Joss and Gold

Two

Two Relieved Li An w", marrying well, Mrs. Han made no suggestions to delay the wedding. She came to Singapore for the ceremony without her children or her husband, who had long ago stopped acknowledging his stepdaughter's existence except as an unwelcome intruder from his wife's intemperate youth. Henry's mother had decided on the festivities, a combination of traditional and modern; the most important ritual, the tea ceremony, was held in her home. Outside the large rambling bungalow off Tanglin Road, pink oleander bushes bloomed by the entrance and a tall casuarina trailed long-needled branches along the side of the circular drive. Li An was given Henry's old bedroom, and Henry slept in his brother Mark's room. Mrs. Yeh, showing utmost respect, put Li An's mother in the large bedroom in which Mrs. Yeh's mother-in-law had once slept. After the wedding Mrs. Han was taking the train alone home to Penang, and Li An and Henry would stay at the Shangri-La Hotel for a few days before returning to their new house, which Mr. Yeh had bought for them, in Petaling Jaya near the university. Li An was struck by how different Henry's mother was from Li An's own mother or from Second Mrs. Yeh. Although Chinese, Mrs. Yeh wore a sarong and kebaya, and chattered in Malay. Unlike Second Mrs. Yeh, she did not speak English. Her buxom body, unconstrained in a cotton chemise, gave the impression of an overstuffed pillow, while Auntie held her CROSSING trim body as if it were on a tight leash. Li An's mother, belted and dowdy in a Western dress, kept to the outside of the Yeh family circle, smiling and silent. Mrs. Yeh appeared to be looking at ten things all at the same time, as if the world were a vague blur ofobjects and people , and she depended on her amah for everything. Throughout the day she could be heard calling, "Amah, amah! Where's my purse? Amah, did you call for the dumplings? Have you cleaned Henry's suit? Bring me some chrysanthemum teaI 'm so tired I feel ill." Yet she did no work that Li An could see, except to talk at the same time to everyone around her, stopping only to address someone new who might have walked into the room. Li An's mother seemed pleased to offer Mrs. Yeh an acquiescent ear, agreeing to all her suggestions in soothing sounds that could have been in any language. The house was full of visiting aunts and cousins. Mr. Yeh, however, stayed with Auntie in a friend's house nearby. Li An was surprised to see how well First Mrs. Yeh got along with Auntie. "Sister," they greeted each other in Hokkien, and Mrs. Yeh insisted on serving drinks herself to her husband and his second wife when they came into the house. It must be very strange, Li An thought, to have your husband a distant visitor, and to welcome his mistress-even though the Chinese called her a second wife-to your home. She studied Mrs. Yeh, expecting to find hidden jealousy and resentment, but Mrs. Yeh was offering jolly comments about the wedding to Auntie, smiling her shortsighted smile, and seeming really pleased to have everyone, including Auntie and Li An's mother, with her. The morning of the wedding, Mrs. Yeh and her husband sat on two heavy rosewood chairs in the living room. Li An, wearing a short clinging red dress that she had found in a boutique on Orchard Road, poured tea into small porcelain cups, knelt, and served them to her new in-laws. Mr. Yeh was impassive. Only when Henry knelt and gave him the cup with two hands did he blink and nod his head. The night before, Li An's mother had whispered to her that as she had come without her husband she did not wish to have 15 JOSS and GOLD tea served to her. But when Mrs. Yeh led her by the hand to her chair and made her sit down as Henry's new mother-inlaw , she sipped the tea that Henry and Li An offered, smiling and giggling even as she protested at the respect shown. While Mrs. Yeh smiled and smiled at Li An, Henry, Mark, and Jing, her youngest son, Li An noticed Auntie...