Secret of a Thousand Beauties (13 page)

14

W
hen I woke up the next morning, Purple had already made breakfast. Neither of us said anything for a while.

Finally, I asked, “Sister Purple, when do you plan to leave?”

“Before Aunty comes back with Little Doll. We need to pack soon.”

Suddenly I thought of another important question. “What about the embroidery; after we leave, who’s going to finish it?”

“Don’t worry, Aunty can work very fast if she has to; she’ll finish it without any help. Right now she needs us to also make small items to bring in money quickly.”

But I did not ask her about what was most on my mind: my friend on the mountain.

Exhausted from the revelations of the night before, we did not talk much during breakfast. After a period of awkward silence, Purple announced that she was still very tired and needed to take a nap. Feeling restless rather than tired, I picked up my embroidery and worked on it absentmindedly. Lunchtime came and went without Purple reappearing. Finally, worried about her, I knocked on her door, but as loudly as I knocked there was still no answer. Alarmed that she might have left without me, I pushed the door open to discover that Purple was lying unconscious on the floor. A puddle of blood had formed between her legs.

I knelt down beside her and raised my voice. “Sister Purple, what happened? Are you all right?”

She didn’t answer. I grabbed her mirror and put it underneath her nostrils. Relief washed over me when I saw mist appear on the glass. I grasped her shoulder and shook her until she opened her eyes.

“Sister Purple, please tell me what happened. Should I bring you to the hospital?”

She moaned, weakly waving her hand. “No, just help me get back on the bed.”

After I helped her to settle on the bed and propped her up with pillows, she began to sob. I put my arms around her, not knowing what to say. Not long ago we’d been discussing leaving together with her man and now she seemed to be bleeding to death.

“I’m pregnant, but I was afraid to tell you. But now I am having a miscarriage.”

“What . . .”

“Miscarriage. I just lost my baby.”

“What do you mean?” I felt confused; my mean aunt had never told me about this sort of thing.

“I was carrying Jiang’s baby. But I just lost it.” She pointed to the huge bloodstain. “It’s gone. Baby, I’m so sorry. I failed to bring you into this world.”

She turned to me. “Maybe this is my punishment for breaking my vow of celibacy.”

I was at a loss to find words to comfort her, but finally said, “Stay here and rest, Sister Purple, I’ll get a cloth and some water to clean this up.”

I helped Purple wash and change into a new set of clothes. Then I cleaned the floor, washed her bloodstained pants as best I could, and hung them up. Then I found her some rags to soak up the blood. When I finished, Purple was still moaning in pain.

“Purple, I need to take you to a hospital. I’m scared; you’re very pale.”

“But then the house will be empty, and if—”

“Purple, you’re still bleeding!”

“All right. . . .”

Before we left, I grabbed a few necessities, along with some money and a few embroideries I hoped I could sell. Then I tied everything up in a square cloth and went back for Purple, pulled her arm over my shoulder, and struggled through the door with her. Outside a woman was hurrying toward the house—it was a disheveled and irritable-looking Leilei!

I yelled, “Leilei, where have you been?”

“Am I allowed to have some fun, eh?”

Before I had a chance to reply, she pointed to Purple. “What’s wrong with you? You look like a ghost.”

As I was wondering what to say, Purple piped up weakly. “I’m sick. I have a severe stomachache. Maybe it’s food poisoning. Spring Swallow is taking me to the hospital.”

A sly smile flitted across Leilei’s face. “Sorry to hear that; hope you feel better.”

I asked, “Leilei, please come and help me with Purple. She can hardly walk.”

“I’m sorry. . . .” Her pretty brows knitted. “I’m not feeling very well myself. See you when you get back.”

“We need to go to Soochow, to the hospital.”

“Well, when you get back I’ll cook dinner, how’s that?”

“Sure, thank you,” I said.

Leilei looked at me as she smiled meaningfully. “Take your time. Purple, I hope you recover. Don’t worry about the house. I’ll be here keeping an eye on it.”

She waved good-bye and went inside.

I had a bad feeling about Leilei being left to herself in the house, but I had to get Purple to the hospital. I half-carried my big sister to the outskirts of the nearby village, where we hired a donkey cart to bring us to the hospital in Soochow. The ride was slow and bumpy, and I was terrified that Purple would die before we could get to the hospital.

When we arrived, the emergency room was crowded with moaning and shouting patients. Fortunately, a nurse cast one look at Purple and took her into a room. I was told to wait outside. I paced the floor worriedly until about an hour later, when the nurse came out and told me that Purple was in surgery but would be fine. I stayed with her that night.

The next morning, the doctor came to check on Purple, said she could be discharged and admonished that she should be married before getting pregnant. I helped her up and together we walked to the lobby.

When I stopped at the front desk and opened my cloth bag to pay, the woman said, “We do not ask for money. We are missionaries at this hospital. But please come back to our church.”

In the donkey cart back to the village, Purple said, “What if Aunty is back. What are we going to tell her?”

“Sister Purple, please don’t worry too much. How can Aunty blame you if you’re sick?”

“Spring Swallow,” she sighed, “the reason I was so eager to run away is because I didn’t want Aunty to find out I was pregnant.”

“Sister Purple, why don’t you just tell her the truth and marry Jiang?”

She shook her head. “I’ve made lots of money for her over the years, so she won’t let me go that easily.”

“If she has a lot of money, how come she’s living in a run-down house instead of a grand mansion?”

“She can’t risk attracting attention because of her past. I believe she’s hoarding her money somewhere.”

I didn’t see any money in Aunty’s secret chamber, so I agreed that it must be hidden somewhere else.

Despite the uncomfortable ride, Purple dozed off. My mind wandered to my mountaintop and Shen Feng. Then I dozed off, too, only to be awakened with a start by the cart driver’s loud shout of, “Get off now. Pay!”

I opened the door to the house, helped Purple to enter, then called out, “Leilei, we’re back!”

There was no answer and in the silence the house suddenly seemed eerie. Leilei was nowhere in sight.

I yelled again, “Leilei, where are you? We’re home and Purple is all right!”

Still no answer. I helped Purple to the bed in her room, then looked in the other rooms, but there was still no sign of Leilei.

Purple said, “She must be out with her lover again. She won’t be back until it’s time for Aunty to return.”

Something was bothering me; I assumed it was Purple’s condition. Then back in the living room I realized with a start what it was. The long wooden frame where we sat to work on
Along the River
was empty! Heart pounding, I dashed over to it hoping my eyes had deceived me. I hoped I would find it lying on the floor under the frame. But, no.
Along the River
was gone!

I tried to think quickly. Aunty could not have come back for it. It had to be Leilei. She must have stolen it while Purple and I were at the hospital.

I dashed back to Purple’s room and shook her shoulder. “Sister Purple, wake up. Leilei has taken
Along the River
!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Our embroidery. It’s gone!”

Purple was awake, but confused. “How can it be gone? You’re sure?”

“Leilei . . .”

She sat up straighter. “Yes, you must be right.”

“Sister Purple, this is terrible. When Aunty Peony comes home she’ll blame us, even if we tell her Leilei stole it. She’ll say it’s our fault for being away.”

“We can’t tell her I was in the hospital. . . .”

“We have to tell her. We’ll just say it was food poisoning. But she’ll blame us anyway.”

Purple shook her head. “
Along the River
is Aunty’s biggest commission. She’ll be ruined and we will too.
Hai,
now I’m afraid I have to change my plan.”

“What plan?”

“Now I’ve lost the baby, Jiang won’t be in a hurry to marry me. So I’d better stay with Aunty for the moment. Even though she’ll be angry, she needs us now to try to redo the embroidery.”

“What about Jiang, what are you going to tell him?”

“He’s already left for Peking. All I can do is send him a letter.”

When Aunty finally returned with Little Doll in tow, Purple was nearly recovered. They brought back sacks filled with thread, silk and cotton fabric, needles, and, best of all, snacks—sugared pears, rice cakes, pea-flour cake. And, of course, our group pictures from the photography studio. We munched the snacks while looking at the pictures. Purple and I acted enthusiastic, but this was somewhat forced as we knew there would be an explosion from Aunty.

It would be soon because Aunty was already looking around suspiciously.

It was Little Doll who blurted out, “Where’s Sister Leilei?”

Aunty asked sharply, “Yes, where is she?”

Purple and I looked at each other for seconds before she said, “Aunty Peony, I’m afraid Leilei is . . . gone—”

“What do you mean gone?”

“She’s left. We don’t know where she is.”

“So she took advantage and went out to play. Leilei is wild, but she’ll be back. She has nowhere else to go.”

I blurted out, “Aunty Peony, Leilei is not coming back. Because
Along the River
is gone, too, and we think she took it.”

Suddenly Aunty’s face turned white as bleached silk, but she still managed to act calm. “When did you find this out?”

Purple told Aunty that she’d had a severe stomachache and so we went to the hospital in Soochow. When we came home, both Leilei and the embroidery were gone. Aunty didn’t say a word.

A long silence passed until I said timidly, “Sister Purple believes we can redo the whole thing.”

Aunty finally lost her cool. “Redo! Do you know what you’re saying? We have only five months. Five months!”

Purple said very gently, “We have to try. I think we can do it, Aunty Peony.”

But she seemed frozen in her anger. According to tradition, it was the master embroiderer who must lay down the first stitch. And until Aunty calmed down and picked up her needle and thread, we could not get to work.

She always emphasized the importance of the first stitch. “Pause to think for a moment before you sew your first stitch—since the next thousand stitches all derive from this first one. Placing the first stitch is like laying the first brick of a house. If it is done wrong, the structure will be slanted and collapse. In the past, the student was expected to hold a banquet just to celebrate the teacher’s laying down this first stitch, and another for the last one.”

 

Purple and I woke up very early the next morning and mounted a new piece of silk on the frame. Then we waited anxiously for Aunty to come downstairs. Of course, before she could lay down the first stitch, she would have to draw the outline, or at least the first section of it. But we had started the mounting anyway to show her that we were determined to re-create
Along the River.

We waited and waited, but Aunty didn’t come down. Finally, we dared to go knock on her door. We knocked until our hands were sore, but there was still no answer.

I asked, “Sister Purple, should we go in?”

“But how, we don’t have the key. Unless we force open the door. . . .”

“I know where the key is.” I regretted my words as soon as they were out of my mouth.

Purple stared at me with rounded eyes.

I had no choice now but to tell her how I had found the key . . . and that I’d been inside Aunty’s room. But not about the hidden chamber.

“How long did you intend to keep this from me?”

“I’m sorry, Sister Purple. I was just too scared to tell you.”

“All right, then get the key now!”

I dashed down to take the key from behind the portrait, then back upstairs. I handed it to Purple, who quickly opened the door. Gingerly we stepped inside, but there was no sign of Aunty. I did notice, however, that the portrait of her with the young man was not in its place on the desk. However, the desk was still blocking the secret chamber, so I knew she could not be inside.