Fortune is a Woman (22 page)

Francie stared at him, stunned. Though he had not slept his eyes were clear and alert and there was a new air of confidence about him. Lai Tsin looked like a different person. But twelve thousand dollars was a huge sum, it was more than just shoes for Little Son and candles and bedrolls. It was a stake to build his fortune on and she could not just stand by and see him gamble it away again. "You must start a business with the money," she told him. "Think of the opportunities the earthquake has made! Why, it's like the old gold-rush days when my grandfather was a trader. He bought and sold anything that was needed and he made a fortune. Just think what is needed here in Chinatown, Lai Tsin. Chinese spices and special foods, Oriental clothes, shoes, tobacco. They will buy everything you can imagine, because now they have nothing."

Lai Tsin lit his bubblepipe and she knew he was thinking about what she had said. After a long time he put away his pipe and took a square of scarlet silk from his straw pannier and wrapped the money carefully in it. He walked to the door carrying the money in the scarlet cloth under his arm, but he did not look back and Francie sighed. She had lost, and he was going back to the gambling den after all.

Lai Tsin wended his way through the ruins and knocked nervously on the door of one of Chinatown's few remaining buildings. The old man who lived there was one of the most powerful Chinese elders in San Francisco. He controlled most of the money loaned in the old southern Chinese system of rotating credit whereby members pooled their money and each member in turn had access to it. Lai Tsin knew that it operated on a system of honor, that each borrower pledged personally to repay the money, and that the Chinese sense of honor and their desire not to lose face was so strong, defaulters were rare. If their new businesses ran into trouble then their families helped repay the loan. But Lai Tsin had no family to help him. All he had was an idea, an opportunity, his honor, and twelve thousand dollars.

A woman opened the door and he told her he had come to see the Honorable Elder.

"Who is it wishes to see him?" she asked warily, half closing the door.

"Tell the Honorable Elder that Ke Lai Tsin from Anhwei Province wishes to speak with him on a matter of business." He used his family name "Ke" for the first time in many years and it felt strange on his tongue. The old woman closed the door abruptly in his face and Lai Tsin's new self-respect shriveled with every minute he waited. He reminded himself he had twelve thousand dollars wrapped in the red silk bandana under his arm, that he was a man of substance and responsibility now, and he pulled himself taller and lifted his chin higher.

At last the door opened again and the old woman reluctantly bade him follow her into a spacious downstairs room. He glanced around, marveling at the many treasures it contained, at the porcelain vases, the carved jade animals, the soft silken carpets and screens inlaid with mother-of-pearl. There were painted scrolls and calligraphy, tassled lanterns and ivory figurines. A carved altar table from the Ming Dynasty held a collection of Han bronze dressing mirrors, jade bowls, and Tang sculptures. Elegant blackwood chairs were crammed in between enameled chests and tables and a dozen Chinese clocks ticked away the passing of time. The darkened room was filled with the old man's earthly riches and Lai Tsin was afraid to move in case he knocked into something and broke one of the valuable pieces.

A man entered the room, wrapping his padded silk jacket closer around him, trying to keep the cold out of his old bones. His bald head gleamed in the lamplight, his eyebrows slanted ferociously upward and his long moustache drooped into his pointed white beard. Lai Tsin bowed quickly three times, seeking courage to speak to such an important and rich personage.

"Honorable Grandfather," he said nervously, calling him "Grandfather" as a sign of great respect for his venerable age, "I am here on a matter of business. Because of the earthquake there are many shortages in Chinatown. Our people do not have the things they need and the merchants who have lost everything are slow to return to their businesses. It is my wish to leave my lowly standing and become a merchant, importing things directly from China."

The old man's dark eyes bored into him, assessing his poor clothing, his thinness and his air of need. "And how do you propose to start this business, Ke Lai Tsin?" he asked.

Lai Tsin unwrapped the red silk bandana. "With my twelve thousand dollars, Honorable Grandfather. And, good joss be with me, also with an extra sum borrowed from the rotating credit and yourself as the Honorable Banker."

The old man's expression did not change as he looked at the bundle of money, but when he looked back at Lai Tsin, his eyes hardened. "And where does a poor coolie come across such a sum?"

Lai Tsin lifted himself taller and said proudly, "Just yesterday, Honorable Elder, the man you see before you was a gambler. Yesterday he won these many dollars and gained face as a man of substance. And today the peasant Lai Tsin will become a merchant and a man of respect."

The elder nodded, satisfied that he had not stolen his new wealth. "Tell me your ideas for your new business," he commanded, summoning the old woman to bring jasmine tea while he listened to Lai Tsin's tale.

"Honorable Grandfather, I will ask the Chinese themselves what it is they need most urgently. I will walk the streets and see what is lacking. I have not sufficient funds to rebuild their homes and businesses, but with the Honorable Elder's generous assistance I can provide the goods they will need in their new abodes. Foods and spices, ginger and ginseng, woks and teapots, bedmats and padded quilts, lanterns, chairs, rice-paper shades for the windows, shoes and clothing. I will find out immediately what ships are en route from the Orient and I will telegraph an order for their entire consignments, whether they dock at New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. I will corner the market on all the next shipments into America. I will rent a warehouse and fill it with my goods. I will open a shop in a favorable location with good
fang shui,
where the crossroads meet and many people pass by. I will treat my customers with respect and give them good prices so when the other merchants are finally back in business it is Lai Tsin they will remember and return to." He picked up his red bandana with his twelve thousand dollars and held it out to the Elder. "All this I can do, if the Honorable Grandfather grants me his assistance. And if the gods are willing."

"And what makes you think that finally the gods are favorable to you?"

Lai Tsin thought over the old man's question carefully and he knew there was only one answer. "My fortune has changed since I met the
gwailo
woman," he said honestly. "She has much to teach an ignorant peasant like me. It was she who told me that I need no longer be a gambler. And it was she who showed me the way."

The Elder said angrily, "A
gwailo
woman, Lai Tsin? A 'foreign devil'?"

"Honorable Grandfather," Lai Tsin protested quickly, "she is an orphan of the earthquake. She has a good heart and a sad life and we have helped each other. And even though she is the daughter of foreign devils, she has been kind to this lowly Chinese peasant."

The Elder thought for a long while, sipping his tea and watching Lai Tsin. Finally he nodded. "I believe your story. And I see the cleverness of your plan depends upon its quickness. I am prepared to lend you an equal amount to your twelve thousand dollars. What guarantee do you give that you will repay the money?"

Lai Tsin sighed. "I have no guarantee, Honorable Grandfather. Just the knowledge that I will succeed."

The Elder nodded approvingly again. "There are many who come to me for money who are not as honest as you, Ke Lai Tsin," he said. "And for that you will have your chance. But in return for the risk, as well as repaying the money and lending an equal sum to the credit so others can benefit from the system, you will also pay five percent of your profits up to the sum of twenty-four thousand dollars into the association."

Lai Tsin bowed respectfully again. "Honorable Grandfather," he said solemnly, "the day I pay the five percent will be the happiest of my life."

***

Annie had found a tiny room and invited Francie to share it, but she preferred her new life on the street. Little Son was playing with friends and Francie was alone. She tidied the shack, swept the floor, and went to fetch more water. Then she lay down on her bedmat, suddenly tired. But the problem she was refusing to face would not go away and she sat up again.

She stared at Lai Tsin's straw pannier lying in the corner. She knew it contained his worldly possessions, and suddenly consumed with curiosity, she went to the pannier and opened it. His treasures were few: a pair of ivory chopsticks, the title deed from the Hong Kong land that he had won gambling, a long wooden box, and a dogeared sepia photograph of a pretty girl in Chinese robes. The girl was sitting on a chair with a scalloped paper fan clutched in her hand and Francie looked at her for a long time. She had the same dark almond eyes and oval face as Lai Tsin and she knew it must be his sister. She picked up the wooden box. It was about eighteen inches long with a curved lid. She hesitated; she knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't resist. She lifted the lid and looked inside. On the bottom lay a silky braid of glossy black hair bound with scarlet yarn.

"The braid was my sister's," Lai Tsin said from the door, and Francie jumped guiltily. She said, blushing, "I didn't mean to pry. I just don't know what made me do it."

He shrugged. "Curiosity sometimes overcomes good sense and courtesy. The box is a 'treasure pillow.' We poor Chinese store our valuables and money in it. We place it under our heads at night, like a pillow, so no one can steal it." He looked sad as he said, "I kept my sister's hair to remember her by. She was young and pretty and too full of life. My mother would scold her, saying that such a noisy girl would attract the displeasure of the gods. And she was right, because soon the gods decided to take her away."

He replaced the box carefully in the straw pannier and Francie noticed he was no longer carrying the red bundle.

"Do not worry," he said, reading her mind. "I went to the most Honorable Chinese Elder. I showed him my twelve thousand dollars and told him I wanted to become a merchant, importing goods from China. He saw that the opportunity was right and agreed to lend me twelve thousand more dollars from the credit. The numbers are auspicious, two pairs of double sixes. Twenty-four thousand dollars in all." She smiled at him, thrilled, and Lai Tsin added, "I am not yet a rich man because the money is borrowed. And I am not yet a successful man because my stake was not earned and came from a game of chance. But because of your wisdom, Francie, today I became a man of respect."

His almond eyes were gentle as he looked at her. He said, "When I met you I recognized you. You were like the lost soul I had once been. Now we are turning fate around into fortune. From today I am no longer Lai Tsin, the peasant and the gambler. I am Lai Tsin, the merchant."

***

Lai Tsin immediately set about his work. He found out what ships were coming in from the Orient, telegraphing his orders to them in Seattle and New York and Los Angeles. He rented a small warehouse facing the harbor, which had barely been touched by the earthquake, to store his goods in when they arrived and he hung a mirror over its door to drive away the bad spirits and protect the good
fung-shui,
the good spirit of the place. He leased a small plot of land in Chinatown, just a tiny corner at the end of an alley where two roads met, but he knew that the two roads were favorable to his business because many people would walk by his store. Within a couple of weeks a makeshift wooden store was erected on it and the name, favorable trading company, was painted in black Chinese letters over the door. Long red banners printed with encouraging Chinese slogans, "Long Life," "Success," "Happiness" and "Filial Piety," were stuck on the windows and a sign calling for "The Five Blessings" to fall on it was stuck over the door. The Five Blessings were a long life, riches, a serene mind, a healthy body, and love of virtue.

A young man was installed to serve the customers and the Chinese population flocked to buy Lai Tsin's spices and dried mushrooms, preserved duck and ginger and sesame oil. They bought charcoal for their stoves and new stoves to put the charcoal in, they bought cooking pots to put on the stove and new rice bowls to serve the food in. Within weeks he was forced to expand his shop and as life drifted back to normal his customers returned to buy new bedmats, rice-paper screens, tea kettles, padded quilts, and wooden-soled shoes.

In two months a second store was opened and another warehouse rented where people could buy larger goods: tables and cabinets and sewing machines and chairs. There were racks of embroidered silk jackets and black cotton coolie smocks and trousers—anything and everything could be bought from Lai Tsin's Favorable Trading Company.

Annie and Francie moved into a small, hastily refurbished apartment on Kearny Street and Lai Tsin took a room next door. Francie began to teach Little Son to speak English and she was also helping Lai Tsin with his reading and writing. She was thin and pale and always tired and Lai Tsin knew she was in despair, yet he could not allow her to lose face by mentioning her problem first. He must wait for her to tell him.

They heard that the city's records had all been burned and thousands of Chinese rushed to claim they were American by birth. Lai Tsin went with the others to receive his papers. Good fortune was smiling on him; because of the earthquake he became a legal American citizen.

Time was passing, and Annie needed something to do. She was used to keeping busy, she had the money her father had given her, and she said to Francie, "All I know is how to cook and look after folk. I'm going to open a little rooming house. There's lots of people still homeless that'll be glad of a good, clean place to stay and a decent supper of an evening. I've got the money and I'm going to ask Lai Tsin to find me a place."