Gold Mountain Blues - Ling Zhang [14]
To raise money to treat Ah-Sin’s illness Mrs. Mak was forced to sell off her daughter, Ah-Tou, to a family who lived twenty li away.
Witnessed by the elders of the clan, she put her thumbprint on an irrevocable title deed. It read as follows:
Through this deed, Mrs. Fong-Mak gives her daughter, Ah-Tou, to Chan Ah Yim of Sai Village as a maid and has today received fifty silver dollars in recompense for this gift. From the day on which her daughter is given over, she shall have nothing more to do with the Fongs. Each side shall be satisfied with this agreement and there shall be no dissenting voices on either side, the signing and witnessing of this deed being the written guarantee thereof.
Signed the fifth day of the eleventh month of year four of the reign of Guangxu (1878)
Ah-Tou was sold to a family that had a small dyers business. The head of the family was fifty-eight years old, and had a wife and two concubines, but none of them had borne him a son and heir. He had a bit of money but the family was not especially well off, and he could not afford more concubines. His solution was to buy in girls from poor families, to use partly as maids, partly as concubines. All the time and effort Mrs. Mak spent teaching her daughter elaborate needlework was wasted. Ah-Tou would only be doing rough work from now on.
Ah-Tou was only thirteen when she left home. Mrs. Mak arranged to meet the Chans in town to hand her over, but fearing her daughter would refuse to go, lied to her. Ah-Tou thought they were going to market. Just before they left, Mrs. Mak put two hard-boiled eggs into Ah-Tou’s handkerchief. It was a long time since Ah-Tou had had an egg to eat. “Have Ah-Fat and Ah-Sin had any?” she asked. “No, only you,” said her mother. Ah-Tou peeled one and ate it so fast that it stuck in her throat. Eventually she managed to summon enough saliva to swallow it, after choking and spluttering till purple veins stood out on her forehead. When it came to the second egg, she cracked the shell but then gave it back: “Let’s leave it for Ah-Sin,” she said, “he’s just a little kid.” Mrs. Mak quietly took out a silver dollar from inside her jacket: “Keep it safe,” she said, giving it to her daughter. “Don’t let anyone see it.” Ah-Tou gripped the dollar tightly in her sweaty palm and was silent. Finally she asked: “What shall I buy in the market with so much money?” “Whatever you like.” Ah-Tou thought for a moment. “I’ll go to the Christian priest’s pharmacy in town, Mum,” she said finally, “and get a bottle of eyewash for you. With what’s left, I’ll get four walnut cookies, one for Ah-Fat, one for me, and two for Ah-Sin.” Ah-Tou was the in-between child, two years younger than Ah-Fat and six years older than Ah-Sin. She had carried Ah-Sin around on her back ever since he was a baby, so she was as much a mother to him as an elder sister. Mrs. Mak turned away: “Eat it all, child, it’s all for you. Don’t leave any for anyone else,” she said, the tears running down her face.
When they reached the market, Mrs. Mak saw the Chans and gave her daughter a little push. “Go for a walk with Auntie Chan,” she said. “I’m going to the toilet.” She walked away a few steps, and then hid around the corner of a wall. She watched as Ah-Tou, dragging her feet behind the Chan woman and looking around for her mother, receded into the distance. Mrs. Mak felt as if a piece of her heart had been cut out.
She made her way home in a daze. It was nearly nightfall. She did not light the fire or get dinner ready, just sat staring blankly at the stove. Ah-Fat came in from the fields. “Where’s Ah-Tou?” he asked. “I haven’t seen her all day.” There was no answer. He persisted and she finally said through gritted teeth: “I’ve cut out my own flesh to feed to the dogs.” When Ah-Fat finally realized he would never see his sister in