Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 193

One night, I was lounging against the bar, checking out prospective clients, when a commotion broke out. Violet,
another courtesan, wrenched herself from the embrace of a Japanese officer and spat at his feet before stalking away.
We courtesans had always been given to dramatic gestures, and I shook my head in wry amusement- Violet
probably wasn’t even angry.
As muffled giggles broke out, the shock on the officer’s face gave way to humiliation, then uncontrolled rage at
Violet’s public rejection. Abruptly, he took a handgun out from his waistcoat and, before anyone could do more
than cry out in surprise, shot her in the back.
The gunshot reverberated in the silence as we all processed what just happened, and then the room lapsed into
mayhem, we courtesans sprinting upstairs to hide in our rooms.
That night, I remembered the men I’d rejected, all those lovers I’d spurned after they went broke trying to keep me
by their side. I imagined them breaking down the door, revenge alight in their eyes, and my skin crawled. I had to
get out of there, had to protect myself using the only way I knew how.
***
That was how I ended up the wife of Huang Yuelin, the highest-ranking police inspector in Shanghai. This was
purely a business relationship- I accepted his protection as payment for my services, and marriage was the easiest
way to deter would-be assailants from extracting retribution.
I was spending more time with Yuelin than I’d ever spent with any client, but during our conversations I remained
alert, never forgetting that I was on the job. That was how I lured people in- I became whoever clients wanted me
to be, a manifestation of men’s fantasies. Knowing what made a person tick was a point of pride.
I could usually deduce what kind of woman my clients wanted, but Yuelin proved an enigma. As I studied him,
reading by the fireplace, he glanced up and smiled at me.
There was nothing for it. I asked him straight out.
“Are you satisfied with my services?”
He barked out a surprised laugh at my bluntness, then sobered.