A Girl Named Faithful Plum by Richard Bernstein Read Free Book Online Page A

and so was the ballet teacher who held classes in the primary school for local girls (and a smaller number of boys).
    “I’ll introduce you to her,” Big Xia said.
    From then on, once a week Zhongmei went to a small studio in the school to take dance classes. The studio had no barre. Its floor was rough cement, its walls a stained, peeling yellow. The only decorations were the usual color portrait of Chairman Mao and a slogan, square red characters on a white background saying STUDY HARD AND ADVANCE EVERY DAY! There, starting when she was about eight, Zhongmei learned her first curtsies, pliés, and jetés, her inaugural arabesques and battements.
    By the time Zhongmei got into the upper elementary school grades, she was deemed to be the prettiest and most talented girl in her class, certainly the best singer, which is the reason she was chosen to perform in front of that microphonein the town hall every day at noon. And every day, there was Zhongqin, escorting her little sister on her rounds. And, naturally enough, it was also Zhongqin who saw that little notice in the
People’s Daily
newspaper about the auditions at the Beijing Dance Academy. If it weren’t for Zhongqin, Zhongmei realized, she would certainly not be getting ready to go to Beijing.
    When the three girls got home from the department store, Zhongling went to work at their mother’s sewing machine. A few hours later, after several consultations with Zhongqin, who was busy in the kitchen, she had produced an entire outfit, and her two sisters watched as Zhongmei tried it on. The yellow material had been converted into a pleated yellow skirt coming down below Zhongmei’s knees. Wide brown straps crossed over her back and shoulders, and a pink blouse with a curled collar had been added to the ensemble. Green embroidered ducks waddled up and down on either side of the buttons. Zhongmei put on the green shoes with the brown laces, and Zhongling held up a small mirror so she could see herself in her new costume. What she saw was a very slim girl with pigtails in slightly too big clothes, but it didn’t matter. Zhongmei had never had anything quite so colorful and elegant. She spun around so the skirt flared out, and gave a shout of joy.
    “You look great!” Zhongling said.
    “Thank you, Er-jie,” Zhongmei said, feeling happy but also a little bit sad. Zhongling was always so eager to please her that sometimes Zhongmei took advantage of it, even a couple of times earning Zhongling a spanking from their mother.
    Somehow the beautiful outfit made Zhongmei think about an incident that took place when she was still just a little girl. She was home for a reason she couldn’t remember, maybe because she wasn’t feeling well, and Zhongling, as she always did when Zhongmei was sick, was taking care of her.
    Suddenly Zhongmei declared, “I’m hungry.”
    There was no food in the house and Zhongling told Zhongmei that she’d have to wait until Zhongqin came home, and then she could go out and buy something at the market.
    “I need to eat something now,” Zhongmei moaned.
    “Well, you’re just going to have to wait,” Zhongling said.
    “I can’t stand it,” Zhongmei said.
    “Well, what do you want me to do? I can’t leave you alone to go to the market. You’re just going to have to wait. You won’t starve.”
    “But I really can’t wait,” Zhongmei insisted. “I am starving.”
    Desperate to stop Zhongmei’s suffering, Zhongling went to the back garden to see if she could find something there. Their mother had been working on the garden for weeks. She had planted peas when there was still frost on the ground, but they had already been harvested. The rest of the crop was young. Nothing was ripe, not the eggplants or the scallions or the green beans. But there were two rows of carrots, whose filigree of green shoots was sticking out of the ground. Maybe the carrots underneath are big enough to eat, Zhongling thought. She took hold of the largest of