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Old
Wei & Young Wei
Part - IX
I
was wondering about the second melon I had to return.
It seemed that I
had passed Grandfather's test by getting his money back
for the first melon.
Why did I need to return a second one? Did Grandfather
want to see
if it was skill or luck? If I could return one melon it
might be just luck,
but two melons would prove to him that I was a man. I
was thinking about
all these things as I walked behind Grandfather. Since
we had left the first
fruitstand he had said nothing to me... as usual.
Ahead
of us was the second melon. Gao was holding onto it for
Grandfather.
It was why he did not have it in his hands when he came
to look for me.
Grandfather
approach Gao and offered his thanks to him for holding
the melon.
He then curiously asked Gao to take me to Bin Su's fruit
stand.
The
second melon was bought there, I guessed. Why did Grandfather
want Gao to take
me there. Gao was blind. It was more likely that I would
be taking him
to
the place. Grandfather's only communication to me, as
Gao started down
the
road back into the market, was "Go on, follow after,
Gao. Return the
melon
and bring me my money back. Hurry up. It will be growing
dark once
the
sun sets and I want to be heading home."
I
caught up with Gao, who had not walked very far. I took
the melon from
him
without protest. His hands being free, they found my arm.
We walked the
rest
of the way with me as a guide for his footsteps.
"Why
do you suppose Grandfather wanted you to go with me?",
I asked Gao.
"He
did not tell me. He just said to go and that when we were
done we would
all
walk home together. He is watching my bags of food while
he waits for
us.
Since you will have no food to carry, he offered to carry
my things while
you walk with me. I am curious, too. Why did Wei come
all this way
to buy
and return two melons? He did no other shopping. Isn't
that crazy?"
I
agreed. I could understand none of this. If it was only
to test me, then
might
it not also be a test of my character. Would Grandfather
think I was
weak
if I said too much to Gao about my suspicions? Grandfather
was a man
who
said so little...
what would he think of a chatterbox for a Grandson?
I
decided to say as little to Gao about my thoughts as possible.
It
was not long before we arrived at Bin Su's fruit stand.
Bin Su had been
in
this market for many years. Everyone knew her. She was
a good seller of
fruit.
She never lost a customer. Her prices were higher than
others, but
people
rarely complained to her. Could she have really sold a
monkey melon
to
Grandfather? I decided to check the melon again. I held
it up to my nose
and
smelled the strong, pungent, rotting aroma from deep inside
the melon.
It
smelled terrible, but you wouldn't know it unless you
held it right under
your nose. It was a monkey melon sure enough, but the
question I asked
myself is if it came from Bin Su? Grandfather said it
did, so it must
have.
Maybe Bin Su was sold some bad melons herself. Would she
not know these
were bad melons? I wondered about this as we approached
her stand.
Gao
spoke to me in a hushed whisper: "Look, Wei-chan,
I still have to buy
some
fruit. Bin Su must have seen us walking together. If you
make her angry
she will not sell me any fruit, perhaps. Please let me
buy my fruit
from
her first before you try to return that melon."
It
seemed a reasonable request. I did not enjoy being called
"Wei-chan" because
I was not a baby any more, but I decided he was only teasing
me.
I brought
Gao up to the stand. He asked me to let him feel the peaches.
I took
him to Bin's large tray of peaches.
"How
do they look?", asked Gao. "What is their color?"
"Do
you know what color they are supposed to be, Gao?"
"Of
course. I have bought peaches before. I can buy better
ones than you.
You
are blinded by all the colors you see. When I choose the
peaches it is
by
their touch. My hands can feel their rich flavor. Ha ha.
I am an expert
at
finding the best fruit. If Grandfather Wei was with me
he would not have
bought
those monkey melons. Ha ha."
Gao
was wrong of course. Grandfather deliberately bought the
melons to test
me,
but I was not about to explain all that to Gao. Bin Su
saw us and walked
over. She
greeted us together.
"What
do you want today, Gao? Fresh peaches? These are the best
in our province.
They are sweeter than I was when I was this young, and
I was once
very
sweet at this age."
Gao
laughed with Bin. I found this amusing, too, but I had
to stay a bit
more
serious since my work was still ahead of me. Bin could
joke about her
young
age, of course, now that she was an old woman. Bin must
have been at
least
30 years old. Her youth was a long time ago. At least
that is what
I thought
back in those days. I stood back to let Gao do his shopping.
Bin
was
helping him now and I was just in the way. I watch them
chatter with
each
other. Bin was a good match for old Gao. They laughed
with each other
like
lovers. If Gao had not been blind would Bin have married
him? I felt
something
sad in all that as I watched them get along so well.
Gao
chose his peaches and I watched as Bin put them in her
scale. A funny
thing
happened next. She looked at me with a wink. She put her
finger to
her
lips, motioning me to stay silent.
"Gao,
you wanted only a few peaches? These weigh less than you
think. Go
pick
out a few more so I can make some money. It is the end
of the day.
I
promise
to give you my discount price. It is better to sell these
cheaply
than
to see them go bad. I don't sell bad fruit to my customers,
you know."
Bin
Su had deliberately lied to Gao. His fruit weighed more
than she said.
She
was not only going to give him more fruit, but she was
going to charge
him
less for it. Ah, how heavy that melon felt in my hands
then. I watched
Bin
Su sneak a few extra things into Gao's bag, too. She charged
him next
to
nothing for his fruit and complained bitterly about how
tough a customer
Gao
was. She was smiling as she complained.
"Ah,
a customer like me is what you need to stay honest. If
all of your people
knew fruit like I do you could not charge them your high
prices!"
Gao
was teasing with Bin Su.
"Hah.
My customers could easily be like you. If they looked
more at me than
at
the fruit they would be blinded by my beauty. I am the
best pick in this
store,
and a bargain, too."
"I
don't argue about that. You do treat me well, but only
because you know
you
have to. I know fruit better than you do!"
They
went back and forth like this as Bin Su packed Gao's fruit
into a bag.
She
actually snuck even more into the bag. I felt my melon
weighing in my
hands
like a stone. My heart told me this woman could never
sell anyone a
monkey
melon, even if they begged for one.
Bin
Su turned to me to ask if I needed any help. She saw me
holding the melon
in my hands. It was time to decide what to do.
"No,
I am fine," I said. "I was just walking with
Gao. I will help him to
carry
these packages home."
Bin
Su handed me a peach and said: "Good boy. Eat this
on the way home if
you
can find a free hand. That monkey melon you are holding
looks rather
heavy.
You do know it is a monkey melon, don't you?"
"Oh,
yes. I know. I know very well. Thank you."
I
knew I had made the right decision then and there. I put
the melon down
and
took the peach from Bin Su, thanking her. Gao took my
arm and I took
his
packages.
"What
about the melon?", Bin Su asked as we walked away.
"Save it for Gao
when
he comes back. ", I laughed. "We'll see if his
memory is as good as
his
knowledge of fruit."
All
along the way Gao spoke quite affectionately of Bin Su.
He stopped at
one
point and told me he was glad I did not try to return
the melon.
"Do
you know that woman always puts extra fruit in my bag.
She thinks she
is
fooling me each time, as if I never count how many things
I take. Ha ha.
She
has such a good heart. It would have been a shame to make
her take back
that
melon."
I
was silent all along the rest of the journey. I was right.
Gao knew it.
Would
Grandfather agree? Or would he think I cheated him by
exchanging his
melon
for a peach?
TO
BE CONCLUDED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER
For
part 8
For part
7
For
part 6
For part 5
For Part 4
For Part 3
For
Part 2
For Part
1
E-mail to Robert J. Baumann: rbaumann@nyc.rr.com
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