black dragon well (1st 10 chapters)

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Copyright©2001 J.-L. DeMontaron

*****

BLACK DRAGON

WELL

*****By

J.-L. DeMontaron



GLOSSARY

Amah................A female Chinese servant or nanny.Ahyi..................Aunt, Father’s sister. Term used by children to address any women of their mother’s

generation. Generally reserved for family friends and acquaintances.The Bund..........Anglo-Indian term which means "muddy waterfront". The docks and wharves of

Shanghai.

Cangue.............Portuguese canga, a yoke (Chinese jia). A square wooden frame fastened on the neck aspunishment for minor offenses. Prevented lying down or eating. It made walking difficultand escape practically impossible.

Cash.................From Tamil kasu. Small coin with central holeCheongsam......High collar, Chinese dress. Generally sleeveless with knee length slits on both sides.Chop.................A personal seal. Made from soapstone or Jade, their owner’s name is carved on one end.

It is carved backwards like printing type. When inked and affixed to any paper or form, itserves to authenticate the person’s mark. It is the Chinese equivalent of a signature. Toprevent counterfeits, the craftsman, when he has finished the chop, taps all around theedge, breaking off small flecks and creating a jagged border that is almost impossible toduplicate.

Coolie...............Chinese: ku li , bitter life or hard labor. A day laborer Compradore.....Portuguese comprar, to buy. A Chinese agent used by Western businesses to buy, sell,

and negotiate with Chinese merchants and clientsCumshaw.........Chinese gan xie, ‘heartfelt thanks’. A gift of money for services rendered. A gratuity, tipDage.............. Chinese ‘Elder brother’.Feng Shui.........Chinese feng , wind and shui , water. Practice of living harmoniously with the energy of the

surrounding environment. The art of placement, not only of buildings, but of everythingwithin them.

Godown............Malay gadang, a warehouse or storehouseHakka...............Boat People. The name Hakka means ‘Boat people’ in the Hakka tongue. Non-Han

Chinese ethnic group possessing their own language, culture and customs. They spendtheir entire lives on their boats, where they are born, live and die. They come ashore onlyfor business.

Hong.................Chinese hang, a row or series. A commercial undertaking, a business

Jie jie..............Chinese ‘Elder Sister’. Sometimes used to address an older woman friend.

Junk..................Javanese jong. Chinese riverine and coastal sailing vessels, of various types and sizes

Kowtow.............Chinese ke tou , The three kneelings and nine knockings of the head on the ground inrespect or apology

Lao...................Chinese ‘Old’ or ‘Honorable’. Used to address someone older or higher in social rank.Laoshi...............Chinese ‘Teacher’Li......................Chinese measure of distance equal to 360 paces, approximately 1890 feet. 1 li is roughly

equal to 1/3 mile.Lorcha..............Portuguese. A ship of European design with Chinese riggingMandarin..........Portuguese mandar, to command. A Chinese official. Also the name of the Chinese

language spoken in northern China.Matshed............Structure made of rattan matting on a framework of bambooMei mei.............Chinese ‘Younger Sister’. Sometimes used to address a young woman friend.Mei-po..............Chinese. Match-maker, marriage broker Nai nai..............Chinese. Paternal grandmother Pidgin...............A language with a highly simplified grammar and vocabulary, the native language of no

one, which develops when people who lack a common language attempt to commu-nicate. Pidgins flourish in areas of trade contact, and were particularly common in theEast and West Indies, Africa, and the Americas, during the days of colonial exploration. Itis based on English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Rickshaw..........Chinese, ren li che: ren, ‘man’, li, ‘power’, che, ‘vehicle’. Probably from the Japanese jinricksha or man powered vehicle; A hooded passenger vehicle pulled by a man.

Sampan............Chinese san, ‘three’, ban, ‘plank’. A small boat, generally a sculled vessel.Sepoy...............A native of India serving in the British army.




Shu shu............Uncle. Father’s brother. Term used by children to address men of their father’sgeneration. Generally reserved for family friends and acquaintances.

Tael.................Probably from Hindi tola, a measure of weight. Generally: an ounce (liang) of silver.Often, the weight varied from place to place.

Taipan.............Chinese tai, ‘big’, ban, ‘manager’ or ‘boss’. The head of a business or HongTai tai....... ..... ..Chinese. Title given to the First or Principal Wife. Mrs.Taotai........... ...Taotai of Shanghai. Chief Chinese official of the district

Typhoon......... .Pacific hurricane. From the Chinese tai feng. Tai ‘platform or stage’ and feng ‘wind’Waigong..........Chinese. Maternal grandfather Waipo..............Chinese. Maternal grandmother WaiTan............ ‘Foreigner’s docks’, ‘ Foreigner’s beach’. Chinese name for the Bund.Yamen.............Official and private residence of a Chinese magistrate in officeYe ye...............Chinese. Paternal grandfather Xiansheng ......Chinese. Literally: ‘First Born’. Sir, Mister.Xiao.................Chinese ‘little’ or ‘young’. Used to address someone younger or lower in social rank.Xiao Jie...........Chinese. ‘young elder sister’: Miss.




PROLOGUE

The old lady sat in a bamboo chair at her door step. The procession had just passed by. They

were leading a man to the gallows. A long and narrow wooden board, inscribed with his name and his

crime, had been propped between his shoulder blades, his arms and hands were bound tightly to the

board and bled copiously. His face was a tumefied mass of open wounds and he staggered more than

walked. Occasionally, whenever he faltered, one of the soldiers would shove him roughly forward with

a swift jab from his rifle butt. The prisoner wore blood caked rags and was barefoot. It was a wonder

he had not already died from all the wounds that showed through the remnants of his clothing.

The soldiers had not bothered to clear a pass through the crowd as it had parted of its own volition.

She had seen the man but her failing eyesight had been unable to read the ideograms on the board.

The procession passed...

The din and commotion, that had broken the routine of the day, followed the procession as it

turned the corner and disappeared from sight. Slowly, the little alley returned to normal. The

old lady, sitting at her doorstep, remembered a similar procession, a long time ago...




CHAPTER 1

She was just a small face in the crowd. Actually, she was just a small face in a crowd of knees.

Unnoticed and unnoticeable, she waited for the procession to pass. She had not known about it until

this very morning and had not cared until she had heard the name of the condemned man being

paraded through the streets: Wu Shu Zhe... It was Father!

The arrival of the procession was heralded by the cracks of whips as two Bannermen cleared the

alleyway. All who heard got out of the way as quickly as they were able. Shop keepers, who had been

forewarned, had their wares stashed away already. Others, less fortunate, saw their goods strewn on

the street and trampled by the mob.

It was an imposing affair and it was meant to be. Eight Bannermen, side by side, led the way. A swift

kick and a swipe of the haft of their banner insured that the passage stayed open for what followed.

Behind them came the condemned man. He staggered along, a huge cangue around his neck. His

hands were shackled to the underside and on the top, large ideograms informed onlookers of hiscrime: MASS MURDER.

Beside him, walked four Bannermen, two on each side. Close enough to preclude any escape attempt

yet far enough to avoid being splattered by the refuse that bombarded the condemned man from time

to time. Next came four Bannermen carrying long silk streamers proclaiming the rank and titles of the

Mandarin which followed. He sat upright in an ornately decorated palanquin. The four porters carrying

the chair wore only loincloths and a short vest and walked barefoot in the muck of the alley. His richly

adorned vestments and accouterments proclaimed him to be a mandarin of the highest rank. He was

the judge and jury of the man that plodded on ahead of him. Ironically his name was also Wu, but this

coincidence had not swayed him in the least. Duty was Duty. If you failed to do your duty then you

paid the price, there was but one price to pay for a great majority of the crimes committed in China:

One’s Life. Some were able to afford exile but most people died for their crimes.

As Mandarin Wu, chief magistrate of the Taotai, personal representative of the Emperor and highest

Chinese official in the district, rode through the streets of Shanghai, on this pleasant spring morning,

he contemplated the case that would shortly come to an end at the execution ground. This Wu person

had gone berserk the day his landlord had come for the rent. Not only had he not been grateful for the

honor his landlord had bestowed by coming in person but he had heaped abuse on the poor man and

refused to pay. He had even refused to promise to pay. When the landlord’s secretary started to pick

up the rice sack the man claimed was all he and his family had to survive the coming winter, he had

bashed the poor secretary’s head in. He had then jumped on the landlord and slit his throat with a

sickle almost cutting the poor man’s head off in the process. Running away had sealed his family’s

fate. They had been caught on the banks of the Yang Tse Kiang while trying to obtain passage on the

ferry to the northern side. The man had been foolish enough to resist arrest, killing two more




unfortunates and only after his entire family had been put to the sword had he finally ceased to

struggle. He had been quite subdued after that.

Magistrate Wu recalled the trial: the defense lawyer was a young man still learning his trade even

though he had passed the Imperial Exams quite brilliantly. His arguments had been sound and his

final summation a pleasure to the ear and mind, however, all his efforts had been quite useless.

People who go around committing wholesale murder do not have high hopes of acquittal and

Magistrate Wu remembered that the accused had not shown the least amount of repentance nor

uttered a single plea of mercy during the entire proceedings. Not that it would have made any

difference to the final verdict!

The rear of the procession was brought up by eight more Bannermen one of which held a prancing

horse on the end of a tether. The procession was like a boat flowing down a river which parted before

it and closed up behind. Some were following, others going about their business used this unique

opportunity to travel quickly through the otherwise hopelessly clogged streets of the city.

The small girl followed as well. Her father had lovingly named her: Spring Blossom, as she was born

soon after the Lunar New Year when the whole of the land was bursting forth with new life. The

procession soon came to the city walls and passed through the West Gate, which the people

derisively called Short Men’s Gate, into the low lying countryside.

Here, there was no more need for whips or sticks, for this was a seldom used road and for many who

walked it, it was the last leg of their life’s journey. Only a few peasants had been on the road and they

had quickly scattered before the armed men. The procession arrived at the Execution Grounds. The

eight guards in front, spread out in a semicircle, four to each side, allowing the condemned man and

his guards through. The flag bearers split up and joined the guards on either side. Magistrate Wu’s

palanquin was placed in the middle. The rear guard, protectively, spread out behind. The small crowd

milled behind them, jockeying for a good vantage point. Spring Blossom slipped through those at the

forefront and glimpsing Father, squatted down to see what they were going to do next.

The joy of seeing him again had been replaced by a deep sense of foreboding and she began to

shiver.

The guards handed over their prisoner to the executioner and his henchmen, then took their places on

either side of the line of guards. The man in the cangue was spun around and for the first time, fear

showed on his face. From the inside of his palanquin, the doors of which were now wide open,

Magistrate Wu started to read the act of accusation. Many in the crowd, not familiar with the case,

craned their necks and tilted their heads in an effort to catch the words drifting towards them.

The stylized form of Chinese used by Magistrate Wu was a foreign language to most onlookers and

they had to question their neighbors who, often, would only shrug in response; they did not know, did




not understand or did not care to answer.

-“The prisoner known as Wu Shu Zhe” Magistrate Wu read, “having disregarded the most basic

rules of civilized conduct, as well as forgetting where his duties lie, will now forfeit his life, to

atone for his heinous crime of mass murder. In the name of The Emperor, his name will be

stricken from all records and his Ancestral Tablets will be broken and thrown into the river. All

of his possessions and rights are forfeit as of this day, the 10 th day of the ninth month in the

5th year of the Reign of the GuangXu Emperor, Lord of Ten Thousand Years.”

Gazing up from the proclamation, Magistrate Wu looked at the man whose fate he had just sealed,

then, he spoke to the executioner:

-“Do your Duty and proceed with the execution!”

The man bowed once. He walked over to where Father stood, unshackled his hands and removed the

cangue. The prisoner was now firmly held by the two henchmen. They tied his hands behind his back

and shoved him down on his knees. One man grabbed his queue and started to pull on it as hard ashe could while the other held on to his wrists and pulled in the opposite direction, his foot in the small

of the man’s back.

The prisoner’s neck began to stretch visibly.

The executioner, removed his shirt to prevent it from getting splattered with blood, and strode forward.

He held a huge curving scimitar in his hands. After a nod from Magistrate Wu, the executioner, with a

loud bellow, swung the sword in a large arc and neatly loped off the head. So quick had he been that

both attendants staggered backward.

The headless corpse rocked back to a kneeling position. Some in the crowd thought this was rather

humorous and had a good laugh. An old woman ran up, clutching money in her gnarled hand and

quickly dipped it in the blood that was still spurting from the man’s severed neck. This insured that a

good profit would be made from anything bought with the blood soaked bills. Two Bannermen half

heartedly shooed her away.

The show was over and the crowd started to disperse. Magistrate Wu thinking that this had all been

quite a boring affair, slowly left the Execution Grounds with his accompanying Bannermen. The

executioner and his men started to pack up while waiting for those who would come and cart away the

body. Spring Blossom stood there, in a daze, she still could not believe all that she had seen. Father

was dead all over again....

....They had been boarding a small junk when the soldiers came. Father had told them to run but

Spring Blossom was in the arms of a stranger and she had held her very tightly. Screaming for her

mother, she had seen Father fight with the soldiers but the crowd hid her mother and baby brother




lying dead on the ground. Her older brother and sister had disappeared and she desperately called

out their names. She watched, terror stricken, as the men finally grabbed her father, shackled him and

then, methodically, interminably, they beat him. As they dragged him away, he no longer moved. She

had thought him dead. Suddenly, she had fallen in the water. She fought for air and came bobbing to

the surface. Hands grabbed her and all went dark. She remembered waking up much later, in a

strange house. She looked outside and saw no fields or paddies. In their place, only buildings and

crowds. A few days later, she had sneaked out and gone looking for her house and family. When she

realized she did not know where to go, she was hopelessly lost in the maze of streets...

....Now, Father really was dead but she did not weep. She had no more tears for him, she had spent

them all the first few nights. She slowly approached the severed head which lay where it had been

dropped. It lay upright, with one eye closed and the other staring sightlessly towards the heavens. It

looked as if Father had been buried up to his neck in the hard ground. Blood had turned the ground

an ugly dark color.

She so wanted to hug Father but she did not know which part to hold. The body had finally collapsed

a few feet away and she stood there, wondering what to do.




CHAPTER 2

Three men pulling a cart arrived and slowly headed towards her and Father’s remains. The

three men stopped in front of them. These were Night Soil Removers. They roamed the alleyways of

Shanghai in the early pre-dawn hours and scooped up all the refuse, offal and garbage heaped into

the streets the night before. They also gathered the corpses of those who had succumbed during the

night. Each district had its own gang of Night Soil Removers, known as the Lajigong. The Lajigong

were shunned and they were feared.

The men plied the streets, their women and children grubbed through what was brought back and

sorted it all out. They sold the manure to Landlords and rich farmers, the rags went to the paper mill,

the rest of the garbage was inspected for anything of value and finally dumped into Suzhou Creek

where it slowly drifted down to the HuangPu River and then, out to sea. The corpses were stripped

and examined, gold teeth, if any, were pulled and after cremation, the ashes were dumped into

Suzhou Creek to follow the garbage.

One of the Lajigong was a short, skinny man. Younger than he appeared, his face bore the deep

traces of his wretched life. His eyes were mere slits and a gray scraggly beard dangled from his chin.

He was toothless and what was left of his hair was pulled into a ratty looking queue. He wore clothes

that had so many patches it was impossible to tell what the garments’ original color had been. He had

unusually large feet with splayed toes. He was known as Big Feet Chang and was the nominal Head

Lajigong for this District. He had been a rickshaw coolie for half of his forty-five years and before

becoming one of them, had hated and feared the night soil removers for he had known that they

would pick him up one day and dump his remains in the river.

The Lajigong sometimes did not wait for their “customers” to die. Those too sick, too feeble or too old

to offer any resistance were also picked up. They had more to offer than the corpses which had, more

often than not, already been picked clean by the innumerable scavengers that skulked in the shadows

and roamed the dark alleys of the city. One evening, on his way back to what he thought of as

“home”... a small space in front of the rickshaw owner’s house... Big Feet Chang had almost tripped

and fallen over a body lying in the middle of the road. The man was not quite dead as his raspy

breathing indicated. Big Feet Chang was searching the old man when suddenly he had opened his

eyes and grabbed Big Feet Chang by the ear.

-“You motherless turd,” he gasped, “you help me or my people will find you and make you wish

you had never been born!”

A wicked looking knife had appeared in his other hand and hovered near Big Feet Chang’s crotch.




He had helped the old man into his rickshaw and following the man’s directions, had taken him to a

ramshackle warehouse by the river. His repeated pounding had brought someone to the door, a spy

hole opened and shut. The side door opened and two men leaped out. One pinned Big Feet Chang to

the main door pressing a knife to his throat, the other rushed to the rickshaw and was now helping the

old man out. They exchanged whispers and the old man pointed to Big Feet Chang and said:

-“Bring him!”

Big Feet Chang was bodily thrust through the small door into the dank and malodorous interior of the

warehouse. As his eyes adjusted to the dim interior, he noticed that many people were watching him

and that the old man he had brought here, was reverently being attended to. Big Feet Chang squatted

down and waited. After a time, the man who had held a knife to his throat, came up to him. He threw

something at Big Feet Chang’s feet and pointing to the door, said: “GO!”

Big Feet Chang looked down and his heart almost stopped. A gold coin shone in the dirt! Grabbing it

quickly, he looked up but the man was gone. He could see the pale moonlight streaming in throughthe little door and he swiftly headed towards it and out into the dark alley. He had barely stepped into

the street when the door banged shut behind him. His elation was short lived when he saw that his

rickshaw was gone! Cold sweat streamed down his back as he frantically searched the alley, knowing

it was futile from the start. His heart pounding in his chest, Big Feet Chang knew he was done for.

If he did not show up tomorrow, at the rickshaw owner’s door, with the rent for his rickshaw, which was

due on a daily basis, the owner would have the city scoured by his henchmen until they found him. If

he did show up without the rickshaw, the result would be the same: he would be flailed alive and left

for the Lajigong. His only hope was to give the owner the gold coin and hope for the best. If the owner

did not kill him, Big Feet Chang knew he was finished anyway. No one would ever hire a rickshaw

coolie who lost his rickshaw!! He would starve. He was barely surviving now. His despair turned to

anger and then to rage. That despicable old man with his god-cursed knife had condemned him to

death! He went back to the warehouse and pounded the door! He pounded and pounded and

pounded. His fists were starting to bleed when the spy hole opened.

-“What do you w...?! GO AWAY!” A voice bellowed.

-“My rickshaw is gone. I’m as good as dead!”

-“LEAVE OR DIE!”

-“What? You’ve got to help me...” The spy hole snapped shut.

Big Feet Chang was aghast. He was going to pound on the door again when he suddenly felt the pain

in his hands. He looked around for something to use on the door. He found a loose cobblestone and

went at the door with a vengeance. Suddenly, as he swung at it, the door flew open. Carried by his

momentum, Big Feet Chang fell through the opening and landed in the dirt.

He half expected his throat to be slit on the spot, instead, rough hands grabbed him and brutally

propelled him to the back of the warehouse. A feeble light illuminated a small alcove where the old Copyright©2001 J.-L. DeMontaron



man was resting. A small mousy woman was helping him drink and Big Feet Chang waited till the old

man looked up at him.

-“So, you seem to have lost something?” He said in a raspy voice.

-“Aieeyah! Lost! LOST!... Because of you and your god-cursed knife, I’m a dead man. When

the owner of the rickshaw, that motherless turtle egg, discovers I’ve “lost” his rickshaw, my life

will not be worth a copper cash. “Lost” indeed!”

-“I see, and what would you have me do? We did not take your rickshaw, so we can not give it

back. Why do you not stay the night and we will see what we can do tomorrow.”

Turning to the woman, the old man said: “Give him some food and show him where he can sleep.”

The hands finally let go of him.

The woman got up. She said: “Follow me” to Big Feet Chang and quickly padded away. Gingerly, he

followed her further into the dark warehouse.

They finally came to a small area, dimly lit by a glowing brazier with a black cast-iron pot slowly

bubbling on top. The smell from the pot quickly got his mouth watering. The woman took a bowl andladled a portion of congee, rice gruel, into it. She thrust the bowl into his hands and padded off again.

“Follow me”. Big Feet Chang followed and was led to yet another part of the warehouse.

The woman stopped and pointed to a space against the wall.

-“Sleep here”, she said and left.

He groped forward with one big foot and felt a straw mattress! He wearily sat down and reveled in the

luxury. He had slept on cobblestones for as long as he could remember. He quietly slurped his free

meal. When he was through, he lay down and thought about the bizarre events of this night.

They found out about his rickshaw several days later. The thief had sold it back to its original owner!

Big Feet Chang knew he could never go out in the light of day until the owner forgot all about him. So

he stayed. The day after his nighttime encounter with the old man, he had discovered that this was

where the Lajigong lived. The sun rising in the sky had brought the stench of confirmation and Big

Feet Chang had felt fear well up inside him as his old nightmares came back to haunt him. He found

out that the old man was the Head Lajigong, and was known as Old Wang. They took him out with

them one night and then the next, and the next. Slowly he was accepted into the group. This was

unusual as almost all Lajigong were born into the group and no one ever, ever, came to them for work.

As he worked in the dead of the night and slept most of the day, his former employer never found him.One day, two sinister looking men had come and asked Old Wang, if they had found a body with

unusual large feet. Old Wang had pondered the question for such a long time that one of the men had

finally pressed a coin into Old Wang’s hand. His memory improving suddenly, he told them that they

had indeed come across such a corpse and that it had been stabbed through the heart. He

remembered it quite well, he said, as the feet were so large. The men thanked him and left and Big

Feet Chang knew that he would be a Lajigong till he died or ran away.




Old Wang grew to like him and referred to him occasionally as “My Life Saver”. The small mousy

woman that took care of him like a doting wife was, in fact, his daughter. Her name was Wang Bai Yu,

White Jade Wang, but everyone called her Jie-Jie, Elder Sister, and obeyed her as diligently as they

did Old Wang. Old Wang’s wife had died when Jie-Jie was still a child and he had never been able to

lie with another woman after that.

Jie-Jie had stayed with her father despite several suitors’ attentions and Old Wang knowing that no

one would care for him in his old age if she left, never pressed the point. As time went on Old Wang let

Big Feet Chang take over more and more of the business aspect of their profession, while he retired

little by little. His daughter now ran the teams as well as Old Wang had when he had been younger.

One day, Old Wang told Big Feet Chang that he should marry Jie-Jie, if she was agreeable, and Big

Feet Chang surprised himself by realizing that he had had the very same thoughts. Jie-Jie further

surprised him by agreeing to the proposal.

They were married that New Year’s day and the following day, amidst the wedding festivities, Old

Wang, as if relieved of a great burden, went to meet his Ancestors, a smile on his face.

Big Feet Chang and Jie-Jie now ran the business and with the passing of Old Wang, Big Feet Chang

had become the nominal Head Lajigong. The men obeyed his orders but, always, when there was a

problem they went to Jie-Jie. She was one of them, born into the Group. Big Feet Chang was an

outsider and would always be one.




CHAPTER 3

Big Feet Chang had accepted the job from Magistrate Wu’s secretary, even though it was

outside his normal stomping grounds. The money it would bring would be welcome indeed. They were

seldom, if ever, paid for corpse removal and he had gladly accepted.

He now contemplated the scene before him: The decapitated body and the bewildered little girl who

stood beside it. He directed his helpers to pick up the body. As they proceeded to do so, the little girl

jumped at one of the men, who stopped in puzzlement. She then ran at the other who was about to

pick up Father’s head. She had a snarl on her lip. Big Feet Chang wondered what she would do next.

The first man, Young Tan, moved to pick up Father’s body and when Spring Blossom tried to stop him,

a swift backhand sent her rolling. Two years of living in the streets of Shanghai had taught Spring

Blossom fighting, if nothing else, and she came up with a little dagger in her hand. She ran straight at

Young Tan who was picking up Father’s body and would have stabbed him in the neck, had not Big

Feet Chang shouted a warning that made Young Tan whirl about and out of the way. Big Feet Chang

with a quickness that belied his apparent old age ran up and grabbed Spring Blossom’s wrist just asshe was about to stab again. Undaunted the little girl bit his hand and kicked him in the shins. He let

go and she tried to stab him with her little dagger. He moved swiftly and again grabbed her wrist. He

wrenched the knife from her hand and was about to cut her throat with it when he saw the tears that

flowed from her eyes. Throwing the knife away, he restrained the little girl without hurt until she

collapsed, sobbing and shivering. While Spring Blossom lay on the ground, weeping, Big Feet Chang

and his men gathered up the corpse and put it on the cart. They covered it up with gunny sacks and

prepared to leave. Big Feet Chang took one last look towards the little girl and saw her tear streaked

face and the look of despair in her eyes. motioning to his men to leave he walked over to the little girl

and looked down at her:-“Why do you cry so, little one?”

No answer, just a desperate stare with a mixture of hate.

-“I am not stealing that one who seems dear to you. I am going to see that he goes and meets

his Ancestors properly. Do you want to come?”

The look of hate seem to abate in her eyes and she nodded.

-“Come then, follow me.”

Big Feet Chang turned and left. The scraping behind him told him that she had gotten up to follow and

he saw out of the corner of his eye that she had scampered over to retrieve the small knife. He smiled

to himself thinking that this was exactly what he would have done.

The strange procession moved back towards Short Men’s Gate: two men and a cart with two dirty feet

sticking out from under the sacks, an old man plodding behind, and a little girl bringing up the rear.

They went through the streets and alleyways at a good pace. Big Feet Chang wanted to get home

and get some sleep before he began his nightly rounds. He surreptitiously looked behind him

occasionally and, although he lost sight of her from time to time, he saw that she had no problems

keeping up with them. At last they came to the warehouse door. It was still pockmarked from his




poundings of that night long ago. This time a mere knock caused it to fly open and he knew that the

lookout was at his post.

The cart was pushed in and the door started to close as Big Feet Chang followed. He stopped and

turned around. There, framed by the two panels of the door, stood the little girl. She seemed to be

debating whether to follow or not.

The doorman, who was closing the doors, paused and Big Feet Chang beckoned the little girl in. Still

she did not move. After a moment, he had Jie-Jie fetched and when she arrived, he briefly related the

incident to her. With a nod of understanding, Jie-Jie walked towards Spring Blossom and had the

doors shut behind her.

Spring Blossom had retreated before Jie-Jie and as the doors shut she now had her back to the

opposite wall, ready to jump at the first threatening move. Jie-Jie said nothing, she just looked at the

little girl. After a time she said:

-“Why are you afraid, child? We mean you no harm. What Lao Chang told you is true. If you

want to attend the funeral service, you’ll have to come in. We shall not eat you and you canleave freely afterwards”

Jie-Jie then walked to the small side door and went in, leaving it open. Spring Blossom did not know

what to do. She knew that these people were Lajigong. She had heard horrendous stories about them

and she was terrified. On the other hand, the woman did not seem like much of a threat and she

spoke with the air of one in command. Also, Father was in there, she thought. Compared with what

she had endured since that fateful day by the river, things could not possibly be worse inside the dark

and fetid building. Striding purposely forward, Spring Blossom walked through the little door and felt

cold chills down her spine as it closed behind her.

The gloom enveloped her like a shroud and she began to shiver uncontrollably. Suddenly a specter

appeared before her. As she started to turn back and run for her life, she heard Jie-Jie say:

-“Are you sick, Xiao Mei Mei - Little Sister? why are you shaking so? I told you we would not

harm you. Now, follow me.”

Hearing someone call her “Little Sister”, Spring Blossom stopped shaking and tears welled up in her

eyes. She saw her mother through her tears and suddenly threw herself at Jie-Jie. She clutched at her

and the tears flowed as rivers as she felt soft arms sweep her up and carry her into the dim recesses

of the building. She cried till she could weep no more. She clutched at Jie-Jie as if she would drown if

she let go. After a while, her sobs turned to hiccups and Jie-Jie helped her drink some foul tasting

liquid which calmed her hiccups and made her feel warm and tingling inside. Jie-Jie then washed her

face with a soft towel and warm soapy water. All her fears were washed away with the grime and dirt

of her face and she finally opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.

She saw Jie-Jie’s face close to hers and saw a kindness in her eyes that she had not noticed in the

alley. Several other women were gathered around, wondering aloud what all this weeping was about.




Jie-Jie spoke to her:

-“Well, Little Sister, do you feel better? Aieeyah! You certainly had a great deal of sorrow to get

rid of. Who is this person we have brought here?”

In a tiny voice Spring Blossom said: “Father” and choked down a sob. Jie-Jie nodded and said:

-“Aieeyah! A great sorrow indeed. Have you eaten today? here, take this and eat.”

Spring Blossom took the bowl of warm rice gruel and, not even bothering with the spoon Jie-Jie was

handing her, drained it down in a few gulps. She handed the bowl back and to her amazement, it was

filled again and given back to her. This time, she took the spoon and, with loud slurping noises, ate

her fill.

She had just finished her congee, when a young girl brought her a plain cotton robe. It was off-white

and unsewn. The young girl helped Spring Blossom put it on, tying a sash round her waist. On her

head, the young girl placed a square of the same cloth and tied it in the back. The young girl was

wearing the same funeral robe and solemnly, Spring Blossom was led to the back of the warehouse. A

little door opened into a small courtyard which was ringed on three sides by buildings and opened toSuzhou Creek on the fourth. This was where all the useless refuse was finally gathered before being

thrown, over the low parapet, into the creek.

The sun had gone to its zenith by now and the heat of the day made the stench of the whole area

almost palpable. Big Feet Chang was glad for once, the smell of what they were about to do would not

be noticed, smoke was a common sight in this area and would be noticed even less. The courtyard

had been swept clean and a small pyre erected in the middle. A prone figure swathed in a shroud lay

on top. Before it, lay a small altar with several figurines, a lit, dark bronze funeral brazier and burning

sticks of incense laid out on its top. Jie-Jie came up to Spring Blossom and, taking her hand, led her

to the small altar.

-“We are going to send your father to meet your ancestors. He is going to fly to them on wings

of fire. But first, we must prepare his way.”

Jie-Jie took a small basket and gave it to Spring Blossom. In it was Money of the Dead, a small

palanquin, a rice sack, a horse, a tiny house, as well as other small assorted articles, all made of

paper.

-“We shall place all of these in the brazier so that they may precede your father and show your

ancestors that he is worthy of the honor to sit among them. Here, place them in the fire.”

Spring Blossom put the paper money, bill by bill, into the small funeral brazier on the altar. The small

paper palanquin followed and then one by one, the whole contents of the basket. They stood up and

bowed deeply. Jie-Jie then gave Spring Blossom a lit torch. Leading the small girl by the hand, they

went to the pyre and Jie-Jie showed Spring Blossom where to light each side. First the side facing

East was lit, the side of the rising sun representing birth. Then the side facing South, this was where

the whole of one’s life was spent opposite the North from where the Emperor traditionally looked down




on his subjects, then the one facing West, where the sun sets and life ends. At last, they lit the side

facing North. Walking back to face the south side, they again bowed deeply as the pyre started to

crackle and smoke. Soon the flames had engulfed the body and were shooting skyward in a burst of

sparks. Spring Blossom moved back as the heat increased noticeably. She then kowtowed three

times, three times more and a final three times as Father ascended the heavens and became an

Ancestor.

Big Feet Chang was thinking that it was fortunate winter was long gone or else no one would have

agreed to this wasteful use of fuel. Especially for a stranger, and a criminal, no less. It was only

because Jie-Jie had supported him that they had agreed to the ceremony.

Jie-Jie had now come to his side and they both watched the little girl reverently bid her father farewell

as the pyre shifted. A log disappeared into the flames and sent more sparks leaping into the sky. Old

Wang had gone the same way and Jie-Jie remembered the pain of a daughter and her heart felt a

small pang of sorrow at the memory. They left the little girl and went back inside to the relative cool of

the warehouse. Jie-Jie went about preparing for the evening’s work and Big Feet Chang padded backto his cubicle for some well deserved sleep. Spring Blossom stayed until the ashes had cooled. It was

early evening and night was falling on the city. The heat of the day was slowly lifting. Long shadows

marched slowly across the landscape.

A slight noise made Spring Blossom turn around and she saw Jie-Jie standing there, a small vase in

her hands. Together they went to the small pile of ashes and Jie-Jie helped Spring Blossom gather

small pieces of charred bone and filled the vase, covering these with some fine ash. When they were

done, they went back inside. Two men then proceeded to shovel the remains into the creek, their

shovels screeching like the gulls circling overhead.

Jie-Jie removed Spring Blossom’s robe, and placed the vase in a small wooden box. She led the little

girl to their cubicle where Big Feet Chang’s soft snoring could be heard and gave her a bowl of rice

with a fatty piece of pork placed on top. Jie-Jie said nothing as Spring Blossom ate in silence, glancing

occasionally at the box. When she had finished she handed the bowl back, stood up, picked the small

box up and with a sigh, headed for the front door.

Pausing, she turned around and walked back. She stopped, bowed deeply to Jie-Jie and said:

-“I wish to thank you, Honorable Elder Sister and Honorable Chang, for all you have done for

this unworthy girl. I know that my thanks are very little in comparison to the honor you have

given Father. I wish I could do something in return but I am just a useless girl and could not

possibly repay you for your kindness.”

Spring Blossom delicately placed the box on the floor, sank to her knees and kowtowed three times to

Jie-Jie. Big Feet Chang had awakened and was now standing next to his wife. Spring Blossom got up

and kneeling before him, again kowtowed three times. She then stood, picked up the small box,

turned and headed for the front door.

-“Wait, Little Sister.” Jie-Jie said, her voice breaking slightly.




-“Where are you going? It is already night outside and there is no need for you to leave before

morning, stay the night and see what tomorrow will bring.

Spring Blossom stopped and slowly shuffled back, clutching Father to her breast. She looked up at

Jie-Jie and nodded assent.

-“This unworthy one again thanks you for your kindness.”

-“Come, Little Sister, we will find you a place to sleep... Tell me, little one, do you have a

name?”

With a glance at the little box, Spring Blossom said:

-“Father named me ‘Spring Blossom’ because I was born in the spring during the lunar new

year. My mother called me ‘sansan’ as I was her third child. we lived in a small hut next to the

rice paddy where we all worked although I was too little to help because the water was deep

and ...“

Spring Blossom stopped speaking, she had a far away look in her eyes and for an instant, a smile on

her lips. Then her face turned impassive as she fought back the tears which were welling up again.

Jie-Jie said nothing and motioned her to follow. They walked over to the area where she and Big Feet

Chang lived.

Big Feet Chang was sitting on a low stool talking to one of the men. The area was separated into

cubicles by bamboo partitions. In the front, where Big Feet Chang sat, there was a round table with

several small stools, a brazier used for cooking and a small cupboard with several pots and pans.

Behind this was the sleeping area. A crude four poster bed was hung with mosquito netting. The

bedding was folded up at the foot of the bed which consisted of a wooden frame tightly strung with

twine. It allowed the air to circulate and was cool during the hot and oppressive summer months. At

the foot of the bed was the only other piece of furniture in the room, an iron bound trunk with

impressive locks. Jie-Jie told Spring Blossom to sit on the bed while she went into their storage area,

next door. She returned with a small straw mattress. Beckoning the little girl she went back to the

cooking area and placed the mattress against the partition.

-“You can sleep here, if you want." She told Spring Blossom: “no one will bother you.”

She showed her the small covered wooden chamber pot in an adjacent alcove and wishing her a

peaceful night, returned to the bedroom. She nudged Big Feet Chang on the way and he followed her

in. Spring Blossom bowed at the two retreating figures and placing Father’s remains at the head of the

mattress, she lay down on the small mattress. Instantly, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.




CHAPTER 4

The small snoring sounds told Jie-Jie that sleep had temporarily released Spring Blossom from

her sorrows. Sitting down on the old trunk, she beckoned Chang to come sit by her. Quietly, she said:

-“Aieeyah! What are we going to do with this child?”

-“Well,” he answered, “she will leave in the morning and that’s probably the last we’ll see of her.

The streets of Shanghai are full of small orphan children like her, one more or one less will

make no difference at all.”

-“Then why go to all this trouble today? Aieeyah! You could have just thrown the body into the

creek as we always do. Why did you tell her to come?”

-“You’re the one who went into the alley and brought her in. Why did you do that? I knew she

would be afraid to come in here. You could have let them close the doors and that would

have been that.”

-“She reminded me of myself when I was her age. We had nothing and starved daily. Father

did what he could but mother starved to death keeping me fed. If I had not had Father I

certainly would have gone into Suzhou Creek before I was ten. When I saw her, I knew Icould not let her go away. Also when I found out that the dead man was her Father, I felt a

kinship with her, she loved her father as I loved Old Wang. How could I not try to ease her

pain?”

-“Well, it seems that we are both to blame for her being here. Why do we not keep her? Maybe

if we clean and fatten her up, we will be able to sell her to one of the silk making factories or

we could wait a few years and sell her as a virgin to one of the brothels in town. she is not

bad looking and if we bind her feet and keep her out of the sun, she might fetch a handsome

price.”

-“She is already too old to have her feet bound and furthermore, I am amazed that my father

thought you were a smart business man! You do not seem to realize that a golden

opportunity sleeps on the other side of that partition. You are pretty short sighted, Lao

Chang!”

-“What do you mean?” Big Feet Chang said with a hiss. “I’ll have you know that we are twice

as well off as when your father ran things!! Aieeyah! How can you say things like that? If any

of the others heard you speak like that, they would not obey my orders anymore.”

-“What I am saying is, that in all the time that we have been married, I have not borne any

children and I do not think that I ever shall. Who will take care of us when we are old white

heads? My father would have died a long time ago had I not cared for him. When we are of

no use to the group anymore, they will let us die. If their children need food, do you think they

will feed us? They have no Duty towards us, their loyalty is one of convenience. They follow

us out of habit. There are others here who can do what we do as well if not better. If this little

one stays with us, she will care for us later on. We should take this heaven-sent chance,

while we can.”

-“But she is a girl. I can get a thousand boys off the streets. A boy can care for us better than

she.”




-“Think. She is reverent. Her parents taught her filial duty. Your “thousand boys” were in the

street hours after being born. They are little better than the wild dogs that follow our carts. I

would not dare sleep with one of them close by! He would probably cut our throats the first

chance he got. She is a bit rustic but she has manners. She has been in the streets for some

time, by the looks of her, yet she has survived, which shows that she is smart. To take on

three of you with a little dagger shows courage. All in all, I think that we have had a treasure

delivered to us. We would be fools not to keep it.”

With these words, Jie-Jie got up from the old trunk, lay down on the bed and snuffed out the oil lamp.

Big Feet Chang sat in the dark and pondered his wife’s words. She had a very good point. Until now

he had never thought about children. Their marriage was more of a business partnership.

Without Jie-Jie, he did not think the men would obey him as thoroughly as they did now. Jie-Jie was

right about the girl. He had liked her from the moment she scampered to pick up the knife. He had one

worry however, what if, when she married, she did not choose to stay and care for them? After all they

were not her parents. Should she stay and turn out to be the treasure Jie-Jie thought she was, hewould have to look into legal adoption. Big Feet Chang swore silently to himself that if and when

Spring Blossom married, the groom would be an orphan.

Yes, that was it, the groom would be an orphan.

One way or another...




CHAPTER 5

It was a gray, overcast day. Its gloominess had descended on the city and Spring Blossom

hurried through the alleys hoping that she would make it home before the rains started pouring down.

She was dressed in her best clothes for she had gone to see the paper mill owner, to whom they sold

all the rags they gathered. Big Feet Chang had sent her to charm the irascible old man who was

refusing to pay the price that had been agreed upon. The old buzzard claimed he had been ill when

he had agreed and that his head was befuddled from all the medicine his doctor forced upon him. Big

Feet Chang knew this was but a ploy to pay less than the agreed price and since his was the only

paper mill in the area, Big Feet Chang was faced with few alternatives.

Big Feet Chang had left the Lajigong when it had become apparent that the loyalty of his men was

tenuous at best. With Jie-Jie and Spring Blossom, they had packed up everything they owned onto a

small handcart and moved to a little warehouse down the lane. They had bought it with Jie-Jie’s dowry

and his small savings including the gold coin Old Wang had given him. Three families came with them

and they set up shop with little more than hope for assets. It had been Spring Blossom’s idea but shehad presented it in such a way that Big Feet Chang was sure, by now, that he had thought of it all by

himself. They bought rags from the Lajigong and others, graded them, bundled them up and sold

them to the paper mill. The lower grades were shredded by hand and sold to the shippers on the

Bund as packing material for delicate and fragile goods. They made felt from the lint and the lowest

grades of rags. This they sold to tailors and shoe makers. The paper mill was by far their biggest client

absorbing 80 per cent of their rags. Any drop in the rate the paper mill paid would greatly affect their

business and their revenues. What made matters worse was that, should Honorable Tang, the owner

of the mill, also known as Two Mouth Tang for his propensity at saying something one day and the

opposite the next, refuse to buy from Big Feet Chang, he would suffer little while Chang and his

people would go bankrupt and consequently starve. Two Mouth Tang would just go back to buying

directly from the Lajigong. He would have to grade the rags himself which would cost him as much as

he had agreed to pay Chang or produce inferior grade paper. Two Mouth Tang could probably make

poor grade paper until Big Feet Chang agreed to sell at a lower price. He had hoped that Spring

Blossom could persuade Two Mouth Tang to stick to their deal.

Her visit had been more successful than either of them could have wished. Two Mouth Tang had been

completely taken by Spring Blossom’s charm and grace and once again she had presented things in

such a way that Two Mouth Tang was sure he was making a very good deal.

The problem now was whether or not he would stick to his agreement. She had tried to give him great

Face and she hoped that the fear of losing that Face would keep him from reneging.

She looked up at the sky and its foreboding dark clouds and quickened her step. She had just turned

a corner when a human missile barely missed colliding into her. He jumped aside, spun around and

crashed to the ground, barely missing the open gutter in the middle of the alley. Spring Blossom had




jumped back in surprise and stood frozen with her heart racing. The man did not get up, he did not

even move.

Spring Blossom’s first impulse was to go on her way. She looked down at the man and noticed his

strange clothing. He had on a short vest and an ample cotton shirt with no collar. He wore short, tight,

knee breeches. His legs were bare and he had on leather shoes which seemed very large. Spring

Blossom then noticed that his hair was a dirty blond. She had never seen hair this color before and

she wondered what kind of disease would turn a man’s hair yellow. The man moaned and she took a

step back. He tried to get up but was only able to turn over on his back. Spring Blossom was aghast.

He was a foreign devil!

She had never seen a foreign devil before and her curiosity was greater than her fear. She carefully

inched up to the prone man. He moaned again, opened his eyes and saw her!

She turned and ran. He sat up and then tried to stand. Staggering against a wall, he glimpsed Spring

Blossom rounding the corner. He started to follow but collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain. She

had stopped and was sneaking a look when she saw him fall. The storm was imminent and the streetswere empty. He did not move. Spring Blossom wondered what a foreign devil was doing outside the

International Settlement. Foreign devils seldom ventured into the Chinese city and never alone. She

had been told that they were all very rich. This one didn’t look prosperous at all. In fact he looked like

a beggar! Still he didn’t move. Slowly she walked back to where he lay. Maybe his second fall had

killed him. If so there might be money to be made by returning the corpse to his relatives in the

International Settlement.

Seeing he still had not moved, she took off running. She made it home just as the first drops started to

fall. She quickly told Big Feet Chang what had happened. He wanted to hear the details of the deal

struck with Two Mouth Tang, but she persuaded him to grab a cart and follow her to where the body

lay. On the way, she told him what had transpired with Two Mouth Tang and Big Feet Chang was

pleased.

The rain was falling harder now and they were soaked. They finally made it to the alley. The body was

gone! Spring Blossom couldn’t believe it. No one lived on this alley, there were only two tall bare walls

on each side with no doors or windows. The rain was torrential now and it had started to wash away a

pile of rubbish which had accumulated there. The pile moved. Big Feet Chang went closer to

investigate. Under the debris, a face appeared. A face with a very long nose! Chang started to remove

the rubbish. The man was unconscious. His pulse was very faint. The rain was washing away the last

remnants of rubbish off of him. He grabbed the man under the armpits and dragged him into the cart.They went back to their warehouse and got there just as the rain was letting up. Jie-Jie was waiting for

them and closed the doors behind them. Inside, they all crept up to look at the foreign devil. Except for

Big Feet Chang, none of them had ever seen a foreign devil, especially this close. Chang and Spring

Blossom went to their quarters. While they changed clothes Jie-Jie made tea. Spring Blossom

gathered up the wet clothes and hung them to dry. She joined them round the table. Big Feet Chang

was telling Jie-Jie about the paper mill and turned to Spring Blossom as she sat down.

-“Well, Little one, what are we going to do with this foreign devil? He is still alive. I think he will




die soon so maybe all we have to do is wait.”

-“A live man,” Jie-Jie said, “would probably bring more money than a dead one. Perhaps we

should see if we can keep him alive long enough to return him to his relatives.”

-“I agree,” said Spring Blossom, “Honorable Chang, you should take a closer look at the

foreign devil and see to the extent of his injuries.”

They walked back to the cart. Young Tan had taken the foreign devil off the cart and laid him on a

straw mattress in one corner of the building. A rough felt blanket had been thrown over him. He had a

huge gash on his skull and cuts and scrapes covered his face. Big Feet Chang put his hand on the

man’s chest. The heartbeat was faint but steady. Chang noted that his lips weren’t blue and that the

strange color of his face was normal for a foreign devil. He decide that helping him might be worth the

effort, after all. He sent Spring Blossom to the local doctor to get some medicine. He instructed her not

to divulge the truth under any circumstance, reasoning that, were the man to die, they might be

blamed for his death. Spring Blossom left. She told the doctor that one of their people had suffered a

minor fall and that he didn’t need to bother coming himself. She said she would minister to the injured

man if he would be so kind to prescribe the necessary medication. She then went to the apothecary

and returned home. Assisting Jie-Jie, they washed the gash on the man’s head, cut away the hair around it, sprinkled some powder on the wound and bound his head in long strips of gauze. They then

applied a foul smelling ointment to the smaller cuts. Big Feet Chang and Young Tan had stripped the

man, amazed at his strange undergarments, and dressed him in a long shirt. They had made a

discovery when they had turned him over to remove his undershirt: he had horizontal scars on his

back, the kind left by flogging! Big Feet Chang did not like this at all but refrained from telling Jie-Jie or

Spring Blossom. A stern look at Young Tan insured he would hold his tongue. Jie-Jie had made an

infusion with the herbs the doctor had prescribed. She hoped that there were no internal injuries. Big

Feet Chang had informed her that there were no broken bones and that there were no other wounds.

The man’s breathing was soft and regular and he seemed to be asleep now rather than unconscious.

As the man slept, Spring Blossom from time to time, went over to see him.

He was really an amazing sight. He was the tallest man she had ever seen! His knee breeches would

have made long pants for the tallest of them. His strange leather shoes were so large that she could

put both feet inside just one. His yellow hair was the most amazing feature of all. Big Feet Chang had

assured all of them that this was normal for foreign devils and that he had no apparent diseases. The

nose was something else. She wondered how one could have something that large on one’s face.

She had heard that some peoples in the North of China had long noses but she was sure that they

could not be this large. The thought of a Chinese with a nose like this made her chuckle and when

Young Tan asked her what was so humorous, she told him. Everybody thought about it for a second

and a general round of laughter erupted in the building. One of the young boys even made a fake

nose and stuck it on his face. He strutted about with his “nose “ up in the air and the laughter

redoubled The noise woke the man. His eyes started open and he attempted to sit up. The laughter

stopped and all eyes turned to him. He dropped back onto his cot and, gingerly, probed his head and

body. A moan emanated from his lips every time he touched a wound and Big Feet Chang followed by

Jie-Jie and Spring Blossom, cautiously went over to him. When the man saw them, he started to say




something. Big Feet Chang leaned close and the man spoke again:

-“I understand nothing of what he says.” Big Feet Chang said. “Never have I heard such

strange sounds.”

-“When you pulled a rickshaw,” Jie-Jie asked, “how did you understand what foreign devils told

you?”

-“Some spoke Shanghainese, badly but comprehensible. Others spoke pidgin.”

-“Maybe he speaks pidgin.” Spring Blossom added.

-“Perhaps you’re right. Let me try, although it has been a very long time.”

Big Feet Chang leaned closer to the man and in a thick Shanghainese accent, said to him: “Massa

wanchee what?” He said, “massa muchee hurt, we bringee massa house, chop-chop, fixee good,

massa hear, ay?”

The blank stares confirmed that the man seemed to understand this even less. Big Feet Chang got up

and turning to Jie-Jie, said:-“I had not thought of this. If we can’t understand him and he can’t understand us, how are we

going to find out where he belongs, who his people are, and where to take him?”

His questions remained unanswered.

The man had closed his eyes and seemed to be sleeping again. They left him and went to the dining

table. As Jie-Jie served tea, they discussed the new problem at hand:

-“What are we going to do with this foreign devil?” Big Feet Chang asked.

-“Put his clothes back on and throw him out into the street. If you ask me, he’s more trouble

than he’s worth.” Jie-Jie answered.

-“I don’t think so,” Spring Blossom said, “there must be a way to communicate with him. If not,

we can make some discrete inquiries and maybe find out something about him. For now, let

him sleep and rest.”

-“You might have something there,” Big Feet Chang said, “I’ll have him watched tonight and

we’ll talk about it in the morning.”

-“Yes,” Jie-Jie added with a sigh, “tomorrow will take care of itself. Let’s go to bed.”

Spring Blossom could not resist going by the foreign devil one more time before retiring. While Big

Feet Chang was trying to talk to him, she had seen the color of his eyes. They were blue like those of

a Siamese cat, blue like the sky. You could see the man’s soul in those eyes, the pain. The pain and

also, the fear. This man was afraid, mortally afraid. Now, Spring Blossom thought, what would a

foreign devil be mortally afraid of? Certainly not us. He knows someone has ministered to his injuries,

thieves and murderers do not tend to the wounds of their victims. What was this man running from?

She had not mentioned the sorry state of his clothing to the others, they had assumed it was due to

the fall, the rain and the rubbish. But she had seen his shabby clothing before all of that. This foreign




devil was certainly not gentry. Who was he then? With one last look at the reclining figure, she went to

her tiny room to ponder these questions. She was no closer to an answer when she finally drifted off

to sleep.

As she woke in the morning, she thought that it had all been a dream. Even though her dreams were

almost always nightmares. Horrible dreams with heads being chopped off and blood everywhere,

drowning her, choking her, till she woke up in a pool of sweat. As she got up, she remembered, it was

no dream. The foreign devil was sitting up on his cot, a bowl in his hands. He had a vacant look in his

eyes and she wondered if his brains had been scrambled in the fall. She went over to the large dining

table, took a bowl and filled it with congee. She sat down and sneaked at look at him as she ate. To

her surprise he was looking at her. She quickly averted her gaze and absorbed herself with her meal.

Although it was just past dawn and the sunlight was barely streaming into the warehouse, many were

already hard at work. Spring Blossom’s job was the counting and tallying of the bundles of rags.

Jie-Jie had taught her to read, write and count, and they were the only ones in the group who could.

Jie-Jie had patiently tutored her in the afternoons when the men slept and the heat made other worktoo difficult. At first, she had disliked the tedium of drawing the wet brush endlessly across the little

square slate she used as a writing tablet. They were too poor to use real paper and ink. But she had

grown to like it, especially when she discovered that no one else in their group knew how. She found

that she could decipher the signs in the streets and read bits and pieces of the many bills which

decorated the walls of the city. Occasionally some paper was salvaged and using soot mixed with

water and fat, she would very carefully write her best ideograms. There was always pride in Jie-Jie’s

eyes when Spring Blossom presented these to her. Once, when she was cleaning, Spring Blossom

had found a tattered old box on top of a cupboard, in it were all of those ideograms that she had

thought had been thrown away. She never told Jie-Jie, but she loved her a little more for it.

Spring Blossom cleaned her bowl, put it up and went to the desk where most of their papers were.

Although it was not yet light enough to read without a lamp, she picked up some tally sheets and

pretended to add them up. Glancing over the top of the sheet, she spied the foreign devil. As she was

seated in a darker part of the warehouse, she could watch almost without being seen. Jie-Jie had

chosen this spot so that she could keep an eye on the others without them knowing. Or so she

thought. Everyone knew that the light was not good enough for reading but no one said anything. If

they did, Jie-Jie would have to find some other location and Face would be lost. So the desk stayed

and Spring Blossom did most of her work at the large dining table.

For now, she watched him. He had lay back on his cot and seemed to be sleeping. Big Feet Chang

came over to the desk:

-“You and Jie-Jie are wonders, to be able to read and to do it in the dark! Aieeyah! You must

have eyes like a night owl.”

Those within earshot smiled but said nothing. With a nod and a shrug towards the man, he continued:

-“Come, we must talk about that thing.”




She got up and followed him to their quarters.

Jie-Jie and Big Feet Chang lived in two small rooms in the back of the warehouse. The front room was

a kind of small parlor with a few stools and chairs, the old four poster bed was in the back room along

with the iron trunk. Spring Blossom had a tiny room next door, where she slept. The others lived in the

main warehouse separated by partitions which were pushed against the walls during working hours.

Jie-Jie was waiting for them in the small parlor. She handed them cups of tea. They sat down and Big

Feet Chang started:

-“Aieeyah! What are we going to do with this god cursed foreign devil? He has already cost us

a lot and we still don’t know if there will be a return on our investment!”

-“You are right for once,” Jie-Jie said, “Spring Blossom, this was your idea, what do you

suggest we do?”

-“I will go and inquire at the Bund. We have had indirect dealings with a Compradore. He

surely knows many foreign devils, he might tell me about this one. If he doesn’t and I cannot

find out anything else, we will take him back where we found him and let the Taotai deal withhim.”

Big Feet Chang and Jie-Jie agreed with this idea. Spring Blossom got up and left to get dressed. She

wore nice clothes, nice enough to meet with the Compradore but not nice enough to attract thieves

and beggars. Jie-Jie had Young Tan accompany her to the entrance of the International Settlement.

He was to wait for her there and accompany her back. As they left she glanced at the foreign devil. He

had been moved to a place out of the way, against the wall. When he saw her, he smiled and bowed

his head. She ignored him and walked out.

The storm clouds of the day before were gone. Although it was late October, the day promised to be

warm and sunny. Food shops and street hawkers displayed innumerable quantities and varieties of

“yue bing”, the traditional moon cakes of the Mid Autumn Festival.

It had been a good harvest year. Only one Typhoon had roared ashore this year. It had done relatively

little damage and, as it had come inland to the south of the city near the ancient city of Hangzhou,

they had had only wind damage and small flooding.

The populace was gearing up for a memorable holiday. Spring Blossom hoped that old Two Mouth

Tang would not live up to his name this time. If he stayed true to his word, they too, would have many

“yue bing”, on their table.




CHAPTER 6

When he came to, he saw he was in a large and dark room. He hurt everywhere. Even his old

wounds hurt. He felt as if he had been pummeled by rocks and beaten with wet ropes. He did not

know where he was and really did not care. As the room didn’t move, he knew he had not been

brought back on board ship. Relief washed over him only to be replaced by dread. Perhaps he was in

prison. They might have captured him after all. He could recall little but, as he lay there, in the dark, he

remembered his headlong flight through the narrow and twisting alleyways of the city.

He could still hear the hammering footsteps of the ship’s bully-boys chasing after him. “What wretched

luck,” he thought, “I almost made a clean escape!” A rotten plank had broken under him and alerted

the watch. He had slipped, slid, and scrambled up the muddy banks of the river... He had reached the

docks but the alarm was given and men were already scrambling down the gangplanks. He darted

away as quickly as he could. He ducked into the first alley he saw and ran. They must have seen him

because they were on his heels immediately. The pounding footsteps, the shouts, and the swords

clanging, reverberated through the maze of alleys. The din seemed terribly loud, made even louder bythe quiet of the night.

He ran this way and that, doubling back, trying to confuse his pursuers. He ran from the noise, from

any noise. He stopped, out of breath. He breathed hard into his sleeve, trying to be as quiet as

possible. He held his breath, listening to the sounds of the night. He had lost them! He soon realized

that he had lost himself in the process. He looked up at the sky. It was overcast but it was three nights

till the full moon and it shone brightly through ragged patches of clear sky. He meandered until he

came to a large intersection. Here, he could see much more of the sky. He spotted the Dog star,

Sirius, then the Hunter, Orion. He knew the city was to the west of the river where the ship lay atanchor. He took off again, going west as much as he could. His progress was slow as there were very

few alleys that went straight in the direction he wanted. The moon was waning, it was getting darker.

He was, by now, exhausted.

He came to a small ramshackle matshed propped up against a wall. Peering inside he saw nothing

and the musty smell told him no one had been inside for some time. The locals probably avoided it

because it was going to collapse at any moment. He slowly and carefully lay down. He was asleep

before he knew it.

The morning had come violently. Screams and shouts shook him from his dreamless sleep. Two boys

had discovered him and screaming: “Yang Guizi! Yang Guizi! Foreign devil! Foreign devil!”, had fled to

inform their elders. He got up and went outside the hut. The crowd that had gathered took a collective

step back and then another. Eyes glared, faces shouted and fingers pointed. All directed at him. He

understood nothing of what was being said, but he felt that waiting around for a translation would be

unhealthy. He turned to where the crowd was thinnest and ran at them. They scattered like a flock of

geese attacked by a wild dog. He was again running through narrow and twisting alleyways! There

seemed to be people everywhere! He now ran down the most deserted alleys he could find. He had




run down two or three alleys with no people at all, when he turned a corner and, all of a sudden,

almost careened into someone.

He jumped aside, spun around and crashed to the ground, barely missing the open gutter in the

middle of the alley. Stars exploded in his head, followed by blackness. He did not know how long he

had lain there when he came around. Pain made him shudder and the shudder shot waves of pain

through his head. He tried to sit up and opened his eyes. He saw her then! She was just standing

there, unmoving, a statue. He regained his wits a little. She seemed to want to help, she was not

screaming or pointing fingers. He sat up and then tried to stand, staggering against a wall, he saw the

young woman bolt around the corner. He started to follow her and collapsed to the ground.

Blackness engulfed him....

...Laughter woke him. He opened his eyes with a start and attempted to sit up. The laughter

stopped and all eyes turned to him. He dropped back onto his cot and, gingerly, probed his head and

body. Every time he touched a wound, the pain seem to shoot through his brain. He opened his eyesagain and saw an old chinee and two chinee women, one small, plain, and mousy, the other tall,

young, and somehow familiar.

-“Where am I? Who are you? What happened?” He asked. The words echoed in his head and

made his headache worse. The old chinee leaned close.

-“Please, old man, tell me where I am!”

The old chinee just stared at him then said something but it was gibberish. The older chinee woman

said something too, equally incomprehensible. The young chinee woman joined in. This was

maddening. If no one spoke English, how was he going to communicate with these people? The three

of them were now talking together, finally, the old chinee bent down and haltingly said something

which sounded different. Jonathan Carpenter did not understand this any more than the other things

said to him, although a few words sounded a little like English. Maybe this is pidgin English, he

thought. Having been in Shanghai for less than a week, and most of that spent on shipboard, he did

not even have rudimentary knowledge of this “Lingua Franca” of the East.

The three chinees now were having an animated conversation. It was the first time he had heard

people speaking Chinese, Shanghainese actually, and he was surprised at the melodic quality of the

language. The tones would rise and fall, it was almost a song, albeit a fast one. It seemed to him that

this language was to English as running was to a stroll. After a time the sing-song melody lulled him to

sleep and he nodded off.

When he awoke, he again felt disoriented. He couldn’t remember where he was for a few moments.

Then it all came back to him. All around him, people, chinees, were getting up, walking about, and

putting up their cots or bedclothes. The huge room was dimly lit by the morning sun. As it got brighter,

he saw that he was in some kind of warehouse. He now caught many surreptitiously staring at him.




They would quickly avert their gaze when they saw him looking back. He felt much better. His wounds

had been dressed and hurt only when he touched them. Even his back felt better. His headache had

all but disappeared. All in all he felt rather well.

Where am I? What happened? Who are these people? Why have they helped me? Is this a prison?

Am I still in Shanghai? What day is this? What is the date?...

It seemed that an endless list of unanswered questions came unbidden and raced through his mind.

He was still pondering his problems when one of the chinee brought him a bowl of congee. He gave it

to him and mimed someone eating. Jonathan nodded understanding and the man left. He was sitting

on his cot eating when he spotted the young woman that had been at his bedside the day before, She

went over to a large table, took a bowl and filled it. She sat down and he saw her steal a glance at him

as she ate. She seemed surprised that he was looking at her. She quickly averted her gaze and

absorbed herself with her food. She finished her meal, cleaned her bowl, put it up and went to a large

desk. Although it was not yet light enough to read without a lamp, he saw her pick up some papers

and start working on an abacus. As she was seated in a darker part of the warehouse, he could notreally see her face. Finally, he lay back on his cot and closed his eyes. She seemed pretty but the light

wasn’t good enough to tell for certain. The old chinee came over to the desk, and they talked. He saw

the old man shrug his head in his direction and then walk away. The young woman followed. Later he

saw her leaving with a tall man. They headed to the door. As they left she glanced in his direction, he

smiled and bowed his head. She ignored him and walked out.




CHAPTER 7

The congee sat in the deep hole in his stomach. He sorely wanted more of the sticky, sweet

and sour rice gruel. But he must have fallen asleep because he had been moved and his bowl and

spoon were gone. He would have asked but no one seemed to understand even his simplest requests

unless they were accompanied with many gestures. Even then, the chinees would sometimes just

stare at him, bemused, as if he were some animal who had somehow acquired the ability to

communicate. He watched them work. The sun was now streaming in the dirty windows and through

the many cracks in the wall and doors. The air was thick with dust from the piles of rags the chinees

were sorting. The sun’s rays shot through the dust clouds and made the shafts of light visible in the

haze. Dust motes danced and twirled, every movement of the air gave them new impetus and their

endless gyrations fascinated Jonathan as his thoughts wandered anew...

...He stood on the dock, bundled up against the chill on this crisp September morning. The

rising sun had just peaked over the Diablo Range, but the city still lay shrouded in the mists of night.

The rooftops of San Francisco were tipped with a golden glow that made them look like fiery needlesrising from the shadows. He looked out to sea and could just make out a shinning white dot on the

horizon. He hoped that this would be the ship for which he had been waiting these past few days. He

had come to the dock every day, at first light and stayed until he could wait no more. “Maybe this ship

brings my brother back to me,” he thought “Oh, please Dear God, let it be this one!”

The dot on the horizon had now grown to the characteristic shape of a ship’s sail. He stared at it and

urged it on as if his will could bring it in to port faster. The letter he had received two weeks earlier lay

in his breast pocket. He had read it so many times that he now knew it by heart:

My Dear Brother,

I hope this letter finds you in the bestof health and that it will reach youbefore my return. I have great news!My travels have finally brought me toOld Cathay, to one of the TreatyPorts. Shanghai has to be the mostcrowded place on the face of theEarth. It is probably one of thegreatest ports after Hong Kong. Ihave been traveling in the Orient for




nigh two years now and I believe thatI have found my “pot of gold at theend of the rainbow.” I cannot tell youall the details in this letter but I want

you to know, My Dear Brother, thatGod has rewarded your faith in me aswell as all of my efforts, hardshipsand privations. I have, to coin a wellworn phrase, “struck it rich!” If allgoes well we will have, in a veryshort time, wealth beyond our wildest

aspirations!I am entrusting this letter to afriend who is leaving for America, onthe morning tide. I hope to follow intwo weeks time. I truly wish you willbe able to come and meet me at thedock, in San Francisco. I cannot tellyou how happy I am to finally be ableto repay, a hundred fold, the moniesyou have graciously provided methese past four years.

Until we meet face to face, I remain

Your loving brother,

James-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The tide was coming in now. The Captain of this ship knew his business. This Captain was not one Copyright©2001 J.-L. DeMontaron



to wait outside the harbor for the tide to turn. He would bring his vessel in to port as the high tide was

still coming in. It would be spectacular and fast but highly dangerous: the harbor channel was not at

its deepest and docking in these conditions was the most difficult.

Jonathan could now see that she was a three masted Clipper ship. These China Clippers were the

monarchs of the Pacific Ocean. They raced between the continents, swift and agile, each competing

in the unsanctioned and informal race between the New World and the East Asian shores of the

Pacific. There were no prizes in this race but the fastest ship would be the first to empty her holds and

see them filled again. Her sailors would walk proudly among their peers. Awe and respect would follow

her Captain and First Mate wherever they went. Speed was useful and these Clipper ships were built

for speed, but what truly made the difference between these greyhounds of the waves was their crews

and the officers that commanded them. The swiftest ship in the fleet would become a lumbering beast

if crew and captain relaxed their vigilance. One instant, she would be skimming the tops of waves,

slicing through the surf, her sails taught and creaking. The next, would see her decks awash with

water and her sails flutter and flap in the breeze as a squall swamped her or a cross wind spun her

around. Once left to the whims of sea and wind, it took an exceptional captain to right her and turn her into the wind. Many a vain and foolish captain had gone down to the inky depths because of errors in

judgment.

She was the pinnacle, the culmination of the ship builders art. She was the ultimate example of sailing

vessels and she was the last of her line, the last of a dying breed. Steamships now plied the trade

routes. Immune to the caprices of the wind, they made schedules reliable and only their drafts limited

their routes. They were the future, the Clipper ship was the past. Profits and greed would hold sway

over beauty and grace.

The Captain let her have her head. Like a filly, newly broken, she lunged forward. Her streamlined

bow swung up and down, waves crashed against her stern and figurehead. She was a magnificent

sight as she burst into the full light of day at the mouth of the harbor. Most men had stopped work and

were staring. Sailors nodded knowingly as the Captain had her sails trimmed. Signal flags flying on

the fo’c’s’le halyard indicated she would not need a harbor pilot. She glided majestically on the frothy

waters of the Bay. Sailors swarmed over her decks and on her mast spars. Sails were furled, lines

were coiled, men manned the main capstan. The Captain stood on the aft deck, his pilot at the helm

and the First Mate at his side. From here he commanded his ship, a maestro commanding an

orchestra and woe be the man who struck a sour note! She shuddered as the helmsman turned her

so she would dock to Port. Effortlessly she came to the dock. The maneuver was timed so well that

she bumped the pier once and stopped, dead in the water, even before she was moored. Her sailsfluttered briefly as sailors quickly furled them. A final order rang out and she weighed anchor. The

chain rattled and clanged, and the clipper’s anchors crashed into the murky water, bringing the final

note to the breathtaking feat Jonathan had just witnessed.

Looking up at this leviathan of the seas, Jonathan saw that she was named ‘CHINA LADY’ and her

figurehead represented a pretty oriental woman with long black tresses, garbed in a flowing sea-green

gown.




Gantries were lowered, mooring lines secured. The tide pushed and pulled at her and made it seem

she tugged at the dray lines, loathe to be fettered so. At a command from the Captain, dockers

immediately scrambled up on board and the off-loading proceeded apace.

Jonathan waited impatiently until the Captain, satisfied that all was in order, worked his way to the

railing and down the gangplank. His gait instantly marked him as a seafarer. He was a stout man with

a grizzled beard. Keen dark eyes looked out from a weather-beaten face. Everything about him

radiated authority.

His uniform was impeccable, creases and pleats seemed chiseled into the fabric, the buttons shone

like small beacons. His cap appeared to be a permanent fixture on his head. It was impossible to

imagine him without it or out of uniform. As he landed, he immediately checked all the mooring lines,

with a critical eye. The dock crew knew this Captain and had done an especially good job. The

Captain walked away a bit and turned towards the bow. She was rocking slowly with the swells of the

tide and he looked at her lovingly.

He let his gaze travel the length and height of his ship. Pride suffused his face for an instant and he

smiled a tight-lip smile. Jonathan approached him. Doffing his hat, he commented:

-“That is a fine ship, Captain”

-“Aye, that she is, Sir, that she is! Good o’ ye to say so.”

-“Allow me to introduce myself, Captain. I am Jonathan Carpenter of Springfield, Missouri. I

have been waiting for my brother, James Carpenter, to return from the Orient. Might I inquire,

Sir, if he is on your ship?”

-“James Carpenter, James Carpenter? Hum... I must say, Sir, ‘tis a name that’s familiar. Let me

speak with my First Mate, if ye would.”

The Captain went to the gangplank and with an agility that belied his age, bounded up on board.

Jonathan saw him speak with a tall, dour faced man. Then the Captain returned. His face had

hardened and the peaceful look Jonathan had first seen had disappeared without a trace. The

Captain came up to him and said:

-“Would ye be caring to come and share a spot o’ grog with me, Mister Carpenter? It does

wonders to ward off the chills of an early morn.”

Jonathan wanted to ask him about his brother but the look in the Captain’s eyes told him this was not

a man to be refused even an innocuous invitation.

-“I thank you for your kind offer, Captain, I would be honored!”

They walked down the pier to a small tavern situated next to a large storehouse. A creaking sign

swung above a battered door, proclaiming the name of the establishment: “The China Clipper”. The

Captain thrust the door open and Jonathan followed. The dazzling brilliance of the new born sun

outside contrasted sharply with the obscure interior of the tavern. Jonathan could barely make out




more than dim shapes of tables and chairs. There were many parts of ships as well as stuffed and

dried marine fauna and flora, decorating the walls and ceiling. A large, well worn, bar faced the door.

Behind it, a mountain of a man was cleaning glasses. He brought a hand up to his forelock in a

sailor’s salute and greeted the Captain with a hearty:

-“Well done, Skipper, ain’t nobody goin’ to beat ye this time! Ye must’ve flown The CHINA

LADY back!!”

The Captain returned the salute and the tight-lip smile acknowledged the accolade. It was early, none

of the tables were occupied. They sat down near the back and the tavern keeper brought over a bottle

and two glasses. He put them down and said: “My treat this time, Skipper!” The Captain glanced up at

him and thanked him. He uncorked the bottle and filled up both glasses. He waited till Jonathan

picked up his glass, then he stood, raised his own and in a somber voice said:

-“To all the men who go down to the sea in ships!”

He tossed the glass back and drained it. Jonathan followed suit and felt liquid fire spill down his throat.

Tears came to his eyes and he suppressed a cough under the amused gaze of the Captain. Glasses

were refilled and the Captain looked Jonathan straight in the eye.

In a somber voice, the Captain began:

-“Mister Carpenter, ‘tis no easy task I have afore me, I am sorry to tell ye that I bear ill tidings o’

yer brother! When first I heard the name, ‘twas familiar but I could’na place it. My First Mate,

however, remembered it quite well. Yer brother had booked passage on my ship, his gear

was stowed below, yet he never showed. The day afore we shipped out o’ Shanghai, one o’

my men picked up some dockside scuttlebutt about some poor soul the chinees had waylaid

in the old chinees’ city, just outside the International Settlement. We heard a description o’

the man involved and ‘twas a fair match for yer brother. I am afeared ‘twas him the heathens

ambushed...

...I grieve with ye, Mister Carpenter, I grieve with ye.”

He drained hip glass as if to take the bad taste out of his mouth. To avoid meeting Jonathan’s stare,

he poured himself another drink. Jonathan was dumb-struck. James dead! It couldn’t be! How could

James be dead? It was not possible, not James!!

James was experienced, he wouldn’t let himself be ambushed, wouldn’t let himself be killed in some

foreign heathen land! He blurted out:

-“Did someone who knew my brother see the dead man? Can you be sure it was James?”

The Captain looked up at Jonathan, there was genuine grief in the man’s eyes. He said softly:

-“Nay, nary a person that I know o’. But ye be grasping at straws,

Mister Carpenter. I kinna and dinna want to be giving ye false hopes.”

He stood up, finished his glass and corked the bottle. He put a fatherly hand on Jonathan’s shoulder.

-“Come, lad, I’ll take ye back to the Lady. Ye’ll be wanting to take yer brother’s gear. Now, best

ye be getting back home, lad. There’s nary a thing more to be told. Ye can speak to my crew

if ye wish but I think ‘twill do ye na good.”




Jonathan stood and followed the Captain like an automaton. They walked down the pier, Jonathan

saw and heard nothing. The words kept ringing in his ears: “James is dead!” The First Mate was at the

bottom of the gangplank. Next to him was a canvas bag and a sea chest. The Captain spoke with the

First Mate, then turned to Jonathan:

-“Here be yer brother’s gear, Mister Carpenter. Do ye wish to speak to any o’ my crew? Mister

Carpenter? Can ye hear me, lad?”

The grievous news combined with the few drinks he had shared with the Captain, made Jonathan’s

head spin. He was seeing and hearing as if from a far distance. He heard a voice ask him where he

was lodging, he answered with difficulty. Someone took his arm and he let them lead him away as his

grief swelled up inside.

When Jonathan awoke, he was in his bed, at the inn where he had been staying. The bag and the

chest were in the middle of the room. It was light outside. Jonathan got up and his head felt like he’d

been rolling in the surf for hours. He sat on the edge of the bed. He was confused. Then heremembered. The Captain, their talk, James’ death! I should speak to the Captain again, he thought.

No, that would do no good. I should find out more about James’ death. Perhaps speak with some of

the crew. He went over the events of these last few weeks.

After a time his mind was made up. he would ask the Captain for passage to China. HE would find out

about the dead man, HE would find out about James.

He walked over to the window and looked out on the Bay. It was a bright, sunny day. Small ships plied

the waters in a never-ending ballet. All was as he had seen it, every day, since he arrived.

All... was... the... sam... NOOO!

The dock where the CHINA LADY had berthed, was EMPTY!!

Jonathan grabbed his coat and hat and ran out. He ran all the way to the CHINA LADY’s dock. For an

instant he had hoped that she had only been moved to another pier, perhaps for a refitting before

undertaking the perilous journey back. A few words with a docker dashed all his hopes...

..She had weighed anchor before dawn and left on the morning tide...




CHAPTER 8

Spring Blossom and Young Tan arrived within sight of the International Settlement. As always,

a small crowd lay siege to the entrance gate. Several Gurkhas stood on guard and a Chinese in a

policeman’s uniform was letting only a trickle of people pass. Young Tan elbowed his way expertly to

the fore with Spring Blossom close behind. They eventually ended up waiting behind a large middle-

aged matron who, despite her diminutive stature, managed to look down her nose at them. It was all

either of them could do to keep from laughing. After much paper waving and shouting the fat woman

was let through. It now was their turn.

-“What do you to want?” The policeman asked brusquely.

-“Please, Honorable Sir, we have dealings with this Hang on the Bund.”

Spring Blossom showed the policeman a letter from a Hang, a foreign import and export company.

She thanked the gods to have had the foresight to bring it. She also had a letter acknowledging

receipt of goods from the same Hang. This was the letter signed by the Compradore they wanted to

see. It bore his personal chop prominently.

The policeman looked askance at the letter and, slyly turning it upside down, pointed to it and asked

Spring Blossom:

-“What is this character, Young Miss, I cannot make it out?”

Spring Blossom took the letter, and, turning it right side up, read the whole line to the bemused

policeman. He concealed the loss of Face very well and gruffly asked:

-“Who is this one?” Pointing to Young Tan.

-“He is my Father’s manservant,” Spring Blossom lied, “Father bade him accompany me for

protection.”

-“Very well, I will give you a day pass. Do no tarry in the settlement after dark or you will both

be arrested.”

-“As you say, Honorable Sir, we will be but a few hours. I thank you for your kindness. Good

day to you sir.

When they were out of earshot of the policeman, Young Tan spoke

-“Lao Chang is not my master, and I was not supposed to go with you to the Bund. What does

all this mean?’

-“I know, but I did not like that policeman’s looks, I lied to him to make him think I was more

than I appeared, also I feel much safer with you by my side. You are quite strong and

imposing. Who would dare bother anyone YOU were protecting?”

Spring Blossom saw Tan’s chest puff out and it seemed that he had grown taller. He bore a scowl on

his face and seemed to dare passers-by to try and molest his “mistress”.

They crossed into the English Concession sector. The streets were unbelievably clean. At each




intersection a Sikh police officer directed traffic with exaggerated hand signals and strident whistle

blasts. Turning south towards the Bund they came to the English Legation. The grounds were

luxuriously green with countless varieties of sub-tropical plants and flowers. The brownish pink stucco

buildings, in a rococo style popular in many English colonies at the time, stood out starkly against the

green backgrounds. Two red coated Horse Guards stood impassive at the main gate. Spring Blossom

and Young Tan stared openly. They had never seen such opulence in their lives. Having lived all their

lives in the back alleys of the city, their only contact with greenery was an occasional tree and some

potted plants.

Across from the Legation Building was a small park. It was at the confluence of Suzhou creek and the

HuangPu river. Spring Blossom crossed the street towards it. She wanted to see all these wonderful

plants close-up. At the park entrance, she stopped abruptly, a brass plaque was bolted to one of the

two columns supporting the wrought-iron gate.

It read, in English script and Chinese characters:

Spring Blossom, at first, could not believe her eyes, she thought she had made a mistake. A few feet

away, an old man was swinging a bird cage in a slow arc, the brightly colored songbird within, swayed

with the motion, occasionally flapping its wings, thereby exercising its muscles, Good muscle tone was

important for the bird to sing properly.

Spring Blossom approached the old man and politely inquired if she had read the sign correctly. The

old man spat in the general direction of the plaque and told her:

-“That’s what it says, young miss, exactly what you have read. Aieeyah! It is hard to believe

that we are still in the Middle Kingdom. It seems foreigners now own our country!”

Stunned, Spring Blossom grabbed Young Tan’s arm and they started down the Bund. She would

forgive and forget many things in her lifetime, but this indignity would remain forever etched in her

mind.

They walked towards the Customs House with its tall clock tower, it was a familiar landmark to those

who toiled ceaselessly on the Bund. Spring Blossom and Young Tan gawked at the incessant hustle

and bustle of the legions of coolies loading or unloading the great China Clippers which slowly rocked

at the docks, their masts, like giant barren trees, swaying gently to and fro.


BATTERY PARK

Opened : Dawn until 10:00 p.m.

No dogs or chinese allowed.



Spring Blossom asked for directions at several shops and stalls along the way. Finally, they arrived at

their destination. They stood in front of a huge building. It had four stories and was made almost

entirely of wood. The foundations were of yellow sandstone and the upper floor windows were glassed

in. Both of them just stood there, awe-struck. Neither had ever seen anything like it before.

A seemingly endless stream of coolies entered and left the building. They wore only a loincloth hitched

up to their hips. Some wore straw sandals, most went barefoot. They appeared mechanical almost.

They all carried huge bundles or crates. At the building’s main entrance, a small man in tired clothes

stopped each coolie, inspected what he carried and made a note in a large ledger. He had a small

puckered face with an unusually pointed nose, he had on thick eyeglasses, a Panama hat and wore a

dirty blue slit smock over a pair of light green baggy pants. He looked like a small owl, his head in

ceaseless motion. Spring Blossom gingerly approached him. She waited for a break in the line of

coolies, then she bowed and addressed him in her most formal and polite manner:

-“Please forgive this foolish young girl for bothering you, Honored Sir, but I would be greatly in

your debt if you would consent telling this undeserving one where she might find the Most

Honorable Compradore, Master Ou-Yang? I am terribly sorry to have disturbed your workwith my miserable request, again, please forgive my troubling you so.”

The little man, known to the coolies as Mole Face Lee, lifted his nose out of the ledger and seemed to

take some time to focus on Spring Blossom. He had been startled by this woman’s voice and taken

aback by the formal speech. He was now concentrating on formulating a proper response to such a

request. It had been a very long time since anyone had spoken to him in this fashion. An offhand

response or curt dismissal would make him lose much Face. He took in the spectacle before him.

Spring Blossom, her hands tucked in her sleeves was slightly bowed with her eyes downcast. Young

Tan stood a few paces behind her and was still scanning left and right as if, at any second, they might

be waylaid or ambushed. Clearing his throat, Mole Face Lee finally spoke:

-“Please allow me, Young Miss, to humbly inquire as to the nature of your business with Master

Ou-Yang? As you surely know, he is a very busy person. Perhaps, if I may be so bold, I might

be able to provide you with the assistance you seek?”

-“I thank you for your offer, Honored Sir. Might this miserable one know your illustrious name?”

-“I am known as Foreman Lee, Young Miss, and how may I address you?”

-“Honorable Lee, my patronymic is Wu and my adoptive Father is the Honorable Chang of

WuSong District. It is at his behest that I seek Master Ou-Yang. My Respected Father

furnishes goods to this Illustrious Hang. I have brought some papers for Master Ou-Yang. I

am to give them to him personally. Please forgive my impertinence, but is it possible to see

Master Ou-Yang?”

Mole Face Lee considered this for a moment then he gestured towards the ship docked across the

Bund from where they stood.




-“Master Ou-Yang is presently aboard that ship supervising the off-loading. I think he will be

returning soon Young Miss Wu, perhaps you would care to wait?”

-“Honorable Lee, I am honored by your solicitude. We shall wait. I thank you for your trouble

and beg your forgiveness for interrupting your most important work.”

Spring Blossom bowed to Mole Face Lee, a little deeper than she would have normally done to one

such as he. Big Feet Chang had once told her that it was easier to make enemies than allies, and in

this strange and unfamiliar place, she needed all the friends she could get. She turned and a quick

word whispered to Young Tan made him bow to Mole Face Lee as well. As they moved away, Mole

Face Lee stared at her retreating back for an instant then turned to the coolie who had impatiently

been waiting at the entrance. Lee checked the writing on the side of the huge sack the coolie was

carrying, noted it in his book, and waived the man in. The line of coolies resumed their endless march

into the dark recesses of the warehouse.

They found a rice noodle stall close by, and bought two bowls of the highly spiced and steamingnoodles. Spring Blossom sat down on a little bench in front of the stall and looked out onto the Bund

and the river. A multitude of crafts plied the river in a chaotic water ballet. Several times, Spring

Blossom held her breath as she saw a small sampan or a dinghy barely avoid a collision with one of

the tall ships moving about the harbor.

The pilots of the small darting boats seemed to not even notice their brushes with disaster. The muddy

banks of the HuangPu river were strewn with all manner of planks and makeshift rafts. They created a

network of bouncing, splashing throughways that linked the water-bound ships and boats to the Bund.

Men, women and children tread on these precarious paths with an ease and adeptness that made it

seem as effortless as walking down a wide street. Not once did Spring Blossom see one person so

much as falter. Some of the loads that were being carried were so heavy that the planks would bow

downwards till it seemed they must break under the strain. Yet they would spring back, clanking and

rattling, as if pulled up by invisible strings, adding their part to the din that assaulted the eardrums in

never ending waves.

Spring Blossom was jerked from her fascination by someone repeatedly pulling at her sleeve. An

emaciated man of indeterminate age was speaking to her.

-“Please excuse me, Miss, but Mole Fa...uh, Foreman Lee has asked that you come quickly.

Please, can we go now?”

Without waiting for an answer, the coolie headed back to the warehouse.

Spring Blossom stood up, handed the bowl back to the stall keeper and calling to Young Tan, followed

the man back to the Hang entrance. She saw that Lee was talking to a tall corpulent man, dressed




from head to toe in black. He seemed to be staring off into the distance, his eyes mere slits in the

round and unmoving face, his head slightly bent as he listened to Lee. The coolie which had fetched

her, scurried up to Lee and spoke to him, all the while bobbing and bowing and pointing in her

direction. When she arrived, she bowed deeply to the tall man and then to Lee. He said quickly:

-“Ah, Young Miss, I have informed Master Ou-Yang that you wished to see him.”

Turning to the tall man, he bowed reverently:

-“Master Ou-Yang, this is the young person I was telling you about. She is the adoptive

daughter of Honorable Chang of Wu Song District. Young Miss Wu, allow me to introduce

Master Ou-Yang, Compradore of the Illustrious House of Long & Webster.”

Spring Blossom was startled by the size of the man that stood before her. He was the tallest Chinese

she had ever met. Up close, she had to crane her neck to see his face. His clothes were of the finest

fabric she had ever seen. He wore a silk skullcap which seemed to merge with his jet black hair. His

black vest was heavily embroidered with black thread so that the details could only be discerned when

he moved. Underneath he wore a black slit smock and tailored black pants. His black shoes were

spotless and he seemed to have never walked anywhere in them. He gazed down at Spring Blossomwith deep piercing eyes and under his stare she felt even smaller. He spoke to her. His voice was rich

and deep. She could tell he was not from Shanghai, yet she could not place his accent.

-“Well, young woman, Foreman Lee tells me your father has sent me some papers. They must

be important for him to send such a pretty young thing to wander the docks of the Bund.”

He paused, apparently waiting for the papers to be produced. Spring Blossom bowed again, very low

this time, and said:

-“If you please, Your Excellency, if you can spare me a modicum of your most precious time,

may we speak in private?”

She put as much charm and poise into her voice as she could muster and softened her gaze. She

bowed very low. This had melted Old Two Mouth Tang, she hoped it would help her again, this time.

Master Ou-Yang peered down at her, annoyance on his brow, his eyes, now the mere suggestion of

slits.

Mole Face Lee, watching his master’s face, started to sweat profusely and wondered what he had

gotten himself into. If Master Ou-Yang became upset, the employees of the Hang would suffer the

consequences. He waited, hardly breathing, sweat trickling off his pointed nose and plopping into his

ledger.

After what seemed like an eternity, Master Ou-Yang turned on his heel and walked into the cavernous

Warehouse.

A booming “follow me!” jerked both Lee and Spring Blossom upright. She peered into the gloom but

Master Ou-Yang had already disappeared into the shadows. Lee gave her a quick push and told her:




-“Quickly, Young Miss, Master Ou-Yang hates to be kept waiting!”

She fairly jumped after him. Lee stepped in front of Tan who was following and, drawing himself up to

his full height, said:

-“You, you wait here! Master Ou-Yang did not ask you to go inside!!”

Tan stopped short. Spring Blossom had already faded from sight and Mole Face Lee was pushing him

outside. “Wait here!”, Lee said, pointing to a small recess off the main entrance, “Your Mistress will be

back soon enough! I’ll tell her where you are when she comes out!”

Young Tan padded over to where Lee was pointing, muttering and grumbling, he squatted down on

his haunches. Tan glared at the petty little man who glared right back, and he wondered what was

going to happen to little Spring Blossom in that huge and forbidding place.




CHAPTER 9

The darkness enveloped Spring Blossom like a shroud. She shivered despite the oppressive

heat inside the building. Walking blindly after the sound of Master Ou-Yang’s footsteps, she felt

disoriented and afraid. Her nostrils were assailed by the myriad smells emanating from the contents of

the warehouse. As her eyes adjusted to the obscurity, she noticed that she was passing row after row

of stacked bundles and crates. The floor was made of wooden planks and every step made them

creak and groan. The entire building was filled with muffled creaks and groans from the comings and

goings of the coolies forever filling and emptying the warehouse.

Spring Blossom was walking down the central aisle of the building. She could now see quite clearly

that the rows of goods extended on both sides of her as far as she could see. She stopped, turned

around and saw the entrance. It was a very bright patch of light off in the distance. As she turned

back, a huge shape loomed out of the dark. She sensed it more than saw it. Fear paralyzed her and

stopped her dead in her tracks. It blotted out everything in front of her. She tried to turn and run but

her feet were riveted to the floor. A huge gleaming face descended upon her as if dropping from theceiling. Her scream died in her throat as darkness engulfed her and she collapsed in a heap on the

ground. Master Ou-Yang having come back to see what had become of her, was almost as surprised

as she.

The light was so bright, she dare not open her eyes. She was lying on a cloud and a cool fragrance

wafted down from her forehead. An ethereal music was playing off in the distance and Spring Blossom

knew that she had unexpectedly gone to meet her Ancestors. She was desolate. What would Big Feet

Chang and Jie-Jie do now? What would become of the foreign devil? Well, she thought, there is very

little that I can do about all of that now. I must prepare to meet all my forebears; I am not worthy; Ihave let the line die with me. Now no one will bear offerings and keep the ancestral tablets; no one will

burn incense on Qing Ming Jie, the Day of the Dead. With dread in her heart, Spring Blossom opened

her eyes a little and saw a young boy’s face peering intently into hers. For an instant, she saw her

long dead brother but she noticed, however, that the face was all wrong. It was too pointy and narrow,

Elder Brother had had a cute round face with a high forehead and kind eyes. This face was that of a

human weasel.

She sat up with a start and the young boy fairly jumped out of his clothes from fright. Springing to his

feet, he ran out of the room shouting:

-“Master Ou-Yang, Master Ou-Yang!”

Spring Blossom felt relief wash over her. So, she had not gone to meet her Ancestors after all! She

took in her surroundings. She was sitting on a low, red leather couch covered with silk pillows adorned

with embroidered flowers and birds. A soft folded towel smelling of sweet spice, had been placed on

her forehead. This was a small room. The only other furnishings were a wing-backed armchair, a low

slung table and a red lacquer cabinet. A glass case stood in the corner. Two glass windows, seemed

to attract and magnify the light from outside. The paneling was of red mahogany as was the parquet

floor and the furniture. It was a red room. The curtains, light fixtures, tapestries, everything was red. It




was not the bright red of a bridal chamber, rather the russet of dried blood. The thought was a very

sobering one.

Followed closely by the young boy she had so thoroughly startled, Master Ou-Yang walked into the

room. It seemed that he was at her side in one stride. He sat down in the wing-backed chair, steepled

his fingers, and contemplated her. She dare not stare back yet was drawn to look at him. He was

mesmerizing in a way. A clap of his hands sent the boy scurrying out of the room. When, at last, he

spoke, it was not in the booming tones that had surprised her but rather in a loud whisper as if he was

afraid of being overheard:

-“Well, girl, how do you feel? Whatever happened to you down there? Are you ill?... Come on,

say something, girl! I have better things to do than play nursemaid to a sickly child!!”

Before she could answer the weasel boy had returned, carrying two tea cups on a tray. In his other

hand, he carried a teapot. He set the tray and the teapot down on the low table and poured the

steaming water onto the green tea leaves in the cups. He covered each cup with its small saucer and,

taking a step back, bowed and seem to wait for instructions. Master Ou-Yang dismissed the boy with a

wave of his hand and reached down to pick up his cup. He looked up to see Spring Blossom staring inamazement at the teapot. It was shaped like a large pear and had a spout in the shape of a little

branch. Two leaves draped the top but it had no cover! there was no opening, nowhere to pour the

water into the pot. Ou-Yang smiled or wrinkled his face into what might pass for a smile. The

amazement on people’s face at the sight of this little teapot or the others just like it, which he

collected, was one of the few pleasures left to him. He looked up and saw a smile slowly illuminate

Spring Blossom’s face. She met his gaze and said:

-“What an ingenious idea... Oh, Master Ou-Yang, I humbly apologize for all of this trouble. Of

course you are a very busy and important man. I did not mean to swoon like a stupid little girl,

it must have been the heat, I beg your forgiveness. Please, I have wasted too much of your

time. By your leave, I shall depart at once.”

She started to get up when Master Ou-Yang raised a hand and motioned for her to sit down. As she

did so he pointed to the teapot:

-“So, you like my teapot? You say it is ingenious, what do you mean by that?

-“Yes, Honored Sir, it is lovely. What I meant was, the way the craftsman has devised a

concealed system for filling it with water is ingenious. I have never seen anything so

marvelous before and compliment you on your exquisite taste.”

She allowed her lashes to flutter and pretended to attend to her coiffure and straightening out her

dress. She looked up at him and saw a quizzical look on his face.

-“And how did you know about this concealed system? You must have seen this manner of

teapot before?”

-“Please forgive me, Master Ou-Yang, but I have never seen such a marvel. Before today, I

had not known that such a thing existed. If you will allow me to explain, but I fear I will bore

you...”

-“Please, by all means, explain if you would.”

-“As you will, Master Ou-Yang. I just saw that there was only one way for such a thing to be




done. The spout is much too thin for water to be poured into the pot that way. It would take

much too long and there is no other hole to let the air out as it fills up. Therefore there is

another system and it is probably concealed in the base of the pot. Please, Master Ou-Yang,

forgive this stupid child for being so long winded. I am truly foolish to explain something that

is so evident, I humbly beg your pardon, Honored Sir.”

-“Are you saying that you deduced my little pot’s secret?!?”

-“Begging your pardon, Master Ou-Yang, I am not sure what ‘deduced’ means. If by that,

Honored Sir, you mean: guessed, yes, I guessed.”

-“You guessed... How interesting... Now Miss...? Your name is?”

-“I am the daughter of Wu Shu Zhe, and as you already know, Honored Sir, the adoptive

daughter of Honorable Chang of Wu Song District. My given name is Spring Blossom. You

may call me what you wish.”

-“Well, Young Miss Wu, this Honorable Chang of Wu Song District, is Lao Chang, the rag seller,

is he not?”

Spring Blossom nodded assent,

-“I cannot imagine what kind of “important papers”, Lao Chang could possibly send me. Now Iam a very busy person, so please explain the reason for your coming here and please be

brief.”

-“Honored Sir, you are quite correct, I told Foreman Lee I had papers for you, only because I

could not tell him the truth. I was afraid he would send me on my way and we truly need your

enlightened help.”

Master Ou-Yang’s eyes became narrow slits. Picking up his tea, he said:

-“Miss Wu, I am honored but I fail to understand why Lao Chang, whom I have never met,

would require my help.”

-“Master Ou-Yang, this concerns a foreign dev... I mean, a foreigner. We were sure that, since

you know many foreigners, you might give us very useful advice. Please forgive our

presumptuousness.”

-“A foreigner? Which foreigner?”

-“Master Ou-Yang, that is part of our problem. Please allow me to start at the beginning.”

-“Very well, proceed.”

Master Ou-Yang settled back into his armchair as Spring Blossom told him about the previous day’s

events. Slowly, the boredom on his face was replaced by a certain air of interest. Spring Blossom told

him as much as she dared but some things, she omitted. The tattered clothing, the mortal fear on the

foreign devil’s face and, as she didn’t know about them, she didn’t talk about the scars on his back.

When she had finished, her throat was parched. She took her cup of tea and drained it in one long

swallow. Throughout the narrative, Master Ou-Yang had not said a word. He had sat there, listening

intently, sipping his tea, making little slurping noises. He put his cup down and clapped his hands. The

weasel boy returned. Master Ou-Yang motioned towards the teapot. Instantly the weasel boy poured

the still steaming water into the cups. He bowed and waited for instructions. Master Ou-Yang




dismissed the boy. When they were alone again, Master Ou-Yang leaned slightly forward:

-“That was a very interesting story, Miss Wu, entertaining even. I am wondering however if it is

true.”

As Spring Blossom started to protest, Master Ou-Yang put up his hand and added:

-“You must understand my position. You arrive here and talk your way into my office under

false pretenses. You faint or pretend to... Please let me finish! Then you tell me this most

unusual story and yet bring me no proof of its veracity. Try to imagine your own reaction if the

situation was reverse. I am not unknown in the city. Over the years, I have made many

enemies. Some would dearly love putting me in a delicate or embarrassing position to take

away my Face. Without Face, my position here would be drastically altered. But I will take a

risk, your story has the ring of sincerity in it. I will make discrete inquiries... Should I discover

anything, I will let Lao Chang know. In the mean time, I will write a message in the language

of English for your ‘foreign devil’, show it to him and observe his reaction carefully. Let us

hope he can read English.”

Master Ou-Yang put his cup down, stood up and went into the next room. He walked over to his desk.He quickly wrote a few words on a piece of paper. Spring Blossom had followed him and quietly

walked over to the desk as he wrote. She waited respectfully until he had finished. Master Ou-Yang

rose and handed her the note, folded in half.

-“I want you to know, Miss Wu, that I would like to believe that all you have told me is true. But

a man in my position must be careful. Little Yong will take you back to the main entrance, try

not to faint on your way out.”

Spring Blossom blushed and bowed stiffly. As she straightened up she saw that Master Ou-Yang had

a faint smile on his lips. She smiled back and gave him a more gracious bow. Ou-Yang clapped his

hands again and Little Yong, the weasel boy, scurried up bobbing and bowing.

-“Little Yong, accompany this young lady to the main gate. See that she gets there safely and

do not walk too fast. Return here afterwards!”

Little Yong bowed quickly to Ou-Yang then bowed to Spring Blossom. He walked to the door, opened

it and left. She bowed to Master Ou-Yang:

-“Honored Sir, I apologize for all the trouble I have been. I am not worthy of all the help you

have given my Honored Father. I beg you to accept our most grateful thanks.”

Master Ou-Yang nodded but said nothing. She bowed low, took her leave and turned to follow the

small boy padding down the corridor.

They came to a dark staircase. The boy took the stairs and disappeared into the gloom. Spring

Blossom followed. She went down the stairs carefully. Little Yong was waiting for her at the next

landing. As soon as he saw her, he took off down the next flight. Finally, she came to the ground floor.

Little Yong was squatting on the ground, waiting for her. Again, as soon as he saw her, he took off.

She could see him outlined against the bright entrance off in the distance. Occasionally, the boy would

look over his shoulder to see if his charge was still following, always keeping the same distance from




her. Spring Blossom wasted no time getting out of the dank and gloomy warehouse. She was at the

main entrance before she knew it. The boy had disappeared.

Foreman Lee seemed to be waiting for her. He had sent for Young Tan as soon as he had seen Little

Yong. She was out of the warehouse finally. Tan was there and after appropriate good-byes, they both

returned the way they had come.

The heat was, by now, almost palatable. Breathing was like gulping in molten air. You could almost

feel the sun cooking your brain if you strayed from the shade too long. The Bund was comparatively

quiet now. The muffled chugging of a distant ship’s engine, the lapping of waves against the banks

and hulls of ships, the eerie sound of wet mooring lines stretching in and out, the slap - slap - slap of a

rickshaw coolie’s feet, all these sounds seemed distorted by the heat rising in visible sheets from the

over-heated pavement.

They hurried as fast as they were able. The air was too thick for talking and they wasted no breath

attempting it. Spring Blossom had but one thought: to get back to her narrow and shaded alleys. The

International Settlement’s entrance gate loomed ahead. The crowd had dispersed. It was too late for day passes and too hot to stand around. A lone Chinese policeman was at the gate. A weather beaten

parasol had been jammed into the fence and he was trying his best to stay in the meager shade it

provided.

Spring Blossom and Young Tan came up to him and she presented him her day pass. He took it,

glanced at it and waved them on. The gate was padlocked and as the policeman made no move to

unlock it, they had to scoot underneath. Once in the Chinese city, Young Tan loudly commented on

the incredible laziness of some people. His demeanor was so outrageously righteous that Spring

Blossom found herself giggling out loud. All of a sudden the pall that had hung over her since she first

entered the warehouse, was lifted.

The alleyways which led them back home were cool and familiar. They slowed down to a leisurely

pace. She was glad to be back in her part of town. She felt she was coming home after a trip abroad.

Even though she had only been across town, the International Settlement was an alien place to her.

She hoped she would never again have to visit that forbidding place. Her hopes were not to be

realized.

It was late afternoon when they arrived. Young Tan’s eldest son was waiting for them. When he

recognized them, off in the distance, he ran off and told Big Feet Chang and Jie-Jie. He then ran back

to greet them. The small boy bowed low to them then jumped into his father’s arms. Young Tan

hoisted him up to his broad shoulders. The boy was so proud, his chest seemed about to burst. Every

now and then he would ask them a question about their trip. Each time, Young Tan would tell him to

wait until they were home.




CHAPTER 10

Big Feet Chang and Jie-Jie were waiting for them at the door. Spring Blossom greeted them

and followed them inside. Although everyone seemed to be working, all eyes were on them. Young

Tan went over to his family, fending off questions as he went along. The foreign devil was nowhere to

be seen. Spring Blossom wanted to ask Big Feet Chang about him but decided to wait until they were

in the relative privacy of their quarters. They went into the small parlor and sat down. Jie-Jie had

prepared tea and rice cakes. Spring Blossom suddenly felt famished. The noodles they had eaten on

the Bund, had barely staved off hunger and she quickly ate one of the rice cakes. Big Feet Chang and

Jie-Jie waited patiently as she ate another and washed it down with some tea. She felt better. Looking

up she said:

-“I was starved, we haven’t eaten since this morning. I had some tea at the Hang warehouse,

but no food since. It was a very strange experience. I am sure I do not want to ever go back

there.”

Spring Blossom then related the events of the day. The policeman at the International Settlement’sentrance gate, the Bund, Mole Face Lee, the harbor and the ships, Master Ou-Yang, everything... She

paused only to take sips from her cup. Big Feet Chang and Jie-Jie said nothing until she had finished.

Big Feet Chang then asked to see the note Master Ou-Yang had written. He took it and looked at it

very closely as if he could divine its contents just by staring at it. He gave it back to Spring Blossom:

-“Did Master Ou-Yang tell you what was written here? I certainly can’t tell what it says!”

Jie-Jie burst out laughing. She poked Big Feet Chang in the arm:

-“Old man, when did you learn to read? Even if this were written in characters, it would still be

a mystery to you!”

Big Feet Chang shot her a sidelong glance and hunkered down in his chair, his arms crossed and ascowl on his face. Jie-Jie smiled and said to Spring Blossom:

-“Let me see it, Little One.”

Spring Blossom gave her the note. She peered at it, looking at each word, then handed it back.”

-“This is most certainly the strangest writing I have ever seen. I suggest we show it to the

foreign devil.”

-“Master Ou-Yang did not tell me what was written. He only said that we should observe the

foreign devil’s reaction when he reads it... If he can read.” Spring Blossom added as an

afterthought.

-“Aieeyah!” Exclaimed Big Feet Chang, “If that god-cursed foreign devil cannot read, I will

throw him back into the street and let somebody else deal with this. He has already cost us

enough in food and lost work!!...”

-“Where is the foreign devil?” spring Blossom asked, “I did not see him when we came in.”

-“I had him put in your room.” Jie-Jie answered, “he was too much of a distraction. Everybody

would stare at him whenever he moved, coughed, ate or whatever. No work was getting

done. I apologize for not asking but it was the only place that was out of the way and you had

already left. We moved your bed out and put him on an old cot. We will have to fumigate after




he’s gone. Let me tell you what happened this morning! I checked on him after you had gone

and we had moved him. I wanted to look at his dressings and see if we had missed anything.

Aieeyah! That foreign devil was the dirtiest thing I have ever seen. Do you remember Old

Gao, the oldest Lajigong we had? Remember how he stank to high heaven even after he

“washed”? This thing, this foreign devil, was worse. I told Lao Chang to take him out and let

him clean up, and to help him if he couldn’t do it himself. Well, we had him carried outside

and we heated water. Lao Chang, pointed to the water and then to the foreign devil and then

back to the water. He made washing motions with his hands and this foreign devil just stared

at him. So Lao Chang tried again and even washed his own hands to show him. The foreign

devil just looked at Lao Chang as if he were crazy. I left and told Lao Chang to have him

washed! You will never believe what happened after that. I haven’t laughed so much in

years.”

Big Feet Chang took up the narrative as Jie-Jie was already laughing again. He scowled at her and

began:

-“I had Young Chin help me remove his clothes and the foreign devil seemed docile enough.There were many questions in his eyes and many sounds on his tongue. We helped him over

to the tub. He suddenly started fighting and screaming, it was all we could do to hold on. I

had to get Young Chin’s two brothers to help us subdue this devil. He must have thought we

were going to drown him because he fought us as if for his life. We were trying not to hurt him

any more than he was, but Young Chin wanted to bash his head in, tie him up, and throw him

in the river. He said that it was cleaner than the foreign devil!! Do you know what that dung

eating foreign devil did? He pushed me into the tub!! Twice!!”

Big Feet Chang had a look of disgust on his face. Jie-Jie couldn’t control herself anymore. She threw

back her head and laughed and laughed. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she gasped for

breath. Big Feet Chang glared at her. He looked at Spring Blossom, raised his eyes to the ceiling and

shrugged.

-“What happened after that?” Spring Blossom asked, trying to keep a straight face.

-“We finally got him in the tub and started scrubbing him while he shouted and thrashed about.

We got soaked to the bones! Finally, Young Chin’s brother put an arm lock on him and he

settled down. When we had finished at last and had him as clean as we could, we let him go.

He jumped out of the tub, yelling and screaming, shaking his fist at us and probably damning

us to the tenth generation! I must admit that it was rather funny. There he was, standing in

the middle of the courtyard, hurling curses at us, naked as a plucked chicken, with his pink

skin and red welts showing through the great masses of curly yellow hair he has all over his

body. He looked like some tall and skinny howler monkey with yellow fur.”

Big Feet Chang paused and smiled broadly, savoring the memory. Jie-Jie was chuckling and dabbing

her eyes; Spring Blossom beamed, not so much at the story as at seeing both of them so happy. Their

life was hard and moments like these were few and far between. She could not remember ever seeing

Lao Chang laugh and his smiles were rare indeed.

Big Feet Chang continued:




-“The four of us just waited until he was through. He eventually calmed down and put on his

shirt and breeches. He was still muttering under his breath when he almost passed out. We

put him back on his cot and carried him back to your room. As far as I know he’s still asleep.

Never have I seen anyone react like that to a simple bath!! These foreign devils are really

barbarians!!”

Jie-Jie having recovered finally, seemed to suddenly remember something. She somberly said to

Spring Blossom:

-“Did you know that the foreign devil’s back is covered with scars? The kind of scars left by a

cane or a whip! You could clearly see them on his back once he was cleaned up. Those

white streaks looked like a fisherman’s net. I am beginning to wonder what we have taken in

and what this foreign devil did to be whipped like he was. We need to keep a close eye on

him. Set a guard at the door, day and night! I do not want any of us to end up with our throats

cut or worse!”

Spring Blossom was startled by Jie-Jie’s revelations. So was Big Feet Chang. He had not wantedthem to know about the foreign devil’s back before he knew who this devil was and to what he owed

his scars. He had thought that Jie-Jie had not witnessed the whole god-cursed bathing episode.

Aieeyah! Women! He cast a brief malevolent glance at his wife. The three of them sat there in silence,

each lost in thought.

If you enjoyed what you have read so far,Please buy the entire book.

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black dragon well (1st 10 chapters)

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