Chapter 6
Convergence
(continued)
May 7th, 1936. Zujiawopu District, Changchun…
Major Li awoke to the rays of the sun slanting through his window onto his face. The warmth felt good and he lay there for a few moments letting it sink into his pores. He sat up slowly, surveying the room. After a moment, he put on his boots, stood, grabbed his uniform jacket and left the room. He stopped in the middle of the sitting room and stared through the open door of the guest bedroom. The bed was neatly made, the extra linens returned to the chest he assumed. He listened for a moment, the house was very quiet. He moved into the kitchen and noticed the door to the central garden was open. He stepped through the door and saw the man sitting at the small table in the middle of the garden, his face upturned towards the sun, his eyes closed. He, like Li in his bedroom, seemed to be basking in the warmth. Li stood there and studied this man, trying to take his measure. The man must have sensed his presence.
“Please Major, join me. I hope you don’t mind, but I made tea”, the man said without opening his eyes. Li noticed the tea service on the table. He made his way to the table, sat, and poured himself some tea. He raised the cup to his lips and sipped, his eye staring off across the garden.
“Did you sleep well”, Li asked the man distractedly, his eye loosing focus on the outside world as his vision turned inwards.
The man smiled slightly, dropping his head, but not opening his eyes. “Surprisingly well, I must admit. I feel I should be distressed by this, yet I am not. And you Major?”
Li’s vision returned to the outside world as he looked down at his cup of tea and thought about it. The revelation surprised him as well. “The same. Odd”, said Li, frowning.
The man opened his eyes finally, and he looked around the garden. “My sentiments as well.”
Li looked over at the man, suddenly wanting to get on with the day. “If you will excuse me, I will make a call to have a car delivered. It is not a great distance, but too far to walk.”
Now it was the mans turn to frown, the tranquility of the morning broken by Li’s announcement. Without looking at Li, he nodded. Li went into the house and made the call.
Thirty minutes later they were driving west along the smaller side streets, to the outskirts of the city, towards the poorer suburbs. Li crossed the Xihuancheng Gonglu into Fanjiadian. He pulled to a stop in front of what appeared to be a grocer belonging to a Jewish family judging by the signs in Hebrew. Li looked at the building, and then at the man, who was staring at the building through the passenger window.
“Sir, I need you to understand that everything today must be done in a proper order, so that it makes sense, to not only you, but to the other people it will affect. I do not seek to delay your reunion with your daughter intentionally. Do you understand?” Li asked.
Without turning to look at Li, “So she is not here?”
“No. This man instructs her, tutors her, as he did me when I was young. He is very wise and does not press his religion. I trust him implicitly. I must inform him that his pupil will not be coming by today. He is very fond of the girl”, Li finished.
The man nodded brusquely while continuing to stare out the window. Li exited the car and entered the grocery. A moment later he was escorted out by a bespectacled older man, of stooped posture, wearing one of those little caps that Jews wear. He looked over at the man and stared, then looked back to Li, shook his hand and went back inside the store. Li started the car and headed on.
“He was your tutor you say?” the man asked as they drove.
“Yes. His name is Mordechi Bar Lev. He is also a rabbi of the Jewish faith. He is very learned. He taught me a great deal, including the reading and speaking of Hebrew”, said Li. The man grunted in response.
Five minutes later Li pulled the car over and parked. Li looked across the street and the man’s eyes followed Li’s gaze until he too was staring at the cemetery. Li exited the car and walked halfway across before turning around and looking back. He did not gesture, but the man knew that Li was waiting for him.
When the man had exited the car he realized they were parked across from a Christian cemetery. As he came up beside Li he asked, “Why are we here? I thought you said my daughter was alive?”
“She is”, replied Li. “I need to show you something first.”
“What could I possibly be interested in here?” asked the man showing his frustration.
Li did not reply, he simply turned and headed for a small iron gate set in a low stone wall that fronted the cemetery. The man cursed under his breath but followed none the less. He followed Li through the cemetery, between rows of headstones until Li stopped. When he came up beside Li he was staring down at a headstone. Li looked at the man and then pointed at the headstone. The man turned to look at it. There were characters in both Chinese and some other script that the man did not recognize except for the fact that it was western. He studied the Chinese characters and then gasped. Suddenly his knees were weak and gave beneath him. The tears that followed his collapse were quiet, gasping noises. The man reached out and traced the characters in front of him and a name escaped his throat, Lin.
Li had backed away a few paces and turned his back to give the man some privacy to deal with his grief. A moment later he heard the man say in a quiet voice, “Why here?”
Li continued to stare across the manicured grounds of the cemetery. “No one would think to look for her here”, he said. “I knew that here she could be at peace.”
He heard the man getting to his feet, sniffling to clear his nose. As Li turned back towards the man he saw him wiping his eyes. “Thank you. All these years and I never knew what happened to her. Was she thrown into a pit with the nameless poor? Was she thrown in the river after me? Was she left on the side of the road for animals to feed on?” The man reached out again to run his hands across the top of the marker. “Thank you”, he whispered. Li made no reply. He could think of nothing worthwhile to say.
The man turned to Li. “My daughter?”
Li was looking at the ground and a smile grew on his face. “Listen”, he said pointing his arm up the gentle slope of the cemetery.
The man looked up the hill and then cocked his head to listen. At first he heard nothing, and then…was it? Yes, it was the faint sound of children laughing. His head shot up to the crest as he tried to will himself to see beyond it. He looked to Li, but the Major was already slowly making his way up the slope. The man bounded after him. The man came up beside the Major and slowed his pace. He was panting, partially from exertion, but also from anticipation. As they reached the crest, Major Li stopped and pointed down the other side to a cluster of brick buildings built in what must be a European style. In a grassy area between the buildings the man watched as children ran and played and screamed and laughed.
“What is this place?” he asked.
Li watched the children. “It is a school run by Christian missionaries, Jesuits. They take in orphans from time to time.”
“My daughter lives here?”
Li shook his head. “No. She merely goes to school here. She lives with one of the teachers and her mother.”
“Why…why did you do this?” the man asked in a tremulous voice.
Li did not reply. He merely said, “Please wait here. I will be back momentarily.” With that he started walking down the hill towards the children.
The man stood transfixed, watching the Major intently as he approached a young woman, one of the teachers he guessed. Li spoke with her for a few moments. The he watched as the woman called to one of the children. He eagerly searched the throng of children, trying to guess which would respond to the summons, but he was to far away to make out features. The woman called more intently, he heard one of the children moan dramatically, and then brake away from the others to make her way to the woman. When the child came up to the woman, the man noticed her shy away from the Major, almost hiding herself behind the woman. After another brief conversation, the three of them made there way up the hill towards him.
The man was trembling. As the three approached, the woman bent and said something to the girl. The girl looked up at the man, squinting in the sun, and then she stopped. No, she froze, her expression going blank as she studied the man. The man reached up and removed his hat, clutching it to his chest, crushing it in his hands as he kneaded it nervously. Then he saw it, the recognition dawning in the little girls eyes.
In a quiet little voice the girls said, “Papa?”
The man dropped to his knees, the tears again cascading down his cheeks. He held out his arms, one word breathlessly escaped his lips, “Mai.”
“Papa!” the girl squealed as she tore across the ground at breakneck speed, hurling herself the last few feet to land safely in her fathers arms. The man stood, his daughter clamped to his chest as he kissed her and stroked her hair all the while cooing at her. “Oh Mai. Mai, Mai, Mai.”
Li stood watching, Wu by his side. Wu looked over at Li, and seeing the expression on his face, moved her hand inside his, wrapping her fingers around his. Li smiled momentarily, and then realizing what was happening, stiffened. Wu was sure he was going to pull his hand away, but the Major continued to watch the interaction between father and daughter, and slowly he relaxed, leaving his hand entwined with hers.
After a time, the man lowered his daughter to the ground and took her hand. He looked up at Li and Wu, his eyes still moist with tears. Li noticed a small nod, and then the man turned and started to lead his daughter down the hill towards the cemetery.
Wu watched this and turned to Li. “Where are they going?”
Li followed them with his eyes and noticed their destination. He turned Wu around and started to lead her back towards the school. “Family reunion.”
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We have finally come to the end of Chapter 6, which was by far the longest chapter. Some things have began to fall into place, but many questions are left unanswered.
I want to apologize for the fact that it took so long to get this update in. I spent 3 different days working on it, and sometimes I just wasn't happy with it, still not sure I am.
I have to go out of town on Monday and wont be back for a week. Business trip. So there will probably not be an update for about two weeks. And no, I am not going to let this become a habit.