Tua Neo, first wife of Baba Wee, was already in the ancestral hall. Stern-faced and hawk-eyed, she watched the amahs and maids bringing in trays of food and vases of fresh flowers for the monthly thanksgiving feast, which was Tua Neo’s delectable reminder to the spirits to continue to shower their blessings on Baba Wee, his family and his enterprises. She was a strong believer in the efficacy of wining and dining the gods in order to win favours from them.
“Protect them, Lord Buddha! Please let young and old leave home without fear of harm or misfortune!”
She was meticulous and exacting about her offerings to the gods. If a dish was not well-cooked or if it was sloppily presented, she would ferret out the offender, be it cook, amah or bondmaid, and have her caned without mercy. Sloppiness might offend the gods and ancestors and cause them to withdraw their blessings from the family.
A handsome Nonya from a rich Baba family, she cut a striking figure in her elaborately embroidered baju panjang of thin voile which reached below her knees. It was worn over a rich batik sarong, and pinned down the centre, holding the folds of the baju together, were three large gold and diamond kerosang, brooches, of a floral design. Her dark well-oiled hair was combed back and fashioned into a sanggul sipot, a snail-shaped chignon, held by three gold claw-shaped hairpins. Diamond earrings and gold chains and bracelets adorned her person, and on her feet she wore a pair of kasut manek-manek, beaded slippers, made by one of her daughters-in-law.
“Tua Neo, good morning,” Baba Wee’s second wife greeted her and bowed in deference to her authority in the household. “I hope all the dishes are pleasing to you this morning.”
“Hmm.”
She listened attentively while Ee Neo dutifully reported what went on in the kitchen wing, prattling as was her habit about this and that in the singsong patois, stumbling over the Hokkien and Malay words because, as Tua Neo had sniffed to her own relations years ago, the conniving little witch was a Cantonese China-born who had been very poorly brought up and could never speak properly.
Ee Neo was not a highborn Nonya but she wore a baju panjang too, though it was a plain one befitting her lower status. The daughter of a poor trader, she had no dowry and was dependent on the generosity of Tua Neo. Ee Neo’s pinched face hinted of suffering despite the smile on her face. Her movements as she cleaned the oil lamps on the altar were small and quick like a bird’s, eager to please and quick to hop out of harm’s way.
“And so I said to cook, ‘Look and see properly lah,’ I said. ‘Use your eyes and taste-taste a bit! Not that I want to make trouble for you,’ I said. ‘But if you can’t get the chicken curry right, not too hot, not too oily, the way Tua Neo wants it, then I can’t keep quiet about it. I’ll have to tell Tua Neo about it,’ I said,” she prattled on as she rubbed the brass lamp till it shone. Then she lit the wick and placed the lamp on the altar, making sure she left no fingermarks on its stand.
Tua Neo’s three daughters-in-law came in, attended by their personal bondmaids. By then the sky had lightened and Tua Neo’s face had darkened.
“A filial daughter-in-law rises before the sun to serve tea to her parents-in-law.” Tua Neo’s voice was loud enough for all to hear. “Properly trained and properly brought-up daughters rise before dawn. That was what I did when I was a daughter-in-law.”
“Tua Neo, good morning and good health. Please accept this cup of tea,” First Daughter-in-law murmured soothingly as she bowed and served the matriarch, showing by manner and voice that she was pliant and obedient and was not offended at all by her mother-in-law’s remarks.
Gratified, Tua Neo sipped the hot fragrant tea and handed the cup back to First Daughter-in-law, who took the cup and handed it to her bondmaid. Second and Third Daughters-in-law greeted Tua Neo in turn, murmuring the same words of greeting and respect, and served her a cup of tea too, reenacting the ritual they had observed every morning since they crossed the threshold as wives of Baba Wee’s sons. After they had served Tua Neo, they turned to Ee Neo and greeted her respectfully. They did not serve her tea, for Tua Neo had insisted on the strict observance of tradition, which decreed that difference should always be maintained between first and second wives.
Moments later Siok Ching came in with Tai-kor Wong and their three sons.
“Tua Neo,” she greeted Tua Neo first before greeting her own mother. “Ee Mak, good morning.”
Her sons followed her example and greeted First Grandmother before greeting Second Grandmother. Tai-kor Wong did the same and gave Tua Neo a deep bow as a sign of his great respect for her. When he turned to Ee Neo, he adjusted the tenor and tone of his greeting so that it conveyed politeness but not warmth or deep respect. He was mindful of not offending Tua Neo while they were enjoying her hospitality. It would be months before his own house could be repaired and made habitable again. He cursed the Black Flags. If not for them, he wouldn’t have to watch his words and actions quite so carefully.
“Good morning,” he greeted his sisters-in-law. He tried to sound as courteous as he could, enquiring after their husbands who were sleeping late as usual. Despite his attire and courtesy, they had never accepted him as a Baba gentleman. Damn it, he thought, he always felt like a labourer’s son in Wee Mansion no matter how he behaved or what he wore! His maroon silk tunic and black silk pants, worn at Siok Ching’s insistence, discomfited him. Their silky softness and the tunic’s row of hand-sewn frog buttons with pearls down the front made him feel like the proverbial Sar Sum Siew, the rich spoilt brat, especially now that his queue was well-oiled and neatly plaited. Siok Ching had insisted he wear the black velvet shoes worn by the men in her family. “They’re towkay shoes and you’re a towkay now,” she’d reminded him. “Don’t forget, your surname is the same as Father’s. Same character. Different sounds. In Hokkien, we say Wee. In Cantonese, you say Wong.” She had sounded very pleased with her discovery for it implied that her husband was almost a son of Baba Wee.
As always, she was trying to make the best of their marriage. After all, he was the illiterate son of a half-starved peasant and she was the daughter of Baba Wee. Although Siok Ching’s mother was just a concubine, she still counted for something as the secondary wife of a rich man. Siok Ching herself had been taught to read and write. Being no scholar, the Chinese characters were too much for his head although he realised their importance in society. He was not a learned gentleman like the Wee brothers. In Bandong, among his coolies and miners, he did feel like a gentleman. But not here. Not next to his brothers-in-law. He knew that his lowly origins pained Siok Ching sometimes. So when she insisted on being accorded the status of first wife, even though he had married Wong-soh earlier, he had agreed readily, feeling that somehow he had to make it up to her for marrying a coolie. Not that she had had a choice. It was Baba Wee’s decision.
“Son-in-law, is something worrying you?” Tua Neo was solicitous.
“No, no, Tua Neo. I must apologise for being a little late in coming down. I was talking with Father-in-law.”
“No need to apologise for talking with your father-in-law. I wish my own sons were talking with their father too! But what to do? They are not as clever as some people in using their tongues.”
“Brother-in-law, no need to apologise for being late. Important people can come late, only not so important ones must come early.” First Sister-in-law gave everyone a saccharine smile.
“How right, our First Sister-in-law! My eldest brother must be the most important man in the family. He doesn’t come down at all. Not even when Father is here,” Siok Ching’s saccharine sweetness matched her sister-in-law’s.
“If we followed tradition the way we’ve been taught by Tua Neo,” Second Sister-in-law drawled with a slight toss of her head, “we’d all know the proper thing to do. In some families, things are so confusing we don’t even know who’s the first wife or second wife, who’s the son and who’s only adopted.”
Tai-kor Wong started. He glanced at Second Sister-in-law. The witch smiled at him like a cat toying with a mouse.
“What’re you talking about?”
“Nothing, Tua Neo, nothing! My words came out before I could stop myself. It’s something I heard from my relatives and it concerns our family.”
“Second Sister-in-law, you’d better say it here, otherwise other people will accuse you of talking behind their backs,” First Sister-in-law advised her.
“What have you heard? Tell me,” Tua Neo ordered.
Second Sister-in-law glanced furtively at Siok Ching’s impassive face. Then, lowering her eyes, she spoke in a soft voice that had a hint of mockery. “Please forgive me, Siok Ching, and I apologise to our brother-in-law too. My tongue was faster than my thoughts. Yesterday I went to the Goddess of Mercy Temple to pray and I met my relative who told me that the first wife of our brother-in-law had just brought her adopted son there. I was shocked! Our Siok Ching is the first wife of Tai-kor Wong. So how can there be two first wives?”
“Liar!”
“Wait, Siok Ching!” But she had already run out of the ancestral hall.
Tua Neo glared at Ee Neo as if it was all her fault for having such a daughter.
“Forgive us, gods in heaven! It’s the day of thanksgiving! A prayer day, a good-luck day! And your daughter runs away!”
“Ee Neo, don’t just stand there. Light the joss sticks!” First Sister-in-law ordered. Then turning to Tua Neo, she said sweetly, “Neo, please don’t wear yourself out with worry. Take care of your health. I’ll call the children to come in and we can begin prayers.”
As soon as prayers were over, Ee Neo slipped upstairs to Baba Wee’s room. Closing the door behind her, she stood silently, waiting for her husband to notice her, marvelling at her own boldness these days. When she was younger she wouldn’t have dared to enter Baba Wee’s room without being summoned. But over the years, she had gained courage as Baba Wee and Tua Neo had mellowed and she was used more kindly by both. For this, she was grateful to the gods who had heard her prayers. Let them hear her prayers for her daughter now!
“What is it?” Baba Wee finally looked up from his papers.
“So sorry to trouble you, Ba, but it’s ... it’s about my daughter ... I mean ... your daughter, Siok Ching, who married Tai-kor Wong,” she spoke in a quick nervous voice, tripping over her words.
Her eyes reddened as she tried to press down the rising pain in her throat. She feared that her only daughter might soon be relegated to the lowly position of a second wife if Tai-kor Wong’s China-born wife were to stay on the island. Then remembering how Baba Wee disliked weepy women, she blinked away her tears and pushed aside the painful memories of the indignities she had suffered as a young concubine of little consequence. She forced a smile upon her face and couched her request in words carefully chosen not to offend Baba Wee.
She started her speech by expressing her gratitude to Baba Wee for taking her away from a poor family to raise her to great heights in such an illustrious household. She would never have attained such a high position in this world if Baba Wee hadn’t looked kindly upon her unworthy self, and she was eternally grateful to Baba Wee for making her his second wife. Then she thanked him for clothing her in silk and jewellery.
“Go on, go on. What is it?” Baba Wee shook his head impatiently.
“Begging Ba’s indulgence respectfully, I’ve to point out that Siok Ching is born and raised in the lap of luxury as befitting the daughter of a man of great wealth and prestige. And so,” she hesitated just a moment before putting it to him bluntly, “how can she be known as second wife of Tai-kor Wong? Our family and relatives know that Siok Ching is not a second wife but other people will gossip about her. That barren woman has even brought her fifteen-year-old adopted son along!” She stopped when she caught her voice rising higher than usual. She glanced at Baba Wee, expecting a sharp rebuke.
No word came from him. He seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes on the paper on his table. He glanced at the bowed figure of the mother of his child. Dark anxious eyes peered out of her pinched sallow face. The pale lips were tremulous. With great difficulty, he recalled that the trembling woman before him was once a young girl with soft lips, soft arms and a yielding body. He had made the mistake of summoning her to his bed once too often in those early years and an incensed Tua Neo had whipped Ee Neo after each night in his bed. After several whippings, he had felt so sorry for Ee Neo that he stopped asking for her and went to the houses of pleasure instead.
“I’ll speak to my son-in-law. Go. Tell the syce to bring round the gharry.” He dismissed her with an impatient wave of his hand.
Tai-kor Wong’s heart sank when he was summoned. He knew that the onus was upon him to resolve the matter of his two wives.
“Father-in-law,” he began, “my China-born woman is here. She came with the rest of the Bandong miners a few months ago. I did not ask her to come.”
He paused and waited. When Baba Wee remained silent, he went on, “Siok Ching is my first wife. I’ve always said so and I’ve not changed.”
He paused again and waited. But Baba Wee remained adamantly silent as if waiting for something more.
“Father-in-law, I truly regret any unhappiness I’ve caused the family. I’ve already made plans for her to return to China. On the next junk which leaves for Kwangtung in two days.”
“Good, Son-in-law. My heart is ten times lighter now.” Baba Wee smiled. “But there’s one more thing. People say this boy, Wong Tuck Heng, is your eldest son.”
“I recognise no sons! Except the three boys your daughter gave me!”
“So what I’ve heard is totally wrong.”
“My China-born woman adopted the boy without my permission! She has been doing far too many things behind my back! It’s only out of respect for my parents that I keep her!” Tai-kor Wong did not try to hide the anger rising in him.
“If a man’s house is not in order, he won’t have the peace of mind to go about his business. Every home should have only one head. Father and husband. Every kitchen also should have only one head, and that is the first wife, mother of all his children and the children of his other wives. Otherwise there’ll be no peace.”
“Father-in-law, I’ve always considered Siok Ching my first wife.”
“We’ll not talk about this again. Come, we have to leave after breakfast. We must talk to the other White Crane elders before I meet with the tuan besar governor.”