***** Vol.2 Chap.11 Enduring the eulogies *****

A bespectacled old man came to the front of the procession, walking haltingly and leaning heavily on his crane. He looked around the crowd and cleared his throat. He tried to speak, but no words came out. The priests turned around and asked the crowd to be silent.

“I just want to say that today we lost a genuine gentleman and a true friend. …”

A murmur rose among the crowd echoing his sentiments. She remembered him well. It was Uncle Zhang, though he was not related to her. But it was polite to address the elders as uncles and aunts. Uncle Zhang came in about a year ago with severe arthritis aches in both of his legs. In fact, he was carried into the clinic by a few friends with his wife sobbing after him. He was a street vendor selling porridge and fried bread sticks, a common breakfast for the farmers and workers in that area. He never missed a day of work regardless whether the weather was cold or hot. Most of the time, he was scantily dressed for lack of money and stood in the cold for the whole day waiting for customers.

She remembered that lately, he had brought a stool with him so that he could sit down during the day. When the stool got too heavy for him to move back and forth, he would leave the stool there at the street corner. Everyone knew that was Uncle Zhang’s stool, and no one bothered to take it away. Somehow a little over a year ago, a few naughty children were playing around. When the playing got rough, one child grabbed the chair to hit the other children. The chair that was ancient and rickety and broke into many pieces. The children disappeared. So, Uncle Zhang had to stand all day long again.

The pain from his arthritis got so bad that he collapsed towards the end of the day. When his wife came at closing time to help him pack up, she found him moaning and groaning on the floor. A few good-natured passers-by helped her carry him to her father’s clinic. At the clinic, her parents immediately put him down in the kitchen near the fire and brewed a pot of their special herbal medicine to ease the pain and another pot of herbal medicine to reduce the swelling. Because of Uncle Zhang’s condition, her father stayed at the clinic so that he can watch him more closely. For the following week, her father stayed in the clinic with Uncle Zhang until he was back on his feet. But before he was sent away, her father made a special trip to the nearby woods and cut down a good walking stick for him.

Uncle Zhang was at a total loss of words. All he could do was to hold up the walking stick showing that was the very stick he received from Mayling’s parents. Slowly, his wife helped him walk back to the crowd.

A rough-looking character stepped up to the front from out of nowhere. Mayling did not remember seeing him at the procession at all. He was poorly dressed. One could not but notice the huge hunting knife hanging from his belt. He had an ugly tattoo on his right arm and a long scar on the left side of his face. He jumped up in front of the crowd with his hand on his knife and looking around the area. Everyone gasped. She almost let out a scream but caught it in her throat. She squeezed her Grandpapa’s hand and tried to remember the face but could not.

After what seemed like an eternity, the scruffy character finally spoke. “I don’t normally do this.” Everyone was holding their breath waiting to see what he was going to do next. “But I wanted to say thank you to Doctor Tsai.” He drew his knife and pointed to his scar on his face. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. “I should have been dead or severely disfigured, but he saved me.” He paused. “I hate to see him gone.” He put the knife back and disappeared into the back alley.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Another old woman came up to the front sobbing the whole time. She came forward and straightened up. May-Ling remembered her well. Her name was Mrs. Lu, a busybody having her hands into everyone’s affairs.

“I have known Doctor Tsai for two decades. I can still remember the day when he came with his young wife looking for a place to set up the clinic in this area. I saw him carrying two big straw baskets followed by his young wife. So as a long-time resident of this neighborhood, I was first to greet them and invited them in for tea. While his young wife did not like the area and wanted to go the whole time, I tried to convince Lon-Lai to stay. I told him we have a pleasant neighborhood and people are friendly. It was I who convinced him to set up the clinic here because the rent is cheap. I still remembered taking him around the neighborhood and he saw this shop behind us.” She half turned and gestured to the clinic behind her.

“As I was saying, when he saw the shop, I remembered it belonged to an old grumpy carpenter who was too old to work. He would sit out in the front shouting and scolding at any one passing by. So, I convinced him to rent the shop area and set up his clinic there. I knew the owner of the shop and so I took him to see the owner and I got the owner to rent the place to him at a very reasonable price. I took him and his young wife around to look for a place to stay.”

She saw Mayling and pointed her finger at her. “That was what happened to your parents before you were born, my dear.” Mayling looked at her and nodded, trying to be courteous.

“As I was saying, I took Doctor Tsai back to Huiping Street because I know another owner who had a small wooden shed for rent. He took one look at the place and made the decision to rent the place. I can still remember that Lon-Lai left his young wife at the shed and headed back to the shop and cleaned up the shop. I was so surprised that the next day I came back, He got the whole place all swept clean and there was a makeshift sign saying Tsai Clinic. The sign was already nailed up near the door. He sure wasted no time in serving the community. So, this was how Lon-Lai and his young wife came to become a part of our friendly neighborhood here. I think we can all appreciate that our neighbor and friend had taken excellent care of us for the past two decades.”

There was a low consenting echo from the crowd.

“Throughout the past twenty years, I often come to visit Doctor Tsai at the clinic. I could remember one time I fell on the street right over there.” She pointed to the street corner where the procession had come through. “It was a naughty kid who bought a bowl of porridge from Zhang. When he saw me coming, he hid behind some boxes. When I was about to pass him, he poured the whole bowl of porridge out and I slid down on the pavement. But the little rascal ran away. It was so painful that I was screaming out loud. No one was around except Doctor Tsai who heard my cries from across the street and came running to help me up and helped me cross the street to his clinic. He took time to examine my ankle carefully and brewed some potent medicine for me. I had to spend the whole day resting at the clinic. At night, he helped me back to my apartment with two more doses of medicine…”

Mayling was tire of hearing the sea stories.

Finally, the stories ended, and the procession started moving again. The cart-pushers pushed the cart carrying the two wooden coffins towards the home of May-Ling’s parents. Mayling and her Grandpapa picked up the pace followed by the priests and the relatives. There were still quite a few mourners following the procession. But the day had already started, and many mourners had to continue with their daily chores. Still, several mourners persisted to the end. Among them was Uncle Zhang. He kept a watchful eye on her. To him, she was his granddaughter, and he treated her like his own granddaughter.

The procession made a brief stop in front of her home. May-Ling and her Grandpapa bowed to the ground three times in front of the door. After another brief pause, the procession began its way back up the mountain to bury the deceased on the cemetery near the grounds of the temple.

…

May-Ling sobbed. Her eyes were wet. She could hardly see what was in front. It was time to get off the bus. Mindlessly, she rang the bell for the bus to stop.