And the Bride Wore Red

‘Of course. If you only knew how proud of you he is! He is a strong man in every way but one-you are his weakness. Never forget that his need is greater than yours. It gives you power, but we all know you will never misuse that power, and we can give him into your hands with easy hearts and minds.’

‘Thank you,’ Olivia said softly, so deeply moved that she could hardly speak. ‘I promise that I won’t betray that trust.’

Biyu smiled. ‘You didn’t need to tell us that,’ she said.

Arriving home, they plunged into a discussion of details. Biyu insisted that everything must be done properly.

‘So we must first seek and obtain your parents’ consent.’

‘At my age?’ Olivia said, scandalised. ‘Besides, they’re on their honeymoon in the Bahamas. They won’t be back for ages.’

‘But there is your great-aunt Norah, whom Mitchell says is like a mother to you. He tells me that she likes him.’

‘She certainly does.’

‘Then she’ll say yes when we talk tonight. You must show me how to work this video link he talks about.’

Biyu was fascinated by the reality of it later. Norah was up and waiting, and she crowed with delight at the news. Olivia introduced her to the family members who were at home, and Biyu explained about the ceremony of consent that would take place that evening.

‘Then I’ll catch up on my sleep and be ready,’ Norah said.

By eight o’clock that evening they were all gathered around the screen for her appearance. The first thing she did on seeing Lang was to raise her thumb triumphantly in the air. He responded with the same gesture, which made everyone else do the same.

Lang introduced Grandfather Tao, who greeted her solemnly, and embarked on a formal speech in which he praised the bride and groom-but especially the bride-finishing with, ‘Do you give your consent to this marriage?’

Norah smiled and inclined her head, saying, ‘I do give my consent, with all my heart. And I want to say how proud I am to be connected with such an honourable family.’

Everyone bowed to her. She was one of them now.

As Lang had said, Olivia was installed in his room. He hadn’t thought much further ahead than that, and it came as a shock to him when the young women of the house, determined to protect the bride’s virtue, gathered outside her door, barring his entry.

‘Very funny,’ he said wryly to Olivia, who was doubled up with laughter.

‘Well, we must do everything in the proper way,’ she reminded him.

‘And where am I supposed to sleep until the wedding? I have to move out of my own apartment in two days.’

‘We can find you a couch somewhere in the north house,’ Biyu promised him. ‘It won’t be for long. Now, you may kiss your bride a chaste goodnight and leave.’

Conscious of his family’s eyes on him, he kissed her and departed hurriedly.

Had they been planning to remain in China, there would have been the ceremony of the bed, when a newly purchased matrimonial bed was installed. This had happened at the wedding of Wei and Suyin a few weeks earlier, and they were making their own bed available for the bridal couple on their wedding night.

The result was a modified version of the ceremony in which the bed was moved a few inches to symbolise installation, after which it was covered with various fruits, and the children of the family, symbols of fertility, scrambled to seize them.

These days Hai was in his element, conjuring fish from all directions, while Biyu took care of the rest of the banquet. Because the words for eight and good luck were similar it was customary to have eight dishes, not including dessert. Shark’s fin soup, crab claws and as many fish as he could find formed the basis of the feast.

On the last night before the wedding Lang came to bid Olivia goodnight, and they strolled in the dark garden.

‘When we next see each other it’ll be at the wedding,’ he said. ‘No regrets?’

‘Not if you have none.’

‘None at all. Are you still worrying about the job?’

‘How can I help it? You may have lost the chance of a lifetime.’

‘There’ll be other jobs,’ Lang said.

‘As good as the one you’ve given up?’

He frowned a little, troubled that she couldn’t understand what was so simple to him.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘I made my choice, and it was the right one. While I have you, I have everything. Without you I have nothing. There was never really a choice at all.’

‘That’s what he said,’ came a voice from the darkness.

They hadn’t seen Biyu there. Now she came closer.

‘He?’ Olivia asked.

‘Renshu,’ Biyu replied. ‘Those must have been his very words.’

‘“While I have you, I have everything”,’ Lang repeated slowly. ‘“Without you, I have nothing”. Yes, that’s what he said to Jaio when he went to rescue her. And she understood that he meant every word and she could trust him never to have any regrets.’

He was looking at Olivia as he said this, a slight question in his eyes.

‘Yes,’ she said joyfully. ‘She understood. It took her too long, but in the end she really understood.’

Biyu touched Lang’s cheek.

‘Congratulations,’ she said. ‘You are truly a son of Renshu.’

She drifted away into the darkness.

‘That was it,’ Olivia said. ‘That’s what you were waiting for, the moment of complete acceptance. It came in its own time.’

‘As you said it would. You were right, as you are right about everything. I can safely put my fate in your hands, and tomorrow that is what I will do.’

He drew her close, not in a kiss but a hug. Their bodies pressed tightly together so that in the darkness they looked like one person. Looking back at them, Biyu smiled in satisfaction.

Because there were so many guests the wedding could not be held at home, and a hall had been booked two streets away.

Norah was with her as soon as she rose. Suyin made the connection and kept the camera on Olivia as they prepared her in her red-satin gown and dressed her hair in the style of a married woman, as she would soon become.

Norah watched it all in ecstasy. She had rested all day so that she would be fresh enough to stay up overnight, and now she and her nurse sat together, eyes fixed on the screen.

The groom, accompanied by the sound of drums and gongs, arrived in a sedan chair to collect his bride and take her to the place of the marriage. Olivia was pleased to see that he looked as splendidly handsome in traditional attire as she had known he would.

At this point there was a small delay. The groom requested that the bride appear but the bride’s attendants, in accordance with tradition, refused to produce her until mollified by gifts. Since the attendants were the children of the house, there was a good deal of horse trading, led by Ting, and the price rose higher and higher.

‘How are they doing?’ Olivia asked Suyin from behind the window.

‘Ting is driving a hard bargain,’ Suyin chuckled. ‘At this rate, you’ll be lucky to be married today.’

At last Biyu intervened, declaring that enough was enough. The children seized their prizes and scampered away, squeaking with satisfaction.

Then it was time for the bride to get into her sedan chair for the journey to where the ceremony was to take place. All around her firecrackers exploded as she began her journey.

As they travelled she couldn’t help thinking about Zhu Yingtai going to her wedding in a similar sedan, stopping it beside Liang Shanbo’s grave and leaving it to join him for ever. It was in memory of this that Lang had given her