My Enemy's Cherry Tree by Wang Ting-Kuo

Author:Wang Ting-Kuo [Wang Ting-Kuo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Granta Books
Published: 2019-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

III

Who else would you have seen if you hadn’t met us?

Something trivial was likely what started it all, Miss Baixiu, and if that was what changed our love, then it was the sort of love only petty people care about. Yet, everything underwent a dramatic change simply because Qiuzi bought a kettle.

We made tea that night after happily returning home with our little kettle. Drinking tea under the pouty gaze of the tiny apple-green spout, we had no idea that, besides emitting steam, it had also secretly turned on a switch in our life. You can call it fate, Miss Baixiu, which is how many people define unfathomable, crucial changes. But for me it was perfectly clear that it was all because of that kettle.

So now I must tell you that the raffle ticket that came with the purchase of the kettle won us a single lens reflex camera.

I had no premonition of what awaited us on the day the draw for the raffle was held. It was just another Sunday. Qiuzi wanted to do something to mark the high regard in which Boss Motor held me, so we had a nice lunch at a diner that specialized in local cuisine.

‘This feels strange. Are we really celebrating, when you’re about to leave me?’

In truth, I hadn’t shared my concerns with her. She thought about the earthquake every once in a while, and sometimes the slightest noise would give rise to unrealistic fears. To make matters worse, when I left, she would have to take care of everything, from morning to night, by herself. Although there were no signs of worry on her face, when she spoke, the happy lilt in her voice had disappeared.

As we walked past the department store after lunch, a cheering crowd had gathered in the small square in front of the entrance, even spilling out onto the flowerbeds under the roadside trees. At that moment, a moment devoid of any significance, a loudspeaker squawking out the winning raffle numbers announced Qiuzi’s name. She clutched my hand in disbelief and, after hearing her name repeated, squeezed her way up through the crowd. As if it knew that the winner had been located, the loudspeaker fervidly shouted out the top prize.

Qiuzi turned to look at me before jumping up and down in the middle of all those people.

How bizarre, Miss Baixiu, that such a tragedy could be born out of joy. We bought a kettle that got us a camera, which unexpectedly set us on a course to the Luo family house six months later.

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