Wang Anyi - The Song of Everlasting Sorrow

Neither Jiang Lili or her mother came out to see Wang Qiyao off; Lili’s excuse was that she had to make a trip to the university to register for classes, and her mother had a headache. This left Wang Qiyao with the feeling that she was taking flight amid defeat. Dressed in a beige shortsleeved silk cheongsam , Wang Qiyao was carrying a folded fan to block the early autumn sun, in whose rays lingered the last remnants of summer. The sound of cicadas rang out one after another, but the trees stretching their canopies over the street were already showing fall colors. Her spirit was so low that she didn’t have the energy to open the envelope in her hand. She had not told Mr. Cheng about what happened: some things are tricky to explain. She was also in something of a pique and rather enjoyed making her situation appear worse than it really was — as if that was the only way to vent her resentment. As the pedicab emerged from the broad longtang , a scented mist rose up from the lilacs along the courtyard walls. The street just outside the longtang was empty of people and traffic, and the quietude also seemed to send up a mist. When Wang Qiyao finally opened the envelope in her hand, she discovered it was an invitation to cut the red ribbon at the grand opening of a department store. The invitation didn’t make her terribly excited. If anything, it led her to ponder sarcastically just what a “Miss Third Place” like herself could possibly bring to such a grand opening. It was probably a secondrate department store and they couldn’t get Miss Shanghai or the girl who came in second — so they had to settle for her. It was turning out to be a dreary day. Another chapter of her life was over. Although things had come to a close, the aftermath held plenty of clean-up work for her.

She arrived back at home just in time for lunch, but told her family she had already eaten and went into the small tingzijian with a few books. The floor and walls in the tingzijian were all a dirty gray, having just been scrubbed with soapy water. Wang Qiyao’s mind was unusually serene as she spent the entire afternoon reading. Around dusk she received two phone calls. The first was from Mr. Cheng, who asked her why she had gone home. He only learned of her departure after a trip to Jiang Lili’s house, where he was told that she had some matters to take care of at home. When Mr. Cheng asked Wang Qiyao what exactly had happened and offered to help out, she laughed. “Nothing of consequence; actually it was an excuse to get out of there.”

Mr. Cheng heaved a sigh of relief and, after some hesitation, asked whether her sudden departure had something to do with what he had said the other day.

Wang Qiyao replied with a question. “Just what did you say the other day? How come I don’t remember anything about it?”

Too embarrassed to press the issue, Mr. Cheng paused for a moment and then asked if he could come and see her. She said that since she had only just returned home, she needed to take care of some errands, but they could talk about getting together in a few days.

The second telephone call came from the department store, reiterating the invitation. She was informed that a car would be sent to pick her up. The ribbon-cutting ceremony would be followed by a banquet where her presence was also requested, after which the car would see her back to her residence. The tone of the man on the phone was extremely eager and courteous, as though afraid she wouldn’t come. That pair of telephone calls brought a great deal of comfort to Wang Qiyao. She felt as if she had sunk to the bottom but was now coming back up to the surface. She had not planned to have dinner, but after those two phone calls, she not only ate but even sat down to help her mother with extracting the plumules from lotus seeds before going upstairs to bed. She slept soundly that night.

The day of the ribbon-cutting ceremony Wang Qiyao wore the same outfit she had worn during round 1 of the beauty pageant — the pink satin cheongsam . Her hair had grown out a bit, but she did not get it cut and permed, instead deciding at the last minute to have it combed into an old-fashioned chignon at a nearby hair salon. She took a perfunctory view of the whole thing, as her way of protesting against being ignored for so long. She wondered how they could possibly still remember “Miss Third Place” when she herself had almost forgotten. Her appearance, however, turned out to be a success. Pink was the perfect color for her, delicate and fresh. Her hairdo was also the most fitting style for her mood, with its tantalizing hint of a woman with a past; but hardly anything could hide the blooming youth of an eighteen-year-old. Her shoes were new, a pair of white stilettos that made her appear taller, giving her the stateliness of a proud locust tree in the wind.

As Wang Qiyao got into the car at the front of the longtang, she could feel countless eyes on her, peering out from all the windows. Nothing escaped her neighbors’ notice. Wang Qiyao felt a bit sad. Riding in the car, she gazed at the street scenes passing by outside her window, as the trolley bells kept clanging, an eternal sound. Her eyes had a blank expression, as if she were indifferent to everything; but in that coldness was a determination to meet all challenges, a resolve to follow her fate through to the bitter end.

Upon arrival her eyes betrayed a gleam of surprise. The department store was the very one advertised in all the newspapers and on the radio in recent days. The grand opening ceremony was also quite imposing, and several dozen flower baskets lined the entrance to the store. Although Wang Qiyao began to regret the casualness with which she had viewed the event, she quickly composed herself, even laughing at herself for getting too excited. After all, however glorious the affair might be, her part was no more than to make the rounds and go home. At that moment Wang Qiyao seemed to see through everything; but that didn’t mean that she was going to give up trying. On the contrary, sizing up the situation coolly was just the preparation she needed for the hard work ahead. She reached for her compact to make a last-minute inspection before getting out of the car.

Numerous dignitaries were in attendance at the opening. Many of them looked familiar from their pictures in the newspapers, but because current events and politics were remote from Wang Qiyao’s world, she was clueless as to who all these people were. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies always began with a long string of speeches. All Wang Qiyao could do was stand quietly, waiting for her moment to snip the ribbon. Although it was her first time, she had seen such ceremonies in movies and magazines, but now that it was happening for real it somehow didn’t seem as exciting; rather, it was as if she was taking part in something routine. Deep down she regretted the outfit she had chosen and could not wait for the whole thing to wrap up so she could go home. It was only during that split-second when she was snipping the bow that her heart fluttered for a moment. After all, she was the center of attention; it was her turn in the spotlight, but it only lasted a fleeting moment.

Before the banquet that followed, most of the dignitaries left to attend to other business, leaving only a small group behind, among whom was a man called Director Li. As everyone went to take their seats for the banquet, Wang Qiyao found him sitting beside her. He had the air of a military man, with excellent posture and a reserved demeanor. The people around him all acted obsequious, some as if they had to be extra careful, and the whole atmosphere was somewhat tense. Wang Qiyao alone was not constrained by his presence, speaking with a childlike naivety and breathing a bit of life back into the air. She thought Director Li must have been a manager or something there at the department store and asked him a question about the various cosmetic lines they carried. Only when she saw the way he smiled did she realize that she must have made a mistake. It was too late to take her question back, so all she could do was bury her head and pay attention to what was on her plate. Her blush made Director Li smile again. Wang Qiyao later learned that Director Li was a towering figure in military and political circles, and a major stockholder in the department store. The decision to invite Wang Qiyao to the grand opening that day had in fact been made at his bequest.