Their son Hsiao-ch'eng said mischievously, "Hung-chien is getting a close look at that Six Wen-wan.
He's thinking of marrying her to take Shu-ying's place."Fang couldn't help from blurting out, "Don't talk
nonsense!" and barely managed to stop himself from flinging the paper to the floor. Though he
prevented his anger from showing on his face, his voice washoarse.When the Chous saw his
unsmiling countenance and his pale face, they were a little bewildered. Then suddenly exchanging
glances with each other as though they understood their son-in-law's state of mind, they scolded
their son Hsiao-ch'eng in unison, "You deserve a spanking. Who told you to inter rupt when adults
are talking? Your brother Hung-chien just came back to day. Of course, he's unhappy at the thoughts
of your sister. Your joking can go too far. From now on,you're to keep your mouth shut. Hung-chien,
we know you have a kindly nature. Pay no attention to thechild's nonsense."Fang Hung-chien again
blushed crimson. Puffing out his cheeks, Hsiao ch'eng thought resentfully, Don't you put on! If you
were any good, you'd never get married for the rest of your life. I don't care about your pen. You can
just take it back.When Fang returned to his room, he discovered Shu-ying's picture was missing
from the table. He thought probably his mother-in-law, afraid that he'd be reminded of Shu-ying by
the picture and become too grief-stricken, had come especially to remove it.It had been only six or
seven hours since he left the ship, yet everything that had happened there seemed to belong to
another world. All his excite ment about going ashore having evaporated, he felt small and weak,
thinking a job would be hard to find and romance difficult to achieve. As he had pic tured it,returning
home after study abroad was like water on the ground turning to vapor and rising to the sky,then
changing again to rain and returning to the earth, while the whole world looked on and talked about it.
His return home from thousands of miles away hadn't raised a single fleck of froth on the sea of his
fellow countrymen. Now, thanks to all the blather spewing out of Chief-secretary Wang's pen, he had
been blown up into a big soap bubble, bright and colorful while it lasted but gone at a single jab.
Leaning against the window screen he gazed outside.The stars filling the sky were dense and busy.
They remained completely still, yet watching them made him think the sky was bustling noisily. The
crescent moon seemingly resembled a girl that is not yet full-grown but already able to face the world
unabashed. Its light and contours were fresh and sharp, gradually standing out against the night
setting. The tiny insects in the garden grass hummed and buzzed, engaged in a nocturnal conversation.
From somewhere a pack of frogs croaked hoarsely, their mouths, lips, throats,and tongues working in
unison as though the sound waves were being stewed over a fire until they bubbled: "Brekekey Coky
Coky," like the chorus in Aristophanes' comedies, or of Yale University's cheerleaders. A few fireflies
gracefully passed to and fro, not as if flying but as though floating in the dense atmosphere. A dark area
beyond the reach of moonlight was suddenly lit up by a firefly's speck of light, like a tiny greenish eye in
the summer night.This was the scene familiar to him before going abroad; but now when he saw it, his
heart suddenly contracted in pain, his eyes smarted on the verge of tears, and then he understood life's
beauty and goodness and the joy of coming home. Such things as the item in the Shanghai newspaper
were no more worth troubling over than the hum of insects outside the screen. He sighed comfortably,
then yawned broadly.When he stepped off the train at his home district station, his father, his youngest
brother Feng-i, as well as seven or eight uncles, cousins, and friends of his father were all there on the
platform to meet him.He was quite dismayed, and greeting each in turn said, "On such a hot day as
this, I've really imposed on you too much." And observing how his father's beard had grayed, he said,
"Papa, you shouldn't have come!"His father, Fang Tung-weng, handed him his folding fan, saying, "
You people in Western suits won't need this antique, but it's better than fanning yourself with a straw
hat." When he saw his son had traveled second class, he praised him. "Such a fine lad! He came back
on the boat in second class, so I thought for sure he'd go first class on the train, but still he went second
class. He hasn't become haughty and proud and changed his true nature. He already knows how to
conduct himself." Everyone echoed his praise.They had jostled their way out of the ticket gate when
suddenly a man wearing blue glasses and a Western suit caught hold of Fang Hung-chien and said, "
Hold it,please! We're taking a picture." Bewildered,Hung-chien was just about to ask him what for, when
he heard the click of a camera, and the man in blue glasses let go of his arm. There facing Hung-chien
was another man pointing a camera at him. Blue Glasses pulled out his card, saying, "Did you return to
China yesterday, Dr. Fang?" The man with the camera came up and he too pulled out his card. Hung-chien
saw at a glance that they were reporters from two local newspapers in the district.The reporters both said,
"You must be tired from your journey today, Dr. Fang. We'll come to your residence tomorrow morning to
learn more from you." They then turned to pay their compliments to Mr. Fang and accompalied the Fangs
and others out of the station.Feng-i said laughingly to Hung-chien, "You've become a celebrity in the district."
Though Hung-chien hated the way the reporters kept calling him "Dr. Fang," which grated on his ears,
seeing people so respectfully regard him as a man of importance made him swell up in mind and body
and feeltruly great.
Now realizing the advantage of living in a small town,he only wished he had put on a better suit and carried
a cane. With the big fan waving about in his hand and his face bathed in sweat, the picture they had taken
could not possibly turn out very well.When he got home and saw his mother and two sisters-in-law, he
distributed the gifts he had brought back.His mother said with a smile, "It takes going abroad to learn such
thought fulness. He even knows how to buy things for women."His father said, "P'eng-t'u mentioned a Miss
Six over he phone yesterday. What's that all about?""It's just someone who was on the same boat," said
Hung-chien crossly"There's nothing to it.P'eng-t'u-he likes to talk a lot." He was about to up braid his brother
for spreading rumors, but caught himself when he saw P'eng-t'u's wife was present.His father said, "We'll
have to work on your marriage.Both of youx brothers were married long ago and have children.
Matchmakers have already suggested several prospects, but you don't need disgusting old creatures like
us to make decisions for you. As for Six Hung-yeh, he does have a bit of reputation, and apparently held a
few government posts in his day-"Hung-chien thought to himself, Why do charming girls all have fathers?
She can be hidden away all by herself in one's heart to cuddle, but when he? father,uncle, and brother are
dragged along with her, the girl stops being so cute and carefree and it's not so easy to conceal her away
in your heart any more. Her charm has been mixed in with the dregs. Some people talk about marriage as
though it were homosexual love.It's not the girl they fancy, but her old man or her elder brother they admire.
"I don't approve,"said his mother. "It's no good to marry an official's daughter. She'll want you to wait on her
instead of waiting on you. Besides, a daughter-in-law should come from the same village.Girls from other
districts are always a bit unsuited in temperament. You won't be happy with her. This Miss Six is a returned
student, so she couldn't be very young." The faces of his two sisters-in-law, who had never graduated from
high school and who had been born and raised in that district, both bore an expressionof agree ment.His
father remarked, "She's not only studied abroad but has a Ph.D. I'm afraid Hung-chien couldn't manage
her," as though Miss Six were some sort of hard object like a brick which would take the stomach of an
ostrich or turkey to digest."Our Hung-chien has a Ph.D., too," protested his mother. "He's not in ferior to her,
so why isn't he a match for her?"Stroking his beard, his father said with a smile,"Hung-chien, that's
something your mother just couldn't understand. Women who've done a littlebook learning are the hardest
of all to handle. The man has to be a step above her, not an equal. That's why a college graduate should
marry a high school graduate and a returned student should marry a college graduate. As for a girl who
has studied abroad and received a Ph.D., no one but a foreigner would dare marry her. Otherwise, the man
would have to have two doctor ates at least. I'm not mistaken about that,am I, Hung-chien? It's the same
idea as 'Marry a daughter into a greater family than your own, but take a wife from a lesser family than your
own.'"His mother said, "Of the girls suggested by the go-betweens, the Hsus' second daughter is the best.
I'll show you her picture later."The matter is taking a serious turn, thought Hung-chien. All his life he had
detested those modern girls from small towns with outdated fashions and a provincial cosmopolitanism.
They were just like the first Western suit made by a Chinese tailor with everything copied from a foreigner's
old clothes used as a model down to the two square patches on the sleeves and trouser legs.
No need to protest now. In a few days he would make his getaway to Shang hai.His father also said that
therewould be many receptions given in his honor, and with the weather so hot, he should be careful not to
stuff himself. Hemust make courtesy calls to all family elders, for which his father would let him take his
rickshaw. When the weather cooled off a little, his father would take him to perform the rites at his
grandfather's grave.His mother said she would have the tailor come the next day to fit him for a silk gown
and pants, and for the time being his brother Feng-i had two gowns and could lend him one to wear when
he went visiting.For dinner that evening, his mother herself prepared fried shreddedeel, chicken wings in
soy sauce, stewed chicken with melon, and shrimps cooked in wine-all his favorite local dishes. She
picked out the best piecesfor his bowl, saying, "How terrible it must have been for you, living abroad for four
years with nothing to eat!"
Everyone laughed and said she was at it again. If a person ate nothing abroad, how could Hung-chien
keep from starving to death? She said, "I can't understand how those foreign devils stay alive! All that bread
and milk. I couldn't eat them if they gave them to me free."Hung-chien suddenly felt that in this family
atmosphere the war was something unbelievable, just as no one can think of ghosts in broad daylight. His
parents' hopes and plans left no room for any unforeseen circumstances. Seeing them thus so firmly in
control of the future, he too took heart and thought that maybe the situation in Shanghai would be eased,
and there would be no outbreak of hostilities.And if there were, they could be brushed aside and ignored.
When Fang Hung-chien rose from bed the next day, the two reporters had already arrived.
