CHAPTER 18 : :

A lined jacket conveys Jade Tao's deep love, and an expensive banquet allays White Fragrance's wrath

Hearing Water Blossom cough, Jade Tao dashed over to her bedside in alarm and lifted the bed curtain to look at her face. She turned her head around, glared at him for a long time, and then sighed.
"Aren't you feeling well?" he kept asking her.
She did not answer him directly but said, "You're a fine one! How many times did I tell you to come as soon as you got back yesterday? You just won't do as I say. No matter what I tell you, you treat it like a breeze that brushes past your ears."
He explained hastily, "That's not true. Yesterday, we got back late, and there were relatives at home, so Elder Brother said, 'What's so important that you have to rush out of the city at night?' What could I have said to that?"
"Humph, don't talk nonsense to me. It's not as if I know nothing about your character. It'd be unfair to accuse you of seeing another woman. It's just a case of out of sight, out of mind, let live or die, nothing to do with you, right?"
He forced a smile. "Even if it was out of sight, out of mind, it was only for one night. Didn't I think of you and come here first thing this morning?"
"It's all right for you. You fall soundly asleep, and when you wake the night has passed. D'you know that for someone who can't sleep and just sits there, one night seems longer than a year?"
"It's all my fault. I made you suffer. Please don't be angry."
She coughed a little more and then said slowly, "Last night, the weather made me nervous, too; it rained endlessly. River Blossom was out on a party call, and Beckon was filling the opium pipe for Mother, which left just Big Goldie here, dozing in a chair, so I told her to tidy up and go to bed. After she was gone, I sat by myself on the divan for a bit, and it rained harder than ever. Gusts of wind hit the window pane, making a clatter like someone was banging on it. The curtains even blew up and flew right into my face. It nearly scared me to death. There was nothing I could do but go to bed. Yet once in bed, how could I sleep?
"A party had just started next door, the noise of the finger game and singing gave me a terrible headache. When the party was finally over, that clock on the table went tick-tock, tick-tock; I wasn't listening to it, but it just burrowed into my ears. Then I got up again to listen to the rain, and it was falling ever so merrily; I looked at the sky, and it was never going to be dawn. I didn't shut my eyes until half past two, but the minute I did, I heard you come. A sedan chair came all the way into the parlor, and I saw you get out, but you paid me no attention and just ran straight out of the house. I shouted out at once and ended up waking myself. As I woke, I heard that there really was a sedan chair in the parlor. From the sound of metal-heeled boots walking on the wooden floor, I could tell there were several people there. I scrambled out of bed at once, didn't even put on more clothes, and opened the door to ask, 'Where's Second Young Master?' The menservants replied, 'There's no Second Young Master.' I said, 'Then where did the sedan chair come from?' They answered, `It's River Blossom coming back from the parties.' They all laughed at me for being groggy with sleep. I went back to bed, but there was no way I could sleep. I never stopped coughing till dawn."
Jade frowned, worried by what she said. "Why did you act like that? You must take better care of yourself. The wind was so strong last night, yet you got up in the middle of the night without putting on more clothes and went outside your room; didn't you feel cold? If you don't take care of yourself, it's no use even if I keep a daily watch over you."
"But would you really watch over me every day?" she replied, smiling. "It's easier said than done. I know my fate is not a happy one. All I ask is for you to keep me company for three more years. If you'd agree to that, I'll die content. And in case I don't die and you decide to marry somebody else. I won't interfere either. I'm just asking for three years, and you won't even agree to that, so why talk about keeping watch over me every day?'
"The minute you talk, you come out with something unlucky. You have a widowed mother whom you can't leave. In three or four years' time, when your brother is married and can take over the house, you and your mother can come live with me. Then I'll really keep watch over you every day, and you'll be happy."
"You're born to have a happy life, but mine is not a blessed fate." She smiled again and said. "I was just thinking, you're twenty-four now; in three years, you'll only be twenty-seven. If you take a wife then, you'll still have decades to grow old together. I'm just asking for three years, so even if you think I'm unfair to you, you should be able to bear with me."
"What's all this nonsense you're talking?" he answered with a smile. "You'll be the wife I'll grow old with."
She said no more. Now River Blossom entered the room through the back door, her hair still uncombed. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she asked Jade, "Brother-in-law, why didn't you come yesterday?"
With a jolly smile, he pulled her over by the hand. She stood leaning against the dressing table.
Water Blossom noticed that her young sister was wearing nothing but a tight undershirt of pale pink Huzhou silk. She asked, "How is it you didn't even put on any clothes?"
"It's hot this morning," she said.
"Nonsense! Go and put some clothes on quick."
"No! It's terribly hot as it is."
Just as they were talking, Beckon came in with a lined magenta jacket and said to River Blossom, "Mother is scolding, too. Quick, out it on."
But she still refused, so Jade took the jacket and draped it over her shoulders, saying, "Just put it on for now. If you feel hot later, you can take it off, all right?"
River Blossom had little choice but to obey. Beckon then went and fetched hot water for her to wash her face and comb her hair. Water Blossom also wanted to get up.
"You get a little more sleep. It's still early," Jade interposed. "I don't want to sleep anymore."
He helped her sit up in bed but still tried to dissuade her, saying, "Why don't you just sit in bed for a while and chat with me?"
Yet Water Blossom still insisted. When she at last got off the bed, she felt that her nose was blocked, her voice hoarse, her head giddy, and her legs weak. The coughing, though, was a bit better. Supporting herself on some chairs and tables all the way, she walked to the divan and sat down, where he followed her and lowered a curtain. Now Big Goldie came in with some bird's nest soup for Water Blossom, but after a sip or two, she just told River Blossom to eat it. As River Blossom finished her toilet, Water Blossom got up to wash her face.
"Your hair looks fine. There's no need to do it again," said Beckon. Knowing that she couldn't sit up for long, Water Blossom agreed. Big Goldie dipped a narrow brush into the toilet water and gently brushed her hair a few times, after which Water Blossom attended to her sidelocks herself. That was enough to exhaust her, and she lay down on the divan, panting.
The sight of Water Blossom's frailty worried Jade, but he put on a smiling face. River Blossom, however, stood in front of him and stared at her sister.
"What are you looking at?" Water Blossom asked.
River Blossom was speechless. She just smiled.
Big Goldie, who was putting away the mirror box, responded. "She sees that Elder Sister is not well. She's not in such good spirits, either, don't you know?"
River Blossom took it from there. "My sister was quite well yesterday. It's all Brother-in-law's fault! I won't have it!" So saying, she dived into his arms in protest.
He smiled and comforted her immediately, saying, "They're fooling you. Your sister is not unwell. She'll be all right a little later."
"If she isn't, then you'll have to give me back a healthy Elder Sister!" demanded River Blossom.
"You have my word. I'll give you a healthy Elder Sister later."
Only then was River Blossom reassured. Lying on the divan, Water Blossom gradually closed her eyes, as if about to doze off.
"Why don't you go back to bed?" Jade suggested.
She held up a h0and to indicate she wouldn't, so he took a woolen blanket from a rattan chair and put it over her.
"It's heavy!" she said, annoyed, and pushed it off.
Not knowing what to do, he went to lower the other window curtain. Still afraid that Water Blossom would catch cold if she fell asleep, he tried to keep her awake with small talk and started telling her about the scenery he saw on his visit to his ancestors' graves. River Blossom listened with the liveliest interest, but Water Blossom said with distaste, "Why d'you have to be so tiresome? I don't want to listen to this."
"Then promise me you won't fall asleep," he said.
"I won't, don't worry."
He sat cross-legged on the edge of the divan to watch over her. That left River Blossom extremely unsettled; whether sitting or standing, she could not keep still. Yet when Water Blossom told her to go outside and amuse herself for a while, she refused. A moment later, Big Goldie came in with their lunch.
"How's your appetite?" Jade asked Water Blossom. "Do try and have a bite."
"I don't want any."
Seeing that her sister would not even eat, River Blossom thought she must be seriously ill. Agitation made her flush red in the face, and she was on the verge of tears. This made Water Blossom smile.
"What're you acting like this for?" she scolded. "I'm not dead yet. I don't have any appetite now, so I'll eat later."
Knowing she had overreacted, River Blossom tried her best to control herself. To set the young girl's mind at ease, Jade pleaded with Water Blossom to eat a little, so Water Blossom told Big Goldie to buy her some congee and took half a bowl of it. River Blossom did not have much of an appetite, either, and only had one bowl, while Jade Tao was never a big eater anyway. When they had finished, lunch was cleared away and they washed their faces. Jade was about to send River Blossom away on some excuse when Beckon came in to report, "Mother is up."
As River Blossom dawdled, Jade told her to hurry up. "If you don't go to her quickly, Mother is going to scold."
Only then did she leave, her reluctance to go tinted by a little embarrassment.
Jade and Water Blossom were alone in the room; not a sound was heard. Unexpectedly, Jade's brother, Cloud Tao, came in a sedan chair to look for him shortly after four. He was invited into the room, where they greeted each other and sat down.
"Are you unwell?" Cloud asked Water Blossom.
"'fraid so," she replied.
Big Goldie busied herself with the teacups, but Cloud stopped her. "I'm just here to have a brief word with him. Don't bother about the tea." He then said to Jade, "The third of the third month is Script Li's birthday. Amity Zhu has sent a circular around saying he has reserved the Panorama Garden for a day's performance and dinner, but Script is wary of disturbing the government officials and has turned down the invitation. That's why Amity has asked a few others to club together for another party at Bright Pearl's. It's a small affair, but both of us are included. I've come to tell you ahead of time: on the day, you don't have to go to the Panorama Garden, but you must turn up at Bright Pearl's."
Although Jade Tao promised repeatedly to go, he stole a look at Water Blossom. Cloud Tao happened to notice and addressed her with a smile, "Would you let him go and mingle for a while?"
Embarrassed, she answered pleasantly, "Eldest Young Master, I'm surprised by your question. This is a matter of propriety, so of course he should go. Why would I stop him?"
Cloud nodded. "That's right. I've always said Water Blossom is a sensible girl. If she clings to him despite the demands of propriety and refuses to let him go, then what love is there to speak of?"
She couldn't very well say anything to that, so she just smiled, whereupon Cloud Tao said, "I'm going."
Jade hastily got to his feet, and Water Blossom saw Cloud Tao off as far as her own door.
Once Cloud got onto the street, he told his sedan-chair bearers to take him to the Zhu residence. The bearers, who knew the place well, took the chair along East Prosperity Alley and then turned eastward into Middle Peace Alley. As they approached the Zhu residence, Amity Zhu's man, Longevity, had already seen him and came up to report, "My master is at the Lins' in Generosity Alley."
At this, Cloud Tao ordered the sedan chair to turn around. They went down Fourth Avenue to White Fragrance's in Generosity Alley. He saw Amity Zhu's sedan chair standing at the door, so he got off and went in.
When he arrived upstairs, Amity Zhu welcomed him into the room and said immediately, "I was just going to ask you here. I can't do everything myself. Why don't you take care of the arrangements at Bright Pearl's?"
Cloud then asked for the details of the arrangements.
Amity Zhu took a rough list out of his pocket. "There'll be the two of us and our brothers, plus Pragmatic Li and his nephew; the six of us will be hosts. We'll get Old Merit Yu to come along to keep our guest company. Lunch will be Western, dinner will be a complete Manchu-and-Han feast. We'll have three all-girl opera troupes, one in the daytime starting at eleven o'clock, two in the evening starting at five. What d'you think?"
"Sounds good to me."
Seeing that they had finished their consultation, White Fragrance came up to offer Cloud Tao some watermelon seeds. Cloud, having put away the list, got up and said, "I still have something else to attend to. I'll see you around." Amity Zhu did not detain him but just saw him off at the stairs with White Fragrance.
When they were back in her room, she asked, "What was that about?"
After he had explained everything, she said, "So, you're giving a party, but instead of doing it here, you're going to suck up to Bright Pearl. You're infuriating!"
"It's not my party. There're six of us clubbing together." "Wasn't it your party the day before yesterday?"
He had no answer to that, so he just laughed.
"Mine's a small place; naturally it's not fitting to invite His Excellency here. I'm afraid you, too, must have found this place lacking. Now that you've found a large place, you're going to be more comfortable."
"Now this is really a surprise," he said smiling. "It's not as if I've been seeing Bright Pearl, so why are you jealous?"
"If you want to see Bright Pearl, it's your business. I haven't exactly tied you down, have I?"
"All right, I'll shut up. You can say whatever you like." He smiled. "Humph!" She went on muttering, "You go ahead and suck up to
Bright Pearl, but d'you think she'll show you any affection?"
"And who wants her affection?" he asked with a smile.
But she wasn't done yet. "Even if you give ten double-table dinners at her place, it's nothing to her. All my affection has been wasted on you. It seems you'd rather go and be a creep of a guest. You're certainly one of a kind in Shanghai!"
"Don't be angry. I'll give a double-table dinner here tomorrow night," he said, smiling.
She remained poker-faced and made no reply. He went over to pull her by the hand to the divan, pleading, "Won't you fill a pipe for me?"
"I'm too clumsy. I can't do it as well as Bright Pearl." But as she was saying this, she had lain down on the divan and started to toast opium. He sat down at her knees and bent over to whisper into her ear, "You've always been very affectionate, so why is it that you're so angry on account of this Bright Pearl? D'you think I'm going to take up with her?"
"Perhaps you are. One never can tell."
"Well, I might take up with somebody else, but you can be sure it won't be Bright Pearl. Even if she took the initiative I wouldn't be tempted."
"What has it got to do with me, whether you see her or not? I don't want to hear about it."
So he smiled and let it go. When she had filled the pipe, she set it down and walked away. As he smoked, he realized that she still bore a bit of a grudge, so he took ink and a writing brush from a drawer and wrote out a few invitations and an order for some dishes. She pretended not to notice. When he had finished writing, she asked, "Since you're ordering, would you like a couple of dishes first for supper?"
He hastened to comply and added two small dishes to the order. She told the maid to take it downstairs for the menservants to place at the restaurant.
Lamps had just been lit when the dishes were delivered, and the house sent up four extra plates of cold cuts. Amity and White Fragrance sat drinking and chatting, and soon the subject turned to Bright Pearl again.
"All there is to being a courtesan is fashion," said White Fra grance. "When you're in fashion you'll have lots of clients making a big fuss of you. Now, our clients are a sickening lot: if they want to spend a thousand dollars, wouldn't it be nice to give the business to a courtesan not too much in demand? If you spend it on a fashionable one, she won't even notice it. And yet the clients will go to the fashionable courtesans, they will waste money just to suck up to them."
"But it's not just the clients," he said. "The courtesans are sickening, too. When business is poor, they do their best to please whatever client they have, but when business is a little better, they take up with actors and keep lovers-the whole works. Is it any surprise that they end up with nothing?"
"Those who take up with actors are rare cases, so we needn't talk about them. But it seems to me that the fashionable courtesans don't come to a good end, either. If, while they're in fashion, they pick a reliable client and get married, then they should do all right. The problem is, none of them wants to get married. And come the time they're a bit older and their business declines, they're in for it!"
"Marriage is no easy matter for a courtesan. It goes without saying that she'd want to marry a good client, but when she comes across one, he's sure to have several wives and concubines at home. Even if she married into the house, she'd never be happy. If there isn't any wife or concubine, the client is unreliable. He may take her clothes and jewelry and pawn them all, and then she'd have to work again as a courtesan. This happens quite frequently in the foreign settlements."
"It seems to me that the most important thing is whether you're suited to each other," she said. "If you find a client compatible, even if he's sort of hard up, as long as there's food on the table, it's all right. But if the client is just so-so, then you'd do better to pick one who has a bit of money."
"If you're looking for a man with money, it will never be my turn," Amity said teasingly.
She replied with a smile, "Aiyo! You're too modest! You, poor? Who are you trying to fool?"
He responded, "Even if I do have money, I won't be considered compatible, so I still won't find favor in your eyes."
"Listen to the way you carry on; you've gone off the subject," she said as she picked up the wine pot to pour for him.
"I've had enough to drink; let's have some rice," he said. She called for the maid to bring the rice and also asked for her sister, Green Fragrance, to join them. "Green Fragrance has had dinner," the maid answered.
Just when the two of them had finished dinner, a group of clients dropped in for a tea party and were taken into the vacant room across the way. After that came party calls for White Fragrance, so Amity took the opportunity to leave. Knowing he would not be detained, she saw him off at the door. He went downstairs, got on his sedan chair, and went straight home. Come the next evening, he had to invite all his friends to a double-table dinner at White Fragrance's. But there is no need to go into the details here.
On the third of the third month, Amity got up at ten o'clock and went in his sedan chair to Panorama Garden, where the front door was decorated with lanterns and colorful silk banners. Here, Longevity Zhang, wearing a formal hat, reported to him, "Mr. Chen, Mr. Hong, and Mr. Tang have just arrived."
Amity went in to greet them, inquired about the arrangements, and found that everything was ready. Delighted, he said, "Then I'll go over there, and leave you three gentlemen to take care of things here."
Cloudlet Chen, Benevolence Hong, and Whistler Tang all said, "We'll do our best," upon which Amity set out for Bright Pearl's in Tripod Alley in his sedan chair.

1. [While the characterization of Water Blossom is based partly on Lin Daiyu in the Qing dynasty novel Honglou meng and her relationship with Jade Tao on that between Lin and Jia Baoyu. this particular conversation can be traced to the Tang dynasty story "Hou Xiaoyu zhuan," in which the courtesan Huo Xiaoyu asked her lover Li Yi to spend eight years with her, after which he could marry someone respectable. E.H.]