Mountain Girl River Girl by Ye Ting-Xing Read Free Book Online

different. It’s a very distinct odour. It’s not an illness if that’s what you’re worried about. How can I put it?” She bit her lower lip, blinking her eyes rapidly. “It’s … it’s something you’re born with. Some people believe it’s also highly contagious, passed from person to person by touching, sharing clothes, even by mixing laundry.”
    Xin-Ma stumbled on, offering one explanation after another, but Pan-pan’s mind had gone somewhere else. Suddenly certain events started to make sense, including changes that had occurred in the past year, particularly Ah-Po’s odd behaviour, such as announcing one night shortly after Pan-pan started her period that Pan-pan should sleep on a cot by herself because she “wasn’t a girl anymore,” and constantly reminding Pan-pan that she must wash her clothes separately from everyone else’s. “Don’t ever soak your laundry with mine,” Ah-Po had admonished without explanation, leaving Pan-pan frustrated and confused.
    But nothing had puzzled Pan-pan more than the night she woke up to find Ah-Po standing at the end of her cot, sniffing Pan-pan’s cotton-padded jacket. The old woman had held up the coat with her fingertips as fearfully as if a monster were hidden in the sleeves, ready to jump out and bite off her nose. A week later Ah-Po came home from the market with a strange present for Pan-pan: a tin filled with a sweet-smelling white powder. An image of a chubby baby’s face was printed on the front, and the words Heat Rash Powder below it.
    “What’s this for?” Pan-pan had asked, giggling and turning the tin over in her hand, puzzled. “It’s not even the rainy season yet. Besides, I’m a bit old for this, aren’t I?”
    “It’s not just for infants,” Ah-Po had replied defensively. “Anyone can use it. See?” She pulled open the lid. “It has such a nice smell. I heard that it’s good for young skin.” She then gave Pan-pan detailed instructions on how to clean her armpits properly: wash at least once a day with soap and a good rinse, and then dust with lots of powder. The unwelcome tin had been sitting on the window sill above the stone sink ever since.
    “Why didn’t somebody tell me?” Pan-pan asked Xin-Ma. “All of you must have known that keeping this from me was like trying to hide fire inside a paper bag.” Pan-pan felt another wave of humiliation in her stomach. “Is this why the girls in the village have been acting so strange toward me? And giving all kinds of stupid excuses to stay away from me? They all know, and they’re all afraid that I’ll pass it on to them!”
    Pan-pan started to cry as the weight of realization further crushed her, her tears falling onto the front of her new jacket. “That’s why I’m not allowed to hold your precious little boy! That’s why I can only carry him piggyback.” She managed a sneer as she mimicked Xin-Ma’s accent.
    Xin-Ma opened her mouth, but no words came out. She shook her head and looked away. Pan-pan too fell silent, until a thought crossed her mind. “Since fox stink is infectious, why did you say that I was born with it? Oh, I don’t understand it at all! Why me? Why didn’t somebody tell me?”
    “Nobody, especially your Ah-Po, wanted to hurt your feelings. And your father—well, you know him. He doesn’t like to face unpleasant things. We’ve all been afraid of your reaction. Especially after what happened to your mother—” Xin-Ma quickly clapped her hand over her mouth.
    “My mother? What’s all this got to do with her? Are you telling me Mom also had fox stink?”
    A loud shout interrupted Pan-pan’s flood of questions. Her father poked his head out of the back door. “Hey, you two! It’s time!”
    “Listen, Pan-pan,” Xin-Ma whispered worriedly, hastily gathering up the vegetables. “I’m already in deep trouble for telling you this. Go now. The final ceremony is about to begin. I beg you, save your questions for tomorrow.”
    Inside the house,