Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society (5 page)

With a rush of hope, I sprinted into the park.

It was completely deserted. Yesterday’s stage had been removed and the acrobats had vanished. I felt limp. This was bad. Very bad. Big Aunt was gone, the acrobats were gone. For a fleeting moment I considered creeping back to Father’s house and begging him for forgiveness, but the thought of Niang overwhelmed me with dread. Perhaps it would be better to end the misery and die.

I looked at the sycamore tree next to me, searching for a foothold to climb to the top and jump to my death. But there, near a clump of leaves, I saw a row of ants struggling up a slippery rock face. The ants’ determination gave me courage. If the ants could survive, so could I.

For a long time I sat in silence, trying to picture Big Aunt’s expression when she first taught me the proverb: ‘
Bai zhe bu nao!
(
) Stick to your goal despite a hundred setbacks.’ I was far away in my thoughts when I heard a gardener clipping the lilac bushes nearby.

‘Where’s your mother?’ he said. ‘It’s not safe for a little girl to be hanging around a park by
herself. Don’t you know there’s a war going on?’

‘Actually, I was looking for the acrobats who performed here yesterday. Are they coming back today?’

‘Their permit only allows them to perform in the Plaza three times a year. Their next appearance will be during the Dragon Boat Festival in a few months’ time.’

‘Where can I find them?’ I couldn’t conceal my disappointment.

He shrugged. ‘How would I know? Shanghai is a big place. They could be anywhere…’ Then he saw my tears. ‘Now, now! Don’t cry. Tell you what. Occasionally, I’ve seen those boys working at a bookstall in the bazaar behind that row of tall trees. Why don’t you see if they’re there today?’

In the bazaar, hawkers were selling toys, delicate papercuts, crickets, birds in cages, fans, fireworks, stick incense, fruits, ice cream, preserved plums, dates, even dried squid and herbal medicines from makeshift stands. I was overwhelmed by the smells and colours, the hustle and bustle of buying and selling and bargaining. Finally I spotted the bookstall. A white-haired woman was arranging hundreds of new and used kung fu novels on racks that resembled window shutters. A sign said:
‘Martial Arts Academy (
) and Bookstall. Books for sale or loan’.

I chose a book,
Warriors from the Marsh of Mount Liang,
sat down and flipped open the pages. Printed in black and white on cheap ricepaper, it told the story of a group of idealistic men who formed a secret brotherhood in the twelfth century to right the wrongs of those who were unjustly accused.

The woman came and sat next to me. ‘This book is based on a famous novel written by Shi Nan-An six hundred years ago during the Ming dynasty. It has been adapted for children and has lots of drawings. We have many young customers your age.’ She smiled at me so kindly that I felt brave enough to speak.

‘I know you!’ I burst out. ‘Are you the leader of the acrobats who performed at Du Mei Park yesterday?’

‘You’re right!’ she smiled warmly. ‘Here comes one of my boys now!’

There were the lilting tones of a bamboo flute and the boy who had given me his card pushed through the crowd. I hardly recognized him without his satin costume, but I remembered his face. His eyes were laughing and I saw that they were different colours: one dark brown and the other blue.

4

New Friends

The boy held out his hand. ‘
Ni hau
(
), how are you? You’re the girl who keeps coins in her ears! I was hoping to see you again. I’m David Black and this is my teacher,
Wu Nai Mai
(
), Grandma Wu.’

My heart pounded but I managed to get up from the bench. First I bowed to Grandma Wu, then I shook David’s hand.

‘I’m Ye Xian but my English name is CC.’ I tried to keep my voice steady. ‘Your show was marvellous.’

‘It wasn’t too bad, was it?’ David replied, with a big grin. ‘I see you’re reading one of my favourite books,
Warriors from the Marsh of Mount Liang.
’

‘It’s my favourite too!’ I said.

‘I like it because the Mount Liang warriors dared to stand up for their beliefs,’ David said. ‘If
you read just one book in your life, it should be this one!’

‘I wish I could be a Mount Liang warrior,’ I said.

‘You can be! Grandma Wu, do you think members of our society are as brave as the warriors of Mount Liang?’

‘We try to be,’ Grandma Wu said. ‘Many of the fighting techniques I’ve taught you are named after characters in this novel. Why don’t you show CC some of your kung fu moves?’

‘I have a better idea!’ David said. ‘May I invite CC to the academy this Sunday? That’s the day of my match.’

‘I don’t see why not.’ Grandma Wu turned to me. ‘David’s going to fight the junior boxing champion of Shanghai in an exhibition match at noon this Sunday. He’ll be using classic kung fu moves such as Wu Song’s “Stepping backwards to ride the tiger” and Liu Kui’s “Two-handed axe”.’

‘I’ve always wanted to learn kung fu,’ I said wistfully. Everything was happening so fast that I felt confused. Just an hour ago, I was at the bottom of an abyss. My life seemed full of darkness and my heart was aching so much that I yearned to die. But hope must have been lurking somewhere all along. I had a sudden longing for the place I used to call home when my mother was
still alive. Were my worries truly over or would Grandma Wu turn me away too, just as Father had done when he slammed the door behind me?

Some of my pain must have shown on my face. ‘What is it, CC? Is something troubling you?’ Grandma Wu looked at me with concern.

Her tone was so sympathetic that tears came to my eyes. ‘My aunt left for Nan Tian Island early this morning. I had a quarrel with my stepmother this afternoon and my father threw me out of their house. I don’t know where to go tonight…’ My voice broke and, to my embarrassment, I started to weep again.

Grandma Wu put her arm around my shoulders. ‘Don’t cry! You’re among friends. Let me get something straight, though. Did you say that your aunt left for Nan Tian early this morning? It so happens that I was born on that island and grew up there. What’s your aunt’s name?’

When I told her it was Ye Jia-ming (
) her eyes opened wide. ‘What a small world! I do believe that you and I have
yuan fen
(
) together. Just like the poem says:

People With
yuan fen
are destined to like one another Friendship develops even if a thousand miles apart But should
yuan fen
be absent between two individuals They will remain strangers despite sitting face to face.
‘Here! Dry your tears. Take a deep breath and tell us your story.’

So I told Grandma Wu and David about the quarrel with my stepmother, and my father’s anger when I called her ‘his New Woman’. I had never revealed my painful family situation to anyone before and felt uneasy discussing it with two people I had just met. ‘Now I have nowhere to go,’ I said, hanging my head.

Grandma Wu and David were silent at first. Then Grandma Wu gently lifted my face and said, ‘Your aunt’s godmother Liu Nai-Nai, Grandma Liu, and I lived across the street from each other in Nan Tian when we were children! My son and I still own that house. We’ve been friends for more than fifty years. She taught everyone on the island how to swim, including my son and your aunt. I remember little Ye Jia-ming well. She and my son used to build sandcastles on the beach hour after hour. In those days, she wore pigtails and liked to draw pictures on the sand with a stick!’