Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang

Author:Janie Chang
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Days passed into weeks and to the Yangs’ disappointment, there was nothing more from Liu Sanmu.

“He’s a wealthy man,” Dajuin said. “This isn’t as urgent for him as it is for us. He’s busy with other matters.”

“This is why,” Anjuin said, holding out the newspaper, a copy of Xinwen Bao. She pointed at the editorial, written by Liu Sanmu. “He’s in Peking, covering the student riots.”

May 4, 1919. Peking. Thousands of students obstructed the streets of Peking to protest the Paris peace talks. Already there is talk of protests spreading across China as citizens gather in anger, and there is much to be angry about.

China joined in the Great War on the side of the Allies. In exchange for sending noncombatants to Europe, the Allies promised to return to China territories held by Germany, most notably Shandong Province, the birthplace of Confucius.

More than 140,000 volunteers of the Chinese Labour Corps went to Europe. They dug trenches for the Allies, carried corpses off battlefields, unloaded cargo from trucks, trains, and ships. They built roads and repaired vehicles. Many lost their lives. We still don’t know how many have returned now that the war is over.

What we do know is that the Allies have betrayed us by handing over Shandong Province to Japan. We have been betrayed by our foreign Allies, perhaps by our own government.

Dajuin put down the paper and sighed. “I don’t suppose he’ll be back in Shanghai any time soon.”

I prayed the student protests in Peking would keep Liu Sanmu there for much, much longer and delay purchase of the estate. It would give me more time to find work.

There was more disappointment in store for the Yangs that day. A large house within walking distance of the mission school had come vacant and Miss Morris had decided to take it. There would be no more rent from the Eastern Residence. I couldn’t blame Miss Morris. Dragon Springs Road, once a quiet neighborly enclave, had become a street of empty properties, some in the process of being torn down. There would be more noise and more dust soon. Instead of the quiet the teachers valued so much, there would be the shouts of workmen and the crash of sledgehammers.

“We’re terribly sorry to leave our home of so many years,” Miss Morris said to Dajuin, “but you can’t predict when the property will sell and we can’t risk having to move unexpectedly. We will leave at the end of this week.”

Once more, a procession of oxcarts and handbarrows left Dragon Springs Road. Maiyu rode away on a handbarrow, her short legs dangling over the side, arms firmly wrapped around a canvas sack. She looked small and lost, not at all the terrifying washerwoman of my childhood.

“Good-bye, my dear,” Miss Morris said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “I will keep trying to find you a position.”

She knew I was walking into Shanghai every day to find work. I delivered carefully written application letters to clerks whose smirking indifference told me my letters would be tossed in the wastebasket.

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