Along the River: A Chinese Cinderella Novel

  Ah Li is clearly very happy, but for once he doesn’t know what to say.

  Gege smiles. “You see, Ah Li – you aren’t the only one who can change the way people look at things. Mind you”—he glances at his latest attempt at calligraphy—“if you can help me change my way of looking at these words, I’ll be forever in your debt. Since I can’t change places with you, then at least you can teach me to think the way you do.”

  “I will,” Ah Li promises. “Tomorrow, let’s hold our brush in our left hand instead of our right. Doing calligraphy with the opposite hand will make us look at words in a new way and give us a fresh, unfamiliar feeling.”

  It turns out that only Ah Li can do calligraphy with his left hand. Gege and I find it so difficult that we soon give up. But Ah Li’s left hand is just as dexterous as his right. In fact, he can draw or write calligraphy with both hands at the same time! Amazing!

  Soon, the two of them are spending part of each afternoon painting everything from landscapes to flowers, while I read aloud to entertain them. Baba has instructed Teacher Lai to buy books in the market for us so we can read and expand our minds. Since I love reading, I ask Ah Li to build six bookshelves in his shed, and I fill them with books.

  Jade Dog

  A few months later, Baba summons Ah Li to his study. “I have a special job for you. Our young Emperor Huizong is a gifted artist and calligrapher, interested in anything to do with art. For His birthday, I want you to carve Him a dog out of jade. His Majesty was born in the Year of the Dog, and this is His fifth year on the throne. Do your best. If His Majesty likes your work, your future is assured.”

  “Lao Ye (Old Master),” Ah Li replies. “I’m honored. Before I do anything, I need to find a suitable piece of jade.”

  “Won’t any good piece do?”

  “Far from it. Every piece of jade is different. Each has its own personality. I need to choose one with qualities that speak to me; preferably a jade with a shape and color that remind me of something memorable … loyalty and constancy, perhaps? Or whatever is at the root of man’s love for dogs.”

  “Well said! Go and find the jade you’re looking for and get to work.”

  Ah Li goes to the city five days in a row and finally finds a greenish white piece of jade that satisfies him.

  “It’s not only the color,” he says to Gege and me as he shows us the stone. “It’s the shape and texture as well. Can you see it? In this piece of stone there’s a dog that’s begging to be released. I’m going to carve His Majesty a jade dog that will defy time, because it will be forever young and full of hope.”

  Whenever he isn’t busy in the garden, Ah Li shuts himself in his shed and works on his jade, behind a screen, permitting no one to see it until it is finished. For the unveiling, he invites only four people: Baba, Niang, Gege and me. He throws back the dust cloth covering the jade and unveils an adorable puppy with floppy ears. Its head is cocked to the right. Its tongue hangs out of its mouth, as if it’s panting on a hot summer day. Not only is the dog a work of art, but its very posture suggests carefree youth and happy romps on grassy slopes. All of us are delighted and thrilled. Even Niang is impressed, for once.

  “Beautiful!” she exclaims.

  “This sculpture will be unique, even in His Majesty’s Palace!” Baba says. “It will make your reputation!”

  “Congratulations!” I add. “I’m going to write a poem about your jade dog, in my notebook.”

  Gege is speechless for a long time. Finally, he pats Ah Li on the back. “I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve released the spirit of a dog from a piece of stone. Remarkable! Simply marvelous!”

  Baba presents the sculpture to Emperor Huizong on His birthday. His Majesty is impressed and asks for the name of the artist. Baba reports that Ah Li is an illiterate orphan descended from one of the barbarian tribes to the west of China.

  Ah Li thinks this is the end of the matter. But one afternoon, not long after the Emperor’s birthday, I’m with Nai Ma in my bedroom. She’s going through my clothes chest, checking for anything that might need cleaning, repairing or discarding. This is one of my least favorite jobs—I would much rather be reading or playing a game of chess or wei qi—but Nai Ma is being unusually persistent and won’t be dissuaded from the task at hand, however tedious it is.

  “I have no time to play today, Little Sister. Your niang has been complaining that you look unkempt and that you’re bringing the family name into disrepute,” she says.

  “Since when did Niang care what I look like, or even notice that I’m part of this family?”

  Nai Ma looks around anxiously, which makes me laugh.

  “What—do you think Niang might be creeping up behind you? When did she last set her tiny little feet in my room? I can’t remember her being here for five years or more.”

  “I think you’ll find her taking much more interest in you in the future, Little Sister.” She picks up my favorite long, faded, blue cloth trousers, which are frayed at the bottom, and puts them in the pile of clothes to be given to the cook’s daughter.

  “What do you mean, Nai Ma?” I ask as I quickly but quietly move my trousers to the “keep” pile that’s going back into the chest.

  Nai Ma looks as if she would like to say more, but then she purses her lips and tries to change the subject.

  I’m just about to tease her and ask what she was going to say when there’s a commotion outside. I race for the stairs as fast as I can, to find out what’s happening, and nearly collide with Gege, who has had exactly the same idea.

  He takes the stairs two at a time and gets there before me. We look into the courtyard and see nine men, dressed in flowing silk robes, coming through the front gate. Eight of them are carrying an impressive sedan chair draped in yellow silk. Their tall, distinguished leader strides in first and asks for Baba. He’s wearing an official hat with the bamboo on each side sticking straight out, signifying his elevated rank. Sitting on the chair is not a person but a large yellow silk envelope.

  “These men are from the Palace!” Gege whispers. “Only the Emperor himself is entitled to use a chair draped in yellow silk! Yellow is the imperial color.”

  We watch as Baba comes forward to greet his visitors. At the sight of the yellow chair and letter, Baba falls to his knees and kou-tous (kowtows) nine times. Meanwhile, everyone in the courtyard is kneeling and kowtowing toward the chair, including the visitors.

  The leader gets up first and helps Baba to his feet. The two men bow formally to one another.

  “General Tong Guan !” Baba exclaims in an excited voice. “What an honor!”

  “I am here to deliver a letter from His Majesty to someone in your household named Ah Li.” The leader’s voice is surprisingly high and squeaky but full of authority.

  Baba turns to Ah Wang, who is kneeling near the wall and trembling with fear. “Go and order Ah Li to come here at once!”

  We can see that Ah Wang doesn’t want to believe that the letter is for Ah Li, but of course he has to do as he’s told.

  Ah Li arrives and kneels on the ground in front of the sedan chair. He’s ordered to kowtow nine times. The man with the squeaky voice hands Ah Li the yellow silk envelope with both hands, together with five ounces of silver: a special award from the Emperor. Ah Li kowtows again and says that he’s unable to read His Majesty’s letter because he’s illiterate.

  “Keep kneeling and listen carefully!” Tong Guan announces haughtily as he unfolds a slip of yellow paper from the envelope. “This is His Majesty’s decree: We are highly pleased with the jade dog that was carved by the barbarian Ah Li. As a mark of special favor, We grant him five ounces of silver. In addition, We give him permission, from now on, to use the name Zhao —which is Our royal surname—as his personal surname.

  “Henceforth, your name is no longer Li,” Tong Guan announces. “His Majesty has given you the great honor of allowing you to use the imperial surname as your own. From now on, your name is Zhao, the same as His Ma
jesty.”

  Great excitement follows this announcement. Everyone can tell that Baba is very pleased at such honor being granted to one of the servants in his household. In the midst of the congratulations, I look across at Ah Wang. I think it’s safe to say that there’s at least one person among us who is not sharing in the celebrations.

  Cricket Fight

  It doesn’t take Ah Wang long to take out his bad temper on the newly named Ah Zhao. He goes out of his way to find the dirtiest and most unpleasant jobs for him to do, such as building a wooden lid for the latrine to hide the filth in the reeking outhouse.

  “I don’t think I want to be called Ah Zhao,” Ah Zhao grumbles to us a few days later. “Ah Zhao has to work one hundred times harder than Ah Li ever did!”

  Gege laughs. “Baba says it’s a fantastic honor to be granted the royal surname. His Majesty might even commission you to do other work for Him in the future.”

  “I don’t mind what my name is—provided I get paid for my work. Five ounces of silver isn’t bad for carving a single jade dog!”

  “Not bad? What an understatement!” Gege exclaims. “How does it feel to be a rich man?”

  “Much the same as being a poor one. I’ve entrusted all my money to your baba, to keep for me, so I don’t lose it or get robbed.”

  “Speaking of Baba—there’s a big birthday coming up for him. It’s his fortieth,” Gege says. “Now that you’re famous, how much will you charge for painting a dragon for his birthday? Baba was born in the Year of the Dragon. He loves dragons, and I know he admires your work.…”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! Your baba is my benefactor. I won’t charge anything for the painting, but please give me some time. It will be my honor to paint a special dragon for your father’s fortieth birthday. But why don’t you and Little Sister do something special for him yourselves, as well?”

  Gege shrugs. “I don’t think so. My work is technically satisfactory, but it’s nothing to get excited about, and next to yours it definitely lacks something. Let’s face it, Ah Zhao … you’re the nearest thing I’ve met to a genius.”

  Three days later, we walk past Ah Zhao’s shed on our way to breakfast and hear crickets chirping. Gege pushes open the door. Inside, we find Ah Zhao tending to an assortment of creepy crawlies, each in its own separate bamboo cage: two crickets, a cockroach, a lizard, an earthworm, a bat, a snake, a frog and a rat. I find his collection repulsive and fascinating at the same time.

  “Where do all these nasty animals come from?” I ask.

  “Quiet! Genius at work!” Ah Zhao announces. “You’re disturbing my new morning routine. I need to take my pets outside for some fresh air.”

  “Correction! Big Nose is conducting his insect orchestra and training a spooky new menagerie!” Gege says.

  I find the bat especially frightening. Its face is a cross between a rat and a fox, but it has wings instead of front legs. Ah Zhao says it hangs upside down when it sleeps.

  “Its eyes are so tiny,” Gege says.

  “Its ears are so enormous,” I add.

  “And a face only a mother can love,” Ah Zhao laughs. “I once saw a bat perch itself on the back of a cow and bury its head in its neck. I thought the bat was drinking the cow’s blood, so I poked it with a stick. The bat flew straight at me and scared me out of my wits. It has a wingspan four times the size of its body.”

  “Why are you keeping all these weird animals in your shed?”

  “My goal is to combine the most frightening features of each of my pets here to draw a special dragon for your baba’s birthday. My dragon will appear natural and eerie at the same time. Here, take a look at this!”

  He shows me a sketch of a horrible monster with horns, antennae, a beard, wings, claws and protruding teeth. The picture sends a shiver down my spine.

  Meanwhile, Gege is examining the two crickets, each in its own little bamboo cage covered by wire netting.

  “Beautiful, aren’t they?” Ah Zhao says proudly. The crickets have black faces with wide jaws, slim reddish brown lacquered bodies and powerful hind legs bent at an angle. One is bigger than the other. Two long antennae protrude from the tops of their heads.

  All of a sudden, the smaller cricket raises its wings and begins to sing. The other soon joins in.

  “Why don’t you put them in the same cage?” I ask.

  “They’d kill one another. Crickets need their own space.”

  “Look at this one!” Gege says. “It has a pretty flower design on its wings. The other one is bigger, but I bet mine is a better fighter.”

  “No way!” Ah Zhao declares.

  “How about a fight between the two?” says a voice from the doorway, and there’s Baba with a big smile on his face. Ah Zhao quickly hides the dragon sketch.

  “Baba!” Gege cries in delight. “I didn’t know you’re interested in cricket fights!”

  “You don’t know much about your old father, do you?” Baba says, striding forward and peering at Ah Zhao’s zoo with interest. “Lively specimens! Where do they all come from?”

  “I got up at the crack of dawn three mornings in a row to hunt for them in the northern hills,” says Ah Zhao. “I spent ages turning over stones, searching under bushes and digging in the undergrowth. It’s a special project for your birthday. That’s all I’ll say for now.”

  Baba beams with pleasure. “How did you catch the bat?”

  “There’s this cave where bats like to hang out. Thousands and thousands of them roost together, hanging upside down. I set a trap and caught one. That was easy.”

  “Which creatures were the most difficult to catch?” Baba asks.

  “Believe it or not, the crickets. The season is too early. The few that are around are mostly very small. I tested and rejected a lot of them. Finally, I heard loud chirps coming from beneath a massive stone slab. There must have been dozens of them, because a veritable cricket concert was going on. I dug a couple of holes, took a blade of grass and tried to pry out the insects, but they wouldn’t budge. So I poured some water from my drinking flask down the hole. Sure enough, a small cricket sprang out and landed in my net. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was in luck. It was so feisty! While I was examining it, a bigger one crawled out and hopped into the air. I caught it just in time! The two of them are both great fighters! The best!”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Remember the testers I caught earlier? I pitted them against one another and these two ended up with the best record.”

  “What do you feed them?” Baba asks.

  “I grind up boiled rice, tofu and apple and put the mixture in their cages. I like to hear them sing, so I sleep with them next to my pillow. Their songs bring me good luck.”

  “How do you know so much about crickets?”

  “Cricket fighting is taken very seriously in the village where I was born. Every summer, my baba would take me to the northern hills to hunt for crickets. He’d organize cricket fights and place bets on them.”

  “Did he win lots of money?” Gege asks eagerly.

  “Sometimes, but not very often. People cheat a lot.”

  Ah Zhao turns away, and it’s clear he doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.

  “How does one cheat in a cricket fight?” Baba says.

  Ah Zhao is smiling again. “Easy! You paint a scent on your cricket’s head, a scent that crickets don’t like. Your cricket soon gets used to it, but the other crickets smell it and walk away without fighting.”

  “Fascinating!” Baba says, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

  “Baba, why are you so interested in crickets all of a sudden?” I ask.

  “Little Sister, you are so observant! The truth is, I am obeying orders from my boss, Commissioner Ye.”

  “Commissioner Ye!” Gege exclaims. “What does he want?”

  “His niece, Lady An Kai , is the Emperor’s favorite concubine. She has persuaded His Majesty to set up a championship cricket match on her birthday at the Palace. Her Roya
l Highness wants to win, so she asked my boss to send her a few good fighters. My boss told them it’s not cricket season yet, but Lady An Kai doesn’t want to wait until autumn.”

  “My two crickets here will be Lady An Kai’s prizefighters!” Ah Zhao avows with confidence.

  “Are they male or female?” Gege asks.

  “Both are males. Female crickets don’t fight.”

  “Let’s have a trial match between them now!” Gege says, rubbing his hands gleefully in anticipation. “My little one against your big one.”

  “We need to name them first,” Ah Zhao says. “Any suggestions?”

  “I’ll call mine Brave Heart!” Gege shouts.

  Ah Zhao turns to me. “Would you like to name the big one?”

  “How about Valiant Warrior?” I suggest.

  “Valiant Warrior he will be!”

  Ah Zhao places the two crickets in a basin. “Old Master!” he says to Baba. “Do you wish to make a bet?”

  “No money today. But I think Gege’s Brave Heart will win.”

  The two insects are looking at one another, face to face, but there’s no interaction. Ah Zhao plucks a bristle from his paintbrush and gently teases the two long feelers protruding from Valiant Warrior’s head. Suddenly Valiant Warrior raises his head and opens his fangs. Brave Heart springs into action in response. The two fall on one another violently. They push and pull and wrestle. It’s over in an instant.

  Sadly, I see Valiant Warrior turn away in retreat while Brave Heart jerks his body, tilts his tail, spreads his wings and begins to chirp a victory song, loudly and triumphantly.

  Gege raises his fist in delight, as if he has won the fight himself! “The winner!” he cries. “Brave Heart the Champion!”

  “That was merely the first round,” Ah Zhao says, smiling. “Didn’t I tell you this is a three-round match?”

  He removes the two crickets from the basin and places them in a box made of paper. This time, Valiant Warrior refuses to advance no matter how much Ah Zhao pokes him with his bristle. Meanwhile, Brave Heart is marching forward and rattling his feelers aggressively. Seeing this maneuver, Valiant Warrior turns around and retreats to the edge of the box with his feelers pointed downward.