The Mystery of the Song Dynasty Painting by Adeline Yen Mah Page A

beat a team made up of army soldiers. If you feel like playing, just signal us.’
    Meanwhile, Gege is darting about wearing a Red headband with the number shi er (twelve) on his forehead. A scoreboard on top of the goal-posts shows the score tied at one all. A tall and lanky lad, wearing Black number ba (eight), takes the ball near midfield and fires from long range. The stocky goalkeeper, Red number wu (five), blocks the shot and kicks it out to Red number twelve (Gege!), who chases it down and passes it to Red number san (three). Number three handles the ball nimbly backwards and forwards between his feet, gets behind the Black defence and fires a shot that rebounds off the Black team’s goalpost. The entire Red team groans with disappointment.
    ‘From the way he kicks the ball, I think your brother must have played cu ju before,’ Ah Zhao says.
    ‘But where?’
    ‘There are many cu ju fields like this throughout Bian Liang. I even saw one in the backyard at Commissioner Ye’s house.’
    ‘How long do you think Gege will play?’
    ‘I won’t be surprised if he’s here until sundown. Let him enjoy himself. I’ll tell the organizers that we’ll wait for him at the riverbank below.’
    The weather grows even hotter as we saunter down the plateau towards the river. Snatches of music drift towards us, mingled with shouts and peals of laughter. We meander down a grassy slope and enter a narrow stone passageway flanked by feathery maples, lush flowering shrubs and towering bamboos. Below us, a green meadow stretches all the way to the river. A gravelled walkway shaded by graceful willows runs along the riverbank. Nestled within the blue-green haze of leafy willow branches is a little wooden bench flanked by two pear trees ablaze with fragrant yellow flowers.
    Ah Zhao leads me to the bench and signals me to sit.
    ‘What about you?’ I ask.
    ‘That’s not for the likes of me,’ he says with a hint of darkness. ‘You’re the boss and I’m the slave. Let’s remember this at all times.’
    He picks up a flat stone from the path and throws it towards the water with such force that it skims the surface three times before it sinks. I wonder what has happened to change his mood.
    ‘It’s so beautiful and tranquil here. Why isn’t anyone around?’
    ‘Maybe they don’t know about it.’
    ‘How lucky we are!’
    ‘Are we?’ he asks moodily, staring into the distance. After a while, he walks towards the water and climbs onto a little barge moored there. Sitting at the edge, he removes his shoes, puts his feet into the cool river and begins to hum a strange tune.
    It suddenly strikes me that he’s handsome, despite his crooked nose. Starting with his height, his muscled frame, his light skin, his curly black hair, his long-lashed, deep-set eyes and ending with his nose… I think of his nickname, Big Nose, and say to myself, ‘His nose isn’t really big. It’s tall rather than big. ’
    ‘Why are you staring at me?’
    His question catches me off-guard. I lower my eyes, but I know my face must be turning red.
    ‘I’m just thinking that your nose is tall rather than big. Your nickname should be Gao Bi Zi (Tall Nose), not Da Bi Zi (Big Nose).’
    ‘Am I really that different from everyone else? Why give me a nickname at all? Don’t I eat, drink and breathe just like you? Are we that dissimilar?’
    ‘Of course not! Actually, I was thinking that your face is more interesting than mine. Or Gege’s. It’s more three-dimensional.’
    ‘Interesting!’ He spits out the word with loathing. ‘Interesting indeed. Am I an animal in a zoo? To be gawked at and compared to human beings?’
    ‘Why are you getting angry?’
    He looks away, and for a while he says nothing. Then I see tears coursing down his cheeks and I realize he’s crying.
    Something comes over me. Even though he’s tall and strong, at that moment he looks like a little lost boy and I think of him alone in the world with nobody to turn to.