Mingmei Yip - Peach Blossom Pavilion

I giggled, although I had no idea how a man would feel when fucking his wife.

Pearl cast me a chiding look. ‘You know, Xiang Xiang, although we sisters are looked down upon by those decent women, don’t you know they also envy us?’

‘I can see that, Sister Pearl, because you’re so much more beautiful than them and have all these pretty clothes and jewellery.’

‘Xiang Xiang, what you said is true, but there’s more to it. These decent women secretly admire us. For we can display our feminine beauty to our heart’s content without rebuke from stodgy Confucian husbands. Besides, you know the proverb, “To be virtuous, a woman should have no talent in anything.” But we’re not virtuous so we can cultivate and display our accomplishments. Men need wives to give them children but they also need us to do what their yellow-faced old ladies can’t – stir their hearts, tease their senses, and nourish their souls with our music, dance, and painting. Maybe we’re despised, but we don’t need to play stupid like those wives they leave at home.’

Now her expression turned mischievous. ‘I can act horny and stir up the clouds and rain with any man I want while those women are stuck with one, even after he’s dead!’ When she finished, she burst into cheerful laughter as if she was truly happy to be a prostitute.

I joined her in laughing. We kept giggling until tears spilled from our eyes and we had to stop to catch our breath.

When we finally calmed down, Pearl waved her jade-bangled hand. ‘Now you can take a break.’

Feeling restless, I thought I might go out into the courtyard. But it was raining, so I peered through the lattice at the raindrops hitting the leaves. After a few minutes when the rain stopped, I went out and strolled along the courtyard to appreciate its winding path. Then I sat down on a stone bench inside the small pavilion and looked through a vase-shaped opening, hoping to see a distant mountain shrouded in the mist.

Then I felt hungry and headed to the kitchen. When I stepped over the threshold, a rich aroma wafted into my nostrils. Ah Ping was not in sight. Now, my stomach suddenly ambushed by pangs of hunger, I went up to the boiling cauldron, ladled its content onto a plate, and helped myself to the delicacies.

When I was devouring noisily, Ah Ping came in.

I looked up at her. ‘Aunty Ah Ping, this is delicious. Is it a new dish?’

To my surprise, her face turned white.

‘Something wrong?’

She didn’t reply, but kept shaking her head.

I teased her. ‘It must be something really good reserved for a special guest, right? But don’t worry, I only took a bite. It’s really tasty, so what is it?’

Still ignoring my question, she went up to the basin and began to clean.

I continued to eat for a while before a thought entered my mind. ‘Do you see Guigui? I want to share with him some of these goodies.’

Ah Ping avoided my eyes, pointing to the plate in front of me, then my stomach.

‘But where’s Guigui?’

She pointed again, this time more emphatically.

It took a few seconds before the bomb exploded. ‘You mean …’

She kept nodding and wiping the pots. Then she poured from a huge pot into the basin. The kitchen was instantly filled with the sound of splashing water.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. ‘You cooked Guigui?!’

She was still nodding and wiping the pots.

‘Oh, how could you do that? You’re disgusting!’

Now she was noisily banging the pots around.

‘Oh my heaven, you cooked Guigui and I ate him!’

I dashed out of the kitchen and vomited until there was nothing left in my stomach except bile. Then I cried my heart out. ‘Oh, Guigui, I’m so sorry. How could I have known she’d cooked you? I didn’t know it was you!’

When I finally stopped, I took off my Guan Yin pendant and muttered a long prayer. First I asked for the puppy’s forgiveness, then I pleaded with the goddess to send him to the Western Paradise, where he could soon be reborn as a human and reunite with me.

Finally calmed by my prayers, I dragged my feet back to Pearl’s room. Once I sat down next to her on the sofa, I burst out crying. ‘Sister Pearl …’

‘Something wrong, Xiang Xiang?’

My grief poured out.

Pearl pulled out her handkerchief and wiped my face. ‘Please tell me what’s wrong.’

‘Aunty Ah Ping cooked Guigui and I ate him!’

To my surprise, Pearl didn’t look a bit shocked. She tousled my hair. ‘I’m sorry. But why did you eat him?’

‘Because I didn’t know it was him!’ I was mumbling between sobs.

‘It’s really no big deal.’

I looked up at her through my teary eyes. ‘No big deal?’

‘They often cook puppies here. Customers think dog makes excellent tonic soup to strengthen their jade stalk.’

‘Oh heaven, it’s disgusting. They’re like babies!’

Pearl pulled me into her arms. ‘Xiang Xiang, far worse things happen here.’

Four days later, when I was still feeling utterly miserable that poor little Guigui had ended up in my stomach, Little Red came and led me to Pearl’s room. I knew the moment I’d been dreading was about to come. My heart sank; the soles of my slippers dragged and wailed on the floor.

Little Red half-pushed me along. ‘Xiang Xiang, please hurry, today is your big day, and Mama is already getting impatient.’

‘Mama.’ I addressed the lump of flesh waiting for me across the threshold.

Fang Rong was all dressed up in a pink jacket with intricately knotted gold buttons the size of grapes. Upon seeing me, a huge grin broke out on her face. She motioned me to sit by Pearl’s large, gilded dressing table. ‘Xiang Xiang, today I’ll dress you up as beautifully as a fairy,’ she said, then gloated over me as if I’d suddenly transformed into a pillar of gold.

The table was covered with feminine objects: powder, rouge, lipstick, Flower Dew perfume, Snow Flower cream, tortoiseshell combs, a coral hairpin, three fresh flowers, and to my surprise, a gold bracelet and a pair of gold-mounted jade earrings.

In the mirror, Mama carefully studied me for long moments. ‘You’re lucky that your brows curve like crescent moons. Otherwise, I’d have to shave them, then pencil them in with ink.’

Ink? I wanted to ask but decided to keep my mouth shut.

Mama started to perform the kai lian, ‘open the face,’ for me. First she tied a red thread to her thumbs and middle fingers, then put it between her teeth. Then she started to ‘saw’ my face with the string, scraping off dirt and downy hair.

Fang Rong’s face was so close to mine that I could count the hairs inside her wide nostrils, study the gold teeth inside her mouth, and inspect the coarse surface of her big mole. I tried to hold my breath so as not to be poisoned by hers.

‘Xiang Xiang, opening your face will open you to endless good luck. You know that?’

I nodded.

‘Keep your head still!’

So I froze until she finished scraping my face with the moist red thread. Next she applied powder on my face and neck – layers and layers until I couldn’t help but ask, ‘Mama, that’s enough; why do you have to put on so much powder?’

‘Because one shade of white can cover up one hundred uglinesses, and all men like it this way, that’s why.’ In the mirror, she cast me a chiding glance. ‘You think I’d waste money on powder if men didn’t like it?’ Then she chuckled, shooting spittle onto my cheek. ‘Fortunately, it was not me who paid for your make-up.’

‘Then who did?’

‘Big Master Fung, of course, who else? You little stupid!’ She pointed to the dressing table. ‘See this bracelet and earrings? They’re all gifts from Big Master Fung. He wants you to be the prettiest little whore in Peach Blossom.’ Now she cast me a threatening look. ‘Big Master Fung has already spent several hundred large silver coins hosting expensive banquets and gambling parties here, so you better not let him down.’