***** Vol.2 Chap.49 Trying to fit in *****

The sun rose early the next day. May-Ling was sleeping soundly until Ah-Ming pushed her several times to wake her up. For a few minutes, she did not know where she was.

“It is time to get breakfast ready.” Ah-Ming said loudly, stooping over her.

“Oh, OK.” She rubbed her tired eyes and saw Ah-Ming staring down at her.

She may be rough, but she is not mean. She thought to herself.

“Good morning. What do you want me to do?”

“I have the water boiling over there already. Go to that wooden barrel and scoop out five bowls of rice and put them in the pot to make porridge.”

“I will do it right now.”

She followed the instructions dutifully. She told herself that she had to keep up the appearance that she was trying to blend in. While she was working, she kept a watchful eye on what everyone was doing. Ah-Ming went to the pantry where many jars filled with scrumptious pickled vegetables were kept. She filled the plates with all kinds of delicious pickled vegetables. Even though May-Ling was working on the other end of the kitchen, she could smell the savoring favor of the pickled vegetables.

Ah-Ching and Ah-Wen finally got up and rolled up their straw mats.

Ah-Ming directed them to take dishes to the main hall for the men. Then she took out some big serving bowls and scooped out the porridge to the bowls.

When Ah-Ching and Ah-Wen returned, Ah-Ming told May-Ling to take the porridge to the hall with Ah-Wen.

“Ah-Wen will show you what to do.”

“Yes, Ah-Ming.”

“The men are in a bad mood today.” Ah-Wen said, “So keep your head down, put the bowls on the table, and leave.”

“I will follow your example.”

They walked into the main hall, and the men were shouting and arguing loudly. Some complained that the boss wanted them to go down the mountain again to search the hillside, just in case May-Ling brought an accomplice with her.

“It is all your fault.” Someone waved his finger in front of May-Ling.

She kept silent, kept her head down, and attended to her chores.

“Are you really a doctor?” Laughter broke out on one side of the room.

“Hey doc, my leg hurts here?” More laughter came from another corner of the room.

“You are too young to be a doc, DOC.” Another bout of laughter ringed through the hall.

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May-Ling suffered through all the verbal abuse, but she kept her mouth shut and attended to her duties. Somehow, she knew the boss was watching everything that was going on. Perhaps this was a test of some sort, but she was not sure.

Without spending an extra minute there at the main hall, she retreated to the kitchen and into the safety of the company with the other women. Morning was busy and flew by quickly. There were all kinds of chores to be done after breakfast.

Then there was lunch preparation. Lunch was usually quite simple, but still required some preparations. She was already tired out when there was a brief break in the early afternoon before dinner preparation would begin. As was her custom, Ah-Ming would lie down for a little nap. Ah-Ching and Ah-Wen would lounge around and play cards or socialize with the men.

However, the men were gone to search for May-Ling’s unknown ‘accomplice’ this afternoon. She seized the opportunity to find out more about the village from Ah-Ching. She waited till Ah-Ching was by herself and then walked over to her.

“Ah-Ching, how long have you been here?” May-Ling thought it best to make some small talk first.

“Two years.”

Ah-Ching was not much of a talker.

“Wow, were you from the town below?”

May-Ling was setting the bait.

“No.”

“Oh? Where were you from then?”

“The village.”

“The village?”

“The village.”

“What is ‘the village’?”

“You will find out.”

This is going to take some work.

“Is it the commune on top of the mountain?”

May-Ling was skating on thin ice.

“Oh, so you know?”

“Ah-Ming told me a little about it.”

“Yes, that is where I was born.”

“Why did you want to come here?”

“I like Ah-Jar.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Ah-Jar is the tall, handsome one.”

“The handsome one, huh?”

“Of course!”

They both laughed. The ice was melting.

“You must point him out to me sometime.”

“Sure.”

“Are there many people in the village?”

May-Ling wanted to take advantage of the situation when the door was open.

“I think there are about 100 people in the entire village.”

“That is a good size village. They must do a lot of farming because Ah-Ming told me we get the vegetables from the village.”

“Sure do.”

“Do you want to go back?”

“No one can go anywhere without the Boss’ permission.”

“Of course. Have you ever gone back to the village?”

“Once, when my grandfather was really sick.”

“Oh, I am sorry.”

“He was 92 years old.”

“Did he recover?”

“No, that was his time to go.”

“Oh, I am sorry. Are the people in the village very nice to one another?”

May-Ling was pushing hard for information.

“We never fight with anyone.”

“You are telling me that there is no violence in the village?”

She asked inquisitively. Her heart was racing and pounding, but she tried to hold her elation in check.

“No.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know. We just don’t.”

“You seem to be a nice girl. Do you ever fight with the men here?”

“All the time.”

“Who do you fight against?”

“I hate Ah-Jiang. He bothered me all the time. I think he is jealous.”

“I don’t know Ah-Jiang.”

“Lucky you. You know what he did?”

“No.”

“He grabbed me from behind and molested me. I swung around and hit him in the groin with my knee so hard that he could not walk for two days.”

“You did? Good for you.”

There was a period of silence.

“Tell me more about the village?”

“Life is hard, but no one complains.”

“That is an ideal society. Do you ever want to go back again sometime?”

“Sure, but …You need a good reason in order for the Boss to let you go.”

“You got it.”

“Is the village far from here?”

“It takes the men a good day’s journey to go to the village and back.”

“Wow, that is quite far.”

“I know the way and I usually can get to the village a little quicker. Say, why are you so interested in the village?”

“I don’t know, curious I guess.”

May-Ling was back paddling again as fast as she could. The door had closed.

“Oh.”

“I like to go with you sometimes.”

“Not a chance. The Boss is not likely to let you go.”

“Take me with you next time you go. We will not let the Boss know.”

“You are going to get me into trouble. I have already told you too much. I am not supposed to talk about the village at all.”

“Of course not.”