Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 162

Shanghai Summer 1921
Fanling Rhenish Church Secondary School, Sung, King Ho John – 14
A
s the orphans grew through the summer of 1921, studying, practicing, and living with Master Zhou, running
through the streets and mapping out their hideaways, they decided it would be a good idea to establish three
safehouses in each of the French Concession, the Chinese City, and the International Settlement. A
safehouse would simply be a stairwell or a false floor where they hid a cache of weapons. These could be
used in case someone tried to kidnap Peace again.
And with each passing day into the late summer, Peace grew ever more beautiful, more alluring, while her prostitute
mother feel deeper into debt. Master Zhou- who adored the three children- warned Peace, Sanmao and Ah
Yi never to wander down certain streets, especially near the Bund, and showed the children how to position
themselves in a diamond shape for protection when passing through busy markets. He also made them promise
never to leave the International Settlement (but they did, with frequency). Master Zhou could see that the
children were over-confident in their kung fu skills and fledgling black magic abilities.
Once per week, the children would skip along rooftops in the French Concession to pay a visit to Peace’s mother
for tea. This was very provocative, if not outright dangerous. Although her mother was always relieved to see
Peace so happy and healthy with her ‘brothers’ (as Peace called the two boys), she would repeatedly beg Peace never
to visit the brothel and always stay on guard: ‘Here. Rub this coal on your cheeks, and hold your head
down…walk slowly….’ her mother would coo as if she were instructing the latest style in makeup.
Before the current uprising, Peace’s mother had always intended to send Peace away to live in the countryside near
Ningbo, but with increasing lawlessness throughout the countryside, she gave up any plan of allowing Peace to leave
the city. Warlords and armed gangs roamed on the outside, while refugees, beggars, and ordinary families begged
to be allowed to enter the city. Yet, Shanghai itself was in a state of unrest and far from being ‘safe’…..
The kidnapping finally took place on September 2 nd , 1921. It was an ordinary day for the three children. The
weather was clear, and Peace had let her guard down. She and Sanmao were at the corner buying steamed buns.
Walking back to the gated yard of the Home for Poor Children, it seemed as though Peace was hopping when she
tripped on an invisible wire. Instantaneously, a man turned from his place against a brick wall, produced a burlap
sack, and bungled Peace into a waiting car. Sanmao witnessed the abduction from his vantage point and took
note of the car’s number plate.
Peace was now in the hands of the legendary Madam Wong, who greeted the car at the gates of her mansion.
Madam Wong had heard of Peace’s beauty: ‘Welcome to my home. Don’t be depressed, Little One, we will
bring you everything you need. Let’s get started with a proper breakfast and then we’ll talk business.’
Madam Wong was charming (and she spoke the most beautiful Shanghainese), but Peace was already planning her
escape. Her knowledge of the city was so thorough that with just one glance out of the window, Peace knew
exactly where she was within the International Settlement, and she even knew where the nearest safehouse
happened to be: incredibly, it was in a garden shed behind the club next door. Peace tried not to stare in the
direction of the cache as an exquisite congee was brought to the table.