Chapter 14 Nuptial Preparations

"I sped as quickly as I could in my BMW. My nephew called once every few minutes to hurry me. But I too was extremely anxious myself! When I reached the gates of my brother's house, only to see the ground on the outside of the house littered with shreds of exploded firecrackers. When I got close to his door, there was my brother waiting for me. There was also my younger brother and a few other young boys. There were two huge Xi characters (literally Happiness) hung on both pillars of the entrance of his house. I was puzzled suddenly. "I got down my car and asked my brother, 'Who in our family is getting married?' My younger brother smiled at me slyly and quipped, 'Heh heh heh! Why you, of course!' He had barely finished when my older brother chipped in, 'With both of our parents no longer present, I am your elder. This is a match determined by the will of an elder, he will have to do as I say! Drag him in!' At his command, few of the younger boys manhandled me and tied me up with ropes! They lifted me off the ground and carried me into the house! There was an emcee who howled, 'A bow of respect to Heaven and Earth! And a bow of respect to the elders of the house!' I swung my head and saw Fen's parents sitting at the dais of the hall, where the seats of honor which were most commonly reserved for elders of a family were at! Even my elder brother and his wife were seated there too! And then I heard another call by the emcee, saying, 'A bow of respect between Husband and Wife! Into the bridal room, they go!' Somebody crammed a bridegroom's hat on to my head, and a few others lifted and hoisted me into the bridal room! In the midst of the chaos and confusion, I caught the sight of two girls leading Fen into the room. In my heart, I told myself, usually a groom and his bride were led into the room nicely, but here I am, being carried into my room like a slab of meat!" Mr. Zhang guffawed at his own retelling of his marriage and took another nip at his glass. "But I was once trained by a magician in the skills of freeing oneself from restraints. It would not be easy for anyone to truly subdue me. Before long, I got free and went out to help attend to the guests who were present. It was then I found Brother Hai with a flower pinned on his chest. There was a tag on his flower that said 'Wedding Witness'. No wonder everything seemed odd! He masterminded the entire affair!" The entire table succumbed to another fit of laughter. Mr. Lee then joked, "You could have been sold as a slave by Brother Haim and you won't even know it!" I threw in another remark, giggling, "Well, if you ask me, I believe Uncle Zhang here had long been captivated by Aunt Fen. Despite your denials, you were enjoying the moment! Otherwise, you would not have gone out to help see to the guests! That's a tacit gesture of approval!" Aunt Fen pointed at me, slightly embarrassed, and said, "You witty rascal. There's always you meddling about when something arises." The table cackled in amusement. Still chuckling, Mr. Zhang sipped at his glass and said, "When I returned to the room after the banquet, there I saw, Fen sitting on the bed, waiting for me. I unveiled her face, and her eyes were shut, not moving at all. Feeling strange, I asked, 'What's this?' and she replied, 'I'm waiting for you to beat me.' 'Who's going to beat you?' I asked again. Fen replied shyly, 'Well, we did abduct you and forced you into this wedding without your consent... I thought you might have been angry out of shame.' 'Still, that is no reason to strike a woman!' But I had only finished speaking, when I heard the impish chuckles of Brother Hai snickering, 'Heh heh heh...' As his voice echoed through the air, I thought, 'Brother Hai must have been waiting to see if I am indeed alright before taking his leave!'" Mr. Lee interjected suddenly, asking my father, "Do you still accept apprentices?" Father gave him a disdainful peer, "Save it, you! You're more suitable for enterprising. You won't make much money in our line of work!" As their banter went on, my phone rang suddenly. I took out my mobile phone and saw the caller ID on the screen saying "Brother Lin". I answered the call and there was Brother Lin's frantic voice exclaiming, "Where are you now, Shiyan! Please come back at once! The police have arrested my father but they left no reason why!" I replied hastily, "All right, all right. Stay calm. I'm coming back with my father right away!" Mr. Zhang and Mr. Lee both asked as I put away my phone, "What's happening?" I related to them what Brother Lin had said to me. Mr. Zhang was shocked. "Master Lin's father?" he blurted, "Lin Fengquan?" But as Mr. Zhang was still confused and bewildered, Mr. Lee was already speaking into his phone, "Hello? Hi there. I have a friend who was taken away by some policemen presumably under your command, and they did not reveal the reason behind the detention. His name is Lin, one of the people from the Wen Chang National Studies Institute... Understood. Very well. I await your information." Seeing as Mr. Lee had arranged for some help, he too made a call... Calling it the end of the meal, everyone hurried down the steps of the stairs and went off on their way. My parents and I immediately went to the police station to see Uncle Quan. Upon meeting him, we tried asking him about anything behind his detainment, but it appeared that he knew nothing at all. We waited for moments until an officer came in to prepare tea while another came into the room afterward who smiled at us and shook everyone's hands. "My name is Yu," he said, "There has been a case that involves Master Lin. Our role in this matter is to mediate things between both parties. The representative of the other party will be here shortly." The officer who went out after making tea then came in later, leading two women, both looking in their fifties, into the room. Uncle Quan looked at the two newcomers. Having recognized one of them, he went forward and shook hands with one of the ladies. When everyone was seated, the police officer then called the meeting to order, saying, "We are here today to discuss the case where these two ladies reported that Master Lin had once taken something that was hers. Since the matter was more than 30 years ago, our country's laws dictate that this case should have been too old to be taken into account. Still, considering the conditions and their plight, we hope to be able to resolve the matter to everyone's satisfaction." He looked at everyone and asked, "Would anyone like to speak first?" The two ladies shared a quick look and muttered, "Let them speak first then." This earned a suspicious but furtive glance from the officer. A complainant allowing an accused to first speak? This was almost unheard of. Uncle Quan nipped at his glass of water and heaved a puff from his cigarette before he began his tale... Between the fifties to the sixties of the previous century, there had been cases of natural disasters occurring in three consecutive years in China. There had been refugees suffering from starvation and destitution scattered along the embankments of the Huan Xiang River. It was a vivid late autumn in 1961 then. As the local economy and commercial activities began to flourish, lesser and lesser of people were depending on food aid programs for the needy. Moreover, it was already late in the autumn season when most of the crops in the fields had long been harvested and stored. Most of the families no longer had to live on the brink of starvation. Some of the other bigger households yet still facing difficulties were already making plans for the future by storing rations, still relying upon food aids for their daily needs. There were two ladies on this day who came to the embankment to beg for food. The one leading the way was taller, hereafter known as Tall; while the other would be known later in this tale as Short. The two ambled slowly, with one at a hundred meter following closely behind the other. At the front of their way was where the river curved. There was a dam made of rocks at the bend of the river, and not far away were check-dams, man-made structures that extended from the banks into the river to lessen water flow velocity. It was the period where the upstream floodgates 50 kilometers away from here were opened and the downstream floodgates a dozen kilometers away were closed to allow more water into the river to provide adequate irrigation to the fields. The glittering undulations of the peaceful river shimmered as its waters lapped at the rough concrete of the check-dams. Feeling thirsty, Tall stood on the check-dam and stooped down to scoop some water with her hand when suddenly everything went dark around her and she fainted, plunging into the water... When she woke up, she found that she was in a small hut, lying on heaps of freshly-harvested corn. It was one of the temporary housing units build for laborers and workers to rest in and hence there was no fireplace built in the house. With the inundation period past, the house was empty. Short was just beside her, watching her. It turned out that when Tall fell into the river, a horse-carriage had passed by and the horseman had helped Short rescue Tall to safety. Short used some of the utensils she brought with herself to cook a small meal for Tall, helping her regain her strength. The two ladies shared a night, talking intimately about their names, family, and origin. Coincidentally, both of them were pregnant with child. For the sake of their families, they were here to beg for food. However, due to their strenuous exertions throughout the journey here, the two ladies suffered premature labor... After a painful and onerous childbirth, Tall gave birth to a large baby girl. The baby girl kept on crying. She was hungry. But it was the first childbirth for Tall and she had no breast milk. Luckily for her, it was not the first pregnancy for Short, hence she took the baby girl into her arms and breastfed the baby... Later that day, Short too gave birth to a baby boy. But he was weak and frail and he did not cry when he was born! The Chinese believed that it was a bad omen for babies to be born without crying. Short immediately slapped hard on the baby's buttocks. Instead, the baby giggled playfully! So innocent and sweet he was, although he knew not of the trials and tribulations that would await him later in life! And so Short began breastfeeding two babies. The two mothers grew closer to each other and had a sudden inspiration! The children were born on the same day and date, and what was more, they were delivered in the very same spot! That could only be destiny at work here! The mothers talked about arranging a match for their babies, hoping that one day the babies would grow up and become a true couple! This would be a romantic fable so mystical that it might become a legend and the mothers would be relatives then! They were very thrilled with the idea. Short took out the jade pendant she wore; an heirloom given to her by her family. It had a pair; therefore Short hung it over the neck of the baby girl as a token of engagement. The ladies then made plans to meet again when the babies reach one-month old... They exchanged addresses; Tall had come from Shijia Village (literally Ten House Village), and Short was from Lee Family Wharf. Tearfully bidding farewell to each other, they promised to visit each other again! Some time later, Short bid her eldest son to look for Tall's family. The eldest son, called Lin Fengjiang, was already in his late teens in high school. The baby boy, Short's third son, was named Lin Fengchuen. Short previously had a second son, Lin Fenghe, but he had died young. With two other sisters and Lin Fengjiang before him, Lin Fengchuen became Short's second son, although he was considerably younger compared to his older siblings. He would later have two other siblings, Lin Fenghu and Lin Fenghai. And so Lin Fengjiang scoured the region many times; still, the whereabouts of the Shijia Village remained elusive...