‘Yes, that restaurant is just around the corner. Just a couple more streets, and here we are. Home.’
The car drew up before the north house of the
In the centre stood an old man and woman: Grandfather Tao and Grandmother Shu. On either side of them were two middle-aged men-the uncles, their wives and children. Everyone was watching the car’s arrival with delight, and two of the younger children dashed forward to open the door and provide Olivia with a guard of honour.
‘My goodness!’ she exclaimed.
Lang took her hand. ‘Don’t worry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m here, Dragon Lady.’
He slipped his arm protectively around her as they neared the family and it divided into two groups, with the oldest, Grandfather Tao and Grandmother Shu, at the centre. He took her to them first.
‘Our family is honoured to meet you,’ Tao said, speaking in careful, perfect English, and his wife inclined her head, smiling in agreement.
‘It is I who am honoured,’ Olivia said.
Tao repeated his compliment. The words and manner were formal but his and Shu’s expressions were warm, and their eyes followed her when she moved on.
Strictly speaking they were the host and hostess, but because of their age and frailty they performed only the most formal duties, delegating anything more energetic to the younger ones.
Although brothers, Hai and Jing were totally unalike. Jing was a great, good-natured bull of a man, tall, broad and muscular. Beside him Hai was like a mountain goat next to a gorilla, small, thin and sprightly, with a wispy beard and bright eyes.
As the elder, Hai was introduced first, then his brother, then their wives-starting with Biyu, wife of Hai, and Luli, wife of Jing. They too greeted her in English, which she appreciated, but Lang immediately said in Chinese, ‘No, she speaks our language. I told you.’
They repeated their greetings in Mandarin and she responded accordingly, which made them smile with pleasure.
‘Mrs Lang-’ Olivia started to say, but there was a burst of laughter from several Mrs Langs.
‘You can’t say that,’ Hai’s wife declared merrily. ‘There are so many of us. Please, call me Biyu.’ She introduced the others as Ting, Huan, Dongmei, and Nuo.
There seemed to be at least a dozen grown-up youngsters, young men who studied Lang’s lady with politely concealed admiration, and young girls who considered her with more open interest. The fact that Olivia had the figure to wear a
It was a warm evening, and the first part was to be spent in the courtyard flanked by the four houses. Here tables had been laid out with a variety of small edibles, a foretaste of the banquet to come. Before anything was served, Biyu led her into the south house where Lang lived with Wei, and opened the door to a bedroom with its own bathroom.
‘Should you wish to retire for a few moments alone,’ she said, ‘you will find this place useful.’ She saw Olivia glance around at the room’s functional, masculine appearance, and said, ‘When Lang stays with us, this is his room, but this evening it is yours.’
‘Thank you. I’ll just refresh my face.’
‘I’ll be outside.’
Left alone, Olivia was able to indulge her frank curiosity, although she learned little. There were several books, some medical, some about China, but nothing very personal. Lang had revealed as little as possible about himself.
She went out to find that he had joined Biyu, and together they escorted her to where everyone was waiting. Now it was the turn of the children to crowd round. Just as she’d predicted, they called Lang ‘Uncle Mitch’, and even his adult relatives referred to him as Mitchell.
Glancing up, she caught his eye and he nodded, reminding her of the moment on the first evening when she’d anticipated this.
‘The dragon lady always understands before anyone else,’ he said lightly.
The children demanded to know what he meant by ‘dragon lady’. He explained that she’d been born in the year of the dragon, and they regarded her with awe. Her stock had definitely gone up.
The children were frankly curious, competing to serve her and to ask questions about England. She answered them as fully as she could, they countered with more questions and the result was one of the most satisfying half- hours that she had ever spent. By the time they went inside to eat, the atmosphere was relaxed.
Olivia soon understood what Lang had meant about a feud. From the start the food was laid out like a banquet being displayed to her, dumplings in the place of honour, and a multitude of fish dishes which Hai kept trying to nudge to the fore, only to be beaten back by fierce looks from Biyu. To please them both, Olivia ate everything on offer and was rewarded with warm looks of pleasure.
Then she had a stroke of luck. Enquiring politely about Tao’s life, she learned that he had once been a farmer. It happened that one of her mother’s passing fancies had owned a small pig-farm where they had spent the summer. The relationship hadn’t lasted, her mother having been unable to endure the quiet country life, but the fourteen-year-old Olivia had loved it. Now she summoned memories of that happy time, and she and Tao were soon in animated discussion. Pigs had provided Tao with a good living, and Olivia had enjoyed feeding time.
‘There was a huge sow,’ she recalled. ‘She had a litter of fifteen, but only fourteen teats, and terrible fights would break out between the piglets over the last teat. I used to take a feeding bottle to make sure I could give something to the one who missed out. He’d just drink his fill and then go back to the fight.’
Tao roared with laughter and countered with the tale of a vast pig he’d once owned, who’d fathered larger litters than any other pig, and whose services had been much in demand among his neighbours. Everyone else round the table watched them with delight, and Olivia knew she’d scored a success by impressing the head of the family.
When the meal was over, Biyu showed her around the other houses. She was eager to know about her first meeting with Lang, and laughed at the story of the mischievous child.
‘We are so proud of Mitchell,’ Biyu said. ‘He works very hard, and he’s a big man at the hospital.’
‘What does he actually do there?’ Olivia asked. ‘He was taking a clinic when we met, but apparently he was just filling in because they were short-staffed. I understand that his real job is something quite different.’
‘That’s true. He’s a consultant.’
‘A consultant?’ Olivia echoed, amazed. ‘He’s young for that.’
‘Oh, yes, he’s only a
She gave a knowing wink.
‘You think he’ll get it?’
‘He will if there’s any justice,’ Biyu said firmly. ‘But he’s superstitious. He thinks if he gets too confident then some great power above will punish him by taking the job away from him.’
‘Superstitious,’ Olivia mused. ‘You wouldn’t think it.’
‘Oh, he acts as if nothing could worry him,’ Biyu confided. ‘But don’t you be fooled.’
It struck Olivia that this was shrewd advice. Lang’s air of cool confidence had cracks, some of which he’d allowed her to see. The rest he seemed to be keeping to himself while their mutual trust grew.
‘You’re very proud of him, aren’t you?’ she said.
‘Oh, yes. It was a great day for us when he came to China. We already knew a lot about him because Meihui had kept in touch, sending us news, and to see him was wonderful. The best thing of all was that he wanted to come, and then he wanted to stay. Some men from his country would have ignored their Chinese heritage, but he chose to find it and live with it, because it’s important to him.’
‘He’s going away soon, isn’t he, to do some exploring?’
‘Actually, I thought he’d be gone by now. He spoke as though-Well, anyway, I’m glad he decided to wait a little longer, or we might not have met you.’
