Proofread by Fu Tianying
The woman in white slipped skillfully to a corner of the outer wall of Ma"s compound, bent down and tore down a few pieces of blue brick from the wall, and then got in. She was so swift and familiar with the house that she walked to a room in Ma"s inner maze of chambers. The girl pushed the door and sneaked in without any noise, and then closed the door.
"Ouch!" The girl in white screamed out.
"Ma Tian"en!" shouted a middle-aged man seated in the room with a rod in his hand. The moment the girl entered he stood up with anger.
"Ma Tian"en, there were so many people, how dare you went to see river lanterns in women clothes! What the h.e.l.l do you want?"
"Daddy, I, I wore my mask..." Ma Tian"en talked back in a low voice.
"Then where is the mask?" Ma Chaosheng, the father of Ma Tian"en, stared at her and questioned intensely.
"I lost it, to save a man..."
"To save a man? If only you wouldn"t harm others! What"s wrong with the family to have you, a toff! Tell me if you went out gambling or cheating again? You are a girl! You know that?" said Ma Chaosheng in an exasperated tone, "Except for stirring for trouble and making no efforts, what else can you do? How dare you wear women"s clothes! Do you still remember that you are the son of the family! What will happen if you are known to be a girl by other families and relatives? Have you ever considered the consequences?"
"Dad, you asked me if I knew I was a girl, and then you said I could not leak my true gender, so have you ever thought about my feelings?" refuted Ma Tian"en.
Tracing the origin, Ma Chaosheng, the leader of Ma family in the second dam, fell in love with Ma Tian"en"s mother, Li Yunyao at first sight. Their love was even sweeter after the marriage. But he was forced to have two concubines because Li Yunyao gave birth to three girls in a row while the family wanted boys. Unfortunately, the kids of two concubines were born dead. When Ma Tian"en, their fourth daughter was given birth, Ma Chaosheng stayed out discussing something important with the heads of the other dams. He was very happy and congratulated by all people around when the news came that his wife gave birth to a son. But as he went back, he only saw a daughter, who was faked as a boy by Mrs. Ma. Ma Chaosheng could do nothing but cooperate with her lie since he was ashamed of clarifying that he got a girl again rather than a boy, and he was afraid that Mrs. Ma would be punished. They intended to declare Ma Tian"en"s gender after a son was born, but neither Mrs. Ma nor concubines were pregnant afterwards. Growing up as a boy since her birth, Ma Tian"en looks all the same as a man, who has nothing to do with a girl. He is just a rich dandy with a bunch of bros, claiming to have a strong sense of justice and ready to help the weak. Be that as it may, they just ask for trouble everywhere and invite enemies to home. So, no one has ever doubted Ma Tian"en"s gender in the past 16 years.
"You just said to save a man. Well, several days ago, a couple was quarreling and you went forward to kicked the husband"s leg and broke it. I, your father, had to pay one hundred taels of silver. Also, last month, you competed a wh.o.r.e from the procuress in Wanjin Building, who is not able to do housework at all. You are a girl, why you took back a woman just singing for you every day? What the h.e.l.l are you thinking?
"Sorry, I did wrong. How about a gigolo next time?"
"You black sheep!" Ma Chaosheng became even angrier and wanted to hit him with the rod. Ma Tian"en, certainly unwilling to be hit, run away in no time. After chasing him around for several times, Ma Chaosheng got Ma Tian"en and lifted the rod trying to strike him, while Ma Tian"en suddenly knelt down, bursting into tears.
"Daddy, do you know how sad I am? As a girl, I could have learned to embroider, married someone like my sisters did, and wore beautiful dresses and nice jewelry. It was you who forced me to live as a man. I have to learn diving, and you know I almost suffocated for several times? I have to learn to how to be an accountant, I have to study, and have you ever minded how I feel? I wore a skirt just because I wanted to live like a girl..." Ma Tian"en sobbed, excellent in voice and affection.
Ma Chaosheng had a deep sigh and asked, "How much do you want then?"
"Just twenty taels of silver," replied Ma Tian"en without hesitation. Her face was lit by a smile and her eyes full of ingratiation squinted like a crescent moon.
"Thankless child! Each time you want money from me, you will try every means, even going so far as to wear a skirt. Alas!" said Ma Chaosheng, throwing the rod to the ground.
"Go to the accountant for ten taels of silver tomorrow and remember, do not ask for trouble again. And I will invite a teacher for you. If you dare to give your master any more medicine or cut his clothes, I won"t give you even a coin." Ma Chaosheng went out after saying so, with the door slammed.
Ma Tian"en, in man"s clothing as usual, lay on a rocking chair, with servant girls surrounding him, some of the girls feeding him peeled grapes. Another beautiful young lady with picturesque features sat against Ma Tian"en to play the pipa while singing a Jiangnan (regions south of the Yangtze River, whose folk songs are soft, exquisite and gorgeous) folk song for him, whose face seemed to be more delicate and attractive than the blooming rose beside her.
Next to her was a low table, on which stood a wine bottle gourd inlaid with jewels of all colors. Since those jewels were hooked into the gourd, they would never be broken if the gourd was broken into pieces. On the table was also a vase made of dead wood pottery, which was obviously made of clay, but shaped like dead wood. In the vase were several red roses, just like flowers growing on old trees.
At this time, a little fat boy dressed in red came from the outside and accelerated the pace at the sight of Ma Tian"en, running to apple-polish him.
"Boss, I"m coming. Where are we going today?" The little fatty looked at Ma Tian"en with wors.h.i.+p, and s.n.a.t.c.hed a grape from the servant girl.
"Tian Fugui! Was it Tian Ronghua that set you free? I remember that he said if you came to join me again, he would break your legs, right?" said Ma Tian"en, with drowsiness in his utterance.
Tina Fugui, the youngest son of the head of Tian family in the first dam, was a faithful to Ma Tian"en. Different from his older brother Tian Ronghua, who aimed to make Tian family prosper so as to unite the five dams, Tian Fugui"s dream was to adventure in Jianghu (the martial society in ancient times of China) to be a respected swordsman.
"He was too busy with Mr. Hu to monitor me, so I sneaked out of the house."
"You know, Hu Chunqiu is so indulged in playing dirty tricks that he has no time to learn something good." Ma Tian"en said dismissively, "If such dregs of society were to be the Number One Scholar, I would be the Dragon King."
"Exactly right! He can"t even compare with you."
"Let"s go!" Ma Tian"en jumped from the rocking chair.
"Where to go?"
"To be help the weak, uphold justice and protect the innocent!"