Scarring Jasmine-Chapter Eighteen Pot

07/13/2024 Saturday 73-88F Partly Cloudy

Bai received Wang’s letter. It was shocking news. He sat stunned in his chair for a long time without moving.

Shen came in, asked him what had happened. Bai explained to her about the letter and newspapers, they both sat silently.

“Who is that man?” Shen asked. 

“How can I know?” Bai stood up, looked up at the sky, “Jasmine is always prudent, this would be the last thing that I could have expected.” 

“Do you think that person could be Zhao?” Shen asked abruptly, “I recalled that when Zhao met Jasmine on my birthday, the way he looked at her was quite different; later at the dining table Little Red said that Zhao would only marry the most beautiful woman; and he looks like Shanyuan, which makes it more reasonable for Jasmine.”

“Even if that’s the truth, they two just met each other a few weeks ago. It shouldn’t have happened so soon. Something just doesn’t sound right.”

“But, we must remember that Jasmine has been neglected by her husband for two years. Look,” Shen analyzed, “In Wang’s letter he said that he received that man’s letter yesterday; and that man also wrote that he got the fingernail the night before. So if you put the information together, when they two met should be the night before yesterday. If I am not mistaken, Gao went out that evening for some time. Let me ask her first, then everything will be clearer.”

When Jasmine arrived home, she found that her parents were questioning Gao. 

“Jasmine, help me!” Gao saw her first and ran up to her, “You must explain to parents-in-law about what happened between you and Zhao later that evening after I left. I told them that I knew nothing about it.” 

Before Jasmine had a chance to answer, Shen rushed forward and seized her arms: “Jasmine, is it true that Yu and you are divorced?” 

Jasmine knelt to her mother: “Yes mother, I am divorced. I am so ashamed to come back home like this.” 

“Is that man Zhao?” Shen proceeded. 

“Yes mother.” Jasmine lowered her head. 

“How can you be so stupid!” Shen prodded her on the forehead, then sat back on the chair, sighing: “Well, I guess it is kismet. Perhaps you didn’t know: When you were only one month old, a fortuneteller told me that you would be in trouble in your early twenties; to avoid that, you should either not cut your fingernails, or you should cut up your face. I suppose I should have taken her words seriously, but who knew it would have come to pass in this way!” 

“Nonsense!” Bai scolded, “As a mother, now that your daughter is divorced, her fault or not, it is what is. Regrets and complaints are useless. Jasmine, get up! Tell father what do you want to eat for dinner? I will ask the cook to prepare it for you.” 

“Father, thanks, but right now I don’t want to eat anything. Please allow me to take some rest first.” Jasmine got up, bowed to her parents, then walked toward her room.

Jasmine had stayed in her room for the next fifteen days. The parents were worried about her. Shen discussed with Bai: “According to what I think, Zhao isn’t that bad. In the current situation, probably he is Jasmine’s best option. In his letter to Wang, he said that he would marry her. I have asked our daughter; he didn’t do anything more to her than cut off her nail. But now after fifteen days, he still didn’t show up. Perhaps we should ask Mumei to try to find out what’s his plan. Others told me that Yu had left Suzhou; he never liked Jasmine anyway, we should think for our daughter’s future.”

Her words irritated Bai: “It was Zhao who pursued our daughter, not us who pursued him! If he is a man, he should take responsibility for all the stupid embarrassment he caused and make a sincere apology to us! If he won’t do it, then he isn’t the man for our daughter! Even though Jasmine is divorced, she is still my daughter and a worthwhile lady. I can’t and won’t let anyone think little of her in any circumstance. Our business is tough, we are poorer, but we still can afford to support our daughter.”

Another ten days had passed. One morning two men appeared at Bai’s door: It was Zhao and Tiger, who was holding a small red cloth parcel. 

Bai and Shen received them in the living room. 

Zhao made a big bow to them, “Uncle and Aunt Bai, I must apologize! I should have come here sooner.” 

“For what?” Bai stared at him. 

“I heard Jasmine divorced. I guess it must have something to do with the letter I wrote to Administrator Wang. I don’t know what the others or Jasmine told you, but I do love her, and I want to marry her.” 

“You love her? Do you know what love means? You selfishly put her at a disadvantage and let her take the shame alone. Is that your way to protect a woman?” 

“Uncle Bai,” Zhao blushed, “I know it wasn’t a decent way to handle it. She was miserable in that marriage, and she told me that she couldn’t divorce. Trust me, I wouldn’t have done it if I thought there was a better choice.” 

“You played with fire! Wang isn’t someone whom you can challenge. This time you were lucky, because his son Yu divorced Jasmine right after receiving your letter; otherwise, you would be in trouble. You are a smart young man; you shouldn’t have risked yourself and Jasmine.” 

“Uncle Bai, it wasn’t luck, but a matter of time—Even if this time I failed, I would work some other way out until her husband’s family gave up on her. They are a respectable family, they care about their face; Jasmine was their daughter-in-law, so they wouldn’t harm or disgrace her. While I am just a nameless merchant, a single man, I have nothing much to lose. Jasmine’s happiness is my pursuit.”

Zhao’s answer surprised Bai. He fixed his eyes on Zhao: “Now tell me, what will you do to bring my daughter happiness?”

“I will give her my whole heart and soul; I will do all I can to make her be my wife; I will build a house and hold a big wedding party for her; I will have a lot of children only with her; I will protect her from unknowns and provide her with the best knowns. If these are still not enough, then Uncle Bai, please let me know what else should I do so you can accept me as your son-in-law?”

“It seems like you are very determined! But I prefer a doer to a talker!” Bai mocked, “Ok, let me ask you something: Jasmine has been in this house for nearly one month, why didn’t you come until today?” 

“Uncle Bai, I counted the days too—Today is the twenty-sixth day after her divorce. The reasons I didn’t come sooner were because number one, I knew that you and Jasmine would be angry with me, so I’d better give you some time to cool down your anger, then perhaps I could have a better chance to have your forgiveness; number two, during these days I bought thirty acres of land in Peach Blossom Dock, and signed a building contract for the house. I promised to Jasmine that I would do these things for her. Here are all the documents, please review.” Zhao took out the papers from that red cloth parcel, held them up to Bai. 

Bai checked each page carefully, at last handed them back to Zhao. To everyone’s surprise, Bai said: “You are very thoughtful Zhao, courageous and always know what you are doing. However, you are too goal-driven, which concerns me. I can’t accept your offer, please leave!”

“Master!” Shen intended to stop him. But Bai ignored her and postured to Zhao to let him go. 

Zhao’s face crimsoned. He rose from the chair, looked dejected, and walked out of the room. Suddenly he turned around and knelt down under the eave, saying: “Uncle Bai, you must forgive me! I can’t leave! I have waited for five months until today to make my proposal; I won’t leave here unless you accept it!”

“Zhao, that’s your choice. But I remind you: Action always speaks louder than words, and only say what you mean.” Bai walked away. 

Shen followed him, pulled his sleeve and asked quietly: “What were you doing? It looked like you had changed into another person! Why did you shame him? What can we do if he is annoyed and leaves?” 

“He is too willful,” Bai took back his sleeve, “he ought to take some suffering!”

Since Shen failed to change Bai’s mind, she came to Jasmine’s room looking for help. Jasmine was resting in bed. Seeing her mother come in, she was about to get up, but Shen pressed her to stay where she was, then herself sat on a stool next to Jasmine. 

“Zhao came this morning.” Shen spoke in Jasmine’s ear, “He begged for your father’s pardon and permission to marry you. But your father rejected him.” 

“Did he leave?” Jasmine asked. 

“Not yet; he is kneeling in the front yard. It is stone ground, and the sun is hot. I reminded your father to be nicer to Zhao, but he brushed me off. Why not you go to persuade your father to let Zhao get up? He may listen to you. After all Zhao came here because of you.”

Jasmine cast down her eyes, “Mother, did father say anything to you about Zhao?” 

“Yes he did. He said, Zhao is too willful, ought to take some suffering.” 

“Well, then leave it alone mother.” 

Shen became agitated, “Gee, if Zhao feels too ashamed and goes away, whom will you marry? He came to our house, brought the estate paper which he just purchased to show his sincerity, and took all the blame from your father without saying aren’t these enough? Jasmine, you don’t know what people talk about you! They say that Wang’s son divorced you because you couldn’t get pregnant, and that you are a hen that lays no eggs! You ought to think for your parents! No matter what, your reputation has been stained; other than Zhao, who else from a decent household will be willing to marry a divorced woman?”

Shen was hurt by her own words, therefore she started to sob. “Jasmine, I am not blaming you; I don’t want you to feel bad about yourself. Wang’s family is too high for us, we knew that you were unhappy there. To find a true-hearted man is much harder than finding a large fortune.” 

Shen stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the bamboo bush, “When I was nineteen, I fell in love with a young man. We made an oath that we would never separate. My father didn’t like him; he told me that that man had too much white in his eyes, and a man with such eyes usually wasn’t reliable. I didn’t listen to my father; I ran away with that young man dreaming of our happiness. However, within six months, he abandoned me--He left one night, took away all his belongings and our money. After that I never heard a word from him. I waited for another two months, expecting that he might return. I pawned all I had for survival, finally there was nothing left but a coat. It was in Winter, to get back to my parents’ house, I traded it for a ride, then walked six miles with only my underclothes on until an acquaintance saw me. 

Afterward, I had to continue to pay for my willfulness--No matchmaker went to our house for me; my reputation was ruined in that area. Eventually when I was twenty-four, your father married me. 

Jasmine,” Shen returned to her stool, “Your mother is a woman too, I can tell that Zhao loves you, even though what he did wasn’t honorable. He isn’t as rich as Wang’s family, but he should have no problem to provide you a comfortable life. I know you are still thinking about Shanyuan; you have liked him for years; every time you saw him, your face turned red. But Shanyuan has gone for a long time and a lot of things have changed since. You two can’t go back to the past! Why not take Zhao as the substitute for Shanyuan? You must be practical and hold what you have in your hand rather than what you hope for.”

Jasmine reached out her hand for her mother’s to comfort her: “Don’t worry mother, I am not thinking about Shanyuan at all. Let’s give it a little time and see what father will do next.” 

In the yard, Zhao was still kneeling. The sun had moved to the high center glaring on his back. His clothes were wet from sweat; the stone ground under his knees was getting tougher and tougher to kneel on. Tiger, who sat on a stone step a few feet away in the shade, kept wiping his sweaty face and neck, complaining: “Big Brother, let’s go home! Everyone in this house is an asshole--Nobody even showed up to bring you some water to drink. Why should we suffer here? There are so many women in this world; I can go get one hundred for you in one day. Once they take off their pants, they all look the same, who cares that their faces are pretty or not!” 

“Tiger!” Zhao stopped him right away, “You must be thirsty; you go home first!” 

“Big Brother, I can’t leave you alone here. If you stay, I will stay. But you can move a little bit this way to get shaded under the eave, nobody will notice the difference. I can go find a cushion for you to kneel on.” 

“Tiger, I order you to leave! Nothing else you can do here. Wolf will be back from Sichuan within two days, go help Leopard with preparations.”

Tiger left. Zhao’s neck was exposed to the sun, which caused him searing pain, and his knees were hurting too. “Action always speaks louder than words”, since Bai spoke those words, Zhao must prove them. It was like playing poker: He persisted because the pot on which he bet was worthy. Yes, he admitted that he was lucky in his last round, much luckier than he had expected he would be. Thus, he mustn’t give up on this one, which could be his last shot to win the pot!

The beads of sweat rolled down along his forehead, chin, neck and arms, then dropped on the light grey ground, popping up some wet charcoal flowers; soon these flowers disappeared—They were dried by the sun and absorbed by the stone, leaving only faint white stains. Then new charcoal flowers bloomed on these stains… The sun moved slowly, inch by inch, bit by bit. Each second was like an eternity. Blood bled through Zhao’s pants and marked the ground; his head swelled in the heat, which made him fancy that his brain could explode any minute. “No doubt today I will either be swallowed by these stone planks or melt away under the sun!” He closed his eyes, emptied all those struggling thoughts from his mind and left one voice calling only: “Jasmine!” 

Shen told a maid: “Go quickly, bring him some green bean water, as well as a cold towel to wipe his face!” The maid took on her order at once. Bai paced near and peered through the window at Zhao. “Master,” Shen complained, “You are too heartless! He has been kneeling there for more than three hours in such hot weather; I am amazed that he hasn’t gotten a sunstroke!” Bai nodded. Without saying anything, he paced toward Jasmine’s room.

Gao was chitchatting with Jasmine. Upon seeing Bai, she stopped at once and stood up to bid her greeting. Bai nodded to her, “I have something to say to Jasmine. Your mother-in-law is in the front room, go ask her to prepare some sunburn medicines.” Gao obeyed and left. 

Bai sat by a small round table, gestured Jasmine to sit on the other side: “Do you know that Zhao is here?” 

“Yes father. Mother and Gao told me.” 

“Zhao proposed to you today. I don’t know how well you know him, or how you feel about him, but so far as I can see, he does care about you. Your last marriage was my mistake; I ignored your feelings and made the decision which I thought was right. Perhaps Yu just wasn’t the right man for you. About Zhao, despite the fact that what he did was questionable, he is a strong-minded man and will be faithful to you. No one is perfect, climbing higher also makes the fall harder. 

Zhao is kneeling in the front yard, expecting me to accept his proposal. I think this decision should come from you: If you don’t want to marry him, you can rely on your father and live here as long as you wish; you should never consider yourself a burden to your family. While if you do want to marry him, you should make sure that this decision is from your heart, and you have no doubt about it.” 

Jasmine was silent, deep in her thoughts. At that moment, only one man appeared in her mind: It was Yu. But Yu had gone, left her one pair of pearl earrings and that empty nail hole in her heart. Yu loved a man; Yu never loved her and would never love her. Yu was that Sakura tree sharing no promise with her. Yu pursued his freedom only, thus he stood apart from her world and advised her, “There is a man who loves you and is waiting for you; forget about me, I am damaged.” So that was it, marrying Zhao would be her best available choice. 

Then she thought of the promises Zhao made in that evening: Peach Blossom Dock, thirty acres of peach trees, a lot of children, lifelong devotion…All was fascinating yet convincing, genuine and impressive. So let him try to fill her empty hole. 

Therefore, Jasmine said: “Father, I am willing to marry Zhao.” 

Bai examined her face and reminded her again: “Jasmine, it is a big decision, don’t pressure yourself. I can ask Zhao to get up first and wait a few days for the answer.” 

“No father, there is no difference--I want to marry him.” 

However, Bai didn’t talk to Zhao right away. He waited for another three hours until the sun sloped, and the evening breezes rose; then he walked to Zhao: “Now, get up!”