Ode to gallantry, p.20
Ode to Gallantry, page 20
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Dusk fell, and the kitchen sent eight dishes of fine food to Shi Potian's room. Shijian waited on him as he ate. When he asked her to sit down and eat with him, her face turned red. She declined the invitation regardless of what he said. But her refusal did not matter much to Shi Potian, for he ate four big bowls of rice one after another with relish after that.
He chatted with Shijian after dinner, asking about this and that, as if there was nothing that he did not find novel or amazing. Soon, the sky was totally dark, but he did not seem to have any intention of releasing the maid. Concerned that her young master might suffer a relapse and start having inappropriate ideas again, Shijian took her leave, closing the door of the room as she went.
Left with nothing to do, Shi Potian sat on the bed and circulated the internal energy in his body according to the lines shown on the torsos of the eighteen wooden figurines.
Suddenly, three knocks on the window broke through the silence of the night. As Shi Potian watched with his eyes wide open, the window shutter lifted. A fair and slender hand reached into the room and waved twice at him. When he saw the pale green sleeve around the wrist, a thought flashed through his mind. Remembering the girl with the melonseed-shaped face and greenish clothes that had come many nights ago, he leapt off the bed and ran towards the window. "Elder Sister!" he called.
"Why are you calling me 'Elder Sister'?" came the clear, melodious and somewhat slightly disgusted-sounding response. "Come out quickly!"
Shi Potian pushed the window open and climbed out. There was no one there. As his stood wondering about the strangeness of the incident, things went totally black. A pair of soft and warm hands had closed over his eyes. A moment later, he heard a giggle behind him and smelt the fragrance of orchids. Startled and delighted at the same time, he knew that the girl had come to play with him. Growing up in the barren hills, he had often felt bored and lonely, until he found companionship in his yellow dog. Thus, he was very happy that a young person had suddenly come to play with him.
Reaching backwards, he said, "Watch out, I am going to catch you." Although he was fast in his movements, the girl was even faster, slipping away with such unusual speed that he caught nothing. Then, noticing a greenish swirl of clothes among the flowers, he rushed forward and make a grab for it, only to come away with two handfuls of thorns from the rose bushes. "Ah!" he cried out in pain.
The girl poked her head out from the shade of a Chinese redbud tree (zi3 jing1, or Cercis chinensis) at once. Giggling softly, she said, "Do not make any noise, blockhead. Come with me, quickly!"
Shi Potian followed her without another thought.
The girl ran until she reached the foot of the wall that surrounded the compound of the Clan of Eternal Happiness. As she was about to leap over the wall, two men came running up. They had heard the noise that the girl and Shi Potian made. Brandishing a sabre and a pair of short-handled axes respectively, the men stood before the girl and shouted: "Stop! Who goes there?"
Just then, Shi Potian arrived. The two men, being clan members on patrol in the garden, stepped aside as soon as they saw the smiles on the faces of Shi Potian and the girl. Bowing, they said, "Your subordinates did not know that she is the Clan-Leader's friend. Do forgive us for the offence." Then, they bowed slightly to the girl as a gesture of apology.
The girl responded by sticking her tongue out at them. Then, she beckoned to Shi Potian before leaping up to the top of the wall.
Shi Potian knew that he would never be able to clear such a great height regardless of how hard he tried, but the sight of the girl beckoning and the two clan-members watching with their eyes opened wide did not make it possible for him to ask for a ladder with which to scale the wall. Thus, pretending that he was not bothered by the situation, he proceeded to make the jump with both his feet. To his amazement, a burst of energy appeared beneath his soles and propelled him upwards. He did not know where this energy came from, but it sent him right over the wall on to the other side in a light and graceful-looking manner. He did not even need to stop at the top of the wall.
"Good skills!" said the two clan-members loudly in admiration, for the sight took them by surprise.
Then, a *crash* was heard on the other side of the wall, as if something heavy had fallen on to the ground. As it turned out, Shi Potian did not know how to land, so he had taken a tumble. The noise stunned the two clan-members so much that they exchanged enquiring looks. They would never know that their clan-leader had fallen flat on his back in such a clumsy manner despite the exquisite display of the qinggong that they had witnessed.
The girl, however, saw everything clearly from her high perch. Alarmed that Shi Potian was unable to get up after the fall, she quickly leapt off the wall. "Tian- ge, how are you?" she asked gently as she reached towards him. "You have not recovered from your illness, so you should not have flaunted your skills." Then, she put her hands against his rib-cage and helped him up.
The fall had indeed cause Shi Potian a lot of pain in the buttocks, but he was finally able to stand with the assistance of the girl.
By and by, the girl said, "Let us go to our old place, shall we? Are you still hurting? Can you walk?"
Although the fall was a serious one, Shi Potian's profound internal energy took the pain away within moments. So he said, "All right! I do not hurt anymore, so I can certainly walk!"
Reaching for his right hand, the girl said, "You have not seen me for many days. Do you miss me?" She lifted her head slightly and looked into Shi Potian's eyes.
In return, the young man saw a fair and delicate face looking up at him, with a mischievous smile at the corner of its lips. The eyes on that face shone like two bright stars in the moonlight, while the fragrance of the body to which that face belonged wafted into his nostrils. His heart could not help but skip a beat. Although he did not understand a single thing about the matters of men and women, he reacted like most twenty-year-old young men would in a situation like this. Regardless of how poor their knowledge might be, these young men would naturally develop the feelings of admiration for such a beautiful girl.
After a moment of dumbfoundedness, he said, "You came to see me the other night, but you left almost immediately. I thought about you a lot."
The girl gave him a winsome smile. "You went missing for such a long time," she said. "Then, you were unconscious for many days. You do not know how anxious my heart was. I have been visiting you every evening for the past two nights. Do you not know? You seemed rather engrossed in your martial arts training, so I did not dare to call out to you. I was concerned that I might disturb your efforts in treating your injuries."
"Really?" asked Shi Potian in delight. "I did not know anything about your visits at all. Dear Elder Sister, why ... why are you so good to me?"
Suddenly, the expression on the girl's face changed. Casting his hand aside, she asked angrily: "What did you call me? I ... I should have guessed why you did not return after such a long absence. You must have been ... been out together with a bad woman. Hmmph! You have become so used to calling her 'Dear Elder Sister' that you are using the same address on me as well!"
Shi Potian was stunned, for she had been talking and smiling in a relaxed manner only a moment ago. He could not understand why she had suddenly become unusually angry: "I ... I ..."
Unfortunately, his lack of explanation only served to make the girl angrier. Reaching out and pulling his right ear, she said, "Which slut have you been with recently? Do you address her as 'Good Elder Sister'? Speak quickly! Speak quickly!" She tugged hard at his ear each time she uttered the words 'Speak quickly!', so she had given it three consecutive tugs by the time she was done with her three questions.
The tugs were so painful that Shi Potian shouted: "A-yo! You are so fierce. I am not playing with you anymore!"
The girl pulled even harder at his ear. "Are you thinking of casting me aside and ignoring me?" she asked. "Well, it is not so easily done. Which woman have you been with? Speak quickly!"
"I have indeed been with a woman," answered Shi Potian with a miserable face. "She sleeps in my room..."
Furious, the girl exerted so much strength into tugging Shi Potian's ear that it began to bleed. "I will go and kill her right now!" she screeched.
Shi Potian panicked. "That is Elder Sister Shijian," he said. "She cooks birds' nest, as well as ginseng-and-millet porridge for me to eat. Although the porridge was burnt and became very bitter in taste, she is still a very nice person. You ... you cannot have her killed."
By then, there were already two streams of tears rolling down the girl's cheeks, yet she suddenly stopped crying and started to smile. Spitting in disgust, she gave his ear another forceful tug. "I was wondering which 'Good Elder Sister' she was," she said. "But you were actually talking about that stinking maidservant. You liar! You are so glib-tongued that I refuse to believe you. I have been observing you through the window for the past few nights. You have been well-behaved and disciplined in the presence of that stinking maid, so there, I will consider you a good boy!"
When she reached out and touched his ear again, Shi Potian jumped with fright. He wanted to turn his head away, only to find that girl rubbing his ear gently with the palm of her hand. "Tian- ge, does it hurt?" she asked with a smile.
"Of course, it does," answered Shi Potian.
"You deserved it!" said the girl with another smile. "Who told you to deceive me? You even called me an odd-sounding 'Good Elder Sister'!"
"My mother says that it is polite to refer to others as 'Elder Sisters'," said Shi Potian. "Have I been wrong to address you in this way?"
The girl responded by glaring at him. "When have I asked you to be polite towards me?" she asked. "All right, since you feel unjustified, I will allow you to pull my ear." She turned her head and offered her ear to the young man.
As a faint fragrance wafted from her face towards Shi Potian, he lifted his hand and fiddled a few times with her ear. Then, he shook his head and said, "I will not pull it. In that case, how should I address you?"
"How did you address me in the past?" asked the girl, feeling upset again. "Have you forgotten even my name?"
Shi Potian refocused his attention and offered a serious reply: " Guniang, I would like to tell you that you have made a mistake. I am not your Tian- ge. I am not Shi Potian; I am Gouzazhong."
The girl was stunned for a moment. Then, she put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to one side, so that the moonlight shone on his face. She gazed at him for a while before bursting into laughter: "Ha ha ha! Tian- ge, you really know how to crack a joke. You sounded so real that I had a fright, thinking that I had indeed gotten the wrong person. Let us go!" Taking his hand in hers, she walked off.
"I am not joking," said Shi Potian in alarm. "You have indeed made a mistake. Look, I do not even know your name."
The girl stopped and turned around. Taking his left hand in her right one, she smiled like a flower in bloom and said, "All right, I will let you have your way if you want to take full advantage of the situation before putting the matter to rest. My surname is Ding, and my given name is Dang. You have always called me 'Ding Ding Dang Dang'. Do you remember?" As soon as she finished talking, she turned around and started running like the wind.
Shi Potian surged forward with her, his feet stumbling as he went. He did not have any alternative except to run along with her. Initially, he found himself gasping for breath because it was very energy-consuming to keep up with the girl, but after running for a while and adjusting the energy in his body, his steps became increasingly lighter until he was moving with no effort at all.
He did not know how far he had run, but he soon saw a moon-lit body of water. They had reached the bank of a river. Ding Dang pulled at his hand and leapt lightly on to the bow of a little boat that was moored at the water's edge. As for Shi Potian, his unability to turn his internal strength into qinggong caused him to land heavily on the boat. Crash! Water splashed up the sides of the tiny vessel at once, as it shook and bobbed incessantly.
Ding Dang gasped. Then, she smiled and said, "Look at you. Do you want the bottom of the boat turned towards the sky?" She picked a bamboo pole up from the bow and pushed it gently against the bank. The little boat floated towards the centre of the river.
The moon shone its light on to the river, causing an incomplete reflection of itself to shine back from the surface of the water. When Ding Ding touched the water with the bamboo pole, the moon in the river shattered and turned into rivulets of silvery light. The little boat continued to float forward.
By and by, Shi Potian noticed that there were poplars and willows growing on both the banks of the river. There were also a few houses, but these were located far away from him and one another. As a light and pleasant fragrance wafted towards him in the stillness of the night, he found himself wondering: Did it come from the flowers on the banks? Or was it the scent of Ding Dang's body?
The little boat made a few turns along the river before entering a narrow waterway and coming to a stop under a stone bridge. Ding Dang secured the boat to the branch of a willow tree with a thick rope. This tree stood with other poplars and willows that grew densely by the water's edge, almost hiding the bridge from view. With the moonlight shining through the branches of the trees, the bridge became a small house that Nature built for the little boat.
"This place is really good," said Shi Potian in admiration. "Even if it is daytime, I am afraid most people would not even know that there is a boat here."
"Why have you waited until today to utter your praises?" Ding Dang remarked with a smile. Then, she went into the cabin, brought out a straw mat and placed the mat on the bow. Next, she brought out two sets of cups and chopsticks as well as a pot of wine. "Please sit here, and have some wine!" she said. Finally, she brought out a few plates of peanuts, broadbeans and dried meat, and set them all in front of Shi Potian.
The young man was struck by the fragrance of the wine as Ding Dang filled out a cup with it. Xie Yanke drank once in a while, because he did not really like wine. Shi Potian would sometimes drink along with him, but the wine had always been baijiu. Thus, when he looked at the wine that Ding Dang poured, he found it glistening with a yellowish-red glow. Gulping it down in a single mouthful, he felt a sense of warmth coursing through his stomach. However, a slightly pungent and bitter aftertaste remained in his mouth.
Ding Dang laughed. "This is Nü'er Hong from Shaoxing (Shao4 Xing2 Nü3 Er2 Hong2)(4) that has been aged for twenty years," she said. "It tastes good, does it not?"
Shi Potian was about to answer when a elderly voice spoke from above them: "How can twenty-year-old Nü'er Hong from Shaoxing not taste good?"
*Crash!* The wine-cup in Ding Dang's hand fell on to the deck of the boat, its contents spilt all over her skirt. The cup itself rolled until it dropped into the river with a *plonk*. Colour drained from Ding Dang's beautiful face and her body began to tremble. Holding Shi Potian's hand, she whispered: "My paternal grandfather has come!"
The young man lifted his head towards the voice from above and saw a leg swinging over his head. It was clear that the visitor was sitting on the bridge with his legs sticking through the branches of the willows. If those legs hung about a chi (33.33 centimetres) lower, they would have touched Shi Potian's head.
The single swinging leg wore a white cloth sock and a type of twin-ribbed men's shoe (shuang1 liang2 xie2) that was typical of Song and Ming times. Made of purple satin and embroidered with the character 'shou' (shou4, meaning 'longevity'), the shoe, as well as the sock, were all very clean.
"That is right," said the elderly voice again. "Your paternal grandfather has come. Cursed girl, I cannot be bothered if you want to meet your lover in private, but why did you steal the twenty-year-old privet(5)-flavoured Shaoxing wine that I went through so much trouble to obtain, and serve it to your lover?
Forcing herself to remain smiling, Ding Dang replied: "He ... he is not a lover. He is just a ... a friend, an ordinary friend."
"*Pei!*" spat the elderly man in anger and disgust. "Does an 'ordinary friend' deserve such wonderful treatment from you? Including the audacity of stealing your grandfather's lifeblood? Little Thief, come out right now and let the old man see what sort of ugly monster his grand-daughter's lover is."
Ding Dang took Shi Potian's right palm in her left hand and began writing on the palm with her right index finger. At the same time, she said, "Grandfather, this friend is foolish and ugly. You are certain to dislike him as soon as you see him. I stole the wine, yes, but it was not meant specially for him. Hmmph! He is unworthy of it. I wanted to have a drink, so I simply grabbed someone to accompany me."
However, she wrote 'You must not say that you are the leader of the Clan of Eternal Happiness' on Shi Potian's palm. Unfortunately, his mother had never taught him to read. Neither had Xie Yanke, so he could not even recognise the character for 'one' (a single horizontal stroke similar to a 'dash') if he saw it. He did not know what she was up to, touching and stroking his palm in such a disorganised way, but the ticklish feelings produced were quite fun. But when he heard her calling him 'foolish and ugly' and declaring him unworthy of drinking her wine, he could not help but feel angry. Thus, he shook her hand off without further thought.
Almost at once, Ding Dang reached out and grabbed his hand again. After writing 'Your life is in danger; you must listen to me' on his palm, she pressed it several times, as if to show affection. At the same time, the act appeared to be a warning given out in secret. Yet, Shi Potian thought that she was simply being warm and friendly. So he became quite happy without realising the truth behind her actions.
Just then, the old man above them spoke again: "Both of you had better come up here now! A'Dang, how many people has your grandfather killed today?"
