Spring Pearl: The Last Flower

Miss Weed

Over the next week, Blessing keeps trying to beat Spring Pearl at something. They play cards, rock-paper-scissors, and mah jong. However, Blessing’s defeat continues to pile up and he begins to even laugh about it. Blessing comments that he never really can keep anything up for very long. All of his hobbies only last a little while.

Although Blessing has become friendly, his challenges also become tiresome. Spring Pearl even thinks about slipping him some loaded dice from the gamblers in the Rat’s Nest so that he can just win for once.

The Sung sisters were another matter. They didn’t intend to be cruel. In fact, after Spring Pearl begins beating their brother, they take a liking to her. Unfortunately, they’ve decided to give Spring Pearl a makeover. Whenever they try to improve her, they intend to be kind. But none of the girls have a drop of sensitivity. Their suggestions about Spring Pearl’s hair, clothes, and manners begin to hurt Spring Pearl deeply inside.

Spring Pearl never feels like she is one of them. She’s only a sad creature who’s been rescued from the slums. Even the servants take their cues from the children. They’ve stopped being outright insulting and instead call her “Miss Ratty,” just like the Sung sisters.

Spring Pearl’s ears burn, and she longs to be back by the riverbank. But, Spring Pearl has a friendly face in Doggy. Doggy is constantly cheerful. Even when Master Sung cuts everybody’s wages and makes a plan to decrease household spending, Doggy is cheerful. Doggy says that when his uncle sets up his company, Doggy hopes to go work with him.

To make it even better, Doggy comments that all the other servants were so sure that the young Sungs would send Spring Pearl packing, so he wagered a bet with them. He said that Spring Pearl would stay. Apparently, Doggy has been collecting from the other servants for a while. As long as Spring Pearl can last another month, she’ll become a better investment than a prize fighting rooster.

As odd as the compliment is, it’s the first one that Spring Pearl has received in a long time. Then, a thought occurs to her. The Sung girls were friendly to Spring Pearl because she allowed them to win back half of Blessing’s things in bets. Had Spring Pearl also bought Doggy’s friendship as well?

In response, Doggy reassures Spring Pearl that he would probably still be a fan of her even if he lost his wages. She’s nothing like the Sungs, and he likes that.

As Doggy begins to walk away, Spring Pearl can see he’s limping. She asks him what’s wrong, and he comments that he’s wearing a pair of her shoes. Apparently one of the soles is lumpy.

Even after Doggy’s assurances, Spring Pearl can’t shake the feeling of loneliness. There’s no one in the household who she truly trusts. And despite Doggy’s words, she feels more like a prize fighting rooster than not. She’s a novelty to the Sungs. But when will Master Sung tire of her? When will Blessing decide to find some other amusement than letting Spring Pearl beat him? Will she be discarded like another one of Blessing’s hobbies?

Instead of sitting in her room brooding, Spring Pearl decides to go to the garden. She puts on an old blouse and trousers and heads outside. Of course, the Sung girls can’t let Spring Pearl garden without teasing. They say they wanted to make Spring Pearl into a flower, but she was determined to be weed. They’ve even begun calling her “Miss Weed” instead of “Miss Ratty.”

There is so much more work to do in the Sungs’ garden than at Spring Pearl’s home. However, that meant more challenges, too. Spring Pearl doesn’t know where to begin. Mother had known how to design a garden so that it pleased the eye but also followed the rules of feng shui. She’d line up the flowers, trees, and shrubs for the best flow of energy. But Spring Pearl never learned any of that. So instead, she closes her eyes, and listens to the breeze wrestling the plants and sniffs the scents of the garden.

At peace again, Spring Pearl turns her face toward the sun and feels the warmth bathe her eyes and cheeks. Suddenly, she hears Master Sung complaining about the intolerable taxes hikes. He is talking with a few other men, and they comment about how the British won’t come back. Apparently, they’re busy fighting more wars in India.

Master Sung spreads out his arms, and comments they should tell the viceroy that they will pay no more taxes for their wars. Spring Pearl, unable to help herself, says that the British will still come. But as everyone’s heads swing towards her, she wishes she could take it back. Her face is sweaty, her hair is falling down, and her blouse is covered in dirt. Master Sung asks Spring Pearl what she’s doing.

Spring Pearl admits that she felt bad that the garden was so neglected. Master Sung snaps that she should get out of the garden. She’s not a peasant. Spring Pearl stands up, feeling her cheeks blush. Master Sung is right. It’s not the proper image for the daughter of a famous scholar to be working in the garden. She places her weeds in the basket and turns to leave.

But before she does, the men stop her. They ask her why she’s saving the weeds. Spring Pearl blurts out that they’re to be used for fuel for the stoves. Master Sung’s friends turn to him, poking fun at his economizing. But Master Sung just chuckles and laughs that old-fashioned girls find a lot of thrift where modern girls do not. If she was a boy, she could sit for government exams.

Master Sung’s friends comment that even a parrot can recite all Five Classics. but that doesn’t mean it understands anything. Wanting to, no doubt, test Spring Pearl’s intelligence, another man questions why Spring Pearl thinks the British will come. Spring Pearl licks her lips, and explains that a foreign merchant, Mr. Fortescue, said the British are like bulldogs. Once they clamp their teeth onto something, they don’t give it up. All of the foreigners she met were determined. And the British won’t forget the bounty the viceroy placed on their heads. They’ll be back for revenge.

Master Sung only hears what he wants to hear. He states the British will find Canton’s a tougher nut to crack the second time around. They have new guns in the forts and more troops in the city. The men turn away, leaving Spring Pearl standing in the garden. As they walk away, they casually mention that Spring Pearl will be stuck with the Sungs forever; nobody will ever want to marry an odd little creature like her.