Proofreaders: happyBuddha, Kai, Lee, m@o, Marcia
Till Death Do Us Part chapter 18
Life had to go on no matter how hard the times got.
The Japanese army followed their strategy
to control China using its own people. As soon as they occupied Tientsin, they
established a puppet organization called Tientsin Peace Preservation Committee
at a speed so quick it would have been impossible if they had not plotted
beforehand. The Chamber of Commerce had been under Japanese control long
before, and the visitors on the seventh of July had come looking for Shen
Liangsheng to talk him into becoming a member on the Committee. The Japanese had come for Shen K’echen’s name. The member list of
the Committee consisted entirely of former warlords hiding
in Tientsin after the Peiyang government had fallen. These men and their unfulfilled
ambitions finally had an opportunity to obtain power and wealth, and they were
all more than happy to comply. Those who weren’t good enough to make the list
by the Japanese’ standards even felt disgrace.
The Japanese came looking for Shen Liangsheng,
but he kindly declined, for he was even more devious than the
Japanese. He knew that this golden opportunity came at a dire cost;
like drugs, starting is easy but quitting is hard. Therefore, he used his
father’s old age and his own limited abilities as a mere
bookkeeper as excuses to refuse the post.
“You’re being modest, Mr. Shen.” The
director of the Chamber had come to persuade Shen Liangsheng and feared upsetting
the Japanese boss. He quickly tried to mediate. “Everyone in the business knows
you’re a graduate of a prestigious English university. You’re just being humble
with us. Haha….”
While the director was still laughing
awkwardly, the Japanese man interrupted in English, “Mr. Shen, did you study at
Cambridge?”
Though a bit surprised, Shen Liangsheng
kept his face straight and nodded. “Did you study there as well, Mr.
Kobayakawa?”
“You’d already graduated when I was
studying under Professor Berger.” Kobayakawa had found that Shen Liangsheng
looked familiar, and now that it had been confirmed, he smiled and added, “I’ve
seen your photograph with the professor. He thinks very highly of you.”
“It’s not like Professor Berger to be
showing his personal photographs to people. He must think highly of you as well.”
Shen Liangsheng was skilful with his words and made Kobayakawa feel quite
happy. Also, the Japanese man had read several of Shen Liangsheng’s reports during
school and had a good opinion of him. Thus, he did not force the man to
become a part of the Committee and thought to postpone the matter until the
Japanese army took total control of Tientsin first.
The others from the Chamber noticed that
Kobayakawa was not upset and let out a sigh of relief when they found that the
two were actually fellow alumni. They said with a smile that the road ahead was long
and there would be more opportunities to work together again. That is why the
atmosphere appeared amiable when Chou saw the group once again.
Shen
Liangsheng had not even informed his father of this, so Ch’in Ching naturally had no
idea either. On the day of the bombing, the Japanese army flattened the
entire Nank’ai school grounds including the secondary and primary schools because
of their hatred for its nationalist stance. Luckily, the teachers and students
who had joined the army formed a separate unit whose job mainly was to direct
traffic. The silver lining was that the casualty number was not high, and Ch’in
Ching’s friend was unharmed as well.
During this devastating time, Ch’in Ching
was of course helping his friends with all he had, being away from home for
most of the day for a week straight. Shen Liangsheng had been strict with him
before but now didn’t seem to care anymore, only reminding him to be careful
and eat regularly. He made sure that the kitchen prepared soups for him to
drink every day. Ch’in Ching appreciated the kind act but didn’t mention his
thanks. He thought words of gratitude would actually seem out of place in their
intimate relationship.
There was another thing Ch’in Ching didn’t mention but
which was weighing on Hsiao-Liu’s
mind. Nanshih was the lawless zone, but due to its proximity with the Japanese
and French concessions, it survived the bombing in one piece. Seeing the
streets return to normal and his house still intact, Hsiao-Liu told Ch’in Ching that he wanted to move back and, while
he was at it, asked when Shen Liangsheng would be available. Petite de Ceinture
was on the far west end of the French concession, and he had witnessed numerous
families trying to find shelter in the concession but being blocked off. The
Lius owed quite a big favour to Shen Liangsheng, so even though he didn’t even
know how to repay the man, he wanted to thank him in person.
Ch’in Ching was a smart person. He knew that Shen
Liangsheng was good to him, even going as far as taking care of his friend.
Even if he didn’t say thanks, he couldn’t take this for granted. Therefore, he passed
on the message to Shen Liangsheng that night. He also said thanks on behalf of
his friend, and relayed that Hsiao-Liu
would like to come say it himself if he was free tomorrow.
“No need,” Shen Liangsheng replied as he switched off the
lamp and lay down on the bed. “It’s no big deal.”
Ch’in Ching didn’t agree that it was no big deal, but
he knew Shen Liangsheng never liked to repeat himself. If the man said there
was no need, then there was no need. It was just that he still felt bad and was
thinking of another way to bring it up.
“If he really wants to thank me,” Shen Liangsheng
added as though he could read the schoolmaster’s mind, “Tell him, when they
reopen their teahouse, to invite me when you two perform another piece.”
“That’s it?” Ch’in Ching was surprised by this request
that sounded like a joke. He chuckled easily for the first time in a long time.
“You are still so easy to please.”
Shen Liangsheng smiled, but Ch’in Ching did not see it
because they were lying side by side in the dark. He only heard the taller man
say, “I’ve only heard you that one time.”
“Oh please, you don’t actually like it.” The two
seldom had relaxing times like these lately, so Ch’in Ching continued the light
banter. “You think I’m too wordy.”
“I don’t actually think so. You’re an entertaining person.”
“Was that a compliment?”
“That time I went looking for you, I saw you on the
podium all teacher-like. Then you were great in the crosstalk performance. And I
was wondering how you’d be in bed, and with that quick tongue of yours, how you’d
be great at oral.”
Shen Liangsheng’s words became more and more lewd, but
because of his voice – mild, nostalgic and even a bit wistful – they seemed
chaste and pure. The man seemed to be reminiscing times in the distant past which
were never coming back, and it made Ch’in Ching fill with sorrow.
They were never coming back. Things were bad back then
too, but at least…. The rest of the thought pained Ch’in Ching. He turned over
and hugged Shen Liangsheng around the waist, hiding his face in the nook of the
man’s neck. After some silence, he recovered and continued the previous conversation.
“We’d just met and you already had such indecent thoughts.”
“It’s summer for goodness sakes.” Shen Liangsheng did
not seem to want to continue, and he patted the arm around his waist. “Lie back
down and go to sleep.”
“All right.” Ch’in Ching also thought it would be too suggestive
if he kept clinging to the other man. He was not in the mood to begin with, so
he lay back down and closed his eyes in preparation for sleep.
“Ch’in Ching.” After tossing around, Ch’in Ching was
almost asleep when he heard a faint utterance from behind. “You don’t have to
return the favour, and you don’t have to worry about it, either.”
Usually, this would be a very normal thing to say, and
it sounded perfectly fine. However, Ch’in Ching lost all desire to sleep after
hearing it. His heart seemed to give a loud lurch, and then he felt a
frightening emptiness for which he did not know the reason. He contemplated but
reached no answer. In the end, he came to the conclusion that he was
half-asleep and something must have gone wrong with his head.
Since Hsiao-Liu had moved back, Ch’in Ching
thought it was about time to tidy up his own house. He told Shen Liangsheng
that he would sleep at home for a few days while he gave the house a total
cleanout. The other man did not object and offered his help, but when Ch’in
Ching declined, he did not insist.
Frankly, it did not take that long to fix the house,
but Ch’in Ching was worried that Shen Liangsheng would decide that living
outside the concessions was too dangerous and urge him to move to Maoken. Ch’in
Ching didn’t really want to move, but he didn’t want to cause any more bad
feelings between them. Hence, he thought it would be good to give the house a
thorough repair. Even if he did move out, this was still his parents’ house and
where he grew up. He loved each brick and each tile. Tidying it up would be a
kind of early farewell.
During
the next several days, Ch’in Ching swept the small courtyard, added new putty
to the windows, laid the shingles again, and filled the rat holes that had long
existed in the bedroom that now served as storage. Only when he could see
nothing that needed to be fixed did he return to Cambridge Road.
The first thing he saw after entering the gates of the
Shen manor was Lee, bent at the waist, cutting the China roses in the planter
box at the entrance. The flowers knew naught of the human world and still
bloomed beautifully. However, Lee seemed to be in an extremely bad mood, and he
worked in a vicious manner, his scissors going snap snap snap.
“Oh, Mr. Ch’in!” Lee’s face brightened after he saw
the man, and he greeted him with a nod.
“Um, is everything all right at home, sir?” Seeing the
bad mood, Ch’in Ching was concerned that something had happened to his family
in the country in the past few days.
“Same old, same old. Everything’s all right, but thank
you for asking. The other day my younger son came into the city saying that
grandson of mine’s been crying to come back to see Ch’in-keke ever since he got home….” Lee had just started, but he
stopped his own talkative mouth. “You should go inside. Don’t hang out here in
the sun with me.”
Ch’in Ching nodded with a smile and was about to head
inside when Lee added hesitantly. “But, Mr. Ch’in, if you’re looking for the
young master….” He glanced towards the house and pressed his voice low even
though he could not be heard from inside. “There’s a Jap here. Second time in
the past few days already. No idea what for.”
Only then did Ch’in Ching notice the extra car beyond
the limestone steps by the side entrance. He walked until he could see the car, and lo and behold, there was the goddamn fried egg flag on the hood.
“You’re not going in, sir?” Lee asked after Ch’in
Ching came back.
“No, I think I’ll stay out here with you and the
flowers.”
Ch’in Ching was straightforward and Lee understood his
intentions well. He continued talking about everyday things as he worked. About
ten minutes later, Shen Liangsheng walked out with another man beside him. They
could only be friends judging from the way they chatted.
“Then
it’s settled, Vincent. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Brilliant, though you really shouldn’t have come all
the way here for that. Just ring me next time.”
“It’s fine. I’m not very busy these days.”
This visitor certainly was no stranger. After their
first encounter, Kobayakawa had arranged a date to catch up, and they had eaten
dinner several times after that. Kobayakawa was actually two years younger than
Shen Liangsheng, but he had gotten his current job assisting with the army
finances in Tientsin because of his father’s position in the Japanese army.
He had only arrived in Tientsin about two months ago
and already had bad blood with Shigekawa Hidekazu. Everything
seemed normal on the surface, but his power had been more or less stripped from
him, in turn making him feel unfulfilled. Kobayakawa looked down upon Chinese
people, but he took a liking to Shen Liangsheng because the Chinese man was not
a boot-licker nor a distant bystander. Also, both of them had studied economics
at Cambridge, so it did not take long before the two became well-acquainted.
Shen
Liangsheng caught sight of Ch’in Ching as he exited the house, but he
kept a straight face and saw Kobayakawa to his car. After watching the vehicle
drive out the metal gates, he stayed in the same spot, looking at Ch’in Ching
as though to beckon him over.
Ch’in Ching looked back at him from where he stood by
the planter box. The summer sun in August was so strong that steam was rising
from the ground.
He looked at him across a distance not far, though not
so close either. The light was so bright that he couldn’t see the other man’s
expression. His body seemed to have confused the sensations of hot and cold
after such a long time under the broiling sun. It was so hot that he wanted to
shiver.
It was
Ch’in Ching who walked over in the end, but Shen Liangsheng started talking
first in his usual tone, “Let’s talk inside.”
When they entered the lounge, Ch’in Ching thought they
would talk elsewhere, but Shen Liangsheng stopped and pointed to the couch.
“Take a seat,” he said as though it were the
schoolmaster’s first time here.
“Shen Liangsheng….”
The truth was that nothing serious had crossed Ch’in
Ching’s mind. The papers had yet to release the names of the Peace Preservation
Committee, but he had heard rumours that it was essentially made up of former
Peiyang people. He had thought that the Japanese were probably looking for Shen
Liangsheng for this, and he wanted to have a talk with him to dissuade him from
working with the Japanese.
“Ch’in Ching, I’ve never hidden anything about my
family from you,” Shen Liangsheng interrupted with a seemingly unrelated
statement as though he wanted the schoolmaster to deduce it himself.
But Ch’in Ching could not. His mind was stuck, and he
did not reply for minutes. He wasn’t informed about the business side of
things, and the taller man had never spoken about leaving the country sooner or
later. He only knew about the internal conflicts between the family members. And
then what? Ch’in Ching sat there pondering but found no answer.
“I have things that I want, Ch’in Ching.” Shen
Liangsheng laid out the cards after seeing the other man’s dumb expression for
so long, thinking there was no hope in waiting for him to find the answer
himself. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t want to get into politics, but I’m
going to have to work with the Japanese for the business. If you can accept it,
good. If you can’t, then we’ll just leave it at that.”
Ch’in Ching only nodded in acknowledgement. Shen
Liangsheng did not tell him to think about it or take a few days if he needed.
The taller man reached for a cigarette from the coffee table and sat back on
the couch, smoking.
The servants could tell that something was going on
and left the two men alone. There was not a sound in the large, deserted
lounge. The only thing alive was the smoke, gently hovering and then fading
away.
Shen Liangsheng finished the cigarette and got another
one. Ch’in Ching followed suit and lit it between his lips. Ch’in Ching was not
a smoker, but occasionally after sex, he would join in the fun as Shen
Liangsheng sat against the headboard smoking. He would crawl into the taller
man’s arms and find a comfy spot to suck the smoke from the man’s mouth into
his own before spitting it out. He would even ask mischievously, “Smoking’s
not good for you. How are you going to thank me for helping you out?”
Although
Ch’in Ching lit the cigarette, he only breathed in once in the process of
lighting it and let the rest burn away on its own. Afterwards, he spoke, but it
was something unrelated.
“Try not to smoke so much anymore.”
When Shen Liangsheng did not respond, he crushed the
cigarette butt and continued as he got up, “Then let’s just leave it at that.”
Shen Liangsheng nodded and stood up, too. He heard
Ch’in Ching say, “I’ll find a time to….” He knew it was regarding the
apartment, and he cut the schoolmaster off. “It’s fine.”
“I’ll find a time to give the contract back to you,”
Ch’in Ching finished his sentence while gazing at him. “Let me know if there
are any other procedures with the transfer.”
“Fine.” The truth was that Shen Liangsheng knew the
schoolmaster wouldn’t take the properties, so he didn’t waste his breath. The
tone he took was that of a business negotiation: the conditions were agreed
upon, and now it was time to go.
Ch’in Ching did not waste his breath either. He
nodded, not giving a word of farewell, and walked out the door.
The lounge door was wide open, leading to a blaring
whiteness outside. As Ch’in Ching stepped towards the blinding sunlight, he
suddenly thought of what Shen Liangsheng had said to him the previous night
about not having to return the favour. Now he understood – Shen Liangsheng had
likely known that this day would come, and those words were meant as an early
farewell. This way they owed each other nothing.
And they would have nothing to do with each other
anymore.
Standing
behind the departing man, Shen Liangsheng had little emotion on his face, let
alone expressions of sadness or longing. If one were to say, it was a face so
stern as to be lifeless.
Indeed, he had known this day would come. Ch’in Ching
would never accept his working with the Japanese. However, it was not the case
that there was no way out of the situation. Words came easily, but it was the
way they were used that mattered. Ch’in Ching did not understand the workings
of business very well, and it would have been possible to fool the man into
thinking that Shen Liangsheng had no intentions to cooperate but that he was
forced to. After the lies, he simply had to act and speak smartly to eventually
win the man back.
Shen Liangsheng did have self-awareness. Selfish,
stonehearted, materialistic – none of these were false accusations, but
honestly, he did not care. He would admit that he cared for Ch’in Ching, but while he
did, he was calculating. Even helping his godmother’s family had been
preparation for the future.
However, Shen Liangsheng found that his plans changed in
the four hours he had spent with the man.
Standing with him in the dark cellar, listening to the
explosions from afar, he caught glimpses of the man’s expression and was
reminded of the one spring day when they had gone to see the flowers by the
lake. He recalled the man telling him something which he had totally forgotten
due to a lack of concern. All he could remember was the man’s expression.
The peace and love then, and the excruciating pain now
caused by the continuous explosions.
Shen
Liangsheng was incapable of feeling such love or such pain, but he finally
realized then that he could not possibly trick the man this time. If he had felt
anything sincere towards the man, he would not fool him regarding this matter. He
had to give him that at least.
And it wasn’t hard. It was just four words:
Easy come, easy go.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
About the fried egg reference:
The original reference in Chinese is a folk medicine that became the synonym for "scam."
A scam artist posing as a doctor
Or a dumbass who bought the fake medicine
(I'm not sure which film or show this is from sorry :p)
The most common form is a round black patch of medicine as seen in the first picture. This was extended to the Japanese flag because...well the resemblance and the fact that Japan invaded Korea and then China.
There are almost no anti-Japanese slurs in English other than "Jap" when referring to a Japanese person, so I improvised XD you must admit it looks like a sunny-side-up egg
About the soups that Shen always makes for Ch'in:
In the same way that "chicken soup" is thought to be good for sick people, various traditional soups are thought to be good for various conditions. In this chapter, specifically, Shen prepares soup that is meant to "cool" the body down since it is summertime. The concept of food having "cold" and "hot" properties is a basic concept of Chinese folk food belief.
For more information:
Soup
Chinese food therapy
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ayszhang: Another rainy week in Vancouver :) I love it!
I hope this chapter was delivered well enough to initiate a subdued sort of sorrow. It was a lot shorter than the last few chapters so I could release it this week, but the next one is long again.
On another note, Happy Easter for those who celebrate :D
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Till Death Do Us Part - English Translation by ayszhang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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