A MONTH WENT BY. Li Ling went to the riverbank each afternoon. She sat there, she waited, and she fretted. Da Wei did not appear. The days passed very slowly for her. She became even more restless. On the fifth weekend, she was asked to go to the market to buy groceries for the school kitchen. Lai Ma, who did most of the shopping and normally would not have involved Li Ling, was taken ill. Armed with two large cane baskets, Li Ling went out through the back door, into the kitchen garden and then out onto the path that linked the school with the open market. The market, which had initially consisted of a few vendors, had grown and grown in response to the ever-increasing settlement of houses surrounding the brick factories.
She walked briskly, clutching two empty cane baskets. With each step away from the convent, her mood lightened. The sun was shining and the dew on the grass was drying rapidly. She inhaled deeply the fresh smell of green. Further on a couple of skinny brown cows grazed idly by the wayside. Their tails swished one way and then the other while they munched through the short tufts of wild grass. Flies hovered around their haunches and around the pats of dung that littered the grass. Li Ling looked on, fascinated. The cows were new to the area. They came with the arrival of people from India. She had been warned to be careful of them for the small newly growing Indian community viewed them as sacred animals. The cows were there to provide milk, not meat, for the people.
Gingerly, Li Ling stepped around the animals to avoid the pats of fly infested dung on the ground. She held her breath. The smell emitted from the fast drying dung was strong and she was not used to it. She wondered about the milk and its taste. She did not remember anyone drinking cows’ milk in China. She did not expect it to taste good. If it did, her parents would surely have had cows in their farmyard. In her parents’ farm in Canton, they had pigs, chickens and ducks, not cows.
An Indian man came out of a hut with a pail in hand. He stopped by a cow and squatted down to milk it; his body almost bent over as he ducked his head to look under the animal He squeezed the udders; over and over his fingers pressed and pulled, first with his left hand and then his right. Streams of milky white frothed into the pail.
The distraction afforded by being out in the open, however, soon wore off. Li Ling found herself was once more plunged into the depth of despair. Her spirit had been oscillating between extremes for weeks. Sometimes she was able to convince herself that all would be well. Da Wei was bound to return. More often than not, however, she was miserable as she tussled with what she should do. She quickened her steps. She could not afford to dawdle. Just thinking of the task she had set herself made her breathe much harder. Ahead of her, she could see smoke from the brick kilns. She headed towards the cluster of Chinese shop houses to the east of the brick kilns. Da Wei’s shop must be there. Someone there might know his whereabouts.
She passed the open market with its makeshift stalls. Baskets of food lay scattered on the ground. She decided that she would buy her groceries on the way back. The more urgent task was to locate Da Wei. She had no idea of what she would say to him. Even more worrying was how he would receive her. Would he be angry? Would he feign ignorance of her? What should she say to him?
The first shop in the row of five was an eatery. She peered into its dimly lit interior. The building was long and there were no windows and was lit only by the light filtered through the wide doorway in front. It was crowded with people having their breakfast. He was not there. She walked quickly to the next shop. It was a herbal store. Jars upon jars of carefully labelled dried herbs and roots stood in neat rows. Occasional jars of what looked suspiciously like cockroaches stood in between. Behind them were clusters of wooden drawers housing more herbal remedies. A man stood with an abacus close at hand, weighing the delicate herbs. Their strong smell, acrid and compelling, assailed her. She had to get a concoction for Lai Ma. That could also wait, she decided. She headed to the next shop. It was a general store. This must be it! she thought. She remembered the gifts he presented her. She stood in front of the shop’s entrance and looked in.
A few people were examining the display of goods. At the far end, bolts of cloth were placed next to racks of shoes. Opposite, sacks of rice, dried fish, beans, fungus, mushrooms and shrimps were lined up against a wall. A man was behind the till. Li Ling went up to him and asked if he knew Da Wei.
“Who wants him?”
Li Ling turned. An elderly man with a black cloth cap on his head was behind her. His eyes, hard and appraising, raked over her.
“I came to ask if he is all right. I ... I haven’t seen him for a while,” she stuttered.
“Who are you?”
“I ... I am Li Ling. I have to go now.” Li Ling turned to leave. Lee Ah Hong’s hand shot out and grasped her arm.
“I am his father. What do you want with him?”
“Nothing ... nothing.”
“Nothing?” He examined her again from top to toe. He noted her clothes; they were not those of a maid. Yet, she was definitely not from a wealthy family. No woman from a good family would be carrying baskets and walking out on her own. She was young. He knew his son’s penchant for young females. His wife thought he did not know but he did. That was why he proposed that Da Wei be married off to an older woman to get some sense in him. Perhaps it could stop Da Wei’s wild urges if he had a woman to himself.
“I have to go ... please.” Li Ling pulled away.
He released her arm. Li Ling ran out of the shop. She pushed her way through a small group of men leaving the eatery. They shouted at her. Their curses and coarse comments rang in her ears.
Hong followed her out and stood at the doorway. He looked on as she ran back the way she came. A pretty girl, he thought. She must be one of the many that Da Wei had kept secret from his family. She was brave to come in search of him. Ah Hong sighed. He was not going to probe too hard unless he had to. It could open up more problems.
***
Li Ling ran all the way back to the riverbank. Dropping the empty baskets, she clambered up the rock. Her breathing came hard and fast. Should she have said something, she asked herself. Had she missed the opportunity to tell someone about Da Wei, someone that could help her? She felt sick with anxiety. She was no nearer to finding out where Da Wei was and what happened to him.
I saw you!
Da Wei appeared out of nowhere, taking her by surprise. He grasped a hand full of her hair and yanked, jerking her head back. Then he looped her hair round her neck and tightened. Li Ling screamed in pain.
“I asked you. What were you doing in my father’s shop? What did you say to him?”
“Nothing. I ... I said I was looking for you.”
He looked at her for a long while trying to determine if she was telling the truth. Then he laughed. He didn’t believe that Li Ling would have the guts to tell on him. He pushed his face close to hers and stuck out his tongue and licked her face. Can’t get enough of me? This is what you want?”
He pushed her to the ground and dragged her into the bush. She kicked and struggled. “Stop! Stop!” she shouted.
He silenced her with a slap, muffling her cries with his hand. She brought one knee up and with all her strength kicked his groin. He doubled up and groaned. Surprised by her own action, Li Ling lay for a moment watching him groan and then she sat up. She waited until he recovered. Then calmly, before he could make another move, she shrugged off her clothes and walked deeper into the undergrowth of wild grass. She lay down and parted her legs, her eyes on him all the while as he made his way to her. Da Wei narrowed his eyes and looked at her body sprawled naked beneath him. He smiled.