Gousing Road is a steep little alley on Hong Kong Island. It cascades up a slope and near the top assumes the shape of a W. At the top of the slope, all the houses belong to rich folks. Because Gousing Road is lined on both sides with high rises, it is not directly exposed to the sun, and as a result it is a little cooler there on hot days.

At the entrance to Gousing Road there used to be three street stalls. One of them was a stall selling leather shoes. The shoemaker, Old Gam, was a friendly and hardworking chap in his fifties. He usually had more work than he could finish in one day. Even though he was sewing shoes day in, day out with his head bent down low, he knew a fair bit of gossip about most of the families in the neighborhood. He was a cheerful sort and liked to chat while working. Next to Old Gam’s stall was a hardware stall that specialized in cutting keys. Business at times was good, and at other times it was slow. Its owner, Mah Daksing, was a clever but lazy fellow who was still in his twenties. Sometimes people called him to help them open their doors. The last one was a small stall selling potted flowers and miniature trees. Its owner, Sing Zyunfuk, was the youngest of the three and, like Daksing, was originally from *Canton. The two had been primary school classmates, and he had been able to come here to set up his stall largely thanks to Daksing’s connections. When Daksing had to go and help someone with a lock, Zyunfuk would look after his stall for him, and when Daksing did not have anything to do, the two of them would play chess.

When Ah Heung first showed up in Gousing Road, Daksing and Zyunfuk were immediately taken in by her beautiful face and her long braids. Old Gam told them that she was the servant girl of the Si family from across the street. From then on, Old Gam noticed that Daksing paid close attention to Ah Heung. Old Gam sometimes would even joke with him about it, yet none of them ever had an opportunity to talk to her.

But then one day, Ah Heung came to Daksing’s stall to have a key cut. Daksing and Zyunfuk were playing chess at the time, and Daksing asked her to come back after a few hours to pick up the key, but Ah Heung said she wanted to wait.

“I have lost my key to the main gate. This one is the key of the lady of the house.” She had borrowed the key to make a copy, but she did not want her mistress to know. That’s why she wanted to take it right back. Daksing reluctantly had to interrupt his game of chess. He got up and, working his file, began to duplicate the key. Ah Heung waited by the side and started to chat with Zyunfuk.

“Isn’t your mistress the young lady who drives a car by herself?” Zyunfuk asked.

“Yes, that’s her,” Ah Heung replied. “She is good-looking, isn’t she?”

“Mr. Si is quite a bit older than her,” Old Gam threw in.

“Mr. Si is in his fifties and she is his second wife. She used to be a dancing girl in Taiwan.”

“That’s what I guessed,” Old Gam said. “When they moved here last year, I already could tell.”

“Don’t they have kids?” Zyunfuk asked.

“He has two kids with his first wife, but when Mr. Si married our mistress, his first wife was furious. She took the children and went to live in America.”

“Do they have a lot of money?” Zyunfuk kept asking.

“Of course! How else could two people afford to live in such a big house?” Old Gam said.

“Zyunfuk, when you strike it rich someday, you should take a cue from Mr. Si,” Daksing said as he was treading on the wheel that powered his file.

“Seeing them live like that, they must be worth at least a few hundred thousand,” Zyunfuk said. “That’s not bad.”

“A few hundred thousand? Gotta be more than that!” Ah Heung exclaimed. “Our mistress’s jewelry alone is worth more than that. That diamond ring on her hand is worth at least eighteen grand.”

Daksing was done with the duplicate. Ah Heung took the two keys, paid, and quickly left.

From then on, whenever he saw Ah Heung leave the house, Zyunfuk would deliberately step into the street and wait for her. Pretending that he had run into her by chance, he would walk with her a little. Once, when she went to Central, he accompanied her and on their way back, the two had some tea and snacks. Gradually, he and Ah Heung got to know each other better.

II

Zyunfuk had come to Hong Kong from Canton two years earlier. He had a distant relative in Hong Kong, a cousin of his father’s. This relative owned a small nursery in Shau Kei Wan where he grew flowers and cultivated miniature trees that he then sold. Zyunfuk lived with his father’s cousin, but he did not know a thing about cultivating flowers. Moreover, he was not interested. In Canton, he had been an apprentice to an electrician and had worked at an appliances store for a while after he came to Hong Kong. But he had not gotten along with his boss and had soon left. He had long wanted to run a small shop for electrical supplies on his own, selling light bulbs and fixing faulty wiring, but he had always lacked the initial capital and so the opportunity had never presented itself.

Because he was friends with Daksing and often met up with him, he eventually got some potted flowers and miniature trees from his uncle and set up a small stall on Gousing Road. He had a good profit margin, and even though business was not exactly great, he still could make enough money to get by. Other than playing chess together, Zyunfuk and Daksing also cooperated in placing high-stakes bets on dogs and horses at betting shops. Seeing that they often won, even Old Gam would sometimes chip in and try his luck. They lived simple lives, and even though they did not have much, they were at ease with themselves and quite happy. But all that began to change after Ah Heung showed up on Gousing Road.

From that day on, it seemed that all their conversation invariably focused on Ah Heung. After Zyunfuk had become acquainted with her, he told Daksing and Old Gam everything that happened between them. Daksing and Old Gam would then offer their opinion. The way Old Gam saw it, Ah Heung had at least four or five thousand Hong Kong dollars in savings. If Zyunfuk could marry her, then they would easily be able to open an electrical supplies stall. That was what Zyunfuk had often talked about and what he really wanted to do. Selling things like light bulbs and sockets, small table lamps and lampshades, and fixing lights or installing appliances in the neighborhood certainly would be good business. Old Gam began to closely observe Ah Heung’s comings and goings. When he saw her leave or enter Gousing Road, he would tell Zyunfuk. Zyunfuk often asked Daksing to look after his stall so that he could accompany Ah Heung shopping and carry her groceries for her. Ah Heung also frequently came over to chat with them. At times, she also asked them for help with some small matters.

The days passed, and even though Zyunfuk often went to the movies with Ah Heung or had a late-night snack with her, he just never found the right moment to tell her how he felt about her. What was more, Ah Heung was very generous, and when they grabbed a bite in the evening, she usually snatched up the bill. Ah Heung was a straightforward and cheerful girl. She rarely talked about herself but liked to talk about her mistress. She liked her mistress a lot, and her mistress seemed to like her a lot. Her mistress was from Shanghai, but in 1949 she and her family had left for Taiwan. She later became a dancing girl and met up with a lot of wealthy and powerful men. All this she shared with Ah Heung, who listened with great interest. Ah Heung then told these stories to Zyunfuk, who in turn told them to Daksing and Old Gam.

Old Gam was a man with good judgment and he soon realized that Zyunfuk was not an ideal match for Ah Heung. Zyunfuk himself, however, did not. He was convinced that he had fallen head over heels in love. Every day, he yearned to see Ah Heung. He would ask her out to see a local opera or have a snack in the evening, but when he was together with Ah Heung, he did not really have anything to say to her. Ah Heung, on the other hand, in a natural and unaffected manner, chatted about her mistress or her master. She was happy to be friends with Zyunfuk, but it seemed she was oblivious to his feelings toward her.

When Zyunfuk recounted all that had happened the previous evenings to Daksing and Old Gam, Old Gam remarked, “The way I see it, Ah Heung is a very smart girl. I am sure she’s been influenced by that mistress of hers from Shanghai. She’s probably quite cocky, and I guess she won’t get married for the time being. And when she does get married, she’ll want to marry someone rich.”

Hearing Old Gam talk like this, Daksing felt pity for Zyunfuk and said, “But you have to at least tell her how you feel. I mean, if she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t go out with you. Have you maybe … held her hand or put your arm around her waist or kissed her on the cheek?”

“I have often held her hand, and she is fine with that, but when I try to put my arm around her waist, she pushes me away,” Zyunfuk replied. “Once when I asked her to go for a walk, she told me that what she hated most was seeing all those secretive couples hiding out in the narrow alleyways. I never tried that again afterward.”

“I think you might as well put your cards on the table,” Daksing said. “Why don’t you propose to her and see what she says?”

“Right, tomorrow I am going to.… I’ll see what she says.…If she turns me down, I’ll just forget the whole thing and won’t ask her out anymore.”

It seemed that he had made up his mind.

III

And thus, seated in a small booth inside a café, Zyunfuk opened his heart to Ah Heung. He began by telling her that he loved her, and then went on to tell her how he imagined their life together. He told her that he was an aspiring electrician, and that he wanted to open an electrical supplies store and establish a family. Finally, he said he hoped that he and Ah Heung would spend the rest of their lives together.

After he had said everything he had wanted to say, he expected Ah Heung to be moved by his words. Ah Heung, however, patted his hand in the way an adult does to a child and began to laugh out loud.

“What’s the matter?” Zyunfuk asked.

“You want to get married? Well, then you should find yourself a rich girl. You are poor, I am poor, what’s the use of us getting married? Hasn’t any of that crossed your mind? You might be older than me, but clearly not any wiser.”

“You want to get married to someone rich?”

“I don’t want to get married at all yet,” Ah Heung said laughing. “But when I do get married, I naturally want to marry someone with money. I was born into a poor family. I have never once worn a pretty dress or lived in a nice house. For a woman, getting married is like being born a second time. Would I want to be born into a pauper’s house again? You really are something! Look at my mistress, Ms. Si. She married a man with wealth, and she is now living the good life.”

“That Ms. Si of yours is the concubine of an old geezer; what’s so great about that?”

“She can do or have whatever she wants. If she wants to sleep she can sleep, if she wants to have fun she can have fun. I think she is the happiest person in the world!”

“But I love you!” Zyunfuk exclaimed.

“I like you too, and it’s because I like you that I don’t want you to be led astray. Quite frankly, you won’t be able to support me. As for me, I am still young. I have so many dreams and so many things that I want, but for any of that I first of all need money.”

“Ah Heung, I really didn’t expect …,” but Zyunfuk was cut short by Ah Heung.

“I don’t care if you think I am shallow or that I don’t understand love. What I do know is this: We are poor folks, and poor folks can’t afford to fall in love. Poor folks shouldn’t talk morals either. Us poor folks first need to have money, because only then do we stop being beggars.”

“Are you done, Ah Heung?” Zyunfuk had never heard anything like this before. He suddenly looked at Ah Heung with different eyes. “Ah Heung, you might be younger,” he said in surprise, “but you sure are much savvier than me.”

“Now that you know, we can still be friends,” Ah Heung said. “To tell you the truth, I have learned all this from my mistress. She’s very good to me, and she explained all these things to me. I was engaged to a cousin of mine. He left his home in Guangdong province and came to Hong Kong to get married with me. I discussed the whole matter with my mistress. She told me to give him some money and break off the engagement. I followed her advice and that’s why I am free now. My fiancé later married a different girl who gave birth to two children. They live in Hung Hom and they both work their asses off. Wouldn’t you say that I was lucky that I didn’t fall into that trap?”

“Maybe you should become a dancing girl then,” Zyunfuk said with a sneer. “That way you can get to know a bunch of rich guys.”

“I actually thought about that, but my mistress said that once a woman is a dancing girl, she will always be treated like one. She said she’ll introduce me to someone wealthy when the time comes,” Ah Heung proudly said, laughing.

Zyunfuk felt that there wasn’t anything left for him to say. He felt rather crestfallen. But then Ah Heung said, “Don’t be sad because of this. If you want, we can still be good friends. We are all poor and we should all help each other. You are also still young; why do you want to get married now? If you really want to inflict suffering on others and yourself, wait until you have at least eighty or a hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars. By then, it will still be early enough to find yourself a wife.”

Ah Heung took a sip of tea and said, “But now I really have to get back home.”

IV

The next day, when Zyunfuk told Daksing and Old Gam about his hapless marriage proposal, they were equally surprised about Ah Heung. None of the three had thought that their little girl had such grand ambitions. Daksing concluded that Ah Heung’s behavior betrayed her upbringing in mainland China, which is why she knew all that talk about poor people having to free themselves. Old Gam, on the other hand, felt that she had been molded by her mistress, which is why she knew all about how to get rich.

From then on, Daksing’s and Old Gam’s attitude toward Ah Heung was no longer the same. Not only did they no longer encourage Zyunfuk to pursue her, they also no longer teased him about her. They talked about her as if she was part of the family and never again used frivolous language. When Ah Heung happened to come by to say hello, they also acted differently from before. They talked more, but also feared her a little. Zyunfuk, however, no longer asked her out and was even afraid of running into her. When he saw her coming over, he would find an excuse and clear off. Ah Heung, on the contrary, visited them more frequently, and whenever she did, she chatted and laughed with Daksing and Old Gam.

About two weeks later, Old Gam suddenly got sick and did not show up for work. Old Gam lived alone with his wife, who came by to let Daksing know. Daksing went to see Old Gam right away. Old Gam had already taken some herbal medicine and said that he only had a slight fever. He would be back at work again tomorrow, he said.

But the next day, Old Gam still did not show up for work. Just when Daksing was thinking that he’d go to see him again in the afternoon, Ah Heung happened to come by. When she heard that Old Gam was sick, she said that her mistress often went to see a doctor by the name of Joeng who was really good. She quickly ran home and came back with the address. She handed it to Daksing and insisted that he had to take Old Gam there in the afternoon. She then took out a hundred-dollar bill from her leather purse and gave it to Daksing. It was meant to cover Old Gam’s medical expenses.

Daksing was moved. When he went to see Old Gam in the afternoon, he told him that Ah Heung had insisted he take him to see Dr. Joeng and that she had given him a hundred dollars. Old Gam absolutely did not want to go.

He said he’d be fine if he rested for a couple of days. Daksing, however, didn’t want Old Gam to be ungrateful to Ah Heung. There’d be plenty of opportunities to return the favor, and he could worry about that after he had gotten better. And so, Daksing accompanied Old Gam to see the doctor, who gave him an injection and prescribed him some medicine. The visit and the medicine cost them thirty dollars, and Dr. Joeng asked Old Gam to come back again after two days. When they left the doctor’s office, Old Gam wanted Daksing to return the remaining seventy dollars to Ah Heung. He said he’d be fine on his own and that he did not need to see the doctor again.

The next day, Ah Heung stopped by to see Daksing and asked about Old Gam’s condition. Daksing told her what the doctor had said and that Old Gam didn’t want to go back again. He told her how grateful Old Gam was and tried to return the seventy dollars, but Ah Heung wouldn’t accept them. Instead, she insisted that Daksing take Old Gam once more to see the doctor. Dasking had no choice but to do as Ah Heung told him and accompanied Old Gam to the doctor for a second time. Old Gam got another injection, had some more medicine prescribed, and paid another thirty dollars.

Soon, Old Gam recovered. He cobbled together a hundred dollars by borrowing some from Daksing and Zyunfuk. He planned to return the money to Ah Heung when she came over. Ah Heung, however, did not accept it. She said she wanted Old Gam to use the money to buy some supplements. When Old Gam saw how sincere she was, he did not insist. But one day, he casually asked for her shoe size and in secret began to make a pair of leather shoes for her that he planned to give her as soon as they were finished.

As a result of this episode, Ah Heung was held even dearer by Old Gam, Daksing, and Zyunfuk. She was often on their minds, and when they did not see her for a couple of days, they’d miss her. When Ah Heung came over, there was always a lot to talk about. Later on, Ah Heung also joined in when Daksing and Zyunfuk bet on dogs and horses. What’s more, she placed much larger bets than the two of them. Whenever she won, she treated everyone to tea and snacks. Sometimes Zyunfuk lost his entire stake, and Ah Heung would put up some more money for him. If he won, she would only take back the initial sum; but if he did not win, Ah Heung would not mention it anymore. Zyunfuk would of course be embarrassed, and a few days later when he had some money he naturally would want to return it, but by then Ah Heung herself would no longer remember. Sometimes she would even say he had already returned it to her and had gotten mixed up. Even though Ah Heung was determined to marry someone rich, she was never condescending toward her poor friends. The three of them marveled at her. Zyunfuk likened her to a fairy, Daksing compared her to a cool breeze on a hot day, and Old Gam who had watched Disney’s Snow White said she was his Snow White.

A few months went by like this. Then, one day, Ah Heung brought over a letter, which she asked Zyunfuk to deliver to a hotel in Kowloon. She gave him ten dollars, which he did not want to accept, but Ah Heung said that the money came from her mistress and that there was no reason not to accept it. Zyunfuk went to deliver the letter. The recipient was an overseas Chinese from the Philippines. He asked Zyunfuk to wait for a while and wrote a reply, which he then passed to Zyunfuk. He also gave him another ten dollars. Zyunfuk brought back the letter and Ah Heung came to pick it up. The following day, she asked Zyunfuk to deliver another letter, and once more he came back with a reply.

Then, three days later at around eight thirty in the morning, when neither Zyunfuk nor Daksing had yet set up their stalls, Ah Heung suddenly came over and asked Old Gam to help her move two suitcases. Old Gam went to help Ah Heung bring the luggage to the entrance of Gousing Road. Then, Ah Heung hailed a cab.

“Your mistress wants to go on a trip?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but she asked me to take these some place.”

Old Gam helped Ah Heung put the suitcases into the trunk. Then she got into the cab, thanked him, and off she went.

V

At first Old Gam didn’t notice, but eventually he realized that he hadn’t seen Ah Heung for a couple of days. When they all started to be concerned, Old Gam told them what had happened that morning when he had seen her off.

The three of them began guessing what might have happened. Zyunfuk said, “I am sure it’s that Chinese-Filipino. She ran away with him. First, I delivered their letters, and then she brought over her luggage.”

“I never once heard her say that she had any Chinese-Filipino friends,” Daksing said, “and besides, that letter did not seem to be written by her.”

“And judging by the suitcases,” Old Gam observed, “they did not seem to belong to Ah Heung. They were fancy leather suitcases, which is why I asked her whether her mistress was going on a trip. She said that her mistress had asked her to take them some place.”

“So why hasn’t she come back?”

“Could she have fallen ill?”

“If she had fallen ill, she would have gone to see a doctor, and we would have seen her.”

…

They debated back and forth for a long time but could not settle on an explanation that they all found convincing. At first they thought that sooner or later, Ah Heung would show up again, but then another two days passed and there still was no sign of her. Finally, they decided that they should buy some fruits and pastries and have Zyunfuk deliver them to the Si residence the following day. If she was there, then there’d be no problem, but if she wasn’t there, he could just say that he was a relative from Canton who had come to see her and leave them for her.

Early the next morning, Zyunfuk went over to the Si residence. He rang the doorbell, and a healthy-looking older women who must have been in her sixties opened the door. When he inquired after Ah Heung, she told him that Ah Heung was her granddaughter and that she had gone to Macau the day before yesterday to get married. Zyunfuk originally had wanted to say that he had come from Guangdong province, but when that old lady said that she herself had just come over from Canton a few days ago, he changed his plan. He said that a certain Mr. Gam had asked him to deliver these snacks. He had wanted to ask the old lady some more questions, but she had already shut the door on him.

Upon his return, Zyunfuk reported everything to Old Gam and Daksing. They all felt even more perplexed. If Ah Heung had gotten married, then it must have been to that Chinese-Filipino. But why had her grandmother come out to Hong Kong? They then guessed that Ah Heung would probably move to the Philippines after her wedding and therefore had wanted her grandmother to come to Hong Kong so that they could spend some time together. That of course made complete sense.

Now that Ah Heung had found a good match, they naturally were happy for her. Nevertheless, they couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that she hadn’t shared the news with her friends first. With Ah Heung gone, the three of them felt a little lonely, but otherwise everything was just as it had always been. Old Gam kept himself busy with his work, and whenever Daksing and Zyunfuk had nothing to do, they’d play chess. In this way, six days passed.

On the seventh day, just when Daksing had stepped into the street to buy something, he saw a car stop ahead of him. The person stepping out of the car was none other than Ah Heung! Her appearance had changed completely. She wore a green dress and high heels and had permed her hair. She had a diamond ring on one of her fingers and a shiny watch on her wrist. Daksing at first did not believe his eyes, but when Ah Heung turned her head to beckon the person in the car, he clearly saw that it was her. Daksing had assumed that the person stepping out of the car with her would be the Filipino-Chinese, but it actually turned out to be her master, Mr. Si. Daksing refrained from going over to greet them. Instead, he looked on as Mr. Si got out of the car and the two of them disappeared inside the residence. Only then did he run back to tell Old Gam and Zyunfuk.

“And you are sure you are not mistaken?” Old Gam asked.

“How can I be mistaken, I was standing right there and saw her go inside with her master.”

“Just the two of them? What about that Filipino-Chinese?” Zyunfuk asked curiously.

“There were just the two of them,” Daksing replied.

“I am sure that Mr. Si was their witness and now he has come back from Macau. Ah Heung is accompanying him and is meeting her grandmother at the same time,” Old Gam said with certainty.

“Now that she has come back, I am sure she will come and see us,” Daksing said.

“If she doesn’t come, I am going over there again to see her,” Zyunfuk said.

“Maybe she does not want us to come and see her,” Old Gam said, considerate as ever.

“I’d say, best not to rush things. Let’s wait a few days and see.”

But then, early the next day, less than twenty-four hours after the three of them had discussed the matter, Ah Heung came to see them. She also brought a lot of things to eat. Some were for Old Gam, she said, and some for Daksing, and the rest for Zyunfuk. Without paying attention to Ah Heung’s gifts, Old Gam straight out asked her why she had gotten married all of a sudden.

“And what about your husband? Who is he?” Daksing wanted to know.

“It’s my master,” Ah Heung said.

“Your master? That Mr. Si?” Zyunfuk asked in astonishment.

“Why not? He’s rich, I like him; what’s wrong with it?” Ah Heung replied candidly.

“So you will be his third wife!” Zyunfuk exclaimed, full of pity for Ah Heung.

“I guess,” Ah Heung replied. “My mistress, that Ms. Si, she’s left.”

“She’s left? And she won’t be coming back?” Old Gam asked.

“She left with her Filipino-Chinese lover.”

“Is he the one you had asked me to deliver a letter to the other day?” Zyunfuk asked.

“Yes, that was him. He is a soccer star in the Philippines. A few years ago, he went to Taipei and fell in love with my mistress. This time he came to Hong Kong. After the two had exchanged a few letters and seen each other once, my mistress decided to go off with him. But because she was afraid Mr. Si would be heartbroken, she asked me to take care of him. And now we got married.”

“Are you sure you’ll be happy that way?” Zyunfuk asked.

“Why not? I can have everything now.”

“And we all thought you had gotten married to that Filipino-Chinese,” Old Gam said.

“You guys really have a vivid imagination,” Ah Heung said with a cheerful laugh.

“I am still somewhat puzzled, how rich is that Mr. Si really?” Old Gam asked.

“I am not entirely sure either,” Ah Heung replied, “but I told him that while I don’t have a lover, I have a lot of poor friends to look after, and three of them are right here in Gousing Road. And so Mr. Si said that he wants to give each of you a small shop in a newly built high rise in Kowloon. He wants you to open a business over there, so that you’ll no longer be keeping an eye on him day in and day out over here.”

“Really? How did all that come about?”

“Well, I asked him to lend a hand to my poor friends.” Ah Heung laughed and took her leave. But Old Gam asked her to hold on. He took out something wrapped in paper from inside his stall, and said, “Just a little something, please don’t laugh at me for not having done a better job with them.”

Ah Heung tore open the wrapping and exclaimed, “Ah, a pair of leather shoes! Thank you!” She wrapped up the shoes again and went back, holding them tightly in her hands.

VI

Two weeks later, a big change came to Gousing Road.

The shoe repair stall was still there, but it was now run by a young cobbler who had taken over the lease from Old Gam. The hardware stall was gone, and the stall for potted flowers was now a fruit stall. On Nathan Road in Kowloon, a row of shops opened for business in a newly built high rise. Three of them were clustered together, and they had all moved over from Gousing Road.

One of them was “Old Gam’s Leather Shoes.”

The next was “Daksing’s Metallurgy.”

And the last one was “Zyunfuk All Lucky Electrical.”