Bao-yu folded up the list and stowed it away inside his jacket. They continued to sit a while longer, chatting about this and that.
After dinner they went to call on Grandmother Jia to see how she was. She had been suffering from nothing more serious than a slight chill aggravated by fatigue, and by the evening, after a day’s cosseting and two doses of the mild sudorific prescribed by Dr Wang, she was almost better.
If you want to know what the next day held in store, you will have to read the following chapter.
Chapter 43
An old woman’s whim is the occasion of a birthday collection
And a young man’s remorse finds solace in a simple ceremony
Our story recommences in Lady Wang’s apartment next day. On the previous evening’s visit she had found Grandmother Jia almost completely recovered after only two doses of the medicine prescribed for her that same morning by the doctor. Satisfied that it was only a mild chill, contracted during her day in Prospect Garden, and not anything more serious that the old lady had been suffering from, and deeming it unnecessary to make an early call again this morning, Lady Wang summoned Wang Xi-feng to her own apartment to discuss the getting together of some things to send to her husband, Jia Zheng. A summons from Grandmother Jia arrived nevertheless, and Lady Wang hurried over, taking Xi-feng with her, to see what was the matter.
‘Are you still feeling better today, Mother?’ she asked her when they arrived.
‘I’m quite recovered now, thank you,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘I’ve had a sip or two of the pheasant stew you sent me. It was very tasty. I ate some of the meat in it and enjoyed it very much.’
‘You have Feng to thank for that,’ said Lady Wang with a smile. ‘See how dutiful she is to you! It shows that your kindness is not wasted on her.’
Grandmother Jia returned the smile and nodded affably.
‘It was good of her to think of me. If there’s any of the meatstill left, I’d rather like a few pieces of it fried. It has a pleasant, salty tang that goes well with the rice-gruel I am taking. The stew is very nice, but stew and gruel don’t go very well together.’
Xi-feng at once sent orders to the main kitchen to have the pheasant-meat prepared.
‘Well, it wasn’t really my diet that I wanted to talk about,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘The reason I’ve sent for you is because the second of the ninth month is Feng’s birthday. In previous years, though I’ve always meant to do something about it, something or other has always cropped up which has prevented me from celebrating it properly. As we’re all of us here together this year and it doesn’t look as if there are likely to be any distractions, I propose that we should get together and make a day of it.’
‘I was thinking just the same thing,’ said Lady Wang. ‘Since you feel in such good spirits, Mother, why not settle now what we should do?’
‘Well now, this is what I have been thinking,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘In other years, no matter whose birthday it’s been, we’ve each of us given our individual presents. Now that’s so dull – and what’s more, I think it’s a rather unsociable way of celebrating a birthday. I’ve thought of a new way which will be much more sociable and also lots of fun.’
‘Whatever it is, I’m sure that’s what we ought to do,’ said Lady Wang.
‘I think we ought to imitate what they do in poorer families,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘Everyone subscribes something towards a common pool, then, when it’s all been collected, you spend it all on some treat or other, depending on how much you have. What do you think of the idea?’
‘It sounds a very good one,’ said Lady Wang. ‘But how do we go about collecting the subscriptions?’
At this Grandmother Jia became still more animated. Let Aunt Xue and Lady Xing be invited without delay, she told them. Let Bao-yu and the girls be sent for. And You-shi from the other mansion. And why not Lai Da’s wife and some of the more respected older members of the female staff? Infected by her enthusiasm, the maids and older women-servants went scurrying off in all directions to summon or invite.
In less time than it would take to eat a meal, all those invited, young and old, mistress and servant, had been assembled, and the room was packed. Aunt Xue and Grandmother Jia sat on their own facing the multitude, Lady Xing and Lady Wang on chairs at the opposite side of the room beside the door. Bao-chai, Dai-yu, Xiang-yun and the Three Springs sat in a row at the back of the kang behind Grandmother Jia and Aunt Xue. Bao-yu half reclined in his grandmother’s lap. All the rest stood, shoulder to shoulder, on the floor below.
As soon as she saw that they were all assembled, Grandmother Jia gave orders for stools to be brought so that Lai Da’s mother and various other of the more aged and respected servants present might sit down. It was customary in the Jia household to treat the older generation of servants – those who had served the parents of the present masters – with even greater respect than the younger generation of masters, so that in this instance it was not thought at all surprising that You-shi, Xi-feng and Li Wan should remain standing while old Mrs Lai and three or four other old nannies (though not without first apologizing for the liberty) seated themselves on the stools.
Grandmother Jia now smilingly announced the proposal that she had already outlined to Lady Wang. All present, it need hardly be said, were willing to fall in with it – some because they were on good terms with Xi-feng and were genuinely happy to give her pleasure, some because they were afraid of her and welcomed this as an opportunity of getting themselves into her good books, and all because in any case they could afford to do so. Accordingly, as soon as Grandmother Jia had finished speaking, they all enthusiastically and with one voice agreed.
Grandmother Jia opened the list with her own subscription:
‘I’l1 give twenty taels.’
‘I’ll follow Lady Jia,’ said Aunt Xue. ‘Twenty taels.’
Lady Xing and Lady Wang called next:
‘We obviously can’t put ourselves on a level with Lady Jia. Sixteen taels.’
You-shi and Li Wan, decreasing their call by a like amount, came next:
‘Twelve taels.’
‘We can’t have you paying out that sort of money,’ Grandmother Jia said to Li Wan, ‘– a young widow with no means of her own. I’ll pay yours for you.’
‘Now don’t get carried away, Grandma!’ said Xi-feng. ‘You ought to do your sums first before you start interfering. Don’t forget you’ve already got two of the young folk, Bao-yu and Cousin Lin, to pay for besides your own contribution. It’s all very well promising to pay these additional twelve taels for Li Wan in the heat of the moment, but later on you’ll be wishing you hadn’t. You’ll probably end up by saying that it was all because of that wretched Feng that you had to pay out so much money and think of some trick for getting it back from me three or four times over. I know. Don’t tell me I’m imagining this.’
This made everyone laugh.
‘All right,’ said Grandmother Jia, laughing herself. ‘Then what do you propose?’
‘Well now, it isn’t even my birthday yet, but already I’m feeling uncomfortable because so much is being done for me,’ said Xi-feng. ‘It seems unlucky – so many people being put to so much expense on my account while I don’t pay a penny myself. I’d feel a lot easier if you’d let me pay this contribution for Li Wan; then, when the day comes, I shall be able to eat and drink as much as I lke without any fear of spoiling my luck.’
Grandmother Jia hesitated, but consented when Lady Xing and Lady Wang both insisted that this was the best solution.
‘I’ve got another suggestion to make,’ said Xi-feng. ‘Your own contribution is twenty taels, Grandma, and on top of that you’re going to be paying contributions for Bao-chai and Cousin Lin. It’s true that Aunt Xue will be paying Cousin Chai’s contribution on top of her twenty taels, but that doesn’t seem quite so unfair. What does seem unfair to me is that Mother and Aunt Wang should be paying only sixteen taels each for themselves, yet paying no extras
at all for any of the young people. I think you’re getting the worst of this arrangement, Grannie.’
‘See what a good girl my Feng is to me!’ said Grandmother Jia delightedly. ‘You’re quite right, my dear. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I should have let them get away with it – as usual!’
‘All you need do, Grannie, is to make the two young people their responsibility. Let each pay for one of them.’
‘That’s fair,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘Yes, that’s what I’ll do.’
Lai Da’s old mother rose up from her stool in mock indignation.
‘But this is rank mutiny! It makes me feel really angry on Their Ladyships’ behalf. What, side with Her Old Ladyship against your husband’s mother and your own father’s sister? That’s a arrant breach of the laws o’ consanguinity!’
This sally was greeted with a burst of laughter from Grandmother Jia and all the others present. Old Mrs Lai remained standing until it had subsided and then made her own offer.
‘If Mrs Zhu and Mrs Lian are each contributing twelve taels, I suppose we’d better go a step lower?’
‘Oh no, that won’t do at all!’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘You may be a step below them in rank, but you’re all wealthy women. I know you’ve got lots more money than they have. You can’t give more, of course, but at least you should give as much.’
The old women, led by Mrs Lai, willingly agreed.
‘The girls’ contribution will be only for form’s sake, any-way,’ said Grandmother Jia in reference to the row of figures sitting silently behind her on the kang. ‘I should think about the equivalent of a month’s allowance would be the right amount.’
She turned to Faithful.
‘Come on, now! We’re not leaving you out! Go and get some of the other girls together and decide how much you are going to give.’
Faithful slipped out and presently returned with Patience, Aroma, Suncloud and one or two other of the senior maids. Some said they would give one tael, others two. Grandmother Jia noticed that Patience was one of them.
‘Surely you’ll be doing something for your mistress at home?’ she said. ‘You don’t need to contribute to this fund as well.’
‘Yes, ma’am, I shall be doing something at home,’ said Patience, ‘but that’s private. This is a public thing, so I shall contribute to this along with the rest.’
Gradmother Jia smiled at her graciously and commended her public spirit.
‘Well,’ said Xi-feng genially, ‘now just about everyone seems to have been roped in except Aunt Zhou and Aunt Zhao. Wouldn’t it be a politeness to ask them if they would like to contribute as well? They might take it as a slight if we left them out.’
‘Of course,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘Whatever made me forget about them? They probably won’t be free to come over, though. One of the maids had better go and ask them.’
One of the maids had gone off on this mission almost before she had finished speaking. She returned, after a long interval, to say that the concubines would contribute two taels each.
‘Good!’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘Now take a brush and ink, someone, and calculate how much we shall have altogether.’
In the interval thus created, You-shi addressed Xi-feng in a scornful whisper.
‘What a mean, grasping young woman you are! Your aunt and your mother-in-law and all these other people forking out for your birthday, yet you still have to go squeezing more out of two poor, dried-up old gourds like Zhou and Zhao!’
Xi-feng laughed silently.
‘Don’t talk nonsense!’ she whispered back. ‘I’ll settle accounts with you presently, when we get out of here. Anyway, what do you mean, “poor”? Whenever they’ve got any money they only pass it straight on to other people. We might just as well intercept it before it gets into the hands of their creditors and get a bit of pleasure out of it!’
By the time this whispered exchange was over, the calculations had been completed and it was announced that the amounts promised totalled a round sum of one hundred and fifty taels with a few taels left over.
‘That’s more than we could possibly spend on plays and wine in one day,’ said Grandmother Jia.
‘As we’re not inviting anyone from outside,’ said You-shi, ‘it won’t be a very big party, either. There should be enough for two or three days. The big saving, of course, is that now you’ve got your own troupe of players, you can have first-class entertainment for nothing.’
‘Feng shall have whatever troupe she prefers,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘That’s for her to decide.’
‘We’ve heard our own troupe so often,’ said Xi-feng. ‘I think we should spend a bit of money and get in a troupe from outside.’
‘Well, I propose to leave all the arrangements for this in the hands of Cousin Zhen’s wife,’ said Grandmother Jia, ‘then Feng will have nothing at all to worry about – except how to get the greatest possible enjoyment out of her birthday!’
You-shi agreed to be organizer, after which she and the others stayed chatting for a few minutes with Grandmother Jia. Then, realizing that the old lady’s stock of energy was exhausted, they gradually dispersed.
After the three younger women had seen Lady Xing and Lady Wang a part of their way home, You-shi accompanied Xi-feng to the latter’s apartment to discuss with her what arrangements she should make for the party.
‘Don’t ask me,’ said Xi-feng when You-shi questioned her. ‘You want to study Grandmother and just do whatever seems to please her.’
‘You really are the limit, you know,’ said You-shi. ‘Fortune’s darling! I thought just now that I was being called over about something serious, but it turned out to be just for this! And then, if you please, quite apart from being asked to pay out money, I am to have all the worry of arranging everything for you as well. What are you going to do in return for all this, to show me your gratitude?’
‘What am I going to do in return?’ said Xi-feng. ‘You must be joking. I didn’t call you over. If you’re afraid of the trouble, you’d better go back to Grandmother and tell her to give the job to somebody else.’
‘Just look at her!’ said You-shi. ‘Really full of yourself today, aren’t you? I should hold it in a bit, if I were you, my dear, or it might start running over!’
The two of them conversed for some minutes longer before finally separating.
When the first contributions arrived at Ning-guo House next morning, You-shi had only just got up and was about to begin her toilet. She asked who had brought the money, and on being informed that it was Lin Zhi-xiao’s wife, sent the maid back to fetch her in from the servants’ quarters, where she was waiting. When she arrived, You-shi asked for a stool to be brought so that the old woman could sit and talk to her while she continued with her toilet.
‘How many of the contributions have you got in this packet?’ You-shi asked her.
‘These are the ones from us servants,’ said Lin Zhi-xiao’s wife. ‘As they were all ready, I thought I might as well bring them over straight away. The contributions from Her Old Ladyship and the other ladies are still to come.’
Just then one of the maids came in to announce another arrival:
‘The subscriptions from Mrs Xue and Lady Xing have arrived, ma’am.’
‘Subscriptions!’ said You-shi scornfully. ‘How eagerly you fasten on the ridiculous word! It was only a passing fancy of Her Old Ladyship’s yesterday that we should imitate what they do in poorer households. She used the word then as a joke; but now, I suppose, we shall have every witless maid solemnly talking about “subscriptions” all the time! – Well, go and get the money and bring it in then. And see that whoever it is has some tea before they go.’
The girl went out and returned with the two packets of money that the messenger had brought, one from Aunt Xue, including a contribution for Bao-chai, and one, including Dai-yu’s contribution, from Lady Xing.
‘Who does that leave now?’ said You-shi.
‘That leaves Her Old Ladyship, Her Ladyship,
the young ladies and the maids,’ said Lin Zhi-xiao’s wife.
‘What about Mrs Zhu’s?’ said You-shi.
‘Mrs Lian will be paying out the money for all the others,’ said Lin Zhi-xiao’s wife, ‘so you’ll be able to get Mrs Zhu’s from her too when you see her about the rest.’
You-shi, having completed her toilet, now called for her carriage. As soon as it was ready, she drove round to the Rong-guo mansion and went straight in to see Xi-feng. She found her with the money already packeted and on the point of bringing it round to her.
‘Is it all here?’ You-shi asked her.
‘All there,’ said Xi-feng gaily. ‘Hurry up and take it away. I don’t want to be responsible for it if it gets lost.’
‘I don’t think I altogether trust you,’ said You-shi, returning her smile. ‘I think I’d like to check it first in your presence.’
She opened up the packet and counted the money contained in it. The contribution for Li Wan appeared to be missing.
‘I thought you were up to something,’ she said. ‘Why isn’t the money for Wan here?’
Xi-feng smiled disarmingly.
‘Isn’t what you’ve already got there enough? Surely her little bit isn’t going to make all that much difference? Why not wait and see what you need? If you find you haven’t got enough, I’ll give the money for Wan to you later.’
‘I’m not letting you get away with this,’ said You-shi, ‘– playing the Lady Bountiful yesterday in front of all those others and then going back on it now, when the two of us are alone together. I shall have to go and ask Lady Jia for the money.’
‘You’re a hard woman!’ said Xi-feng. ‘One of these days when I have you at a disadvantage, you mustn’t complain if you find me just as much of a stickler.’
‘Threats?’ said You-shi. ‘I think you are the one who should feel afraid. Do you think if it weren’t for the things you have done for me in the past I would let you off now? Here, Patience!’ – She took Patience’s contribution from the pile and held it out to her – ‘Take this back. If later on I find that I need it, I’ll make it good with my own money.’