Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society (6 page)

As she spoke, a thought struck me. ‘My aunt went to Nan Tian with a friend whom I met yesterday. His name is CY Wu. Is he your son?’

‘Yes! My son has wanted to marry your aunt Ye Jia-ming all his life. Unfortunately, your grandfather had promised her to someone else when she was still a baby. Your aunt had no say in the
matter. As you know, her arranged marriage was a disaster and she’s now divorced…’

A jangle of sounds interrupted our conversation, as a band of roving musicians pushed through the crowd: six elderly men playing drum, cymbal, erhu (violin), gong, flute and castanets. Their music was so loud and distracting that we couldn’t talk. I pressed my fingers against my ears and looked around. Wafting through the air was a delicious aroma. Hunger pangs gripped me and I remembered that I had eaten nothing since noon. A food seller right opposite us was sautéing pork and noodles in a giant wok perched above a portable charcoal stove. To his right was a fruit vendor, with piles of persimmons, mandarin oranges, jujubes, dates, apples and pears. To his left squatted a shoemaker, totally absorbed in sewing on the sole of a shoe made of cloth. Right next to our stall a fortune-teller was speaking intently to a female customer, under a sign that said:

Yi Jing
is a Book of Magic

I use it to tell your fortune.

They were so close I could hear part of their conversation. In his hands he held a bundle of sticks and a book with a black cover.

The sight of the fortune-teller reminded me of my own misfortune and desperate future. Terrified of spending the night alone on the streets of Shanghai, I dropped to my knees in front of Grandma Wu. ‘Please don’t send me back to my stepmother,’ I pleaded. ‘Take me home with you and let me join your society. I’ve nowhere to go and don’t know what to do.’

Grandma Wu pulled me to my feet and held me again. ‘Stop worrying, CC! I wouldn’t dream of abandoning you. Grandma Liu and I promised one another years ago that we would always
tong gan gong ku
(
) and
tong zhou gong ji
(
), share bitter and sweet and stick together through thick and thin). That’s the sort of friendship we share. You are the niece of my best friend’s goddaughter. You are also homeless, beset with perils and in desperate need of help. Besides, I do believe that you and I have
yuan fen
between us. Lots and lots of
yuan fen
. No question about it. You are definitely coming back with us to the academy!’

5

Martical Arts Academy

The academy was a converted warehouse on Avenue Petain in the French Concession. It was divided into two wings with a courtyard in between. The rooms were enormous and Grandma Wu had partitioned them into smaller areas with bamboo panelling. The left wing consisted of classrooms, study areas, and a gymnasium. Dormitories and living quarters were in the right wing. There was hardly any furniture, and the windows were covered with rattan screens. The quiet, immaculate interior was in striking contrast to the noise and activity of Avenue Petain. I discovered later that Grandma Wu, Master Wu and the three boy acrobats were the only ones living there. The rest of the students and staff had been evacuated to Chungking two months earlier after the Japanese took control of Shanghai.

David stayed close by my side, but still I felt nervous and shy. Two other acrobat boys were in the kitchen, wrapping dumplings. One was tall, muscular and gangly. The other was short and skinny and wore glasses. When we entered, they both sprang to their feet.

‘Marat and Sam,‘ Grandma Wu began. ‘Come here and meet CC’.

‘You don’t know me but I know you,’ I said shyly. ‘Yesterday, I watched you cycling and juggling balls on the tightrope. You were wonderful!’

‘Marat Yoshida, the tightrope walker, mat’s me! ‘The taller boy smiled.

‘I’d rather be known as “Top of the line Performer Sam Eisner”,’the shorter boy quipped, laughing at his own joke. ‘But aren’t you the girl who keeps coins in her ears?’

‘I think she’d rather be known as the niece of Grandma Liu’s god-daughter,’ said David.

‘You don’t mean Grandma Fish!’ Marat said.

‘Grandma Liu is my aunt’s godmother. She has broken her leg and my aunt has gone with Master Wu to Nan Tian to look after her,’ I said, pleased at the connections between us.

‘What? Is she all right? How did she break her leg?’ David asked anxiously.

‘You know what a great swimmer Grandma Liu is and how she loves those dolphins of hers!’
Grandma Wu took over. ‘Apparently, while she was playing with one of the dolphins, she lost her footing and fell from the boat. Don’t forget, she’s seventy-one now and her bones are not as strong as they used to be — her leg simply snapped in two. I don’t know the whole story, but I do know that the dolphin saved her life. Somehow, it managed to push her all the way ashore,’.

‘That’s amazing!‘ I exclaimed. ‘Are dolphins really that smart?’

‘Sure they are!’ said David. ‘I once played seaweed football with a dolphin! And last summer Grandma Liu taught one to walk on his tail. Dolphins love to play and you can always tell when they are happy - they leap up and splash back into the water over and over again. Just like me when I throw my cap in the air.‘ He grinned at me.

‘So you’ve actually played with real dolphins!’ I said enviously. ‘I’ve only ever seen pictures of them.’

‘When Marat and I went to Nan Tian with Grandma Wu, we spent so much time with Grandma Liu and her dolphins in the water that we started calling her Grandma Fish.’

‘I had measles,’ Sam said, wanting to join in. ‘So I stayed in Shanghai with Master Wu. Are you coming to live here?’ He looked curiously at my school uniform.

‘CC will be staying with us tonight and probably longer,’ said Grandma Wu. ‘She’s here to learn kung fu. David, please take CC to Miss Cheng’s old bedroom upstairs and show her around while I help Marat and Sam with dinner.’

‘Thank you, Grandma Wu,‘ I said. So much had happened since I had left Big Aunt’s flat that morning. I could hardly think clearly, let alone plan for my future. How long would I be allowed to stay? How would I earn my keep? I decided simply to do what I was told for the time being.

‘Isn’t David an English name?’ I asked, as we climbed the stairs to the spare bedroom. ‘Do you have a Chinese name too?’

David laughed. ‘Of course I have a Chinese name. It’s Da-wei
, Big Comfort. My father was English and gave me the name David when I was born. My Chinese mother translated it to Da-wei. The two names sound almost the same in the Shanghai dialect. When people ask me my name, I say Da-wei unless I want to know that person better. Then I say David.’

‘What’s your nickname?’

‘What makes you think I have a nickname?’ he smiled. ‘Do you have a nickname? Tell me yours first!’

‘My best friend at school calls me Scholar Ye.
She says my nose is always buried in a book. Yesterday, Master Wu gave me CC as my English name. It’s really another nickname because the initials stand for Chinese Cinderella.’

‘I like it. My nickname is Black Whirlwind.’

‘Black Whirlwind! That’s the nickname of Liu Kui, the character from
Warriors from the Marsh of Mount Liang
, isn’t it? Wasn’t he the fastest kung fu warrior of his generation? Who called you that?’

‘Master Wu! It’s appropriate because my English surname is Black!’

‘You must be great at kung fu to be called Black Whirlwind.’

I was full of questions about the Academy and Master Wu as we stepped on to the landing. David first showed me the enormous dorm room he shared with Marat and Sam. There were at least twenty beds but only three were in use. Beside each bed was a night-stand and a bamboo screen for privacy. David walked past the door of a similar room and said, ‘This used to be the girls’ dorm but they’ve all gone to Chungking. The spare bedroom you’ve been given used to belong to Miss Cheng, the calligraphy teacher. But she went west, too, and it’s been empty since.’

When we finished putting sheets and pillowcases on my bed, I had a good look around. There was a small bookcase above the bed, a skylight and a
writing desk, as well as two small chairs. The large glass windows were covered with rattan screens.

‘How long have you lived with Grandma Wu? Where are your parents?’

‘My father and my mother are dead.’ David’s voice was strained. ‘My mother was arrested by the Japanese secret police on the same day they killed my father. She died in jail a few days later. I’ve lived with Grandma Wu and Master Wu for two months. Ever since Pearl Harbor Day, 7 December last year.’

I was shocked and didn’t know what to say.

David shrugged then looked directly at me. ‘Your story is just as sad, CC. Everyone ends up here for a reason. Grandma Wu and Master Wu move around the country, the
jianghu
, rivers and lakes, helping unwanted children like us. They teach us the Tao
, true way to live. They give us hope.’