A Concubine for the Family: A Family Saga in China by Amy Kwei

Author:Amy Kwei [Kwei, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780981549927
Publisher: TATS Publishing
Published: 2012-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

“IT SEEMS I’VE arrived just in time. I’ll have to manage the factory somehow without Dragon,” Righteous Virtue said, wiping his damp brow. “It must be General Chin’s order to arrest him.”

The women were shamefaced at the spectacle they had caused. Still shaken by the ordeal, Purple Jade mumbled: “These stories of rape and disaster must have unnerved me. I didn’t even notice that the soldiers spoke Mandarin with a southern accent.”

“My poor country.” Righteous Virtue avoided looking at the embarrassed women. “The East Ocean Devils are devastating our land, while our best soldiers are settling quarrels between jealous lovers!”

“Does anyone know where Uncle Dragon is?” Golden Bell asked.

“It is best not to know,” her father answered. “In fact, I’d better put up a reward by the East Asian Uniform for any information leading to our manager’s arrest!”

“Dragon is so clever.” Purple Jade grimaced. “He told us to do just the right thing.”

“I think the bundle under his arm must have been a uniform from our factory,” Comely Brook added.

“That is such a clever way to escape.” Golden Bell giggled.

“I wonder where he is?” Purple Jade looked from face to face, sharing the bewilderment.

While the Japanese laid siege to the harbor, refugees from surrounding towns and villages poured into Shanghai, clogging the streets of the foreign concessions. As bombs and guns exploded, a parade of men, women and children plodded the tree-lined streets, their possessions strapped to their backs. Men were haltered to wooden carts, their veins bulging from their necks. They strained under their burdens of tables and chairs and looked for a safe location to set up camp. Other family members pushed from behind, repelling the grasping hands of the desperate.

People with untreated wounds and lurid deformities lay everywhere — under trees, against buildings. Some sat in a stupor, catatonic from shock, trodden by crowds, harassed by flies. The blind stared into passing faces, holding out broken bowls, moaning for alms. Men with missing limbs told tales of horror: the bombs that fell from the sky maimed and mutilated with a swiftness they could not comprehend. The elusive enemy stayed miles away, killing with impunity, sitting in the gun turrets of battleships or airplanes. The stench of unwashed bodies, excrement, oozing wounds, blood and saliva permeated sidewalks. The more robust homeless swarmed like buzzards, harassing those who looked more prosperous. Hungry children snatched whatever edibles they could pry loose from clutching hands. Many uprooted plants and others gnawed on tree bark.

Aggressive hustlers set upon those in motorcars. They threw themselves into the car’s way, spitting and lunging at the vehicles. Ah Lee carried a short whip to deter the troublemakers. His invectives and the lashings of his whip chilled Purple Jade. The dispossessed mobs filled her with both pity and repugnance. Totally unprepared for the scenes of desperation she saw around her, she felt the anger and frustration of helplessness. Bereft of her old home, she shared in the pathos of this wartime calamity. Yet she was thankful

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