After my eyes adjusted to the light I began to see the shabbiness-chipped paint and falling plaster everywhere. The place had an odd odor, a mixture of perfume and stale tobacco.
A frog-faced woman appeared behind a counter. She had a smoking pipe sticking out of her mouth. She greeted Big Sister Fann with a broad smile. “What wind has brought you here, my friend?”
“The southern wind, Mistress,” answered Fann. “I am here to ask you a favor.”
“Don’t be modest about your intention.” The Mistress patted Big Sister Fann’s shoulder with one hand. “I know you are with the spirit of the god of money or you wouldn’t be here. My temple is too small for a big worshiper like you.”
“Don’t be modest yourself, Mistress,” Big Sister Fann said. “Your small temple happens to have the god I need to talk to. Come.” She pulled me over and introduced me as her niece from the countryside, and An-te-hai as my sister.
The Mistress looked me up and down. She turned to Big Sister Fann. “I am afraid I can’t offer much. This girl is too skinny. How can you expect a spider to spin when it has no butt? It’ll take me too much money just to fatten her up.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Big Sister Fann leaned toward the Mistress. She pulled her ear and whispered, “My niece is here for a consultation only.”
“I don’t do small business anymore, sorry.” The Mistress took a toothpick from a shelf behind the counter and started to run it over her teeth. “The market has been bad, you know.”
Big Sister Fann winked at me.
I cleared my throat.
An-te-hai stepped up and passed me a bag.
I went to the counter and removed what was in the bottom of the bag.
My dragonfly hairpin, inlaid with jewels and pearls, glistened in the light. I put it on the counter.
“Oh, my heavens!” The Mistress drew a breath and tried not to show surprise. Covering her mouth with both hands, she studied the hairpin. Raising her chin, she looked at me suspiciously. “You stole this.”
“No, I didn’t,” I said calmly. “It was an inheritance.”
“That’s right,” Big Sister Fann echoed. “Her family have been jewelry makers for… centuries.”
“I am not doubting whether it is real,” the Mistress said as her eyes continued to search me. “I only wonder why such a rare treasure is outside of the Forbidden City.”
To avoid the Mistress’s stare, I turned to look at the murals.
“Is that enough for your consultation?” Big Sister Fann asked.
“You are too kind.” The Mistress picked up her pipe and stuffed dry leaves in it. “My only hesitation is that I am not sure it is safe for me to keep. If it is a stolen piece…” She paused. Her hand drew a hanging rope in the air.
“Let’s go to another house, Aunt.” I reached for the hairpin.
“Wait!” The Mistress put her hand on top of mine. Gently but firmly she picked up the hairpin. Her face turned into a smiling rose. “Oh, my dear child, don’t dare make a fool of your aunt. I didn’t say I didn’t want it, did I? It is good that you were brought to me, because I am the only lady in town who can offer what you want. My child, I am going to give you the lesson of a lifetime. I am going to be worthy of your priceless hairpin.”
We sat in the master chamber. It had a large bed with decorative posts up to the ceiling. Made of redwood, the bed had been carved with pe-onies, eggplants, tomatoes, bananas and cherries, which suggested male and female sexual organs. The curtains were washed white and perfumed. The side walls had built-in shelves displaying miniature sculptures. Most were Buddhist gods in the middle of coupling. The actions were cleverly depicted, the poses elegant. Females mounted males in positions of meditation. The lovers’ eyes were either half open or closed. Between each couple were displayed plates painted with individual pink peonies and eggplants. The peonies had dark, hair-like pistils and the eggplants had cap-like tops painted in light purple.
“It is all about arousing the mind,” the Mistress commented as she served tea. “When girls first come to my house, I teach them a skill called the fan dance. “The Mistress opened a chest and pulled out a set of props: a small round pillow, a stack of paper money, and a dozen eggs on a bamboo tray.
“I lay these objects on top of one another, with the money on the bottom, the pillow in the middle and the eggs on top. The girl sits on the arrangement. She is given one minute to turn the stack of money into the shape of a fan. The rule is that the eggs cannot be broken.”
The Mistress snapped her fingers.
Two girls entered from a side door. They were in their late teens and were dressed in thin brocaded robes. Although they had pleasant features, they showed no hospitality. They spit out sunflower seeds, kicked off their slippers and climbed onto the bed. Opening their legs, they squatted over the eggs like two hens.
The Mistress snapped her fingers again, and the girls started to rock their bottoms.
The view was unbearably comic and I failed to suppress a giggle.
Big Sister Fann jabbed me with her elbow.
I apologized but could hardly control myself.
“You won’t be laughing when you start practicing yourself, believe me,” the Mistress said. “It takes a great deal of effort to master the trick.”
I asked what this movement was for.
“It is to help you gain power and control of your body,” the Mistress replied. “It is to add sensitivity to your bottom lips.”
“Follow my advice and practice, and you will understand what it is for. When the skill is mastered, you will drown the man beneath you in pleasure and he will remember your name.”
The words got me. Yes, I would like to have Emperor Hsien Feng re-member my name. I would like His Majesty to remember the pleasure along with its deliverer.
I looked at the ivory-colored rocking behinds and tried to picture the girls in bed with men. My cheeks started to burn. It was not out of shame but from the knowledge that I was going to try this myself.
“We have been in business a long time,” the Mistress said, trying to brush away my doubts. “Men come at all costs. We bring life back to them. We release the beast out of younger men and make older men know their youth once again.”
My eyes were on the girls, who were now balanced on their limbs.
“This is a time-tested position.” The Mistress gave a mysterious smile. “You see, the girls from good families are taught to despise my house. Such girls don’t know that it is because of them I am in business. The good girls never know what my girls know; therefore they end up keeping their house, and my girls their husbands and their money!”
“How long does it take to master the… dance?” I asked, wanting to get out of here as soon as I could.
“Three months.” The Mistress pulled over a chair and sat down.
“Every day you squat on top of the eggs and rock your behind.” The Mistress lit her pipe and inhaled. “After three months, your bottom lips will grow a little thicker and fatter than a normal woman’s. When a man wears those lips, you will drive him wild. He will want to die for you, and you will be able to empty his pockets.”
I tried to forget where I was, but it was hard.
Big Sister Fann gave me an I-didn’t-hear-it look.
An-te-hai stared boldly. He was spellbound by what he was watching.
The girls lifted themselves off the eggs. Their bodies glistened with sweat.
“Take a look at what they have done.” The Mistress waved at me.
I went over to see.
The Mistress removed the egg tray and the pillow. A perfect fan presented itself-the stack of paper money had been moved into the intended shape.
“Now try it yourself,” the Mistress said, putting down the tray and the pillow.
I couldn’t move.
“You might as well face it,” the Mistress said. “It is a man’s world.”
The girls offered to help take off my clothes.
