Frost-resistant flower

Author: Zhang Henshui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Excerpt: The clock struck twelve, and the lights in Chongqing gradually dimmed in the commercial streets, resting. But for those who lived the night life, the lights began to shine brilliantly. In a certain alley of the upper city, after years of bombing resistance, only half of the households remained. Around these remaining households, at least one hundred bombs of various sizes had fallen. On the bare earthen walls, on the steps-like empty spaces, on the earthen platforms over ten feet in diameter, on the bent-old trees, memorials were left everywhere. A brick wall faced a wasteland of ruins, with a large black four-line slogan written in white powder, warning: "Future generations, never forget this grievance of bloodshed in the sea of blood." On this side of the wasteland stood a Western-style building, its windows glowing with bright light, reflecting on the wall and clearly showing the slogan to night travelers. However, the owner of the building paid no attention to the slogan, perhaps because they were so accustomed to the scars of bombs scattered everywhere that they had become numb. The owner of the building was a middle-aged woman from Jiangnan. She owned half of the floor, totaling four rooms. Finding a house in Chongqing was like buying a lottery ticket, hoping to win a big prize. To live in a house with so many rooms today was a superior luxury. Moreover, her family was not large, consisting of one male and three females. Yet, the hostess still felt the house was insufficient. For example, if there was a small gathering at home tonight, she would host the guests in the room in front of her daughter's bedroom. There, the dining room, study room, and workroom were all combined into one. If the entire floor were rented, it would be more than enough. As she prepared to entertain the guests in the front room, she had such thoughts. She was washing a set of fine porcelain teacups, filling the washbasin with water and placing it in the glass cabinet by the wall. The remaining water was placed on the table, and she loudly called Yang Sao. A young female servant came over, wearing a new indigo cloth robe, with long hair curled at the end like a cloud hook. Though she did not wear mourning, she had a small blue velvet butterfly pinned to her temple. She also wore a gold ring on her hand. Many said she resembled the head teacher of the primary school at the corner of the street. Thus, she imitated her in everything and even surpassed her. For example, her robe was eight-tenths as good as the head teacher's, but it was brand new. Her ring was engagement-sized, weighing only ten taels, but hers was much thicker, weighing fifteen taels. Following common practice, she called the hostess Wang Laotai. She said, "Wang Laotai, do you want to add some MSG to the bowl of mushrooms and greens?" Wang Laotai replied, "The guests we invited are used to eating big fish and meat every day. They want to taste real home-style food. If we add MSG, it won’t be home-style anymore. Take this basin of water out and pour it away." Yang Sao smiled, "I’ve never seen Wang Laotai worry so much about entertaining guests. You even wash the teacups yourself." Wang Laotai laughed, "Do you know anything? You’re used to eating and using things without paying for them. If something breaks, it doesn’t matter. These fine porcelain teacups, let alone how much they’re worth now, you can’t find them anywhere in Chongqing. We brought them from Hankou. That’s why I don’t use them often—I don’t want to lose one if it breaks." Yang Sao asked, "Then why are you using them today?" Wang Laotai laughed, "How clever of you! Why are we serving so many dishes for guests today? Go pour the water and make the tea. It’s ten o’clock—Miss Wang is coming back." Yang Sao went to pour the water, and Wang Laotai came out of the room, leaning on the railing and glancing into the alley. Just then, a series of clicking footsteps and the bright lights of two flashlights illuminated the alley. She heard the different accents of the people coming—she knew they were from various places. She didn’t need to think, she knew her daughter, Wang Yuelian, was back. She immediately called, "Yang Sao, open the door—Miss is back." As she spoke, the downstairs lights turned on, and a group of people came upstairs—this was Miss Wang Yuelian. She entered the room with a smile, her hands immediately reaching for the collar of her heavy wool coat. "It’s so hot," she said repeatedly. Her round face was framed by a pair of large, long lashes. Those who praised her said she resembled an American movie star, Miss Merna. Wang Laotai was very fond of this daughter, or rather, very respectful of her. Seeing Miss Wang drop her coat onto a chair nearby, she immediately picked it up and hugged it. "My dear daughter," she laughed, "an overcoat like this costs one hundred thousand yuan in today’s money. You’re so careless!" Following Miss Wang, three men in suits entered. The one with a small beard went in first and smiled, "What’s the harm? Miss Wang doesn’t care, does she? I think I can sing for a week without spending a cent." Wang Laotai smiled and nodded, "Please sit, please sit. Yang Sao, quickly make the tea." She instructed Yang Sao, but a man in a black cotton robe, with a sleek hairstyle and a large white cloth bundle in his hand, entered and smiled, "Wang Laotai, here’s your outfit. Let me take care of things." He spoke fluent Beijing dialect. Wang Laotai took the coat and the bundle into the inner room and came back out, calling to the three men in suits again, "Please sit." Because they were taking off their coats and still standing to look at the painted opera masks on the wall. The man in the black robe, however, began to pour tea in the room. Wang Laotai said to him, "Lao Liu, why didn’t you come back earlier? You could help manage things too." Lao Liu replied, "The show ended late today, about half an hour later. Mr. Chai came to the backstage and asked me to walk with him." Wang Laotai smiled at the small, fat man with a beard, "Mr. Chai, thank you for all your help." He smiled, "Don’t be so formal, I’m a junior, so you can call me Chai Zijin. Yuelian calls me Zijin, and I call her Yuelian too. This way, we won’t seem too distant." With that, everyone gathered around a square table in the middle of the room. Yang Sao, under the bright pendant light, was placing light green glass trays of dried fruits on the white tablecloth. Yuelian took a wrapped candy from the tray and began eating, waving her hand on the table, "We’re all hungry now. Let’s eat. I’m sure Lao Zhang and Lao Li will agree." The black, fat young man in the suit laughed, "When it comes to eating, I, Zhang Pin San, am no pushover. Besides, the food in Miss Wang’s house is particularly exquisite." Another thin man with a sharp face and a few small freckles, who always wore face cream like a woman, wore gold-rimmed glasses that gave him a cunning look. He smiled, "You, Zhang Pin San, can eat for free, but I, Li Guang Si, am no weaker." Chai Zijin pointed at him and laughed, "Don’t you see your mouth is so thin from eating?"