Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah Page A
Authors: Adeline Yen Mah
Tags: General, Social Science, Asia, Medical, History, Biography & Autobiography, California, Biography, Ethnic Studies, Physicians, Women physicians, Women, china, Customs & Traditions, China - Social life and customs, Chinese Americans, Chinese Americans - California - Biography, Mah; Adeline Yen, California - Biography, Women Physicians - California - Biography
Ads: Link
my sobs so Edgar would not have the satisfaction of knowing that he had made me cry. Gradually the injustice of it all took hold and an allconsuming fury seized me. Finally, I heard Aunt Babas footsteps. It was almost one in the morning.
She only had to glance at me to understand everything. As I poured out my tale of woe, I could see from her expression that the evening had not gone well for her either. She was in a mildly depressed mood, usually brought on by an evening of steady losses at the mahjong table. I told her I was planning to take the train to Sichuan Province, and asked her to lend me money for the journey.
What a mixture of sense and nonsense! Sometimes I forget how young you are.
I was in deadly earnest. Trust me! I told her. I wont waste your money! Ill learn everything and come back and make everything right. Ill look after you and Ye Ye.
Stop dreaming! Youve been reading far too many Kung Fu novels. If you board that train youll most likely be kidnapped and sold as a ya tou (girl slave). Ye Ye and I will never be able to find you. Even here in Shanghai the police once found thirty
73
missing children chained to the wall of a tin factory, halfstarved and almost beaten to death. If they survived their childhood, they would be sold to brothels. Wu mei (Fifth Younger Daughter), you have to separate fact from fiction. Concentrate on the things youre really good at. Get yourself the best education you can. Forget the Kung Fu masters and martial arts and all that foolishness.
As for your Niang, go to her tomorrow and swallow your bitterness. Knock on her door. Beg for her mercy. Tell her everything she wishes to hear. You know as well as I what you should say. What can we do? She has the money and the power. If necessary kneel on the floor and kowtow to her. Humbly beg her for your tram fare. If you do that, everything will be all right, youll see. Now get under the covers and go to sleep. Youve got school tomorrow.
I went under the covers but did not sleep. I could not bring myself even to think of surrendering. I soon heard Aunt Baba snoring gently. As the night wore on I became more and more determined not to give in, no matter how cruel the torture. Defenceless and armed with nothing but my resolve, I knew only that I had to do it this way while hoping that Niang would possess no weapon powerful enough to vanquish me.
74
CHAPTER 7
Yuan Mu Qiu Yu:
Climbing a Tree to Seek for Fish
At the age of sixty-five, Ye Ye found himself without a penny to his name. Father made it clear that Ye Ye and Baba were to negotiate with Niang for their allowance. This was unheard of in a society where fathers-in-law hardly deigned to speak to their sons wives, let alone ask them for money. Besides breaking the Confucian bond of filial piety, Father was undermining Ye Yes self-respect. Gently but firmly, Ye Ye declined, telling Baba he had no intention of yuan mu qiu yu (climbing a tree to seek for fish).
Instead, father and daughter visited Grand Aunt at the Womens Bank and Aunt Baba asked for her old job back. In the formal diningroom of Grand Aunts sixth-floor flat, they were treated to a scrumptious dinner featuring Ye Yes preferred Ningpo delicacies. The menu included steamed crabs and yellow fish noodles, sharks fin dumplings and fresh shrimps with peas, tender bamboo shoots and anise-flavoured pork. This was followed by three well-loved desserts: glutinous rice balls with sesame paste, eight precious pudding and crabapple mousse. Mellowed by cups of warm rice wine, brother and sister sang some arias together from their favourite operas. Since escaping from Tianjin twenty months earlier, Father had been hiding out from the Japanese by secretly ensconcing himself in Grand Aunts penthouse during office hours. Many of
75
his financial coups were carried out through her bank in her name. She knew better than anyone else how much money Father was making. She now
She only had to glance at me to understand everything. As I poured out my tale of woe, I could see from her expression that the evening had not gone well for her either. She was in a mildly depressed mood, usually brought on by an evening of steady losses at the mahjong table. I told her I was planning to take the train to Sichuan Province, and asked her to lend me money for the journey.
What a mixture of sense and nonsense! Sometimes I forget how young you are.
I was in deadly earnest. Trust me! I told her. I wont waste your money! Ill learn everything and come back and make everything right. Ill look after you and Ye Ye.
Stop dreaming! Youve been reading far too many Kung Fu novels. If you board that train youll most likely be kidnapped and sold as a ya tou (girl slave). Ye Ye and I will never be able to find you. Even here in Shanghai the police once found thirty
73
missing children chained to the wall of a tin factory, halfstarved and almost beaten to death. If they survived their childhood, they would be sold to brothels. Wu mei (Fifth Younger Daughter), you have to separate fact from fiction. Concentrate on the things youre really good at. Get yourself the best education you can. Forget the Kung Fu masters and martial arts and all that foolishness.
As for your Niang, go to her tomorrow and swallow your bitterness. Knock on her door. Beg for her mercy. Tell her everything she wishes to hear. You know as well as I what you should say. What can we do? She has the money and the power. If necessary kneel on the floor and kowtow to her. Humbly beg her for your tram fare. If you do that, everything will be all right, youll see. Now get under the covers and go to sleep. Youve got school tomorrow.
I went under the covers but did not sleep. I could not bring myself even to think of surrendering. I soon heard Aunt Baba snoring gently. As the night wore on I became more and more determined not to give in, no matter how cruel the torture. Defenceless and armed with nothing but my resolve, I knew only that I had to do it this way while hoping that Niang would possess no weapon powerful enough to vanquish me.
74
CHAPTER 7
Yuan Mu Qiu Yu:
Climbing a Tree to Seek for Fish
At the age of sixty-five, Ye Ye found himself without a penny to his name. Father made it clear that Ye Ye and Baba were to negotiate with Niang for their allowance. This was unheard of in a society where fathers-in-law hardly deigned to speak to their sons wives, let alone ask them for money. Besides breaking the Confucian bond of filial piety, Father was undermining Ye Yes self-respect. Gently but firmly, Ye Ye declined, telling Baba he had no intention of yuan mu qiu yu (climbing a tree to seek for fish).
Instead, father and daughter visited Grand Aunt at the Womens Bank and Aunt Baba asked for her old job back. In the formal diningroom of Grand Aunts sixth-floor flat, they were treated to a scrumptious dinner featuring Ye Yes preferred Ningpo delicacies. The menu included steamed crabs and yellow fish noodles, sharks fin dumplings and fresh shrimps with peas, tender bamboo shoots and anise-flavoured pork. This was followed by three well-loved desserts: glutinous rice balls with sesame paste, eight precious pudding and crabapple mousse. Mellowed by cups of warm rice wine, brother and sister sang some arias together from their favourite operas. Since escaping from Tianjin twenty months earlier, Father had been hiding out from the Japanese by secretly ensconcing himself in Grand Aunts penthouse during office hours. Many of
75
his financial coups were carried out through her bank in her name. She knew better than anyone else how much money Father was making. She now
Similar Books
