Page 13

“Customers have been complaining about her, Father,” Esther said, standing beside the desk where she kept the cash.

The shop was closed, the jewelry packed, and the day was winding down.

Isaac had just walked into the showroom to speak to Uncle David, and Anyu, who had taken the responsibility to keep the glass counter as spotless as possible, wiped the cases with a damp rag.

She had taken her time cleaning, unwilling to leave, not glancing at Isaac but watching his every move out of the corner of her eye.

Lately, she had been thinking about Isaac, anticipating his presence at dinner and in the hallway, thrilled at the sight of him.

When he smiled at her, she felt her face flush and a flutter in her stomach.

When he spoke to her, his words lingered in her mind like joyous tunes she played over and over before bed.

Anyu stopped cleaning. “I didn’t hear any complaints.”

“That’s the problem. You don’t hear anything,” Esther said.

How could she make Esther like her? Anyu wondered. She still wanted to be her friend.

“What did they complain about?” Isaac peered at the tray Uncle David handed to him; it held some old rings in tarnished silver and gold, auctioned tchotchkes, and broken vintage jewelry.

Isaac received diamonds from Mr. Walters, but he also looked for rare gems in clusters. When he found them, he recast them.

“There’s no point in repeating their words. It’s how she speaks and the look on her face. She can’t smile, can’t talk. She’s as stiff as a newly excavated Egyptian mummy!”

“I can smile,” Anyu said.

“And sales are down. She’s driving away the customers.”

“The sales are indeed down this month,” Uncle David said.

“Summer is a slow sales season. Many wealthy clients are on vacation.” Isaac, holding a ring with a pair of tweezers, studied it intently with a loupe.

“She’s been here for a month!”

“A month and two days,” Anyu said.

“Has it been that long? Have you paid her, Esther?”

He remembered her wage! She had been too embarrassed to remind Esther, having failed to sell a thing.

“For doing nothing?” Esther’s gaze was like her beauty—sharp, blinding.

“Esther, Esther. Don’t behave like a kid. Shall we take it inside?” Isaac took the tray and nodded at Uncle David. The two men went to the door behind the curtain, nearly crashing into Samuel, who was on his way out.

“Where are you going, Samuel?” Isaac asked.

“My stomach hurts. Going to see a doctor.” He was holding something in his hands, which he quickly stuffed inside his pocket.

“Again?”

“I can’t help it!”

Isaac shook his head and left the showroom with Uncle David.

“Can we talk?” Samuel, glancing at Anyu, whispered to Esther. “Outside?”

“Fine.” Esther followed him out the door. They conversed on the street.

The showroom felt quiet and empty. Anyu scanned the gleaming glass cases and rinsed the rag. Next, she would sweep the floor, empty the wastebasket filled with cigarette butts and candy wrappers, and then go to the attic and draw. But she wished Isaac had stayed.

Esther returned to the showroom. She was trembling, biting her lip.

“How bad is Samuel’s stomachache?” Anyu asked.

Esther ignored her and unlocked the desk drawer. With an exasperated look, she dropped some coins in Anyu’s hands. “Here.”

Ten pennies! Her wage. A large amount, enough to purchase bowls of noodles for both her mother and her. Anyu was giddy, her heart swelling with pride. How she wished her mother were alive so she could share her happiness.

“It’s easy, isn’t it?” Esther cocked her head.

“What do you mean?”

Esther put her hands on her hips. The cluster of keys clinked on her belt. “Getting paid for doing nothing.”

Anyu enclosed the coins in her hand. Shouldn’t her janitorial work merit a word of recognition? But fine. She wouldn’t argue. “I’ll make a sale. You’ll see.”

“You said that on the first day. What are you going to do with your money?”

She hadn’t thought of it.

“You can make yourself look more attractive in front of the customers. Buy a dress. Plenty of shops on the street sell ready-made dresses.”

Anyu scanned her plain gray long-sleeve tunic, long trousers, and cloth shoes with flat, worn soles.

“No.”

“A pair of new shoes?”

“No.”

“A lipstick?”

“Why would I waste money on that?”

Esther threw up her hands.

Grinning from ear to ear, Anyu pocketed the coins. She would put the money to good use, of course. She could buy a new pencil, some notebooks to draw on, or maybe a bowl of noodles.

She finished her cleaning tasks, made sure the shop’s door and all the cases and drawers were locked, and turned off the lights. Then she went to the kitchen and left through the back door.

It was a pleasant evening, the heat dissipating. There was still abundant daylight, and the streets were teeming with pedestrians.

Anyu visited a few food stalls and then a stationery shop selling gilded paper and sets of the Four Treasures of a Study—a brush, ink, paper, and ink stone, all the refined scholarly stuff, not something she needed.

It occurred to her that it might be a good idea to heed Esther’s suggestion.

Since she was earning wages, she could splurge on a ready-made pongee dress to make herself more presentable.

Besides, summer was here; it was too hot to wear her tunic.

It didn’t take her long to find a boutique displaying blouses and gowns.

They looked beautiful, with soft fabric and bright floral designs.

She played with a few short sleeves on the table, then moved to the rack holding ankle-length dresses.

One by one, she scrutinized their elaborate frog buttons, seams, and lengths.

She liked two dresses, a pink floral dress with peonies and a green pongee tunic with white lotus blossoms, each costing a whopping two dollars.

She held both, unable to decide which one to buy.

Then she put them back on the wooden frame.

A shout came from a grocery stall across the street.

Three men, wearing distinctive green cloth caps identical to the one worn by the man who came to the shop for protection money, were harassing the shoppers.

They sought a gangster who was hiding nearby, one of them said.

The gangster had stolen the cash from Mr. Du’s gambling house in the Old City and fled to this neighborhood.

A few customers near Anyu looked frightened and slid to the side.

They whispered that these men were members of the Green Gang, the scourge of the city, a criminal organization that ran opium dens, gambling houses, and brothels throughout Shanghai.

They were ruthless and violent; even the authorities in the French Concession left them alone.

Anyu stepped to the corner. She just wanted to get her shopping done and go back to her apartment.

But the men’s shouts began to unnerve her.

She decided to purchase the pink floral dress and get out of there.

She held the hanger, lifted the dress off the frame, and saw a pair of black eyes staring straight at her.

She gasped. The man was young, almost her age, with shoulder-length hair, large eyes, and a pudgy nose.

Across the street, one of the gangsters holding a club sauntered toward her. “You. You over there. Did you see the gangster?”

She put the dress back to cover the face. “Yes. That way,” she said, pointing to her left. “I saw him go that way.”

The gangsters sprinted in the direction she pointed. The customers around her let out their long-held breath, and two women raced to the street to pick up the baskets of scattered vegetables the Green Gang had kicked aside.

Her heart pounding, Anyu peered at the rack. The youth slipped the floral dress off his head, winked at her, and slunk away. She wanted to kick herself. She had lied, for a gangster.

When Anyu returned to the shop, the apartment was dim and quiet.

No one was in the kitchen; the aunts must have retired, and Esther was not around—perhaps she had left the shop with a male friend she had mentioned.

The workshop’s door was shut; from inside came clicks and the sound of a mallet hitting the metal.

She hesitated. She itched to see Isaac and his workspace and how he crafted the jewelry pieces, but she had promised Esther not to enter.

What if she stood nearby? Holding the dress, she crept close to the end of the hallway and stood at a good distance from the door.

She could see a faint streak of light flickering through the narrow gap and hear Isaac’s patient voice:

“When pricing rubies, you need to view them in different lights, as a direct incandescent beam makes the color intense, and weak daylight cools the color down.

“When assessing blue sapphires, look for those with purity and intense blue color. It is ideal if a stone has a violet overtone.

“When working with opals, extra attention to the type of background metal is needed. Because the setting will boost the stone’s colors and affect the strength of the iridescence. Are you listening, Samuel? Samuel! Wake up!”

She had not heard these details at the night market. She would have loved to hear all the tips about gemstones. Fascinated, Anyu didn’t leave until she heard footsteps come down the stairs.