time for a visit next month from the Provincial Tourism Department.’
‘I could do that,’ Mother says, lying down in the shelter, squeezing a flea that’s jumped onto her blue cotton trousers. ‘You could stay here and look after Nannan and the ducks.’
‘No, the spray paint is toxic. It can render women infertile. Two workers passed out from the fumes today. I saw them being carried into the hospital on stretchers.’
‘If they want to hide the quarry scar, why don’t they just plant some trees in front of it?’ Mother asks, pulling down the door curtain to block the draughts.
‘It would take too long. They need it to look presentable before the officials arrive.’
‘This island was clean after the flood. But now there’s so much shit about, it’s becoming infested with mosquitoes again. The Hygiene Department is bound to clamp down on us. I’m fed up with Bo and Juru shitting in the bushes. Why can’t they just dig a hole like everyone else? When the wind blows from the west, the smell is revolting. It’s time we left. I’ve asked around and found out that Heaven Township isn’t far from Foshan Mountain. Let’s pack up and sail south.’
‘You’re not talking about Heaven Township again, are you?’ says Father, scratching a bite on his neck. ‘I won’t leave this island until you get pregnant. We’ve been trying for six months and still nothing’s happened.’
‘Empress Yang Guifei didn’t have any children, did she? It must be something in the water.’
‘Mum, I bury the dead chick in the sand, so why it hasn’t wake up yet?’ Nannan asks. Backlit by the kerosene lamp, her face looks as dark as her hair.
‘It’s having a long sleep,’ says Mother, stroking Nannan’s bandaged foot.
‘Tell Daddy to pull it out,’ Nannan says, her eyes two pools of light in the darkness.
‘I can’t pull it out, Nannan,’ Father says, resting his head on his bent knees.
‘Mum, flowers don’t have eyes, so why do they die?’
‘Because flowers are too pretty for this world.’
‘Daddy said I’m pretty, so I’m going to die soon too?’
Father frowns. ‘Stupid girl, you can’t even write your own name yet. What do you know about death?’
‘Huh! You’re a naughty daddy. I want a different daddy. I hit your neck. See, my dolly is very angry.’
‘Don’t lose your temper with her, Kongzi,’ Mother whispers. ‘Look, Nannan. Your toes are exactly the same shape as mine. Let me clip your nails.’
‘What does lose temper mean, Daddy?’
‘It means to get angry,’ Father says, his tone softening. ‘Yes, I can tell your doll’s angry – her black hair has turned yellow and her brown eyes have turned blue.’
‘Daddy, you trick me. The chick isn’t sleeping. You sold it to a man, and the man is going to eat it for supper. Tell me the truth.’
‘No, I didn’t sell it, Nannan. Perhaps your little chick woke up and flew into the sky.’ Father switches on his torch and opens a copy of Confucius and Neo-Confucianism.
‘The chick is not in the sky and not in the trees . . .’ Nannan says, holding back her sobs. ‘Mum, Daddy said I came out your bottom. So I must be very smelly.’
‘No, no, you aren’t smelly,’ Mother says. ‘After you came out, you drank my milk every day, so now you smell milky and sweet.’ Then, glancing back at Father, she says: ‘I can’t believe she’s four already. The years fly by so fast, we never get a moment to stop and enjoy ourselves.’
‘Yes, time has flashed by. If you fall pregnant now, Nannan will be five by the time you give birth, so the baby will be legal.’
‘After today’s accident, I just want to concentrate on Nannan. Tomorrow I’ll take her into town for a ride on the merry-go-round, then I’ll go to the market and see if I can rent another stall.’
IN THE DARK hour before dawn, Meili wakes with a start and feels as though she’s trapped inside a coffin. Last night, as she was falling asleep, Kongzi whispered into her ear, ‘“Autumn shadows linger. / The frost is delayed. / Lotus leaves withering on the pond / listen to the patter of rain,”’ then climbed on top of her. Rain is rattling on the shelter’s roof, sounding like dried beans dropping into a metal bowl. Gusts of wind sweep water from the trees and send it crashing onto the tarpaulin in heavy sheets. Meili closes her eyes