CHAPTER 7  ::   One girl casts a spell and lays a vicious trap, and another meets a good mate but can’t escape her fate

When Green Phoenix’s little sister, Gold Phoenix, saw that they could not make Prosperity Luo and Whistler Tang stay, she leaned out of the upstairs window and called out loudly, “Mother, Mr. Luo is leaving!”

Hearing this, the madam, Second Sister, rushed out of her small room and bumped right into the two men at the foot of the stairs. She grabbed Prosperity Luo by the sleeve, saying, “You mustn’t go.”

Prosperity said repeatedly, “I can’t hang around.”

“If you have to go, at least wait till our Green Phoenix is back,” she said loudly. Then she turned to Whistler Tang. “And you, Mr. Tang, you’re in such a hurry, too! Why don’t you sit down and chat with our Mr. Luo for a bit?” Brooking no protest, she dragged Prosperity Luo upstairs and told Little Treasure to see to it that Whistler Tang also came back into the room.

“Do take off your jacket and make yourself comfortable. Have a little rest,” she said, reaching out to unbutton Prosperity’s jacket. Gold Phoenix, seeing this, also asked Whistler Tang to remove his jacket. Little Treasure put a pinch of tea leaves in the cups and took Whistler’s jacket from him. Second Sister also passed her Prosperity Luo’s. They went up on the clothes rack.

Second Sister turned around and saw Pearl Phoenix standing to one side. Angry that she had not come forward to help entertain, she glared at her. Frightened, Pearl Phoenix backed away, fetched a water pipe in a hurry, and filled it for Prosperity.

Prosperity held up a hand to stop her. “Give it to Mr. Tang.”

“Had too much wine? Why not lie down for a bit?” Second Sister suggested.

Prosperity lay down nonchalantly on the opium divan. Little Treasure handed him a hot towel, put a cup of tea on the opium tray, and then turned to offer Whistler tea. Whistler sat on a high-back chair against the wall with Pearl Phoenix filling the water pipe for him by his side. Second Sister told Gold Phoenix to fetch another water pipe and then sat down on a low stool by the divan, took a puff herself, and turned sideways to whisper placatingly to Prosperity, “You’re angry, aren’t you?”

“What for?” said Prosperity.

“If you’re not angry, why didn’t you come the last few days?”

“I had no time.”

“Humph.” After a long while she said smiling, “That’s true. You’re at your old love’s day and night, how would you have time for us?”

He smiled without answering.

She took another puff on the water pipe and said slowly, “Our Green Phoenix does have a temper. I don’t blame you, Mr. Luo, for being angry. But the fact is her temper also depends on the client. Actually, she’s never lost her temper the least bit where Mr. Luo is concerned. Mr. Tang here knows more about her. When she serves a client, she wants him to be constant, to be with her for the long run, and then she grows fond of him. Once she grows fond, of course she’ll never get in a temper. It’s only when she runs into a fickle client that her temper gets the better of her. When that happens, she not only won’t try to please; she’ll pay you no attention whatsoever. Isn’t that so, Mr. Tang? You, Mr. Luo, are angry now because our Green Phoenix doesn’t seem to be out to please. What you don’t know is that in her heart she is quite taken with you. It’s you, Mr. Luo, who are holding back, so she can’t be all over you. She knows Mr. Luo has been seeing Lute for four or five years now. Sometimes, she has talked to me about it, saying, ‘Mr. Luo shows constancy. If he’s been going to Lute’s for four or five years, could we fare much worse with him?’ I said, ‘Since you know Mr. Luo is not fickle, why don’t you try harder?’ What she said is true, too. She said, ‘Mr. Luo has his old love; I’m afraid I’ll never please him. I’d just get laughed at by Lute and her people.’ That’s how she feels. It’d be unfair to say she just won’t make up to you, sir. The way I see it, you’ve just started seeing her, and you don’t know her temperament yet. After one season, you’d have a rough idea. When our Green Phoenix knows that you truly want to see her, she’ll also gradually try to please.”

Prosperity sneered.

Second Sister just laughed. “You don’t quite believe me, do you? Ask Mr. Tang; he knows. Just think, Mr. Tang; if she doesn’t care for Mr. Luo, would she have answered the dozen party calls from him? In her heart, she cares, but she’d never admit it. Even the maids don’t know what goes on in her heart; only I can make out some of it. If I’d let Mr. Luo go just now, she’d blame me when she comes back. I tell you frankly, Mr. Luo: it’s been about five years now since she’s done grown-up work. Altogether, she’s only had three clients. One lives in Shanghai; the other two only come a couple of times a year. I’d like her to choose another client and bring me more business, but she makes it so hard! We can forget about all the clients who are run-of-the-mill, but she’ll fault even outstanding clients for lacking real commitment and just refuse to establish a relationship. What am I to do? That’s why when I see that she gets on so well with you, I hope you’ll become a regular, Mr. Luo, and bring in more business for me. To be perfectly honest, if it weren’t for this, we have plenty of clients of comparable standing to yourself who are left to come and go as they please. Do I ever go out of my way to entertain them? Why is it that I’m here to keep you company, Mr. Luo?”

Prosperity remained silent, while Whistler Tang just smiled. Second Sister continued, “You’ve been coming to us for a fortnight now, and you’ve been treating Green Phoenix well enough. But to her, you, sir, are someone who already has a regular girl, and she feels she can do little except fill in the gaps. I gave her this advice, ‘You should try harder to please him. What’s this talk about old love or new love? D’you think Mr. Luo would treat you badly?’ But she replied, ‘Let’s wait a couple of days and see.’ Then the day before yesterday, she told me after she had returned from a dinner party, ‘Mother, you said that Mr. Luo is fond of me, but he was having a dinner party at Lute’s place.’ I told her a party or two meant nothing, but Green Phoenix is a good one for worrying. She said, ‘Since Mr. Luo is sweet on his old love, how can he be fond of me?’”

Hearing this, Prosperity cut in, “That’s easy! I’ll host another dinner party here.”

Mama Huang put on a solemn expression. “Mr. Luo, if you do want to come to Green Phoenix, it’s not a matter of hosting dinner parties. If you have a party here just because of what I’ve said, and later Green Phoenix were to find out that your arrangements remain unchanged, she’d blame me for playing tricks on you. If you want Green Phoenix, you must make her your only girl. Then she will try her very best to please you without fail. It’s just not a good idea to see Green Phoenix for a while and then to seek out Lute again. That way, you won’t please either of them. If you don’t believe me, give it a try, see what style my girl has, see if she aims to please or not.”

Prosperity smiled and said, “That’s easy. I’d stop seeing Lute then.”

Second Sister bowed her head smiling, took another puff from her water pipe, and then said, “I see you’re quite a tease, Mr. Luo! A lover of four or five years’ standing, and you’re going to drop her just like that? How could you say such a thing? ‘Easy’ you say! You’re kidding us, aren’t you?” So saying, she put down her water pipe and went into the next room to attend to some business.

Prosperity Luo now realized what Cloud Tao had said was true. Full of admiration for Green Phoenix, he wanted to consult Whistler Tang but could not very well do that. He mulled it over by himself, sat up, and took a sip of tea. Pearl Phoenix hastened to bring the water pipe over. He again refused it with a wave of his hand. He saw Little Treasure and Gold Phoenix were bent over the dressing table to get closer to the lamplight. Heads together and arms round each other’s neck, they were looking at something and giggling away.

“What is it?” he asked.

Gold Phoenix snatched the object from Little Treasure’s hand to show him, grinning. It turned out to be half a walnut shell with an erotic scene inside enacted by figures of painted paste.

“Look!” she pulled the thread outside the shell, showing how the figures inside could rock to and fro.

Whistler Tang also ambled over to glance at it. “D’you understand what it is?” he asked her.

“It’s just a lady on a swing. What’s there to understand?” she said.

Little Treasure hastily intervened, laughing, “Don’t talk to him; he’s making fun of you.”

As they were talking and laughing, Second Sister came back into the room. “What’re you all laughing at?”

Gold Phoenix showed her.

“Where did you get it? Put it back for her. If you ruin it, she’ll give you another dressing-down,” said Second Sister.

Gold Phoenix immediately gave the toy to Little Treasure to put away.

Prosperity got up, signaling Second Sister with his eyes, and they went out to the upstairs parlor. Nobody knew what they spoke of in the dark. They whispered for a long while, and then she called out of the window.

“Is Mr. Luo’s steward here? Tell him to come up.”

Meanwhile, Prosperity Luo went back into the room, told Little Treasure to fetch ink and writing brush, and asked Whistler Tang to write out invitations to the men who had been at the last dinner party with them, as they were at hand. Second Sister went to light a paraffin table lamp herself and watched as Whistler dashed the invitations off. Little Treasure then took them downstairs for the menservants to deliver.

“Your steward is waiting,” Second Sister said to Prosperity. “Have you any instructions for him?”

“Tell him to come in.”

Promotion, who was waiting outside, hastened to lift the curtain and came in to take his instructions. Prosperity took a bunch of keys from his pocket. “Go home and open the third trunk behind my bed. There’s a document box inside; fetch it.”

Promotion took the keys and left.

“Shall we set the table?” Second Sister asked.

Prosperity looked up at the clock on the wall: it was already half past one. “Yes, let’s do that. It’s getting late.”

Whistler Tang said smiling, “What’s the hurry? We have to give Green Phoenix time to get back from her dinner party.”

Alarmed, Second Sister said, “I sent to hurry her. Theirs is a mah-jongg party. Unless she’s substituting at the mah-jongg table, why would it take this long?” She then shouted, “Little Treasure, you go and hurry her up; tell her to come right back.”

Little Treasure answered yes and was about to go downstairs when Second Sister stopped her, “Wait a minute, I’ll tell you what …” She rushed out to the landing and whispered some instructions into the girl’s ear. “Now don’t forget.”

When Little Treasure was gone, Second Sister supervised the menservants who were rearranging the tables and chairs and setting the cups and chopsticks for a party. The messengers were also reporting back. Except for Amity Zhu and the Tao brothers, who said they were coming right away, the others had either gone home or gone to bed and had declined with their thanks. Prosperity Luo had to leave it at that.

Suddenly, there was the sound downstairs of a sedan chair coming through the front gate. Thinking it was Green Phoenix, Second Sister hastened to look down from the window. It turned out to be a guest: Amity Zhu was here. Prosperity Luo welcomed him in and asked him to take a seat. Seeing that Green Phoenix was not even at home, Amity Zhu could not puzzle out the reason for the party and had to ask Whistler Tang in an undertone.

The three men chatted and waited until nearly two o’clock. Only then did they see Little Treasure run into the room, panting. “She’s coming! She’s coming!”

“What’re you running for?” said Second Sister.

“I was in a hurry! The maestro was so worried,” Little Treasure replied.

“What took her so long?” asked Second Sister.

“She was substituting at the mah-jongg table.”

“Just as I thought,” said Second Sister.

Then came the clop-clopping up the stairs of high-heeled shoes for bound feet. Second Sister hurried out of the room. Mama Zhao was the first to come in, holding the pipa and water pipe bag. “Mr. Luo,” she greeted him with a smile. “Have you been waiting for long? It just happened we were called to a mah-jongg party. We wouldn’t have been back yet if we hadn’t been told to hurry.”

Then Green Phoenix came in very sedately. After offering watermelon seeds to all the guests, she looked over her shoulder at Prosperity Luo and broke into a lovely smile. Prosperity had never seen her treat him like this. His joy at the unexpected boon could well be imagined.

After a while, Cloud Tao also arrived.

“Only Jade is missing now,” said Prosperity Luo. “Let’s go ahead and sit down at the table.” Whistler Tang wrote a note to hasten Jade Tao and handed it to Mama Zhao together with a call chit, saying, “Go first to Water Blossom’s in East Prosperity Alley, both the guest and the girl are there.”

“Will do,” Mama Zhao answered.

Everybody then moved over to the dining table. Green Phoenix poured wine for all the guests before she sat down behind Prosperity Luo. After attending to the routines of etiquette, Pearl Phoenix and Gold Phoenix sat around casually, while Second Sister slipped away at the first opportunity. Green Phoenix told Little Treasure to bring a fiddle and gave her own pipa to Gold Phoenix. Not bothering with a prelude, she just picked her best piece—the entire aria of “Boating on the Lake”—and sang in duet with Gold Phoenix. Their singing cast such a spell over the guests that no one got round to drinking. Prosperity Luo listened transported, as if in a daze. He never even heard Mama Zhao announce, “Second Young Mr. Tao is here.” Only when Jade Tao came to the dining table did he stand up hastily to greet him.

One after another, the girls who had been called all arrived. Since Jade Tao had brought his girl, there was no need to issue another call. Surprisingly, the girl he brought was not Water Blossom but a virgin courtesan of twelve or thirteen with delicate regular features and childish manners. Clinging to Jade Tao, she seemed unwilling to let go. Prosperity Luo asked who she was.

“This is River Blossom. We may say she’s Water Blossom’s little sister. Water Blossom is not feeling well. She had just lain down after sweating a little, so I told her not to get up. River Blossom has come in her place,” Jade Tao explained.

As they were talking, Green Phoenix had finished her song. She now busied herself seeing to the guests, saying, “Do please try some of the dishes.” She then gave Prosperity Luo a nudge, “Why don’t you say something?”

“I’ll start with a round of the finger game.” Prosperity smiled and stuck out his fist at each guest in turn, beginning with Amity Zhu. There were no big winners or losers to speak of until it came to Jade Tao, who kept losing. When River Blossom saw him start on the finger game, she covered his wine cup with her hands and would not let him drink a drop. Every penalty cup was given to the maid. Jade lost five times in a row, and when he reached out for a cup himself, River Blossom grabbed it, pleading desperately, “I’d thank you not to. Don’t make it hard for us, all right?” Jade Tao had to leave it at that.

Prosperity Luo was so surprised by what River Blossom had said that he turned around to ask her what it was all about. But just then he saw Second Sister peeping in from beyond the bamboo curtain. He guessed what she wanted and, instead of questioning River Blossom, left the table and went out into the room opposite. Second Sister brought his steward, Promotion, in after him, and Promotion handed over a document box. Second Sister turned the foreign table lamp up high. Prosperity produced a bunch of small keys, opened the box, took out a pair of gold bracelets weighing almost ten taels, and gave them to Second Sister. He then locked up the box again and gave it to her for temporary safekeeping. He put away his keys, saying, “I’ll tell Green Phoenix to come and see if she likes the design.” He returned to the table and whispered to Green Phoenix, “Your mother wants you.”

Green Phoenix pretended not to hear. After a long delay, she stood up abruptly and went off.

Prosperity Luo saw that it had gone quiet at the table. “Isn’t any of you going to be the banker?” he asked.

Cloud Tao said, “We’ll play a couple more rounds, but you let Jade go first. Since they won’t let him drink, what’s the point of keeping him here? Just because of him, several maids and servant girls are running endlessly back and forth, and somebody else is worrying over him. Later, if he should get a fright and be taken ill, we’d be held accountable. Better let him go so we can relax, don’t you think?” At this, everyone roared with laughter.

Prosperity Luo looked and sure enough there were two servant girls and three maids hovering behind Jade. He said, “Looks like I shouldn’t keep you.”

Jade Tao could hardly wait for the word. Taking River Blossom with him, he said good-bye rather shamefacedly and left. Having seen him off, Prosperity Luo commented, “So, Water Blossom is terribly in love with him.”

Cloud Tao said, “You get some people in love with their girls; it’s common enough. But I’ve never seen such love as theirs; it’s indescribable. No matter where he goes, she sends a maid to accompany him, and they have to go out together and come back together. If by any chance she hasn’t seen him for a day, she’ll have her maids and menservants look everywhere for him, and if they can’t find him, she’ll make such a row. One day, I went to her place purposely to take a look at them. I never thought the two of them would just sit staring at each other, not saying a word. I asked whether they had gone dopey but couldn’t get an answer from them.”

“It must be in their stars,” said Whistler Tang.

“What stars?” Cloud responded. “I call it a debt from the last life. You see how Jade often looks a bit dazed lately; that’s because they have him so hemmed in, he can’t walk a step away. Sometimes, I tell Jade to go to a show, but Water Blossom says, ‘The music in the theater is too loud. Better not go.’ I tell Jade to take a drive, but Water Blossom says, ‘Horse carriages jolt you so hard when they speed up. Better not go.’ The funniest thing was that time he went to have his photograph taken. She said they’d taken the light from his eyes, so every day at dawn before they got up she licked his eyes for him. According to her, his eyes healed only after half a month of licking.”

At this, everybody again laughed uproariously. Cloud Tao turned around, pointed to the courtesan he himself had summoned, Belle, and said with a smile, “Now, lovers like the two of us may not be terribly in love, but we do all right. Come and you’re not a nuisance; go and you’re not missed. We do just as we like; isn’t that much more comfortable?”

Belle spoke up, “You were talking about them; why drag us into it? If you want to be as much in love as they are, you’re welcome to go to her, too!”

“I was praising you; did I say anything wrong?” he said.

“Oh, you can insinuate all you like,” she said. “But I’m made the way I am. Can’t be better if I try; can’t be nasty if I try, either.”

“That’s why I said you were nice. Why do you have to get funny ideas and accuse me of insinuation?”

Amity Zhu said in earnest, “I know you were only joking, but there’s something in what you said. It seems to me the more one is in love, the less it lasts. It’s those who behave the way they are that go on year after year, staying together.”

White Fragrance, who was sitting behind Amity, did not say anything to that, but she, too, was making faces. Seeing this, Prosperity Luo quickly changed the subject.

“No more talking. Amity, you be the banker. We’ll play the finger game.”