Gold Mountain Blues - Ling Zhang [246]
Mak Dau walked along empty-handed. Tucked into his trouser waistband was a revolver. He took a gun wherever he went these days, even to bed. Guns protected life in these turbulent times—the lives of everyone in the diulau, not just his own.
The original plan was for Mak Dau to go alone to fetch Wai Kwok, but Six Fingers was so concerned about him that she insisted on going too. Mak Dau dug out an old tunic which Ah-Yuet wore for messy work, and asked Six Fingers to put it on. Then he made her take out her jade hairpin, muss her hair up and pull it back into an untidy bun. He brought a bowlful of ash from the kitchen stove and made her rub it on her face and neck. “I’m not some pretty young girl of eighteen,” Six Fingers protested. “Who’s going to be looking at me?” Mak Dau laughed out loud. “If you live to be a hundred, Missus, you’ll never lose your looks,” he said. “And if you live to be a hundred, you’ll never lose that glib tongue of yours,” she countered. But she was secretly pleased.
Just as they were leaving the house, Six Fingers stopped in her tracks. “I want you to promise me something, Mak Dau,” she said. “What?” “Promise first, then I’ll tell you.” “How can I promise when I don’t know what it is?” “If you don’t promise, I’m not telling you.” Back and forth they argued, until Six Fingers finally said: “I want you to promise that if anything happens on the trip, save me if you can. But if you can’t save me, put a bullet through my head.”
There was a long silence. Finally Mak Dau said: “Believe me, if I can’t save you, the first shot will be for you and the second for me. I promise that I’ll always stick by you.” Six Fingers was touched by Mak Dau’s loyalty, and then felt a sudden pang. There was someone else who should have been looking out for her all these years: her lawful wedded husband.
When they arrived at the school to collect Wai Kwok, Six Fingers exclaimed anxiously at how thin and pale he had grown. And in fact they had only gone a short way on the road home before the boy needed a rest and they sat down to eat their spring rolls. They set off again, and Mak Dau gave Wai Kwok a piggyback. He nodded off and slumped heavily against Mak Dau, forcing him to walk along bent almost double under the weight.
“You’re getting old, Mak Dau,” said Six Fingers. “Well, with a grandson this big, it would be surprising if I wasn’t.” Mak Dau had lost two front teeth and his breath whistled through the gaps as he spoke. Six Fingers thought back to the time, all those years ago, when he had first arrived at the Fongs’. He had such strong, white teeth back then. They lit up the whole courtyard when he smiled. But everyone had to get old sometime, she supposed, even Mak Dau.
“Well, at least you’ve got a grandson.… I lost mine, all because of that fool,” Six Fingers said bitterly.
She was referring to Yiu Kei. Every time Six Fingers thought of her grandson, she cursed her daughter-in-law, Ah-Hsien. “Haven’t you gone on about this enough?” he said. “It’s been nearly three years now. It’s a good thing she’s such a blockhead; your cursing and swearing is like water off a duck’s back. It just doesn’t get you anywhere. The way I look at it, Yiu Kei was never meant to be part of your family. He just visited with you for short while on his way to another life in another place. Let him go, and he’ll reward you when he returns in another life. Anyway, haven’t you still got Wai Kwok? My grandson is your grandson. When the time comes, he’ll be the one to look after us and bury us. If he dares