Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah Read Free Book Online Page A

moved next door to the academy. The Japanese left him alone for the next six years but they must have been keeping an eye on him.
    ‘About six months ago, we all went to see a kung fu exhibition at the Lyceum Theatre. Afterwards Ivanov was on the street looking for rickshaws to take us home. The three of us were playing hide-and-seek nearby. Suddenly there were two rough-looking men jostling Ivanov. One of them took out a revolver and ordered Ivanov, in Russian, to raise his hands above his head. We were desperate when I saw a water hose that was still connected to a water hydrant. The Russians were questioning Ivanov and not paying attention to us so I blasted them with the hose from the fire hydrant. David launched a flying kick at the man holding the gun and Sam threw a bottle at the other man’s head. The gun flew into the air and I leapt to catch it. Then I ordered them to lie face down…’
    ‘Do you speak Russian as well as English and Chinese?’ I asked, terribly impressed.
    ‘Marat and Ivanov can speak lots of languages,’ Sam said. ‘They also speak Japanese and French!’
    ‘As Marat was saying,’ David interrupted, ‘that was probably our most successful kung fu mission. None of us could believe it when the two Russians obeyed Marat. While they were lying down we ran away and threw the gun in a rubbish bin. Afterwards we discovered that we had strayed north by mistake into Japanese-occupied territory. At that time, the Japanese still respected the boundaries of the International Settlement and the French Concession. They didn’t bother Ivanov again until months later.’
    ‘Where is Ivanov now? Why don’t you live with him?’ I asked.
    ‘I don’t know where he is,’ Marat answered sadly. ‘The Kempeitei came for him in the middle of the night last seven December, and took him away. I haven’t seen him since.’
    ‘Seven December again!’ I said, turning to David. ‘Pearl Harbor Day! Isn’t that the day when the Japanese killed your parents? Why did everything bad happen on that day?’
    ‘Because that’s the day Japan declared war on Britain and America,’ David replied. ‘As well as bombing Pearl Harbor that day, the Japanese also took over the International Settlement of Shanghai, the part that used to belong to theBritish. From then on, the Japanese could do whatever they wanted to people they didn’t like throughout Shanghai. People like my parents and Ivanov.’
    ‘The story isn’t over yet,’ said Marat, obviously trying to lighten the atmosphere. ‘David forgot to tell you about us going to Nan Tian Island afterwards and the dolphin we befriended there.’
    ‘That’s right!’ David said. ‘My parents were still alive then. After I got home from the Lyceum Theatre and told them about the Russians, they started worrying about the Japanese coming after us. So they persuaded Grandma Wu and Ivanov to take us to Nan Tian for the summer…’
    At that moment, Grandma Wu walked in from the garden with fresh ginger, spinach leaves and coriander, which she washed and added to the soup. Marat’s story had shaken me, but as we waited for the soup to cook, I turned to David, still hungry for answers.
    ‘Tell me about the dolphin at Nan Tian. How did you befriend her?’
    ‘Marat and I were out at sea one day,’ said David. ‘We were snorkelling when a big dolphin swam towards us. At first we were scared and climbed back into the boat. But instead of going away, the dolphin kept circling the boat and making clicking sounds. Then we noticed a big fishhook embedded in her body between her head and dorsal fin. A bit of fishing line was still attached.
    ‘We didn’t know what to do and were worried about sharks. But the dolphin was asking us for help. We rowed and paddled until we reached the shore. I knew something had to be done. I found my knife and tried to calm the dolphin down by stroking her…’
    ‘What did her skin feel like?’ I interrupted.
    ‘It was smooth and tight,