The chief kicked Spring Moon’s shoulder; his boots glinted menacingly under the pale moonlight. ‘Yeh! Stinky stuff! Soon-drop-dead bitch!’
Spring Moon moaned; Pearl quickly added, ‘So don’t you think it’s not worth your bullet, Chief? Besides, why fret over a piece of dirt, just needlessly stirring your qi and harming your health? It’s not worth it at all.’ Now seeing that the police chief had calmed down a bit, she ventured to put her hand on his shoulder. ‘Chief Che, you came here to get entertainment, not to get angry, right? We need you to be happy so you can take good care of our society by protecting us against all wrongs.’ She turned to wink at the onlookers. ‘Right?!’
Everybody nodded and uttered a loud ‘Yes!’
Slowly, Pearl moved her hand to cover the gun, then began to caress the chief’s arm while slowly guiding the weapon back to its holster – like a snake returning to its hole. After that, she slipped her arm around the chief’s. ‘Come on, Chief Che, let’s forget this piece of scum and have some fun. I’ll treat you to a glass of champagne, or,’ she winked, ‘anything that takes your fancy.’ Now she ventured to touch the chief’s cheek, her red-painted nails sparkling eerily under the yellowish lantern light. ‘I promise you the wine is imported from France and you’ll love it just as you love justice.’ Her gaze swept around the audience before she turned back to the chief, wetting her lips. ‘And I’ll never say “no” to a big-shot customer like you. Not that I’m stupid or smart, it’s simply because I can’t afford to turn down righteousness!’
‘Well said!’ The group clapped.
Finally, with a stunning smile, Pearl wriggled her water-snake waist and led the staggering police chief away.
Waiting until they were out of sight, people let out a collective sigh of relief. Then some stooped to examine Spring Moon. Blood continued to ooze from her arm where the bullet had grazed her. Some simply stared blankly, as if disappointed that the incident had turned out to be an anticlimax with no killing. Fang Rong ordered two of the guards to take the poor girl back to the pavilion.
I sneaked up to her and asked, ‘Mama, shouldn’t we get her to the hospital?’
She shot me a dirty look. ‘Hospital? Ah, what big talk! But who’s going to pay? You? All right, if you pay, then we’ll send her to a hospital—’
‘But Mama, I don’t have any money!’
‘Neither do I!’
Wu Qiang chimed in, ‘Don’t worry, Xiang Xiang. We’ll ask our herbalist to treat her; it’s much cheaper.’
‘What about –?’
Mama snorted. ‘If she dies, she dies, that’s her fate, nobody can change that, not you, not me, not Guan Yin, not Buddha, not a Western doctor nor an expensive hospital.’ She waved vehemently to the guards. ‘Take her back, now!’ Then she spat on Spring Moon. ‘Stinky stuff! Bringer of bad luck!’
After Spring Moon had been carried away, Fang Rong put on a big smile, announcing to the sisters and the guests while frantically waving her hands, ‘Nothing happened; everything’s all right! Now go back to the party and enjoy yourselves!’
Immediately the group dispersed – some customers went to drink; others watched Mr. Wu demonstrate calligraphy; yet others listened to the sisters sing and swing their curvy bodies to the rhythm of the music …
It both surprised and disgusted me that people were indeed having a good time as if nothing had happened.
Since no one was paying any attention to me, I went to sit on a bench to calm myself. Spring Moon’s image kept spinning in my mind – her sad eyes, her pained face. Who was she? How did she end up in Peach Blossom? Was her family so poor that they had to sell her into the prostitution house? But she didn’t look poor – she had a smooth face and nice skin. Was her father also a criminal like mine? Had she been kidnapped by a bandit?
I sat in a daze I didn’t know how long until I flinched from a slap on my shoulder. I turned and saw Fang Rong’s menacing face hovering above mine. And an old man’s wrinkled one next to hers.
‘Xiang Xiang, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you know that you’re here to work, not to relax?’
I sprang up in no time.
Mama turned to Old Wrinkles. ‘Look, Big Master Fung, this is our famous Xiang Xiang, face beautiful enough to outshine the moon and shame the flowers. Don’t you think?’
Old Wrinkles scrutinised me the same way my mother had examined a choice piece of pork in the market for our yuanxiao dinner. ‘Wonderful, wonderful! The fame has not been spread for nothing,’ he mumbled, while stroking his stubble with his bony, long-nailed fingers.
Mama nipped my chin and ordered, ‘Xiang Xiang, give Big Master Fung a big smile.’
‘Big Master Fung, see the dimples?’ She shot Old Wrinkles a flirtatious look, causing goose bumps to creep on my skin. ‘Aren’t they so charming that they’ll suck you in and make you forget all your troubles?’
Old Wrinkles nodded appreciatively, while his eyes caressed me all over. ‘Yes indeed, indeed.’
Mama went on excitedly, ‘Big Master Fung, there’s one more precious thing about Xiang Xiang.’
‘Eh? What is it?’
Mama lowered her voice to create suspense. ‘Xiang Xiang has a natural body fragrance as if her diet were nothing but flowers.’
Now, like a bulldog, Old Wrinkles leaned close to me and sniffed. ‘Yes, she does smell wonderful. But I think it’s just perfume.’
Mama chuckled. ‘Oh, of course not, Big Master Fung. You have my word, or your money back.’ She winked. ‘Xiang Xiang hasn’t yet received any customers, so who’d buy her perfume?’
‘All right, no need to explain,’ Old Wrinkles said, then he whispered something into Mama’s ear to which she frantically nodded.
I could only catch tidbits of the conversation – ‘fresh dewy peach,’ ‘mighty emperor stretches the bow,’ ‘golden-gun-never-drop pills’ – but their manner made my skin creep and my cheeks burn. After more prurient glances directed from my head to toe and then back from toe to head, the two burst into guffaws.
When Old Wrinkles finally left, so did Mama’s laughter. Now she turned to cast me a murderous look. ‘Xiang Xiang, what’s the matter with you? Don’t stand there like a fool; come and help!’
The party went on long past midnight. After most of the guests had gone, Pearl materialised out of nowhere and joined me to go back to Peach Blossom Pavilion. When we were inside the rickshaw, I noticed that her eyes were blurry, her face flushed, and her mouth reeked of alcohol.
‘Sister Pearl, are you all right?’
‘Oh yes. Don’t you worry about me, I’m fine. I just wonder how’s Spring Moon now. Hai, poor girl, I hope she can pull through.’
I asked tentatively, ‘Where’s the police chief?’
‘He was tipsy. Otherwise Spring Moon would have been shot in the head already and started her journey to the Western Paradise. Then I got him completely drunk, so his gang took him back. Hopefully by tomorrow morning he won’t remember a thing. Otherwise he may still cause trouble.’
‘Is he very important?’
Pearl chuckled. ‘Did you see how he swung his gun? He’s a local despot! Have you ever heard the saying “When a scholar argues with a soldier, even if he has reasons, he has no way to make them clear”?’
She plunged on, ‘Because the soldier is armed with a gun! So he doesn’t give a damn about the scholar’s reasoning, he’ll just shoot him!’ She looked me straight in the eyes. ‘And remember, Xiang Xiang, we’re not