Memories of the Lotus Pier

一

"A-Die, why did you have to bring him back home?" A young Jiang Cheng groaned in frustration.

His father, Jiang Feng Mian, glanced down at his son and smiled. "He is an orphan. He needs parents to take care of him. You on the other hand, are very lucky to have parents." Ruffling Jiang Cheng's hair, he continued, "You should go rest now, A-Cheng."

Jiang Cheng nodded, turned around sleepily and walked towards the Lotus Pier. It was night time, and stars had already filled the inky black sky. Surrounding the child, were magnificent lakes filled with pink lotus, lily pads giving shelter to amphibians. The warm light of lanterns guided Jiang Cheng back to his home.

Suddenly, his eyes widened to see his Shi Jie, walking towards him on the bridge that held them both above the calm lake waters.

She embraced him, saying softly in his ear, "Wei Wu Xian may be new to our family, but will you do me a favour and treat him nicely?"

Little Jiang Cheng could not understand why everyone in his family besides his mother, would welcome a beggar into their family, would welcome a beggar into the clan leader's family. He could not understand why this other child should be appreciated. Therefore, jealousy boiled in him. But he just nodded his head, for it would mean the world to him to make his elder sister happy.

•

He woke up the next morning, to the widest smile he'd ever seen in his life. He backed up, startled, wondering why this cheeky boy would wake him up in the morning like this. "You're awake!" Wei Wu Xian giggled. He grinned goofily at Jiang Cheng, who was very pissed off and irritated by such behaviour.

Wei Wu Xian no longer wore the clothes of a beggar, but proper robes which were charcoal in colour, and a red hair ribbon tied his untidy hair up in a ponytail.

"Go away!" said Jiang Cheng, looking away from him with his arms crossed, clearly annoyed. Wei Wu Xian, however, ignored him whatsoever. 

"Come on, let's play!" Wei Wu Xian shook his arm, his smile slowly dissapearing.

"I said go away!" Jiang Cheng yelled at him.

"What's all this noise about?" said Shi Jie, emerging from behing the wooden sliding doors. "Jiang Cheng, I told you to be nice to him didn't I?"

He only grunted to show that he heard her. Shi Jie let out a sigh, and carried Jiang Cheng onto her back. "Let's go outside, shall we?"

Pushing the sliding doors open, Shi Jie started towards the town of The Lotus Pier with clumsy Wei Wu Xian trailing behind her.

It was almost noon, and market stalls popped up like mushrooms at the side of the road which was filled with carriages. The smell of fresh vegetables and spices filled their noses as they passed by. Noise also filled the air, merchants yelling out their best price to attract nearby customers.

"Welcome to our home, A-Xian," Shi Jie said, stroking his head gently. She then turned around to face Jiang Cheng, saying, "You should walk on your own now."

Jiang Cheng reluctantly slid off her back, clinging on to her long lilac robes.

Most of the buildings had tiny purple flags on them, either with the lotus symbol of the Jiang Clan or the character '江' itself. Shi Jie proceeded to a stall, which sold a variety of vegetables and roots. She picked up a long piece of lotus root, which was very popular here as their whole town is surrounded by the plant. She paid for it and told her two younger brothers, "A-Niang and I will be cooking pork-rib lotus root soup today, do the both of you want to help out?" She wrapped the piece of lotus root in a cloth and tied a knot to secure it.

Wei Wu Xian nodded his head enthusiastically, but Jiang Cheng just looked away. "Maybe you should try to hang out with him more, then maybe you all will know each other better," she told Jiang Cheng, crouching down to meet his stubborn little eyes. "Promise you'll try?"

"Okay," Jiang Cheng said in a tiny voice. Shi Jie whispered a 'thank you' in his ear and held his hand as well as Wei Wu Xian's, and led them both back to their home.

The kitchen wasn't very far away from the entrance to the palace, so Shi Jie quickly unpacked the lotus root that she bought and lay it out on a wooden chopping board. She began slicing it thinly as her two brothers watched her in awe.

"Can I try, can I try, can I try?" said Jiang Cheng excitedly, his cranky mood gone. Shi Jie smiled and carefully handed him the knife.

"Hold it with one hand and hold the knife with the other." She held Jiang Cheng's small hands and guided him. "Slice it down slowly in a sawing motion."

As Jiang Cheng got more used to it, Shi Jie slowly let go of his hands. That, was a mistake. He lost control of the knife and it cut a shallow wound into his finger. Tears filled his eyes and he started to bawl. Wei Wu Xian swiftly tore a piece of fabric from his clothes, and wrapped it around a wailing Jiang Cheng's finger.

"There. Does it feel better?" He smiled at Jiang Cheng. This time was different. Jiang Cheng did not scowl nor yelled at him, but instead, between sobs, said a little thank-you.