CHAPTER 12 :: A peacemaker is dispatched behind the beloved’s back, and trickery provides cover for an adulterous woman

Clever Gem and Love Gem strolled out of the house together, chatting along the way. Cloudlet went ahead and got into the carriage while Ocean stood to one side to wait for Clever Gem. Love Gem saw them out all the way to Chessboard Street. She watched as Clever Gem was helped into the carriage by Ocean and waited till the driver set the carriage going with a flick of the whip before she turned back. Seeing it was getting dark and there was no time to visit Bubbling Well Temple, Cloudlet explained to Clever Gem and told the driver to take another turn around the Bund before going home. They came out of Fifth Avenue, turned onto First Avenue, and then went via Fourth Avenue to the entrance of Co-security Alley, where they got down and went home.

After sitting for a little while in Clever Gem’s room, Cloudlet was just about to return to his shop when his ricksha man, who had brought his ricksha along, handed him two invitations. One was from Lichee Zhuang, urging him to go over soon, with two lines added at the end: “Benevolence is also coming. Please do not turn this down—much obliged.” The other was from Lotuson Wang asking him to a dinner party at Little Rouge’s.

Cloudlet figured that Benevolence was bound to be on the guest list at Little Rouge’s, so the logical thing to do was to go to Lotuson’s party first, where he could consult with Benevolence about the next step. He told his ricksha man to take the ricksha to West Floral Alley, while he himself headed for Little Rouge’s on foot.

When he arrived there, he saw that aside from the host, Lotuson, there were only two guests in the room. Both were colleagues of Lotuson’s at the government bureau; they were the two drunks who had brought their girls with them to Constance’s party two nights before. One was named Yang, Willow to his friends; the other was Eminence Lü. Though no great friends of Cloudlet’s, these two were well acquainted with him. They all greeted each other and took their seats. Shortly afterward, Talisman came back from delivering invitations and reported to Lotuson, “All the guests except Mr. Zhu say they’re coming right away. Mr. Zhu is with His Excellency Script Li of Hangzhou. He sends his thanks and apologies.”

Since Lotuson Wang had nothing further for him, Talisman put down the guest list and withdrew. Lotuson instructed Pearlie to have the menservants set the table. When Cloudlet looked at the guest list, he saw there were over a dozen people.

“Are you having a double table?” he asked.

Lotuson nodded in the affirmative.

Little Rouge said with a smile, “Originally we didn’t know there was such a thing as a double table, but we live and learn, and now we’re having a double table, too. You might say we’ve come up in the world.”

Cloudlet Chen could not help smiling. He read the guest list from beginning to end and, to his surprise, found that it was identical to that for the party at Constance’s two nights ago. He asked Lotuson Wang what this all meant, but the latter just smiled.

“I suppose it’s Maestro Little Rouge’s idea, don’t you think so?” Willow Yang and Eminence Lü said in unison.

Only then did it dawn on Cloudlet Chen.

“That’s nonsense,” Little Rouge said, smiling. “When we invite friends to my place, we can only ask a few close friends to help make a good showing. We’re not like other people who’re important enough to get everybody to come. Take Mr. Zhu now; he’s not coming, is he? That’s because he looks down on me.”

As they were joking, Elan Ge, Prosperity Luo, and Whistler Tang had arrived one after the other, with the Tao brothers, Cloud and Jade, following at their heels.

“Why is Benevolence not here yet?” asked Cloudlet Chen. “Maybe he’s gone to another engagement first.”

“No, I ran into Benevolence earlier on and sent him somewhere on an errand. He’ll be here shortly,” Lotuson Wang replied.

He had scarcely stopped speaking when the menservants downstairs announced, “Mr. Hong coming up.” Lotuson made him welcome outside the room, and they talked in whispers for quite a while before they came in.

The minute Little Rouge saw Benevolence Hong, she got up hastily, all smiles. “Mr. Hong, please don’t be angry. I haven’t learned to weigh my words and so will speak out of turn. Sometimes, guests are offended and get angry, and I still don’t realize it myself. Last night, I was puzzled: why did Mr. Hong leave so soon? Mr. Wang said you were offended. I said, ‘Aiyo, I had no idea! Why would I want to offend Mr. Hong?’ Early this morning, I wanted to send Pearlie to see you at Twin Pearl’s. But Mr. Wang said, ‘We’ll invite Mr. Hong over later.’ Do make allowances for me, Mr. Hong, out of regard for Mr. Wang.”

Benevolence Hong laughed heartily. “Why should I be angry? You didn’t offend me in any way, so don’t make a fuss over nothing. I’m just a friend, so it doesn’t matter even if I’m a bit offended. The important thing is you don’t offend Mr. Wang, for if you do, it’d be no use even if I put in a good word for you.”

“I’m not asking you to put in a good word for me, Mr. Hong, nor do I fear that you’d speak ill of me. But since you and Mr. Wang are friends, if I offend you, Mr. Wang would be embarrassed, too, as if he’d let a friend down. Isn’t that so, Mr. Hong?”

Lotuson Wang cut in, “Let’s drop that. Please take your seats.”

Everybody smiled. They went out together to the middle room, and, after deferring to each other, all were seated. Cloudlet Chen asked Benevolence Hong, “Lichee Zhuang has sent you an invitation to Jewel Lu’s. Are you going?”

“I didn’t know about the invitation,” Benevolence said, astonished.

“Well, Lichee sent me one and said you were going, too. Since Lichee is seeing Woodsy, this party at Jewel’s is probably being done on somebody else’s behalf.”

“There’s my nephew, Simplicity Zhao. He gave a dinner at Jewel Lu’s before. Perhaps he’s following up with another dinner tonight.”

In a moment, the girls called to the party arrived one after another. Twin Pearl did bring an invitation from Jewel at the Hall of Beauties for Benevolence Hong. Simplicity Zhao was named as the host.

“Are you going?” Benevolence asked Cloudlet.

“Not me. What about you?”

“It’s rather awkward for me. It’s perhaps best if I don’t go either.” Having said that, Benevolence put the matter aside.

Seeing that several girls had arrived, Prosperity Luo wanted to be banker and start the finger game.

“You two like to get rowdy over wine,” Lotuson said to Willow Yang and Eminence Lü. “We’ve got one here, too, of the same inclination—Prosperity—so go ahead and make a row.”

“Oh, I forgot to hire a band today. Things would have been merrier with a band,” said Little Rouge.

Whistler Tang said with a smile, “Is it already the yellow plum season? It’s only the second month of the year; how come so many people sound so sour?”

“By the time the plums turn yellow, it won’t be so bad; it’s the green plums that are much more sour than yellow ones,” Benevolence Hong joked, at which all the guests and courtesans burst out laughing.

To change the subject, Lotuson asked Willow Yang and Eminence Lü to hold out their fists and attack Prosperity Luo’s bank. And so the feasting began, each man accompanied by his girl. Wine cups flew under the bright moonlight, and the music was heart-rending and exhilarating in turn. Everybody relaxed, so much so that the men’s hats were askew and the women’s hairpins fell out. In the midst of all this, the sly jokes and acid traces of jealousy were finally left behind.

When the drinking came to an end, the lamps were burning low, and the guests rose to take their leave. Lotuson saw them out one after the other but kept Benevolence Hong back and took him into the bedroom. When Benevolence asked what the matter was, Lotuson produced a package of jewelry and told him to go to the Galaxy Jewelry Store the next day to exchange the old ones for new and then send them over to Constance. Benevolence, having promised to do that, opened the package to count the pieces and then tucked it away in his pocket. In fact, Lotuson had meant Little Rouge to see all this, but she just turned a blind eye and, after sitting around for a while, left the room and went downstairs. This suited Lotuson fine.

Left alone with Benevolence, he took out a detailed list and said in a low voice, “There are several other things on this list; just get them and have them sent over with the jewelry. Don’t let Little Rouge know.” Then he added, “Go and see her tonight. Ask if there’s anything else she wants and just add it to the list. Please don’t forget that. I’m much obliged to you.”

Benevolence promised to do all that and put away the list. At this point, Little Rouge returned to the room.

“What were you doing downstairs?” Lotuson asked pleasantly.

She was a bit taken aback. “I wasn’t doing anything. Why are you asking? D’you think I have somebody down there?”

“I was just asking,” he said smiling. “How is it you’re so supersensitive?”¹

She said seriously, “I thought there might have been things you didn’t want to say to Mr. Hong if I sat around; that was why I went out to let the two of you talk. Didn’t I do right?”

“Very thoughtful of you!” He saluted her with a smile, and she let it go at that.

Benevolence Hong figured that was all for the night and took his leave. Lotuson saw him out as far as the landing, where he repeated his instructions again and again. Benevolence went directly to Constance’s in East Co-prosperity Alley and headed straight upstairs. Constance welcomed him into her room, where he took a seat and told her all about Lotuson’s instructions to replace her old jewelry and get her other things. He then asked, “Is there anything else you want?”

“No, not really. Except the two rings on the list should have my name on them and should weigh an ounce each.”

He told the maid to fetch an inkstone and writing brush and made a note of it on the list.

“Mr. Wang is truly good to me, but I just don’t know what feuds I had with Little Rouge in my previous incarnation,” she added. “What good did it do her to humiliate me?” So saying, she covered her face and wept.

He sighed. “You have good reason to be angry, but if you take it philosophically, the whole thing’s no big deal. So you ended up on the losing end this time, but among us friends everybody sings your praises. You just keep working, and business will be good for you. Little Rouge, on the other hand, has ruined her own reputation, and no one but Mr. Wang is still close to her. Besides Mr. Wang, is there anybody who thinks well of her?”

“Some may think Mr. Wang muddle-headed, but in his heart he’s quite discerning, too. Little Rouge should ask herself whether she has done right by Mr. Wang. As for me, I won’t say anything about her. If Mr. Wang is to stay close to her forever, then all the more credit to Little Rouge.”

He nodded in agreement. “That’s the spirit, my girl.” He then stood up and said, “I’m going. You take care of yourself. Don’t let this ruin your health.”

She saw him out, walking in graceful measured steps. “I was thinking to myself, it’s not worth it to be upset by Little Rouge and die at her hands. If I just thicken my skin a little, there’s nothing to be upset about—and here I am, quite happy.”

“Good for you,” he said as he left.

Out on Fourth Avenue, he saw the lights were getting sparse and the traffic had become quiet. It was past one in the morning. Thinking it would be more convenient to spend the night at Twin Pearl’s, he turned back and walked northward to Sunshine Alley. Unexpectedly, all the houses there had already turned off their door lamps, and the alley was pitch-dark. He felt his way to the door, where a faint light shone through the gap between the panels.

He pushed the front door open and headed straight for Twin Pearl’s room. She was sitting with her back against the window, playing solitaire with a set of ivory dominoes, while Twin Jade stood by the table and watched. He sat down in a high-back chair.

Twin Pearl paid him no attention. After a while, she suddenly asked, “The party broke up some time ago. Where did you go?”

“I went to Constance’s,” he said and told her light-heartedly how matters stood between Lotuson Wang and Constance. He then put the package of jewelry on the table.

“I thought you’d gone home. Golden and the others waited for quite a while before they went,” she said.

“If they’re gone, I’ll wait on you,” he said.

“Would you like some congee?”

“No, thanks.”

Her game of solitaire was not successful, so she left it and walked over to open the package of jewelry. She looked through it before putting it away temporarily in the cupboard. Twin Jade sat down in Twin Pearl’s chair, shuffled the tiles, and started a game of solitaire herself. Suddenly there came the sound of someone at the front door and a child’s voice asking, “Where’s my mother?”

“She’s gone home,” a manservant answered from the parlor.

Hearing this, Twin Pearl hurriedly came to the window and called out, “Eldest, come up here.”

The child came up at a run. Benevolence recognized him as Worth’s son, called Eldest. He was only thirteen years old, and his eyes roamed the room ceaselessly, taking in everything.

Twin Pearl told him, “I sent your mother to the Qiao residence to see a client. It’ll be a while before she gets back. You can wait here a bit.”

Eldest made an answer and stood by the table to watch Twin Jade play solitaire. Although she did not say anything, Twin Jade immediately looked displeased. She pushed the tiles around, put them back into the box, and returned to her own room.

“Twin Jade has been here several days now. Does she ever say anything to you?” Benevolence asked.

“You’ve put your finger on it,” Twin Pearl said with a smile. “My mother has spoken of this several times now. If you ask her a question, she’ll give a brief answer; otherwise, she just sits there all day long and makes not a sound.”

“Well, is she clever?”

“She’s quite clever. After watching me play solitaire a couple of times, she could do it, too. Now all we need to know is how she does in business.”

“It seems to me that her being so quiet makes her interesting. She’ll do better than Twin Jewel at least.”

“As for Twin Jewel, let’s not even mention her. She’s of little use herself, and yet she goes around putting other people down. And when it’s time for her to speak, not a word comes out of her.”

As they were chatting, Eldest moved his feet about listlessly, and when they were not looking in his direction, he slipped out and ran downstairs. When Twin Pearl turned around, he was gone. Furious, she shouted for him repeatedly. Eldest promptly reappeared.

Displeased, she barked at him, “What’s the hurry? Wait for your mother and go home with her.”

Eldest dared not disobey but was so embarrassed he wanted to hide himself. Yet that was not possible in the room. Fortunately, Golden came back almost immediately.

“Your son has been waiting for quite a while,” Twin Pearl called out. “You’d better be off home.”

Golden came upstairs and whispered a question in Twin Pearl’s ear. Twin Pearl just gestured to her. Only then did Golden take her leave from Benevolence and go home with Eldest in tow.

“You with your playacting; it’s so transparent,” Benevolence said with a smile. “Only a child would be taken in. D’you think Worth’ll be fooled? Not likely!”

“That kind of trick does smooth things over. Otherwise, when she got home, there’d be a terrible row.”

“Which client did she see at the Qiao residence? Her client is in the Zhu residence. I’m afraid that was where she called on him.”²

She snickered. “Oh, have a heart; don’t talk about her now.”

He smiled and let the matter drop. A night of love passes quickly, and pleasant dreams are hard to transmit, so we will not attempt to capture them in our narrative.

The next day, Benevolence Hong was going to wind up Lotuson’s affairs after lunch, so Twin Pearl took the package of jewelry out of the cupboard and returned it to him. He bade her good-bye and strolled out of Sunshine Alley. As he passed through Fourth Avenue, he ran into Whistler Tang, and they saluted each other.

“Where’re you off to?” Whistler asked.

Benevolence told him briefly and then asked, “What about you?”

“I’m on the same kind of errand as you. I’m to pay Prosperity’s bills for him at Lute’s.”

“It seems the two of us have turned into peacemakers. What a joke!” Benevolence said, seeing the funny side.

Whistler laughed, and they went their separate ways. Benevolence headed for the Galaxy Jewelry Store, where the manager invited him in. After weighing the jewelry in the package, he selected the various pieces required from his stock. Everything on the list could be had ready-made except for one of the pair of rings. The one that was supposed to have a double joy–double longevity pattern he had in stock, but the other, which required the words “Constance of the Zhangs” set in a cutout square, had to be made to order and called for another day. So the ready-made ring and all the other new pieces were put into paper boxes, wrapped, and tied up. Benevolence then wrapped up everything in a handkerchief that he tied up crossways into a small bundle. He then waited for the manager to work out the total cost after deducting the value of the old jewelry. The sums were clearly written down on a sales slip, and Benevolence was asked to check it. He, however, had no time for such details and just put the slip away together with Lotuson’s list, took the small bundle, and walked out the store. Thinking it was still early, he thought he’d rest a little somewhere else before delivering the jewelry to Constance.

As he was wondering where to go, he saw Simplicity Zhao come running down from the north. His eyes fixed on the road, he dashed past Benevolence without seeing him.

“Simplicity!” Benevolence called out loudly.

Seeing it was his uncle, Simplicity came up in a hurry to greet him. They stood shoulder to shoulder by a white wall to talk.

“Where’s Rustic Zhang?”

“Rustic and Pine Wu are together all the time. I have no idea what they’re doing.” Simplicity replied.

“Why do you keep giving parties at Jewel’s?”

He hesitated a long while before he finally answered, “The way Lichee Zhuang and the others spoke, I could hardly refuse to play along, so I gave another dinner party there.”

Benevolence sneered. “A party or two matters little, but you’re not getting swindled by them, are you?”

Stumped for an answer, Simplicity just said vaguely, “It’s nothing, no swindle there.”

“What’s the point of keeping it from me? I’m not going to lecture you,” Benevolence smiled and said. “In the end, it’s best if you have a mind of your own.”

Simplicity dared do no more than express his agreement again and again.

“Where’re you off to now?”

He had no answer to that, either.

Benevolence laughed. “What if you’re going for a cup of tea at a sing-song house, what’s so unmentionable about it? I’ll come with you.”

Afraid that Simplicity was infatuated with Jewel, Benevolence wanted to go and see how things were. Simplicity had no choice but to fall in with him.

“Coming to this international city of Shanghai and having a bit of fun is OK even if it means spending a little money,” Benevolence said slowly. “Only this is not the time for you to have fun. If you have a business and are spending your own earnings, that’s up to you. But that’s not the case now, is it? You have nothing except what little you brought from home. It won’t get you very far in sing-song houses. What if you use up your money and still have no way of making a living? How are you going to account for yourself back home? Even I wouldn’t be able to face your mother.”

Chilled with fear, Simplicity listened respectfully in silence.

“The way I see it, it’s no easy task finding a job in a place like Shanghai. Living in an inn, your expenses can’t be low. It makes no sense for you to muddle along like this. Now that you’ve had quite a few days of fun, you’d better go home. I’ll look out for you, and if there’s any job available, I’ll write to send for you. What d’you say?”

Would Simplicity dare demur? He just expressed his agreement all the way, saying he should indeed go home. As they talked, uncle and nephew found they had arrived at the Hall of Beauties on West Chessboard Street. Benevolence set the matter aside for the moment and went upstairs with Simplicity.

::

1. Obviously, Little Rouge’s lover, Little Willow, has come to the house, hence her nervous reaction.

2. Golden’s lover, Longevity, is the steward of Amity Zhu.