Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Big Shanghai (Part 3)

The irritability of city people is different from that of rural folks. Rural people speak loudly too, but it’s more out of a kind of anxiety that their words can't fully express their thoughts. When city people speak loudly, it’s like a machine with the smell of oil suddenly breaking down when it starts running.

Yu Manyi stood in line and smelled the acrid scent of a machine explosion.

She saw the man stand up from behind the window, push it open as wide as it would go, and lean most of his body out. He threw the woman’s registration form back to her and said, "It’s clearly written in the newspaper, female students must be accompanied by their husband or brother. You came alone and now you want me to make an exception. How can I make an exception for you?"

"The school is very busy right now, don’t add to our workload!"

His attitude was both urgent and harsh, scolding the already timid woman aside. Then his gaze shifted to the back of the line, and he keenly spotted Yu Manyi. She was standing at a slight distance from the male students in front and behind her, and there was clearly no husband or brother accompanying her.

She silently prayed not to be singled out, but the next moment, the man raised his hand.

"And you!" he pointed at her, "Are you here alone too? If you’re alone, don’t bother lining up. What a waste of time! You’re wasting both your time and ours!"

There was some distance between them, and Yu Manyi had no choice but to raise her voice, "I’m accompanied. My brother is with me, but my brother..."

"—My brother went to get the registration photo..."

"—Then wait until your brother comes!"

The two voices spoke simultaneously, but his was much louder than Yu Manyi’s. The line moved forward another step, and those ahead and behind her had already received the registration forms to fill out, but they skipped over her. Those who had filled out the forms were sent to a separate payment line, but she had neither the form, nor the photo, nor an accompanying brother.

Unable to join the line, she could only find a shady spot to wait for Song Qi to return. She had just sat down for a moment when the young girl who had handed her a flyer the day before came sneaking over again.

This time, she didn’t hand out a flyer. Instead, she immediately asked, "Sister, do you still want to take their correspondence courses? They won’t even let you line up."Yu Manyi remembered Song Qi's evaluation of her as "easy to deceive." She glanced at the clever little girl before her, then firmly said, "I do want to take his courses."

The girl glanced at the "Lu Yueting" sign outside the door, turned back, and said with clear dissatisfaction, "What’s so great about my teacher? Why is it that he never worries about student enrollment?"

She was looking directly at Yu Manyi as she said this, almost like she was asking a question. Yu Manyi hesitated for a moment, feeling that not answering would be impolite, so she repeated what Song Qi had said the day before: "Maybe it’s because everyone who comes here to learn painting is looking for a way to make a living and then find a job. When looking for a job, people look at the school's reputation, and Principal Lu’s fame is, after all..."

"Our Principal Jiang is also very famous in Europe!" The girl wasn’t just silent; upon hearing this, she immediately got furious. "He just got back to Shanghai, his fame isn’t fully spread yet! You look down on us, but we look down on you too, hmph!"

She completely disregarded Yu Manyi, stamped her foot angrily, and turned to run in the opposite direction from Lu Yueting’s studio, shouting angrily as she ran, "What’s so great about it!"

Yu Manyi felt that although she had spoken the truth, the truth was not always polite, and it had angered the girl. She regretted pulling at her finger and saw that the registration line was slowly shortening. She became anxious, wondering why Song Qi hadn’t returned yet, and then thought that this legendary Shanghai had to be seen to be believed—

The Shanghai Bund, as described by the little postal worker, was supposed to be lined with redwood paving stones, but from yesterday to today, all Yu Manyi had seen was an ordinary road, a petty landlord, an irritable studio worker, and a delicate-hearted flyer girl.

The daughter of Shaoxing, Yu Manyi, had her first electric shock in big Shanghai. She sat under the plane tree shadows in the French Concession and sighed deeply.

...

"Is the photo still at the printing factory?" Outside the Shengbao Bureau, Song Qi was extremely frustrated with the inefficiency of Huo Shiwen’s colleagues.

"Yes, it was sent to various newspapers this morning and delivered to the printing factory last night. The printed materials will be ready to be picked up at noon, and it’ll take a little longer to get them back," Huo Shiwen, a Republican office worker, had been running around all morning, but finally had time to step out and answer Song Qi’s questions. "If you can’t stand it, go help me tell the leadership; I’m already so angry with these colleagues that I’ve lost my temper."

"Anything else developed?"

"No, you should know how slow the photo development process is when you’re doing the newspaper yourself," Huo Shiwen said. "There’s a coffee shop for visitors. Why don’t you go sit there? I’ll bring it to you as soon as it’s done.""Then I’ll go back and talk to Yu Manyi..."

"You go now, then come back and get it later, then go again," Huo Shiwen said. "Having stayed in Shaoxing for so long, have you forgotten how far Shanghai is? Just sit down."

Someone inside the room was calling names. Huo Shiwen answered and hurriedly turned to leave. She left Song Qi standing by the marble brick wall outside the Shengbao Bureau, and he sighed deeply.

...

Yu Manyi, who was very disappointed with Shanghai, sat under the plane tree and waited until noon.

The people who had registered in the morning had already been sent off. She looked longingly into the distance but still didn't see any sign of Song Qi. The two people inside the window exchanged a few words, and it seemed like they were about to close the window. In a panic, Yu Manyi quickly rushed over to ask.

"I'm not registered yet!" she said.

"Where's your brother?"

"He hasn’t come yet, he—"

"One person can’t register," the person replied, already starting to lower the window, not even looking at Yu Manyi's hand on the window sill. She quickly withdrew her hand, but the other person had already locked it without saying another word. The sound was muffled through the glass, and she could only knock on the window and ask, "Will you be open in the afternoon?"

"The school has something this afternoon," came the response from behind the window. "Come back tomorrow morning with your brother."

"Hey!"

"Hey!!"

"No, I—""Hey!"

...

What a horrible place!

The glass was solid, and after a few knocks, it didn’t break. But the people inside hurriedly disappeared. Yu Manyi was already half angry from the urgency, but now the frustration began to rise as well. It seemed that these staff members didn’t mean to be this way. This Shanghai, truly—everyone who came got irritable, everyone who came got angry.

She turned around angrily, only to find the little girl she had made run off in the morning, now holding the arm of an adult woman. They were standing across the street, mocking her.

She pulled down her lower eyelid at Yu Manyi and said, "They don’t want you, they don’t want you—still complaining about our lack of fame, hmph!"

"Xiaozhi," the woman beside her lightly chided, stopping her smugness. Yu Manyi followed her hand that rested on Xiaozhi’s shoulder and looked up, her gaze finally landing on a face with a distinct charm.

Fine eyebrows, a silver-plate face, black hair tied into a spindle-like bun at the back of her head, wearing pearl earrings, and dressed all in black. Yu Manyi almost recognized her immediately upon seeing her—this was the person the child kept talking about as "my principal."

Principal Jiang Yu.

Yu Manyi realized that she was very easily captivated by these women’s eyes—first was Fang Qian, then Huo Shiwen. Now, this Jiang Yu… was more captivating than the first two, as if the older a woman got, the more charm and attraction she had.

The frustration that had been building up from the studio staff melted away as soon as she saw Jiang Yu.

She looked at Jiang Yu, and Jiang Yu was also observing her, all the while educating the child beside her:

"I told you to go hand out flyers, not to fight for student enrollment. Where you register, which name you register under—it's all up to the students' free will. If you try to flatter and demean others like this, people will think you're a fraud and start to dislike you... Why do you look so familiar?"

She had been speaking to Xiaozhi up until now, but the last sentence was directed at Yu Manyi, which startled her. Having lived in Shaoxing for seventeen years, she had never encountered a woman like Jiang Yu. How could she possibly look familiar to her? Yu Manyi was even more confused than Jiang Yu. However, a moment later, Jiang Yu figured it out for herself."You’re the Shaoxing girl who made it into Shenbao?" She looked at Yu Manyi with some admiration. "I just flipped through the newspaper this morning, your name is..."

"Yu Manyi."

"Yes, it's a beautiful name," Jiang Yu said, gently patting Xiaozhi’s back of the head to stop her from gaping foolishly. "As expected, you came to Shanghai to learn art, right?"

"Yes, I want to take correspondence courses," Yu Manyi was already drawn in by her words. "Has the newspaper been sent out already? Where can I see it?"

"You can find it everywhere. Shenbao, it’s sold everywhere," Jiang Yu said. "Haven't you seen it yourself? There’s a newsstand at the street corner."

"Where?"

Jiang Yu extended her other hand and raised her fingers, showing off a bright jade bangle on her wrist. Yu Manyi followed her finger and looked toward the end of Jianshu Road, where it met a wider street. She heard Jiang Yu say, "That’s the commercial street, it has everything. You can walk over and look for it, you’ll definitely find a newsstand. If the shopkeeper has seen the paper, he might even recognize you."

The registration office they were in was deep within Jianshu Road. Although there were some shops, it still felt a little deserted. But at the end of the street, Yu Manyi could see the bustling traffic and hear the loud voices of people.

The little car that seemed like a god descending upon the Yu family—she had watched it for a while and had already seen three pass by. Not to mention there were rickshaws, flower vendors, newsboys, and even streetcars she had never seen before, running along the tracks with a "ding ding" sound.

"People..." Yu Manyi said in a daze. "So many people."

"What’s so many about this?" Xiaozhi spoke, but this time in a more polite tone. "It’s just some shops and buildings. Sister, you mean you’ve never seen the newspaper you’re in? You should go buy a copy, open it and have a look."

"I..." Yu Manyi hesitated.

She went to the literacy class because the students took her there. She started going to the studio because Fang Qian introduced her. Even though she had begun sneaking away from the Yu family after classes, that... was still in Shaoxing.

In truth, Yu Manyi didn’t have much confidence in doing something on her own. In fact, she had never tried. Even this time, leaving the Yu family so rebelliously, in essence... it was all part of Song Qi’s careful planning.Even when she arrived in Shanghai, even the place where she wanted to register for courses told Yu Manyi that she couldn’t make decisions for herself. She wanted to sign up for classes, but without a husband or brother accompanying her, she couldn’t even get the registration form.

"I... I'll wait for my brother to come back," Yu Manyi said. "That street is a little far. My brother told me to stay here and not wander around, so he can find me when he gets back."

"How far is it?" Xiaozhi said loudly, "I hand out flyers every day and run around several streets! You just need to walk over there, buy a newspaper, and come back. If he can't find you, can't you just wait a little while?"

"Sister, you're in the newspaper! If I were in the newspaper, I'd be at the newsstand at three in the morning, waiting for them to open. When the postman delivers it, before the shopkeeper even opens it, I'd grab a copy to look at! How come you’re not in a hurry to see it?"

"I want to see it, I just..." Yu Manyi hesitated.

"Want to see it? Then go buy it yourself!"

"You're so loud, it's annoying," Jiang Yu suddenly laughed, seeming to understand Yu Manyi’s hesitation. She then stopped Xiaozhi and softly said to Yu Manyi, "The road only seems far, you’ll be there in just a few steps. Once you're in the newspaper, how could you not be eager to see it? Go ahead, that street is very lively."

Her words weren’t forceful but gave one a sense of strength. After saying this, Jiang Yu led Xiaozhi in another direction, talking to her about what they would eat later. Yu Manyi watched their backs fade away and then turned her gaze toward the bustling intersection, and she felt a surge of courage.

She closed her eyes, listened to the sound of the sycamore leaves above her, then opened her eyes. Still not seeing Song Qi’s figure, she resolutely walked down the road.

The further she went... the livelier it became.

Some of the liveliness could not be seen from afar. She had to get closer to see the open shop doors and the long lines of people in front of them. Yu Manyi kept track of the direction she was walking, counting her steps at first. As she walked further, the crowd grew larger.

She heard the flower sellers shouting, the newsboys shouting too. She wanted to follow the sound of the newsboys, but the crowd was thick, and the people became more packed. She bounced around in the crowd, looking for the sound, but never managed to find it.

She heard the "ding ding" sound of the streetcars, with groups of passengers getting on and off. She saw many young people dressed in the student uniforms like Song Qi and Fang Qian, some in shirts and suits with briefcases tucked under their arms, looking dignified and affluent. She saw many young girls like Ho Shiwen, dressed in modern, elegant dresses, their hair styled in trendy ways, some even permed. There were also many middle-aged women, just like Song Qi’s landlady, carrying small cloth bags full of groceries as they navigated through the crowds.She thought everyone looked so beautiful, but she also felt very anxious. This was a very hurried city, where everyone got on and off buses with serious expressions, afraid of being left behind. Unlike in Shaoxing, where people moved slowly, even if a boat had left, it could always stop by the shore and wait... That slow pace was nice, but it made the urgency around her feel quite novel.

Someone rode past her on a bicycle, with fresh flowers in the basket. The bike bell was quite insistent, urging Yu Manyi to hurry out of the way. She was pushed onto the sidewalk, and then saw a floor-to-ceiling window with a woman inside who looked like Jiang Yu. She was wearing a wine-red velvet dress and a fringed coat over it. She was drinking something black from a porcelain cup. Yu Manyi didn’t understand why she would dress so beautifully to drink traditional Chinese medicine in a shop.

She was pushed forward by the crowd and saw another glass display case, this time filled with Western musical instruments. She tried to read the labels: one said "Violin" in small seal script, and inside was a brown-red violin body, shining with a glossy sheen. Another said "Saxophone," all in shiny brass.

The next window displayed jewelry and a dress. Yu Manyi was shocked by the price tag on the jewelry, but she still looked up at the dress. It was a white gown, paired with silk gloves and a leather purse on the mannequin. Yu Manyi had never seen such a dress before, but as a painter with good taste, she immediately realized how beautiful the dress was.

She was swept along by the crowd. Shanghai’s roads didn’t allow people to walk freely; she had to follow the flow of people. She walked for a long time and finally saw a newsstand, much larger than the one where she bought Song Qi’s newspaper back in the town—the owner even had some flowers and plants for sale in front of the papers!

She squeezed her way through the crowd and raised her hand to get the newspaper seller’s attention.

“Hello, could I please have a copy of Shenbao?” Yu Manyi asked.

...

Yu Manyi had gone to buy Shenbao just to see her own photo. However, when Song Qi finally brought back her photo, the newspaper became an excellent prop for both of them to perform at Lu Yueting’s correspondence school’s enrollment office.

Their train back to Hangzhou was tomorrow morning, and the arrangement to register the next morning clearly could not be carried out. When they entered the office, the reluctant enrollment staff tried to stop them, but once the manager saw that the person they had refused this morning was none other than Yu Manyi from Shenbao, the staff member was reprimanded and ordered to stand aside.

“My sister,” Song Qi—now Yu Qi—looked genuinely distressed as he sought justice for her, “She was interviewed by Shenbao, and then saw Professor Lu’s advertisement for enrollment. We traveled all the way to Shanghai to register, only to be turned away and treated with disrespect…”

“Mr. Yu’s elder brother, please, have some tea,” the manager hurriedly offered a cup of Tieguanyin tea. “Our staff was not attentive to the news and failed to recognize Miss Yu.”

Song Qi sipped the tea and softened his tone. “If we can’t find the enrollment office today, our train leaves tomorrow. It would be such a pity if we had to leave with regret. My sister’s talent is being wasted in your hands…”

The manager broke into a cold sweat, glared at the employee who had driven Yu Manyi away, and continued, “Don’t worry, I will process Miss Yu’s admission right away.”Yu Manyi sat next to Song Qi, looking obedient, but at this moment, she sniffed and said, "Brother, maybe we should just forget it. Professor Lu might not want to take me at all. He might look down on a student from the countryside like me. I even got a flyer from Principal Jiang's correspondence school..."

"Absolutely not," the manager quickly interjected, "That Jiang Yu’s school is new, and it hasn’t even graduated two classes yet. The teaching quality of the teachers can’t compare to our Professor Lu. There’s no need, Miss Yu, really, no need."

"Well, it’s not like I have to go to Principal Jiang’s school," Song Qi quickly picked up on Yu Manyi’s cue and continued, "I’m just disappointed. Professor Lu’s well-known correspondence school, with its reputation for accepting both male and female students, is such a progressive and advanced school in Shanghai. However..."

"However, when my brother came, you all started to be so attentive. When I was on my own, you looked down on me..." Yu Manyi made a sad face, as if she had already decided that Professor Lu didn’t want her. As the three of them talked, the manager realized that Yu Manyi was serious about going to Shenbao and telling the reporter, Miss Huo, about her grievance. In a moment of inspiration, he slapped his thigh and said:

"Yu family siblings, I’ll treat this as my inspection. For this term’s tuition, I’ll reduce it by half, then half again. I’ll only charge you nine dollars, how about that? But please, don’t take this to the reporters!"

When the words "nine dollars" were said, Yu Manyi, who was about to cry, immediately stopped the tears in her eyes. After a brief pause, she reached out and gently wiped them away, saying, "Being treated specially just because I bought a copy of the newspaper doesn’t really make me noble. There’s also an aunt in front of me, she..."

"Who else? Who is this?" The manager, unable to bear it anymore, turned toward the staff member who had been in charge of enrollment earlier that morning and scolded him.

"It’s... it’s someone..." The staff member, recalling how he had treated people earlier, became tongue-tied.

"Contact her again and bring her in too!" The manager waved his hand, then turned back to Yu Manyi and said sincerely, "Miss Yu, it’s not that we’re treating you specially. Our Professor Lu’s correspondence school accepts both male and female students. We accept both male and female students!"