Chapter 6: Hong Kong
Chu Wang listened to the cheers and sat up from the bed, without even putting on his shoes, and ran to the deck.
After lying in the dim room for four days, Lin Chuwang was so dazzled by the sudden sight of the light outside that he could hardly open his eyes.
She squinted to see what was happening. Beyond the sea, she saw a forest of billboards in garishly colored hues. Pink, green, blue, red, every possible color, every possible contrast. It was like an oasis city suddenly appearing in the middle of a desolate land, a mirage.
Yet, this scene felt familiar to Chu Wang. It was a bit like the beaches of southern France, not the cold and desolate Cannes, but rather the beaches of Nice in February, but without the extravagance… The sun was more abundant here, like in California, but the buildings and advertisements were more like a Las Vegas, artificially constructed in the wilderness of the Silver State next door.
Yes, it was Hong Kong during this period that tried its best to emulate Britain, as if it were trying to bring all of London here, but the result was a complete mess, like Japanese ukiyo-e, with vibrant and exaggerated colors but a profoundly empty core. Chu Wang cheered with the crowd for a moment, then returned to the cabin feeling somewhat lost.
When she returned to the ship, the maid had already packed all the luggage. Lin Yunyan's face was pale, and she poked her head out of the bed, breathing weakly, and asked anxiously, "Third sister, what's it like at the port?"
Before Lin Chuwang could reply, Xue Zhenzhen interrupted unhappily, "What else can it be? It's just a rural area. A Queen's Boulevard is no match for a Fourth Road in Shanghai."
As soon as Xue Zhenzhen finished speaking, Lin Yunyan's pale face turned half darker.
After hearing what Xue Zhenzhen said, Chu Wang couldn't help laughing.
Xue Zhenzhen glanced over and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
She waved her hand, indicating it was nothing. In theory, Xue Zhenzhen was right. After all, Shanghai was East Asia's leading financial center during this period, while Hong Kong's population was only a quarter of Shanghai's. Economically, neither Tokyo nor Singapore could compare, but their social structures were different, making comparisons impossible.
The maid was supporting my aunt, while Chu Wang was supporting his two sisters from behind. The servants from my aunt's household rushed over to carry the luggage down to the car. Many drivers of nearby black cars leaned out and asked in Cantonese, "Are you going to Repulse Bay or Hung Hom?"
Chu Wang could barely understand the simpler ones, smiling and shaking his head at the driver. Yun Yan almost had no strength left to walk, but she still managed to find some strength to ask, "Third sister, what are they saying? Do you understand?"
Lin Chuwang remained silent. Soon, the three girls were bundled into a car. This time, it was the other two who took the seats and fell asleep, leaving Lin Chuwang alone, her head resting on the car window. The car drove out of the city, up and down the mountain. Through the emerald green forest, sections of bare earth sloped out, sometimes yellow, sometimes red, sometimes granite. Suddenly, a turquoise sea emerged from the red and yellow cliffs, then disappeared into the hills. The late March sun was making her drowsy, and soon, the car slowly stopped.
There were still mountains and trees, but the houses were gradually increasing in number. Chu Wang glanced at a street sign as she passed it: it read "contessaa|venue." She looked around. There were only trees and a few scattered white and yellow single-family houses in the mountains. Where was the main road?
After getting off the carriage, she couldn't see the house, only a wide stone staircase leading up. The two drivers unloaded the luggage, and two dark-skinned maids, hearing the sound, clattered down the stone steps in their slippers to help Mrs. Qiao. Mrs. Qiao, who was being supported by the housekeeper, said, "Go get the three..." Then, glancing at Chu Wang, who had already slipped out of the carriage, she changed her words and said, "Help the two girls into the house."
Following my aunt up the stone steps, we gradually came to a view of a green lawn, a black carved iron fence, and a rose garden behind it. Twenty more steps behind the garden led to two pale yellow, three-story houses. Their second-floor balconies were connected, and the first floor had a natural corridor. Below the corridor was a natural flower garden with a wicker swing in the middle.
From the second floor above, the sounds of piano and girls' laughter drifted faintly. A young woman poked her head down, exclaimed, "Ouch!" and hurriedly said, "Madam, you're back." The door to the first floor opened, and the dark-skinned girl stepped aside slightly to let Madam and Chu Wang in first. Once inside, Chu Wang heard another series of barefoot clatters on the stairs. The eldest aunt's face darkened. She took two steps and sat down heavily on the sofa.
The luggage was brought in and piled at the foot of the stairs. Yun Yan and Xue Zhen Zhen also stood beside Chu Wang, their eyes half-open and sleepy. A moment later, a girl of fifteen or sixteen came shuffling down the stairs. Her skin was a healthy tan, her figure slender and graceful, the slender calves peeking out from under her floral dress. Her long, slightly curly, black hair flowed down, and a small, tender yellow flower was pinned to her ear. Her eyes were large yet deep, and her long eyelashes fluttered gently like a butterfly's wings as she moved her eyes.
The three little girls downstairs couldn't help but stare at her in amazement: Beauty...
Mrs. Lin said: "Ma Ling, these are three sisters from Shanghai. Zhenzhen - you met her last time; Yunyan, the second sister from your uncle's family; Chu Wang, the third sister."
Qiao Maling smiled appropriately and said, "Hello, sisters."
At this time, three or four heads popped out from the stairs at an inopportune time, and whispered in a very low voice, "Three pieces of steamed pork with rice flour just out of the pot."
The voice was extremely low, and she tried to keep it down, but the three girls still heard it. This was a popular joke about girls recently: Guangdong girls have darker skin, but it's a healthy, shiny black, and they're like sweet and sour spare ribs; Shanghai girls are fair and tender, and they're like steamed pork with rice flour.
Xue Zhenzhen had heard of this in Shanghai, and she felt embarrassed and annoyed, but she couldn't get angry; Lin Yunyan had never heard of this, and she tilted her head slightly, a little puzzled; Lin Chuwang shouldn't have heard of this in Shaoxing, but she had happened to read some of Zhang Ailing's early works, and she couldn't help but smile after hearing it.
Qiao Ma Ling was a little annoyed, but she turned around and tried to please Mrs. Qiao, "Mom, these are my friends in the choir. It's a rare weekend, so I invited everyone to come to my house and sing together."
Mrs. Qiao was clearly feeling overwhelmed. She waved her hand and said, "Never mind. I'll just ask you to come meet the sisters. Let Aunt Zhao take them to see their rooms. After they're done, I'll pick out a few skilled maids and let them choose one by one."
Qiao Maling agreed immediately and called Zhao Ma over, asking her to take three steamed pork with rice flour to her room.
The group first went up to the third floor. On the third floor, facing the steps and flower garden, there was a room decorated in Chinese style. Everything was arranged exactly as it had been when Lin Yunyan was home, practically a replica of the old room. For a moment, Lin Chuwang thought Yunyan's room in Shaoxing had been directly teleported here.
Obviously, this room belongs to Lin Yunyan. It was decorated for her early in the morning, and she is quite satisfied with it.
Going down one floor, on the second floor, towards the stairs and flower garden, there was a room slightly larger than Yunyan's room, with a balcony. The room was decorated in European style, and the bed was piled with some small dolls dressed in European court costumes, which also looked very gorgeous.
This is Xue Zhenzhen’s room, and she is very satisfied with it.
Then, on the second floor, opposite Xue Zhenzhen's room, there was another room facing the other side. It was of similar size and also had a balcony. It was furnished simply and elegantly: a mahogany desk, a dressing table, a large wardrobe, a mahogany bed, and a rattan table and chairs.
There was nothing to complain about Lin Chuwang, except for one thing...
Following her gaze, the other two girls looked out the window and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Huh?"
From the window, I could see a vast garden, remarkably European and magnificent. The vine-lined, white marble corridor, pavilion, pool, and gardens were all set on a beautifully groomed lawn. A little further away, three immaculately white villas stood—much more spacious than Mrs. Qiao's.
While the three of them were puzzled, Mother Zhao spoke up to explain, "That's Mrs. Ge's mansion over there—the garden also belongs to Mrs. Ge. The two mansions were built very close together, and two years ago, the garden was expanded all the way over to the ground floor here."
As soon as Mother Zhao finished speaking, the three of them looked down from Chu Wang's balcony at the same time.
Lin Chuwang: "..."
Because the two mansions were built on a hillside, even though the villas on this side had been raised as high as possible, the garden on the other side still rose more than two meters above the foundation of the house on this side. Although the layout was sloping, the slope was just right when it reached the first floor below Chu Wang's room. Although there was a fence outside the first floor, it was only two meters high and could not block the second floor.
Lin Chuwang's balcony was only less than one meter higher than the slope outside the balcony.
In other words, if there was a party in the garden over there, people sitting a little further away on the lawn would have a clear view of Lin Chuwang's boudoir...
This is not the worst.
If there is an adult man of normal height, he can just stand outside the fence on the first floor and hold on to the edge of her balcony and jump into her room from the balcony: it doesn't take much effort.
The other two girls seemed to have noticed this as well.
Zhenzhen smiled and said, "This is a nice viewing platform."
Yun Yan said, "I heard that there are gatherings in my aunt's yard every few days. I hope my third sister doesn't get disturbed."
Chu Wang thought to himself, didn’t the eldest aunt worry in front of Dad early in the morning that he would be led astray by the youngest aunt?
Now, the room layout that was assigned early in the morning was deliberately planned, for fear that she would be taken away.
Chu Wang took another look at the sound insulation of the window: a layer of opaque wooden window on the outside, and a layer of glass floor-to-ceiling door on the inside - the sound insulation and safety were very thoughtfully considered, so she couldn't even find any fault.
The gentle voice of my eldest cousin Qiao Maling rang out from behind: "Are the three sisters satisfied with their rooms?"
Chu Wang couldn't help but laugh and said, "Satisfied." How could he not be satisfied? Extremely satisfied.
The author has something to say: Why not just point out that she should change rooms? First, the room can be locked from the inside, so it’s not a big deal if someone does something bad outside. The only problem is that it’s unsightly when she looks out from the balcony.
Second: Since it's obvious that they have bad intentions, if you talk about it now, they will have another explanation.
Third, why not observe for a few days before drawing conclusions?
This is a logical question of pros and cons. The choice is self-evident.
Here's a simple hand-drawn diagram:
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