Empress Orchid - Anchee Min [57]
How was this possible?
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.”
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.
I had only ten days!
“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.
I felt foolish. My body became tense.
“Your future depends on your performance.” The Mistress’s voice was flat, without emotion. “You must make the man think of you as magical or he will not call you back.”
“Yes,” I replied in a weak voice.
“Then quit fighting and let go. A good life doesn’t come free.” The Mistress led me to the bed and motioned for me to squat. “The fact is, life comes easy to nobody.”
Embarrassed, I told An-te-hai and Big Sister Fann to leave the room.
The two exited without a word.
I got down and squatted like a hen. The position was so awkward that my limbs became sore almost instantly. I moved my behind in circles. The touch of the eggs brought with it