually two
completely different things. Miss Su was the ideal
girl friend, with the brains, the status, the poise,
and looks of a girl of good family. Going to
restaurants and theaters with her was no cause for
disgrace. Though they were quite close, he was
confident his friendship with her would develop no
further. Like two parallel lines, no matter how close
they are, or how long they are extended, they will
never join to gether. Only once-during that moment
before they had gone ashore at Kow loon and he saw her
blush-had his heart suddenly gone limp and lost the
power to beat. Aftenvards there was no recurrence of
that feeling. In many ways, she had a very childish
temperament, he discovered. For instance, she could be
mischievous and she could play dumb, traits he had
never expected of her. Yet for some reason, he always
felt this "little-girlishness" did not quite suit her.
It had nothing to do with her age; she wasn't much
older than Miss Pao. Besides, in the presence of the
man she loves, every woman has the amazing power of
rejuvenation. One could only say that it was out of
char acter: For example, we think it's funny to watch
a kitten go around in circles chasing its tail, but
when a puppy follows suit and turns hectically around
after that stubby tail, then it isn't funny any more.
When the other students on board saw that Miss Pao had
no sooner gone than Little Fang took up with Miss Six,
they teased him unmercifully. Miss Six, however, was
very generous to him. During the five or six days
before the
ship reached Shanghai, she didn't once mention Miss
Pao and became much warmer toward the others. Though
Fang never spoke with her on intimate terms and never
held her hand except for helping her up and down the
gang plank when they got on and off the ship, her
occasional gestures made it seem as though their
relationship went far beyond the stages of proposal,
engage ment, or newlyweds. Her nonchalance made him
apprehensive, giving him the feeling it was a
demonstration of confidence secured by love, just as
the sea stays calm after a storm while underneath its
tranquil surface lies the power to rise up in a
rushing torrent.
After the ship left Hong Kong, he and Miss Six were on
deck eating the fruit they had bought there. Patiently
tearing off the skin of a juicy peach, he remarked,
"Why aren't peaches made like bananas? It'd be so much
easier to peel them! Or else simply like apples. A few
wipes with a handkerchief and you can eat them, peel
and all."
She peeled and ate a few lichees; then, before eating
anything else, she offered to peel the peach for him.
He wouldn't agree under any circum stances. After he
ate the peach, telltale marks were left on his cheeks
and his hands. She looked at him and laughed. Afraid
the peach juice would stain his trousers, he stuck his
little finger into his pocket to hook his
handkerchief. After two attempts, he managed to pull
it out and was wiping his hands when she, in a voice
full of alarm and disgust, cried out, "Oh! How did you
get your handkerchief so dirty! How could you? Hey!
You can't wipe your mouth with that thing. Here, take
mine. Go ahead and take mine. I hate being refused."
Reddening, he took her handkerchief and lightly dabbed
at his mouth, saying, "I bought a dozen new
handkerchiefs before I came on board, but the laundry
man lost half of them. Since these little things are
so easily lost and it takes so long to get them
washed, I thought I'd wash them myself. In the last
couple of days when we were ashore, I didn't have time
so all my hand kerchiefs are dirty. I'll go wash them
after a while. Let me wash this one of yours for you
before I return ~
"Who wants you to wash it?" she said. "You won't get
it clean anyway! It looks to me as if your
handkerchief wasn't ever clean in the first place.
Those grease spots are probably souvenirs accumulated
all the way from Mar seilles. I just wonder how you
washed them." At this she giggled.
Shortly afterwards they went below. Picking out one of
her handker chiefs and giving it to him, she said,
"Use this one for the time being and give me yours to
wash."
Alarmed, he said again and again, "You can't do that!"
Puckering her lips, she replied, "You really are being
silly! Is it such a big deal? Give them to me."
Left with no choice, he returned to his cabin and took
out a bunch of
26 27
wrinkled handkerchiefs. In an apologetic tone, he
said, "I can wash them my self! They are very dirty.
You'll hate them when you see them."
She grabbed them and shook her head. "How did you ever
get so sloppy? Did you use them for wiping apples?"
This incident left him fearful and uneasy for the rest
of the day. He thanked her again and again, only to
have her call him "Granny."1 The next day he moved a
lounge chair for her and the strain popped two buttons
from his shirt. She jokingly called him "Little Fatso"
and asked him to change his shirt later and let her
sew on the buttons. His protests were in vain.
Whatever she said must be. He just had to submit to
her benevolent dictatorship.
The whole situation with Miss Six made him feel
uneasy. Washing hand kerchiefs, mending socks, and
sewing on buttons-these were the little chores a wife
performed for her husband. On what basis was he
enjoying these priv ileges? Enjoying a husband's
privileges meant by definition that he must be her
husband, for otherwise why was she willing to perform
these duties. Was there anything in what he had said
or done that could make her mistake him for her
husband? When he started thinking about all that, he
shuddered in horror. If the engagement ring were a
symbol of the trap one had fallen into, button-sewing
was likewise an omen of being tied down. He had better
watch out! Fortunately they would be arriving in
Shanghai in a day or two. After that there would be no
more chance for them to be so close as this, so the
dangers would decrease. But during those one or two
days, whenever he was with her, he'd either be afraid
of suddenly tearing a hole in his sock or wor ried a
button somewhere would come loose. He knew that her
services were not to be taken casually; every time she
sewed on a button or mended a hole, the moral
obligation to propose to her increased by one point.
Sino-Japanese relations were worsening every day, and
the news from the ship's radio made everyone nervous.
On the afternoon of August the ninth, the ship reached
Shanghai. Fortunately the war had not yet erupted.
Miss Six gave Fang Hung-chien her address and asked
him to come see her. Readily he promised that after
going home to see his parents, he would cer tainly
come to Shanghai to visit her. Miss Six's elder
brother came on board to meet her, and before Fang
could hide, she introduced her brother to him. After
sizing him up a moment, her brother warmly shook hands
with him and said, "I've heard about you for a long
time."
Hell! thought Fang Hung-chien. An introduction like
that may as well be her family representative's
official approval of me as candidate for son-in- law!
At the same time he wondered why her brother had said,
"I've heard about you for a long time." She must have
often mentioned him to her fam ily, a fact which
rather pleased him. He then left the Six brother and
sister and went to have his luggage inspected. After
walking a few steps he turned his head and saw Miss
Six's brother smiling at Miss Six, who blushed half in
pleas-
28
and half in anger. Thinking they must be talking about
him, he felt a little embarrassed.
Soon he ran into his brother Fang P'eng-t'u, who had
gone looking for him in second class. Meanwhile Miss
Six knew someone in customs, so she breezed through
customs without having her luggage inspected. While
Hung-chien and his brother were still waiting for
inspection, she came over especially to shake hands
with him and urged him repeatedly to come see her.
When his brother P'eng-t'u asked him who she was, he
replied her name was Six.
"Oh, the one with a French doctorate," said his
brother. "I read about her in the newspaper.~~
Fang Hung-chien laughed, scornful of women's vanity.
He hurriedly sorted out the luggage that had been
inspected, then called a taxi; he was to spend the
night at Manager Choix's and return home the next day.
P'eng-t'u was a clerk in a bank. Because the war
rumors had become stronger in the last few days, he
had been kept busy moving the bank's valuables from
one place to another and he got off the taxi along the
way. However, before he took off, Hung-chien had told
him to send a telegram home indicating the train he
would be taking the next day. Considering that a
needless expense, P'eng-t'u merely made a long
distance telephone call instead.
Fang Hung-chien's in-laws were overjoyed at seeing
him. He gave his father-in-law a rattan cane with an
ivory handle purchased in Ceylon; his mother-in-law,
an avid mahjong player and a Buddhist, a French
handbag and two Ceylonese Buddhist religious books;
and his fifteen-year-old brother- in-law, a German
fountain pen. His mother-in-law, then remembering her
daughter who had died five years ago, said sadly with
tears in her eyes, "If Shu-ying were alive today, how
happy she'd be to have you come back from abroad with
a Ph.D.!" Choking back emotion, his father-in-law said
that his wife was being silly and that she should not
say things like that on such a happy day.
Fang's face was grave and sorrow-ridden; inwardly he
felt ashamed, for during the last four years he had
never once thought of his fianc6e. Her large
photograph, which his father-in-law gave him as a
memento when he went abroad, had been stowed away in
the bottom of a trunk, and he didn't know whether its
color had faded or not and wanted very much to atone
for his sins and make up for his wrongdoings. In any
case he would be taking the 11:30 express train the
next morning, and he'd have time to go to the Inter
national Public Cemetery. Thus he said, "I am thinking
of visiting Shu-ying's grave the first thing tomorrow
morning."
With that Mr. and Mrs. Chou became even more fond of
him. Mrs. Choix showed him his room for the night,
which was none other than Shu-ying's old room. On the
dressing table were two large photographs placed side
by
29
side: one of Shu-ying; the other, an enlarged picture
of himself in a doctoral robe. At the sight of them,
he felt dazed, as though he had died along with
Shu-ying. It was a gloomy, dismal feeling, like that
of the departed soul re turning after death.
During dinner when Manager Choix learned that Fang
still hadn't found a job for the rest of the year, he
reassured his son-in-law, "That's no problem. I think
you should try to find a job in Shanghai or Nanking.
The situation in Peking is very critical, so you
mustn't go there. Go home for a couple of weeks, then
come back and stay here. I'll put you on the payroll
at the bank. You can drop in during the day and in the
evening tutor my son while look ing for a job. How's
that? You needn't take your luggage with you. In this
heat, you'll have to wear Chinese clothes when you go
home anyway."
Genuinely grateful, Fang thanked his father-in-law.
His mother-in-law brought up the subject of marriage,
asking him if he had a girl friend. He quickly said
no.
His father-in-law said, "I knew you wouldn't. Your
father gave you a good upbringing. You're a gentleman
and not the type to get mixed up with any free
courtship. Free courtship never comes to a good end."
"Hung-chien is such a simple-hearted soul; he won't be
able to find a girl for himself. Let me watch out and
make a match for him," said his mother- in-law.
"There you go again," said his father-in-law. "As if
his own father and mother couldn't take care of him.
We mustn't interfere."
"Hung-chien went abroad at our expense," argued his
mother-in-law. "He certainly can't pixsh us aside when
he gets married. Would you, Hung chien? Your future
wife must certainly be my adopted daughter.2 And let
me make this perfectly clear. Once you have new
relatives, don't forget the old ones. I've seen too
many such ungrateful people."
Fang could only smile resignedly and say, "Don't
worry. I'd never do that," while inwardly to the image
of Miss Six, he said, Hear that? You want to take this
woman as your adopted mother?3 Lucky for you I don't
want to marry you.
As though picking up his inner thoughts, his little
brother-in-law asked, "Hung-chien, there's a returned
student named Six. Do you know her?"
He was so flabbergasted that he nearly dropped his
rice bowl. American behavioral psychologists can prove
that "thoughts are a soundless lan guage, 'he thought.
What are this kid's jug-ears4 made of? How did he over
hear all my silent, private remarks!
Before he could answer, his father-in-law said, "Oh,
yes! I forgot. Hsiao ch'eng, go get that newspaper.
When I got your picture I had Chief-secretary Wang
write up a news item for the newspaper. I know you
don't care to.
30
r
show off, but this is something to be proud of. You
don't have to hide it." When these remarks were added,
Fang paled.
"That's right," said his mother-in-law. "After putting
up so much money, why not get a little honor!"
Fang's face had already turned red with shame and
indignation. By the time his brother-in-law brought
the newspaper and he had glanced at it, the redness
had passed from the back of his ears and the nape of
his neck down his spine to his very heels. It was an
early July Shanghai newspaper, with two small
photographs in the educational news column. The plates
were as blurry as the picture of a ghost taken at a
divining altar. The caption under the first picture
read, "Wen-wan, daughter of Political Councilor Six
Hung-yeh, is returning home with a Ph.D. from Lyons."
The caption under the second picture was twice as
long: "Fang Hung-chien, the gifted son-in-law of Chou
Hou-ch'ing, a prominent local businessman and general
manager of the Gold en Touch Bank, recently received
his doctorate of philosophy from Carleton University
in Germany after pursuing advanced study abroad under
Mr. Chou's sponsorship at the Universities of London,
Paris, and Berlin in political science, economics,
history, and sociology, in which he made excellent
grades and ranked at the top of his class. He will be
touring several countries before returning home in the
fall. It is said that many major organizations are
vying for him with job off ers.~~
He wished he could have ripped the paper in two and
seized what's-his- name, Chief-secretary Wang, by the
throat, just to see how many more of those sickening
cichrs of resum6 writing could still be wrung out of
him. No wonder Miss Six's brother had said, "I've
heard about you for a long time." No wonder when his
brother P'eng-t'u heard him say her name was Six, his
brother knew she had a Ph.D. from abroad. And at the
time he had even laughed at Miss Six for being so
conventional! The item about himself was in such
supreme bad taste that the stench was enough to make
the reader hold his nose. Besides, Miss 5u was a real
Ph.D. What was he supposed to be? While on the ship he
had never discussed degrees with her, but when she saw
this item, she would conclude that he was a deceitful
braggart. Whoever heard of a Carleton University in
Germany? In his letter to his father-in-law he hinted
vaguely that he had received a degree. But because the
letter had been posted from Germany, his father had
assumed it was a German univer sity. When those who
knew about sixch things heard of it, they'd laugh
their heads off! He had become a fraud and would never
be able to face people again!
Noticing how her son-in-law kept holding. the paper
before his face, Mrs. Chou said to her husband with a
smile, "See how pleased Hung-chien is. He's read the
item several times and still can't put it down." |
