The Silver Lotus (15 page)

Ah Chu, being a creature with artistic as well as theatric instincts, took even greater pleasure embroidering gruesome tales about Lady Yee's defeat of the Pearl River pirates of the Red Flag. To hear Ah Chu tell it, every corsair on the coast of China now went in mortal fear of
crossing pikes with Lady Yee and her great ship,
The Silver Lotus
. Ah Chu's performance was a delight to witness. He would begin by luring in the grocery man, or the spice vendor, with some lurid and tantalizing image of his famous mistress, and then pretend he had spoken out of turn, and that his slip of the tongue should be ignored. Natural curiosity, like gravity, did most all the work. While feigning reticence at every turn, Ah Chu grudgingly and gradually gave way to inquisitive appeals, and theatrically unveiled the whole marvelous chronicle of the celebrated sea battle of Hainan Island, and the heroic leadership displayed by the incomparable and indomitable Lady Yee. Chinese tradesmen, like people everywhere, always savored scintillating, heroic tales, and this account, thanks to Ah Chu's colorfully augmented interpretation, was pretty grand in every dimension. As might be surmised, the entertaining narrative made the rounds of the local fishing villages faster than typhoid fever strips a prison ship of inmates.

On the other hand, Lady Yee's maid, Li-Lee, had been encouraged to spread remarks reflecting her mistress's all-abiding concern for the well-being of those in her employ, her credentialed heritage, and her broad philanthropic concerns. Lady Yee was correct in her assumption that this posture would encourage the village people to talk more freely in Li-Lee's presence. It was only natural for working folk to seek sympathy for everyday tribulations, disappointments, and complaints, and Lady Yee told Li-Lee to lend a thoughtful and patient ear to every such conversation, and to report them accurately if the sentiments expressly merited further consideration.

With the help of her faithful servants, Lady Yee soon compiled a fairly accurate picture of the lives led by the Chinese fishermen on the bay, as well as information about a good number of other people in Monterey. She knew what they had, what they lacked, and what they needed to make their lives more bearable. She was also aware of something else. She knew that nothing would or could be done to improve
their condition without the wholehearted collaboration of the elders who directed the village tongs. These grizzled old burghers guarded their prerogatives jealously, and they maintained a traditional belief in the righteous dominance of their gender. Allowing a strange woman, albeit a wealthy and prominent woman, to direct matters for their village constituents was not a matter that would garner support, no matter how philanthropic the motive or viable the endeavor.

Lady Yee was well aware that a very tenuous line of demarcation separated success and failure when it came to dealing with the social insecurities expressed by the poorer classes of Chinese, but this had always been so. No one, regardless of station or wealth, wished to hazard reputation and status by taking instructions from a woman, so Lady Yee chose a course by which the tong elders would find it in their best interest to cooperate. And the best way to accomplish that was by letting the tong elders believe the whole business was their idea in the first place, but stalking that elusive horse would take careful planning and very subtle execution.

It was Captain Hammond who suggested that Lady Yee take a leaf from her father's lexicon and invite those tong elders with the greatest seniority and influence to an elaborate feast to mark the summer solstice, or some other celestial anniversary the Chinese were so fond of celebrating. Then, he said, his wife should unleash the incomparable Ah Chu and let him work his magic on the old gentlemen, for it was a sure wager that none of them, either in China or California, had ever experienced anything like the culinary genius of Lady Yee's cantankerous but brilliant chef. The captain observed that it was always far easier to call upon a man's better nature when he is well and happily fed. He went on to suggest that a fine bottle of brandy might be well received. It would warm old toes and perhaps old hearts as well.

Once the elders had been sated with fine food and wine, Captain Hammond believed the tong elders could be influenced to acknowledge
reasonable means for the sake of their constituency, especially if they were allowed to save face by assuming the mantle of credit. Lady Yee agreed, of course, and began to lay her plans to win over the tongs' ancient dragons.

Lady Yee's research had unearthed two particular and pressing needs shared by all the fishing villages along the coast of Monterey. First, though the Chinese had some access to traditional folk medicines and a few apothecaries who acted as doctors, they had virtually no facilities to treat serious injuries, communicable infections, or childhood diseases. They also lacked all but the most rudimentary form of education for their children, and many would grow to adulthood in America with only a limited ability to understand or utilize the English language. In most cases, pidgin English was the best that could be expected, and this limitation only harnessed people to lives of stoop labor and social inferiority. There was an exception to this rule, however. Though the Chinese had distinct difficulties with the English language, which was understandable considering its irrational grammar and pronunciation, she came across any number of her countrymen who spoke very passable Spanish. Lady Yee ascribed this to the fact that the Mexican population of California was far less racially biased than the Yankees were, and in some cases intermarriage and cultural assimilation followed, as they had in other parts of the world.

Lady Yee harbored no ambitious designs for building hospitals or schools. She knew that such manifest ostentation would be frowned on by every party concerned, even above and beyond the expected objections from the more conservative elements of both races. However she chose to influence the situation for the better, it was imperative that any substantive changes be almost indiscernible at first, at least until people gradually became used to the novelty, and that would take time.

The most important element Lady Yee had to address was the medical problem. She knew that no local Western doctor would set aside his
practice to care for poor Chinese fishermen, but on the other side of the dilemma, Occidental physicians knew nothing of the benefits derived from Chinese medicine, which in some instances was far superior to Western medical practices. What was needed was a Chinese doctor trained in Western medicine as well as Chinese pharmacopeia, and that was an almost impossible order to fill in California.

Lady Yee decided to call upon her father for help. She wrote him a long letter describing the problem, asking him to assist her in finding a Chinese physician trained in Western medicine who was also preferably qualified in Western surgical practices. She understood that there had once been a Western medical school in Hong Kong run by an English missionary service, but she wasn't in a position to make any inquiries on her own behalf. She said that she was willing to sponsor a Western-trained Chinese doctor to come to California under contract to work for the Macy Trust for five years. If the doctor happened to be married with children, the trust would sponsor his family as well. The candidate would be given a house and a base salary of a thousand dollars a year, and his patients would, in turn, pay what they could in cash or kind. All medical supplies would be provided, and a clean infirmary established at a location convenient for his patients. If the doctor were educating a qualified apprentice, as many Chinese doctors did, the apprentice would also be welcome as long as the doctor agreed to help educate local Chinese apprentices as well. Lady Yee requested her father to finance the search, for which she would recompense him in Yankee gold, or Western exports if he preferred.

Finding Chinese schoolteachers who could speak viable English was no easy matter either, and Lady Yee asked her husband to use his San Francisco commercial contacts to initiate a search.

The captain said he would be happy to be of assistance. It was Lady Yee's money, and she could do with it as she pleased. But he cautioned his wife that she should avoid anything premature where the various
tong elders were concerned. He suggested that it might be best not to mention anything about her plans for the present, as this would give power-jealous people too much time to fashion obtuse objections and thus create hobbling impediments. The captain observed that to put all the elements in place might take a year or more. Housing for the medical staff and teachers would have to be seen to, and a location for an infirmary secured and adapted to fit its purpose. These complex arrangements would take time, and it would be best if they were kept secret for the present. If matters turned sour, it would be best not to be caught wrong-footed with promised obligations impossible to fulfill.

When it came to tactical thinking in business, Lady Yee always bowed to her husband's insightful perspectives, and she observed that it was one of the things about her handsome captain that made him more Chinese than Yankee. She listened carefully when he suggested that the time delay should be made to work in her favor. While she secretly made all the physical and business arrangements, Lady Yee would be best served by discovering what incidental needs she could serve on behalf of the tong elders specifically. Many small but timely considerations, if presently dispensed with enlightened disinterest, would make firm allies for her later endeavors. Once everything was in place, she could unveil her contribution as a fait accompli, giving possible opponents no time for obstruction. And if she desired complete support, Lady Yee should modestly claim that the greatest credit rests with the tong elders. In this manner, now wreathed in local prestige, the elders could be encouraged first not only to civically support these institutions, but second to protect them as well to save face as tong administrators. But the captain advised her to move cautiously and, as much as possible, anonymously. By way of referring to her possible opposition by certain elements, the captain laughed and said that old men, like old dogs, needed very special attention. It took them longer to get used to
strangers, and one pushed their circumspect schedule at one's peril. It was best to approach them inconspicuously, like a harmless snail. In time, if she remained prudent and patient, a small kindness here and an acknowledgement there would have the old burghers wagging their tails whenever she approached.

Lady Yee took everything her husband recommended to heart, and began to model her diplomacy accordingly. While waiting for a convenient opportunity to arise in which to be of some service to the tongs, Lady Yee went quietly in search of properties to suit her purposes. And for this she utilized the services of her penny-wise lawyer, J. W. Bishop.

The first priority by way of property was a location for the infirmary. It had to be a building large enough to house twelve beds on a split ward, as well as all the medical space required. It had to be close enough to the Chinese communities to be convenient, and innocuous enough to the rest of the community so as to be almost invisible. The property had to be a good investment on its own merits, and relatively easy to convert and improve upon for the purposes intended. With instructions in hand, Lady Yee sent Mr. Bishop out to fill her needs as unobtrusively as possible. Her personal connection to any transaction was to remain a secret.

Her second consideration was housing for her future employees. The doctors would need modern, comfortable accommodations, within reason of course, and so would the teachers. Both groups would also require their own transportation, necessitating barn space and someone to look after the horses and rigs. In this quest, Lady Yee was almost immediately satisfied.

Captain Hammond's bank informed him, by way of a courtesy, that a handsome nine-acre property, obliquely adjacent to his own lot to the northwest, was up for sale. There were two modest houses on the property, three and two bedrooms respectively. Both were well founded and less than ten years old. The property included a full barn with six
stalls, a dry hayloft, a water tower with dovecote, a large chicken house, and a goat shed.

The owner, a successful Italian nurseryman named Franco Bellini, had shared the property with his cousin. Bellini's wife and cousin had recently passed away, and the nurseryman was retiring and returning to Florence to spend his latter years and his considerable wealth among the relatives who said he'd never make good in America.

The houses aside, though they were sound, well maintained, and worth the price asked, the five acres of beautifully pruned fruit trees were what convinced Lady Yee that she might just know a way to get one half of the property to carry the annual expenses of the other half. She easily convinced her husband to buy the property as a company investment on that basis alone, notwithstanding the beauty and the views.

Lady Yee then hired four talented Chinese craftsmen to make whatever interior changes were deemed necessary to accommodate Chinese occupants comfortably. Handsome tiled ovens replaced open fireplaces, and the kitchens were rebuilt with iron stoves designed to accommodate Chinese cooking practices. The same considerations were also applied to the laundry rooms and the sanitary facilities. She employed the same Japanese gentleman who had taken care of her own orchards to oversee the new property. Mr. Bellini had planted apples, pears, plums, and lemons, all very complementary components if dried or sold as preserves. To ensure the ongoing fertility of his trees, Mr. Bellini had also set aside an additional half acre for his ten beehives. Lady Yee delighted at the possibilities the mutual properties possessed to produce income while satisfying personal needs. On her conceptual abacus, she could extrapolate potential remuneration that would ripple out over her financial landscape and satisfy numerous requirements, like a fan of modest but dependable beneficence. Captain Hammond resigned himself to the role of bemused observer. When it came to the Chinese transacting business with other Chinese, he had long since learned to
keep his head down and rely on benign disinterest to save face, contention, and money.