Posted By: Ai My (203.101.39.14)
Date: Tuesday, 30 January 2001, at 12:24 a.m.
Dear everyone,
Only one chapter and a bit today. You'll find that it's getting longer because too many things happened in the second half of the book and it would be unfair to skip those details.
THE DIVIDED RIVER - An Extract (cont.)
For three days, YiPing did not go to the "other side", she dared not! She could not sleep properly and her mind was full of questions and guilts. Did she make a terrible mistake ? Would her father kill Aunt Xue ? She read the newspaper every day in panic then tried to tell herself that Ah Hao would be strong enough to stop her father if he wanted to harm Aunt Xue. On the fourth day, YiPing could not stand it any longer, she came to her father’s house. Lueng, the maid said her father was at home, YiPing walked into the lounge room, it was cold, empty and quiet. She went to her father’s room, knocked the door and walked in. Her father was sitting quietly in a corner, his face was scrawny and did not so any expressions. He asked YiPing to come and calmly asked her for the address of Aunt Xue’s lover, Ng Qin Hung. YiPing was afraid, she sensed of some thing bad was about to happen. She lied to her father that she did not know the address of Aunt Xue’s lover, Ah Hao’s words "everything has its limit and sometimes surpass that limit is not a good thing" still hanging in her mind. Her father then looked at her and asked how much times did she spend to investigate Aunt Xue, he then added that "like father like daughter, a small panther had its own way to knock down its enemy". YiPing was frozen by his words, was she a small panther ? Her aim was as cruel as her father’s? A cold-blooded and savage small black panther ? YiPing was astonished by her father’s saying then she heard the loud noises from Aunt Xue’s room next door "Lu Chan Wah, you’re not a man! Why don’t you go out and challenge with other men rather than detaining women and children". YiPing asked her father and was told that Aunt Xue and Ah Kuet have been locked in that room for three days, he added that he wanted them both to die of starvation. YiPing felt a chill went through her body, she wanted to say something to stop him but RuPing walked in, her eyes were red and swollen from too much crying. RuPing begged her father to let Aunt Xue and Ah Kuet out, he said that they deserved to be dead for the sins they committed and warned RuPing not to take food to Aunt Xue and Ah Kuet again otherwise he would also lock RuPing up. YiPing told her father to let Aunt Xue and Ah Kuet out because he would be charged by the police if they found out. But her father did not move as Aunt Xue continued to yelled "Lu Chan Wah, do you think you’re still a Black Panther of the old days ? You’re old and weak now, if you have any guts, why don’t you go and challenge with Ng Qin Hung ? Even just Ah Hao you could not beat him, if you go and see Ng Qin Hung, he’ll break your leg like a dog." Her father’s face turned red with anger but Aunt Xue did not stop, she spilled out all the most offensive words, some YiPing had never heard before. YiPing and RuPing were anxiously watching their father’s iciness, he walked slowly to his desk, opened the bottom draw by a key and took out a shinny black thing. YiPing looked at it closer and her heart nearly stop beating, it’s a small gun. YiPing frightfully yelled "Father, please don’t! Do not use gun!" RuPing also screamed and jumped up to hold his hand. Aunt Xue immediately stopped her abusive words after she heard the word "gun" from YiPing. YiPing took the gun from her father’s hand and put on the table, somehow; she had no idea how; she had managed to ease her father sat down on a chair. There was a long silence then her father told RuPing to go back to her room, he wanted to talk to YiPing. After RuPing left he ordered for YiPing to sit down and said that he had no idea why did he take Aunt Xue home and made her his wife, probably because of those eyebrows and the chin….. He stopped there and pointed at the large safe in the corner of the room and told YiPing that all his money are stored in that safe, there used to be a lot of them but Aunt Xue took more than half, but there were still plenty leftover for YiPing. Then he handed the key to YiPing and said that he wanted to give her the whole lot as he only had her as his child. YiPing did not take the key, she told him to keep the money for Ah Hao, RuPing and MoPing. Her father laughed bitterly "For them ? How can I be so sure that they are my children? Their mother had an affair for many years, how would I know if it was just one affair ? MoPing was just liked her mother, only 17 and already fell pregnant to some unknown thugs, RuPing was weak, a little thing could make her cry and Ah Hao was good for nothing. Do not mention them, none of Aunt Xue’s children are liked mine. YiPing, I only have hopes in you. I want you to be happy." He stopped then continued "I lived on the streets since I was little, I knew what it was liked being hungry and beaten up by the rich family’s servants for getting leftover food from their garbage. Then I was hired to look after the horses for the family of a general, his daughter….." He suddenly stopped, YiPing was hooked with his story but her father shook his head and said "Those early years were full of suffering, I don’t want you to be liked that, I want you to have money" YiPing asked her father where did his money come from, he told her that his money came from many different ways, most of the rich families offered him money every time he paid a visit to their village. It could call as a civilised way of stealing, but no one cared, because people only knew that man was rich and powerful, they did not ask where the money came from. Her father leaned back on his chair and his eyes were half closed, he was really tired. All those years fighting for power and money, what did he have left ? YiPing sighed and stood up, she looked at the gun and after a moment of thinking, she took the gun and walked out. She could not let her father kill Aunt Xue, though bad she was still mother of his three other children. YiPing walked pass RuPing’s room, the door was not shut and RuPing was sitting by her bed crying. YiPing felt pity for RuPing and an affection suddenly growing in her heart for RuPing, YiPing walked in and gave RuPing the gun "RuPing, please hide it away, make sure father will not see it again." RuPing nodded and took the gun, YiPing continued "Did Aunt Xue and Ah Kuet have nothing to eat over the last few days?" RuPing said that the first two days she was able to sneak some food in for Aunt Xue by the windows but father found out and did not let her to do it since. YiPing asked about Ah Hao and was told that Ah Hao had left home after that day when he was trying to stop his father from beating Aunt Xue. His father took out the gun and Ah Hao vowed never to come back to the house. Then RuPing asked YiPing to persuade their father to release Aunt Xue and Ah Kuet, RuPing also added that she knew YiPing was a good person and she did not blame YiPing about Shu Han’s broken promise in marrying her. RuPing’s words had expanded YiPing’s guilts even further, she told RuPing that she would come back the next day after their father has calmed down.
YiPing came home with that downcast air from her father’s house. She kept asking herself if it was all her faults to destroy the Lu’s family. The disaster that caused by her just liked a beatiful house was completely ruined by fire and she was the one who started the fire. Her mother came in and asked her what was happenned, YiPing told her mother about how she knew Aunt Xue’s affair with Ah Kuet was the result of that affair and how her father locked both of them up and intended to kill them. YiPing’s mother looked at her with aggrieved eyes and said that she knew it all along that Aunt Xue had a lover. She knew eversince they were still living together in that big house but she did not tell YiPing’s father simply because she believed in the "cycle of rectitude", YiPing’s father had taken away too many lives of young girls, made them his wives or concubines but never loyal to any of them. Did he has the rights to accuse someone for being disloyal to him ? YiPing was amazed at her mother’s words, she knew everything long ago but still kept it and endured all hardship and poverty for many years. YiPing’s mother also told her that she had no rights to reveal that secrect of Aunt Xue’s affair as it would break up the whole family. And in doing that did YiPing feel any better or what could she achieve ? Her mother told her about an old saying of "You’ll harvest whatever you had planted; you planted melons you’ll harvest melons, you planted peas you’ll harvest peas!" and said that she hoped YiPing could think about it more before doing anything. That night, YiPing could not sleep, her mind was full of questions, what did she plant, melons or peas ?
* *
YiPing fell into sleep when it was nearly dawn, then she woke up from the loud knockings at the main door. RuPing raced straight into YiPing’s room, her face was in terror and hair was still uncombed. She took YiPing’s hand and breathed heavily with broken words "Mum…..mum…and Ah Kuet…." YiPing felt numbed….did father kill them? Her hand started shaking but she tried to control herself and asked RuPing "What had happened to Aunt Xue and Ah Kuet ?" YiPing’s mother calmed them down "Don’t worry, just speak slowly." RuPing gave a long exhale and said "Mum and Ah Kuet had escaped." It was YiPing’s turn to exhale "That’s a good news. You gave me quite a fright, I thought father…." RuPing’s tears poured down "But….father is very angry…please come and see him YiPing" YiPing asked how did Aunt Xue escape, RuPing answered that the window was broken and Aunt Xue with Ah Kuet escaped that way. YiPing was surprised, how could Aunt Xue able to do that ? But she quickly got changed and followed RuPing to her father’s house. At the gates, YiPing saw Leung, the maid was standing there shaking whilst YiPing could hear her father’s shouting from inside, Leung then told YiPing that YiPing’s father was about to kill some one. YiPing raced inside and saw her father was holding a chopping knife and mangled it on the door of Aunt Xue’s room yelling "Xue, you are such a shameless! I’ll kill you and your sinful child. The whole lot of you. Where are the Knights ?" YiPing looked at her father’s madness with distress, he probably thought he was still in the old days with thousands of soldiers under his command. YiPing called out "Father" several times, he turned around and saw YiPing, his hand lower and said "Is that you ? YiPing?" YiPing felt better, he was all right, able to recognise her "Yes, it’s me. Father, what are you doing ?" He looked at YiPing and said slowly "Aunt Xue had escaped with Ah Kuet" YiPing consoled "Don’t worry father, we’ll find them, please give me the knife" Her father looked at the knife "Find them ? It was a proper plan for their fleeing, how can we find them?" YiPing tried to take the knife "Ok father, she is not here for you to use this, please give it to me." Her father let go of the knife, YiPing gave it to Leung and led her father to his room. He has calmed down a bit, sat on his chair and told YiPing that someone had helped Aunt Xue to break out by the window took all the money and jewllery from the safe and escaped. YiPing looked around the room, the safe, all draws and boards were opened up. It looked like it was done by a professional thief, Ng Qin Hung, must have been him! But how did he know that Aunt Xue was locked up by father ? Ah Hao ? It could not be, he had not been back since that day and he had no idea about Ng Qin Hung’s address. YiPing looked at the lock of the safe, it was broken up skilfully. YiPing’s father continued to rage about Aunt Xue’s infidelity, he said that no money was left for anyone, even for her own children. YiPing started to realise how cruel Aunt Xue was, she left without thinking about the living of her other three children, Ah Hao, RuPing and MoPing. YiPing had experience with poverty and knew how bad it would be without money, Aunt Xue had put YiPing and her mother through that and now, she’s putting her own children through the same condition. Very cruel! YiPing looked at her father, a once fearless leader who had won so many battles but finally lost to a woman of his own, an unfaithful woman whom he had loved and given almost everything to her. Yiping suddenly remembered her mother’s words of "you’ll harvest whatever you had planted", was that what’s really happenning to her father?
.......to be continued....