Page 5 of Twice the Love

As they walked home Lee explained the meaning surrounding things Cherry noticed and commented on. The “step” at the courtyard gates was a threshold designed to prevent evil spirits from entering. It was believed that spirits could not bend their knees to jump, so as long as the threshold was a foot or so high, the spirits couldn’t get over the barrier. Every gate had a threshold. The idea entranced Cherry. How fascinating to see the way the people had solved the problems their traditions had given them. Every problem has a solution if you are clever and imaginative, she reasoned.

The number of stairs up to each door had meaning. Odd numbers were better luck than even numbers and the more steps there were, the more important the original owner had been, although no one could have more than nine steps, as nine was the emperor’s number.

Cherry amused herself by counting the steps at the various homes and other buildings as they passed by, wondering whose ancestors had been important enough to have extra steps up to their door. What an imaginative way of displaying your status for everyone to see. How clever! I love how intelligently these people have arranged their culture.

Harry, Lee and Cherry took their shopping home and put it away, then Harry and Lee took her out for a quick tour of some of the tourist icons—Tiananmen Square, the Bird’s Nest Stadium, the Forbidden City. They both knew how much she wanted to see the places she’d heard about, and tried to squeeze as much sightseeing as they could into the rest of the day.

Once again Cherry was struck by how polite all the people were. Tiananmen Square was unbelievably huge—the largest city square in the world Harry said—but there were still crowds of people everywhere. When they walked down the underpass under the road they saw a young man pushing an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair. As they came to the incline up to street level, half a dozen other young men rushed from the crowd to help push and call encouragement to each other. The other walkers simply stood to the side of the underpass and the wheelchair was back out to street level in no time at all.

Someone might have helped him back home, but I can’t imagine everyone just standing aside for him to go first. People here have much better manners. I’m glad I had the courage to come here. It looks like a wonderful place to live. I love their cleanliness and respect for each other. Back home respect is something that seems to have gone out of fashion.

In the Forbidden City, Cherry’s mind was soon reeling over the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Complete Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. They were all in the Outer Court

, where the emperors held ceremonies and rituals. All the inside walls of the rectangular buildings were richly decorated with intricate wooden carvings.

When they reached the Inner Court

, Cherry stopped to admire the stylized ImperialGarden, where the placing and type of every plant was filled with meaning. Once again, she was excited at the thought and preparation the people had put into designing everything. Everything was done with purpose and intention. To be attractive, symmetrical, meaningful. Cherry’s mind and heart opened wide to appreciate everything she was seeing.

“It’s all very beautiful. I’d like to come back one day and spend a long time just looking at everything slowly. And also visit Mao’s Tomb,” she said.

“The Mausoleum of Mao Zedong: The final resting place of our honored Chairman. He was a wise leader, from 1943 until he died in 1976,” Lee corrected her gently.

“Yes. I need to learn all these things. And the flowers. So many beautiful flowers everywhere. I like the way they’re in pots, not in bunches of cut flowers. So the plant lives on after the flower dies.”

They had a delicious meal at a street stall where Cherry enjoyed sampling various dumplings and rice dishes, then returned home quite early, as the men both had to work the next day.

“Oh yeah, tomorrow is Monday. I’ve sort of lost track with the time zone changes. But wait. That means today was Sunday and all the shops, even the bank, were open. How is that?”

“Offices close for the weekend but most commercial premises are open. The workers are allocated two other days off instead, so the places are always open, always staffed. Now, will you be all right at home by yourself? We have gotten you a cell phone and programmed our cell numbers into it so you can always reach us,” said Harry.

“Yes, of course. I want to learn to cook your favorite meals, so I’ll need to practice that for a while. And I need to learn to find my way around by myself, too.”

“Excellent. We’ll enjoy tasting your efforts,” said Lee. “And if you get lost, or are worried or concerned, be sure to call us. Remember, any time you need us, any time at all, just phone. Your peace of mind is very important to us.”

****

“Cherry is everything I’ve ever dreamed of, and everything I could ever want. I can still hardly believe she’s agreed to come all the way from America to live with us,” said Harry very softly in English, so that other diners in the crowded lunchroom couldn’t overhear.

“I agree. You and I’ve been together a long time, and we’re very happy, but there’s always been something missing––that piece that only she can provide. With Cherry, I don’t love you any less, but she makes our love expand even more,” said Lee.

“Exactly. But do you think she won’t understand how much we love her because we don’t hold her hand as we walk down the street? I’ve seen American men with their hands all over their women as they walk. I could never do that. I’m too Asian.”

“I think she’ll understand. She’s a very smart woman, our Cherry, but at home we need to relax more. Our English is formal and stilted, and she may misunderstand our feelings if we can’t speak more colloquially when we’re alone.”

“I can do that. She’s given up so much to join us, so we must make her feel welcome and appreciated. It’d break my heart if she left us now. Already she’s carved a niche deep inside me, that only she can fill,” said Harry.

“Did you watch her face when we took her to the Forbidden City? Her eyes were huge as she gazed everywhere. She was soaking up our culture like a sponge, and so obviously enjoying everything.”

“And the questions she asked were very discerning. She must think about everything she sees. She definitely wants to understand our lives. That’s a good sign, I think.”

“Our ancestors were smiling on us the day we joined that message board,” concluded Lee.

****

That night in bed the men were very gentle with Cherry.

“Are you sore? We can massage you with soothing gel before you go to sleep,” said Harry.

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