why don't we start to read again?"
The lantern I'd picked was in the shape of a rooster, its riddle was written in walking-style calligraphy:
Its body can break the bellies of evil spirits Its breath roars like thunder Its sound rips up the sky and tears off the earth But when you look back, it's already a heap of ashes. (an object)
I yelled to Pearl, "Firecrackers!"
She turned to look at me appreciatively, "Good, Xiang Xiang, now read this one." She pointed to a phoenix.
Face as beautiful as the crescent moon and ears alert as a night owl's. Ten thousand arms reach for ten thousand desperate voices. (a personage)
Again I blurted out, "Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, who listens to the cries of the needy and goes to help! "
Pearl cocked an eye at me. "Very good, you're really smart, eh?" Now she pointed to a lotus. "Then what about this?"
Just then a loud explosive sound shattered the air.
"Oh, my heaven!" Pearl screamed, "someone's got shot!"
"How do you know?"
"This is not the first time that it happened. It's too terrible. Let's go find out who's the lucky one." Pearl grabbed my arm and we sped to the source of the sound.
b
Spring Moon
)earl and I shoved through the hovering crowd and gaped. What stared back at me was a pair of sad, flickering eyes. They were the same eyes that, from underneath the bamboo grove, had followed my every move.
Pearl sighed, yet her voice didn't sound very upset. "I knew sooner or later something like this would happen to Spring Moon."
I craned my neck to take a better look and saw the sad-eyed girl squirming and moaning on the ground. Blood oozed from her arm, staining the green sleeve of her dress.
I blurted out, "Oh, heaven, we should call the police! "
A coarse voice roared. "Who said call the police?!"
I felt my sleeve tugged. Pearl shot me a razor-sharp look to shut me up.
The evening suddenly turned icy.
Coarse Voice laughed an air-shredding laugh. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Doesn't everyone here know that I am the police chief?"
I followed the voice until my gaze fell on the most evil face I'd ever seen. It belonged to a dark, solid man with a prominent jaw protruding from a wide, uncouth face. His eyes were mere slits, with the pupils darting like mice trapped in a narrow trough. His square body, stuffed into a stiff uniform the color of chicken shit, gave the impression of a corpse.
Then, more to my surprise, nobody-none of the sisters, servants, Fang Rong, Wu Qiang, nor the guests-offered to help the poor girl. Everyone just stood there, their feet rooted to the ground and their eyes trapezing between Spring Moon and the police chief.
While his eyes scanned the onlookers like machine guns firing muted shots, everyone lowered their heads to stare at their shoes. The chief spat at Spring Moon, his saliva spraying in all directions and flickering in the lanterns' light. "Fuck your mother, stinky slut. Has no one taught you never to say no to a police chief? Eh? You stinky stuff!"
Fang Rong shoved away the others and went up to Spring Moon, but to my utter shock and surprise, instead of offering help or comfort, she also spat on her-more vehemently than the angry corpse. "You cheap, stupid, short-lived bitch! Don't I always tell you never say no to our noble guests!?" Then she turned to the police chief, her lips curling into a grin so huge I feared her teeth might be all squeezed out. "I'm so sorry, Chief Che, but I swear to you on the honor of Buddha and Guan Yin and the righteous White-Browed God and all my ancestors that this will never happen again."
The chief shot Fang Rong a murderous look, while swinging his gun. "Is that how you teach your daughters? To play ladies when they're whores?"
A deafening silence. Fang Rong and Wu Qiang plopped down, engaging themselves in a succession of frantic kowtows.
Mama's voice spilled fear. "Sorry, Chief Che, it's all our fault. Tonight I promise we'll whip this slut to death to teach her a good lesson."
Mama kept apologizing,
The lantern I'd picked was in the shape of a rooster, its riddle was written in walking-style calligraphy:
Its body can break the bellies of evil spirits Its breath roars like thunder Its sound rips up the sky and tears off the earth But when you look back, it's already a heap of ashes. (an object)
I yelled to Pearl, "Firecrackers!"
She turned to look at me appreciatively, "Good, Xiang Xiang, now read this one." She pointed to a phoenix.
Face as beautiful as the crescent moon and ears alert as a night owl's. Ten thousand arms reach for ten thousand desperate voices. (a personage)
Again I blurted out, "Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, who listens to the cries of the needy and goes to help! "
Pearl cocked an eye at me. "Very good, you're really smart, eh?" Now she pointed to a lotus. "Then what about this?"
Just then a loud explosive sound shattered the air.
"Oh, my heaven!" Pearl screamed, "someone's got shot!"
"How do you know?"
"This is not the first time that it happened. It's too terrible. Let's go find out who's the lucky one." Pearl grabbed my arm and we sped to the source of the sound.
b
Spring Moon
)earl and I shoved through the hovering crowd and gaped. What stared back at me was a pair of sad, flickering eyes. They were the same eyes that, from underneath the bamboo grove, had followed my every move.
Pearl sighed, yet her voice didn't sound very upset. "I knew sooner or later something like this would happen to Spring Moon."
I craned my neck to take a better look and saw the sad-eyed girl squirming and moaning on the ground. Blood oozed from her arm, staining the green sleeve of her dress.
I blurted out, "Oh, heaven, we should call the police! "
A coarse voice roared. "Who said call the police?!"
I felt my sleeve tugged. Pearl shot me a razor-sharp look to shut me up.
The evening suddenly turned icy.
Coarse Voice laughed an air-shredding laugh. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Doesn't everyone here know that I am the police chief?"
I followed the voice until my gaze fell on the most evil face I'd ever seen. It belonged to a dark, solid man with a prominent jaw protruding from a wide, uncouth face. His eyes were mere slits, with the pupils darting like mice trapped in a narrow trough. His square body, stuffed into a stiff uniform the color of chicken shit, gave the impression of a corpse.
Then, more to my surprise, nobody-none of the sisters, servants, Fang Rong, Wu Qiang, nor the guests-offered to help the poor girl. Everyone just stood there, their feet rooted to the ground and their eyes trapezing between Spring Moon and the police chief.
While his eyes scanned the onlookers like machine guns firing muted shots, everyone lowered their heads to stare at their shoes. The chief spat at Spring Moon, his saliva spraying in all directions and flickering in the lanterns' light. "Fuck your mother, stinky slut. Has no one taught you never to say no to a police chief? Eh? You stinky stuff!"
Fang Rong shoved away the others and went up to Spring Moon, but to my utter shock and surprise, instead of offering help or comfort, she also spat on her-more vehemently than the angry corpse. "You cheap, stupid, short-lived bitch! Don't I always tell you never say no to our noble guests!?" Then she turned to the police chief, her lips curling into a grin so huge I feared her teeth might be all squeezed out. "I'm so sorry, Chief Che, but I swear to you on the honor of Buddha and Guan Yin and the righteous White-Browed God and all my ancestors that this will never happen again."
The chief shot Fang Rong a murderous look, while swinging his gun. "Is that how you teach your daughters? To play ladies when they're whores?"
A deafening silence. Fang Rong and Wu Qiang plopped down, engaging themselves in a succession of frantic kowtows.
Mama's voice spilled fear. "Sorry, Chief Che, it's all our fault. Tonight I promise we'll whip this slut to death to teach her a good lesson."
Mama kept apologizing,
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