Gold Mountain Blues - Ling Zhang [109]
But there was one thing that Mak Dau could not do, and that was read.
Poor Mak Dau. His name meant “writing ink” but he could not read his own name. Once he plucked up the courage to ask Kam Shan how his name was written. Kam Shan thought for a while, then went to his mother’s room and fetched some paper. He wrote out “Shit Heap Tse,” Tse being Mak Dau’s family name, and got Mak Dau to paste it on his back with rice glue and walk around the village. When Six Fingers saw him, she took one of the bamboo poles from the drying frame and thrashed Kam Shan till he howled. She decided that from that day on, Mak Dau should study alongside the boys.
When Mrs. Mak found out, she was tight-lipped. “What’s the point in teaching a servant to read and write? It’s a waste of time and energy.” But Six Fingers said: “Mum, this servant spends all day with your grandsons. If he doesn’t study a bit and learn a few characters, I’m afraid he might have a bad influence on them.” Mrs. Mak said nothing more. If Six Fingers wanted her mother-in-law’s consent to do something, she had only to drop in the names of the two boys, and all obstacles would be smoothed out of the way. Though Ah-Fat had written several letters about Kam Shan going to Gold Mountain, Mrs. Mak could not be persuaded to let him go. The boat trip was postponed again and again, and so Kam Shan remained at home with Six Fingers and Mrs. Mak.
The boys’ school was in Yuen Kai, a few li from Spur-On Village. Gold Mountain emigrants from the surrounding villages raised money for it, so most of the pupils (all boys) were from Gold Mountain families. The school was run by Protestant missionaries. The teachers were recruited by the Church; some were locals, others had come from North China. The lay teachers taught traditional Chinese classics, while the missionaries taught mathematics and Bible studies. They also taught singing and, at the New Year and other festivals, they staged plays and invited all the mums, grannies and granddads to the school to see the performance. Kam Shan had been given a part in the Easter play and Six Fingers organized a joint outing for the Gold Mountain wives of Spur-On Village. Kam Ho had run a fever during the night and overslept. His brother left for the school play without him, so he had to go with his mother.
They got everything ready the night before, including a bamboo basket filled half with eggs and half with sesame cakes and layer cakes. The eggs were a present for the teachers, and the cakes were to eat on the way. Six Fingers went into the courtyard, the basket on her arm, to find her mother-in-law holding a broken egg between finger and thumb, berating Ah-Choi. “This would never have happened if you’d got out of bed earlier. You pay no attention to me these days. No one in this house does what I say.” “What happened?” Six Fingers asked Ah-Choi. “One of the hens must have laid an egg with a soft shell, and it got trampled and broken in the coop.”
“Next time, check the nest first thing each morning so this doesn’t happen again,” said Six Fingers with a wink in Ah-Choi’s direction. “Now go and light the hand-warmer for Mrs. Mak, the weather’s still cold.” “Really? The sun’s hot enough to make you sweat!” Another wink from Six Fingers. “If I tell you to go, then go. No wonder the Missus says you don’t pay her any attention. You’re so lazy, you’ll have maggots growing under your feet.” Ah-Choi finally took the hint and went to the kitchen.
After she had gone, Six Fingers called Kam Ho: “Come and say good morning to Granny.” Mrs. Mak took the little boy’s hand and the vertical frown lines at the corners of her mouth and between her brows resolved themselves into horizontal ones. “Kam Ho, you