Along the River by Adeline Yen Mah Page B

over me with open disdain, and I know she doesn’t like what she sees.
    “How unkempt you look!” she begins. “I think you’re getting uglier and uglier as you grow older and taller.”
    Her unkind remarks make me wince. I try to answer, but I suspect a trap—one wrong answer and she’ll strike. So I say nothing.
    “Where were you just now?”
    “I was in the playroom, helping Gege with his painting.”
    She sits down, and I can’t help noticing that the turquoise silk of her robe goes perfectly with the pink cushions on her chair. Nothing is allowed to clash in Niang’s rooms. The only thing out of place is me.
    “Was Ah Zhao there also?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did your father tell you we’re on the verge of signing a marriage contract for you?”
    I’m shocked and don’t know what to say. Surely Baba would have told me if there was anyone seriously asking to marry me?
    “No, Niang,” I reply.
    “He probably doesn’t want to bring bad luck and ruin it by mentioning it to you—it has taken long enough to get to this point,” Niang says. “This is what I want to speak to you about. You’re growing up. While marriage negotiations are under way, you’re not to spend too much time in servants’ quarters or talking to them in a familiar way.”
    I can’t think what she means.
    Niang eyes me coolly. “Don’t try looking innocent—you know the boy I mean. Your baba has a soft spot for him, and I must admit he is strangely talented for such a creature. If your gege likes to spend time with him, that’s his affair, but I don’t want any chances of a good marriage being ruined because you can’t keep away from low company. Do you hear? What were you doing in Ah Zhao’s shed anyway?”
    I feel anger welling up inside, but try to control myself. “I already told you! Ah Zhao and I were both helping Gege with his painting.”
    Niang’s beautiful face distorts with anger. “How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice? Just because your father dotes on you, you think you can do anything you want. When you’re married, you’ll soon find out things will be different. I hear your future mother-in-law rules her home with an iron hand. Even her husband, Commissioner Ye, is frightened of her. Let alone her son!”
    Suddenly I’m not angry anymore but terribly frightened. Commissioner Ye’s son is about forty years old, almost the same age as Baba. Besides being old, he’s also known to have a terrible skin condition that leaves him with weeping sores all over his body, including his face.
    “Please, Niang, please don’t make me marry him—anybody but him. I’m sorry I was rude—just let me wait a few years before I get married. I’m not ready yet.” I can hear the note of panic in my voice and know I’m humiliating myself, but I don’t care.
    Niang can’t help smiling. “Oh—so now it’s ‘Please, Niang’ and ‘I’m sorry, Niang.’ Well, it’s too late, I’m afraid. For once you won’t get your own way with your father—he needs this marriage to advance his career. When Commissioner Ye becomes the Hu Bu Shang Shu (Minister of Revenue), your baba will be promoted to Cang Bu Lang Zhong (Director of the Granary Bureau).”
    A wave of anger hits me. “My mother would never have let me marry a man like that,” I say bravely. “She would have protected me.”
    Niang laughs harshly. “You should count yourself lucky if he does choose to marry you. The Ye family is one of the richest in Bian Liang. Don’t forget that most husbands want a pretty bride who is skilled in the art of pleasing men. Not only are you strong-willed and bad-tempered, you’re not exactly good-looking or submissive, to put it bluntly.”
    “All the more reason you should let me stay the way I am. Besides, I don’t want to get married. Don’t my wishes count for something?”
    “Frankly,” she says with a cruel smile, “your wishes count for nothing. I’m warning you not to be too familiar with that Ah Zhao