Peach Blossom Pavilion by Mingmei Yip Read Free Book Online

to live under nor even thin rice gruel to warm your stomach.
    Besides, when the truth is thrown like a clod of dirt on your face, how else can you respond but to swallow it?
    So I swallowed hard and squeezed a smile. "Yes, Sister Pearl." Pearl turned back to gaze at her powdered face in the mirror. Now beautiful and motionless, she looked like a gracefully carved statue of Guan Yin-the Goddess of Mercy-who always listens to cries of help.
    I blurted out my long-held question, "Sister Pearl, what is fuck?"
    "Xiang Xiang!" She threw me a chiding look in the mirror. "That word is extremely vulgar."
    "But that's what Mama and Little Red use."
    "Yes, I use that, too, but it's for adults, not a little girl like you."
    "But Sister Pearl. I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a woman! "
    "Oh, is that so?" She raised a brow. "That means you have been fucked, haven't you?"
    Her words stung like a bee. I screamed. "No, of course not!"
    She laughed, revealing a neat row of pearly teeth. "All right, you haven't been fucked, not yet, all right?" Then she looked at me chidingly. "Xiang Xiang, instead of saying fuck, why don't you say mating of heaven and earth, balancing yin and yang, or stirring up the clouds and rain?"
    She cocked an eye at me. "But why are you in such a hurry to learn all these, can't you wait to be a fucking whore?"
    This time I kept my mouth shut.
    She smiled flirtatiously. "Hasn't Little Red already told you what fuck means?"
    Before I could answer, Pearl's expression turned serious. "Anyway, soon Mama will give you books about the secret games. You better study them thoroughly, then if you have questions, come and ask me."

    "Do you have those books?"
    "I don't need them anymore," she tapped her head, "they're all here." After that, she turned back to the mirror and continued to fuss over her makeup until her brows resembled two slender leaves. I understood that this signaled the fucking matter was to be dropped.
    After Pearl had laid the finishing touch on her brow, she turned to look me in the eyes. "Xiang Xiang, I'm going to entertain in a big party tonight, and," she nipped my chin, "you're coming with me, you lucky little witch."
    I was surprised to hear this. I'd never expected that I would be invited out so quickly. "Sister Pearl, who invited me?"
    Suddenly the warmth in her tone was gone. She narrowed her eyes. "A very rich businessman. But don't think that you're already so irresistible that he invited you out. He invited me, you understand? You're just to tag along."
    I nodded. Tears welled in my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall.
    Seeing me on the verge of crying, Pearl's tone warmed up again. "Ha, Xiang Xiang, you'd better start to learn about your own value. Don't you know that you're already quite famous? People have been asking around about you, `Who's that pretty girl with two enchanting dimples?' One even said, `So pretty, she'll definitely be a ming ji someday' ! "
    Mingji-a prestigious prostitute. What would that be like?
    Pearl raised her arm and rubbed perfume onto her armpits. "It's never too early to be noticed, silly girl. Life is short here and no one has a whole eternity to flash her youth."
    She preened in front of the mirror-tilting up her chin, lowering her eyes, wetting her lips, raising her shoulder so that her bathrobe slipped to expose her smooth white flesh, caressing her breast with her red-nailed fingers. Then she started to recite a poem, "When a flower blooms, pick it. Don't wait till there is only the bare branch left." After that, she turned to me, her voice sentimental, "You understand the poem, Xiang Xiang?"

    I nodded, feeling too sad to say anything.
    Pearl had finally finished putting on her makeup. Now she walked to the closet and peeled off her bathrobe. I let out a small cry; there was not a single thread on her body!
    She cocked an eye at me and chuckled. "Never saw a naked body before, huh?"
    I shook my head, while eyeing her tilted breasts, her slightly swelling belly,