why I had returned to the city of S and why I had been looking for Chang-fu, I was surprised when she sighed and said, 'It is a pity that Ah Shun will never have the pleasure of wearing those flowers.'
"Then she told me in great detail what had happened, saying, 'It was about last spring that she began to grow noticeably thinner and paler. Later she began to weep frequently and would not explain the cause when she was asked about it. Sometimes she would cry all night, until it got on Chang-fu's nerves and he scolded her, saying that she must be getting silly as she grew older. In the fall—it was only a cold at first—but she ended up in bed and never got up. A few days before she died she told Chang-fu that for a long time she had been like her mother, suffered women's disorders and sweated at night. She did not want to tell him for fear of causing him anxiety. One evening, his elder uncle Chang-keng came and insisted on borrowing money. This was a frequent occurrence. When Ah Shun would not give it to him, he said, smiling sardonically, "You need not be so proud, your man is not even as good as I am!" Ever since that she was very much worried. She was too bashful to ask questions, so she only cried. Chang-fu tried to console her by telling her how trustworthy and ambitious her man was, but it was too late. Besides, she did not believe it, saying that it didn't matter anymore since she was so ill.'
"Grandma Lao Fa also said, 'It would be a terrible thing indeed if her man was really worse than Chang-keng. What a good-for-nothing he must be if he was not as good as a chicken thief! But when he came to the funeral, I saw him with my own eyes. He was neatly dressed and well featured. He said with tears in his eyes that he had labored hard and saved for half a lifetime to get married, and now his woman
