Wild Ginger - Anchee Min [64]
Suddenly I missed Evergreen terribly.
I felt weak. My mind kept unleashing itself. Was he a village teacher? Did he ever miss Wild Ginger? Or me? Was he married? Who would she be? A village girl? His student? Or another woman, another village teacher who taught at his school?
A worker at the square told me that the explosion would take place in five minutes. "It's an old ugly building. It no longer carries significance. We have brought down a lot of the same kind in Beijing. It's interesting that not many people have bothered to come to see the spectacle. When I was doing one in Beijing, the crowd was—"
Suddenly I saw what I took to be an illusion. A man of Evergreen's figure walked into my view. I blinked my eyes and shook my head. The image was still there, still moving. My hands went to cover my mouth. I dared not breathe; it seemed that if I did I would break the illusion, as a drop of water would chase away the reflection of the moon in the pond.
I stood, stared, unable to move.
This is not a mistake, I heard my mind say. It's him.
The worker turned toward the man. "Hey, you! Step out! It's too dangerous! Get out! You hear me? Out! This way! Hurry up!"
The man turned toward us, smiling apologetically, and suddenly he saw me. His smile froze and he stopped in his tracks.
The worker went and pushed him out of the area.
29
From his features I learned how I had aged. He was a real peasant with deep gaplike wrinkles and weatherbeaten skin. He wore a washed-out green army coat and a pair of worn boots. He was covered with dust. Yet he was solid.
For a moment we were awkward. Words halted our tongues.
The loudspeaker was giving the last warning about safety. And then came the countdown.
Both Evergreen and I turned to look at the city hall. I was sure he saw exactly what I saw.
Like a piece of silk fabric Wild Ginger fell from the building, descending in slow motion.
My mind leapt backward. I saw her sixteen-year-old face.
"You know what, Maple? I am burning fire, the heat itself. Nobody can extinguish my passion for Chairman Mao. I feel so happy and complete. It is Chairman Mao who saved me from withering and kindled my spirit into a glorious blaze!"
Through my tears I felt Evergreen's hand. He came to hold me. I felt his breath on my neck.
I turned to him. There was no hesitation in his eyes. He was determined to pursue what he was doing. His eyes were asking for my permission. I wanted to tell him that I had been waiting for him all along. I wanted to tell him that I was ready. I tried hard to push, to get the words out.
He sealed my words with his lips.
I closed my eyes.
The sound of explosion came.
I tasted her in my mouth.
A PREVIEW OF ANCHEE MIN'S NEW NOVEL
EMPRESS
ORCHID
The story of the infamous last Empress of China,
by the author of the best-selling Becoming Madame Mao
***
It is the final days of the Chinese empire. Trade in opium with Europe is slowly corroding the power of the Ch'ing Dynasty. Orchid, a beautiful seventeen-year-old from an aristocratic but impoverished family, is pushed into the maelstrom when she finds herself unexpectedly chosen to become a low-ranking concubine of the Emperor.
The world inside the Forbidden City is erotically charged and highly ritualized, but beneath its immaculate face are whispers of murders and ghosts. The thousands of concubines will go to any length to bear the Emperor a son and become his Empress. Determined not to be a victim of jealousy and foul play, Orchid trains herself in the art of pleasing a man, bribes her way into the royal bed, and seduces the monarch. Little does she know that China will collapse around her, and she will be its last Empress.
***
Available from Mariner Books
Prelude
THE TRUTH is that I have never been the mastermind of anything. I laugh when I hear people say that it was my desire to rule China from an early age. My life was shaped by forces at work before I was born.