Bride of the Moso Prince Page 4

  Seeing her silence, Sadama apologized, “We’re mountain people. These are all we could provide. If you need anything else, we’ll try to accommodate you.”

  “Oh no!” Sharon cried, “Everything is perfect. I can’t ask for more. Now I know why my sister hasn’t gone home for ten months.”

  Sadama laughed humbly. There was again smug on Nobul’s face but Sharon didn’t mind.

  “Namu is making dinner. It will be ready soon.” Sadama said to Sharon, “so whenever you’re ready, please go down to the dining room. I’ll take Summer with me.”

  “Oh, I can take care of her,” Sharon said quickly, wanting a moment’s privacy with her sister before dinner. There was so much she wanted to say to her!

  “Ok,” Sadama nodded, “Surely you have a lot to talk to your sister about.”

  Upon leaving Nobul said to her, “but don’t linger too long. The fried fish don’t taste good when they’re cold and hard.”

  The thought of sizzling fried fish made her month water. Sharon nodded vehemently, “Yes, Prince!”

  Strangely her words made him blush. He withdrew from the room immediately, before waiting for his mother.

  What a puzzle. That man, Sharon thought as she closed the door and entered the bathroom.

  She needed a shower desperately after that long trip and the cave and everything…

  The marble tub was so inviting that her need for a shower soon turned into the desire for a bath. Without a second thought she turned on the faucet to fill the tub.

  While waiting for the tub to fill she went next door to Charlene and told her she was going to take a bath.

  When she was in that camisole again she caught her own reflection in the mirror.

  All the sudden the scene in the cave flashed back. Being held in his arms like this? She shuddered as a heat wave rippled through her belly. Gosh! What had she done? She should be ashamed of herself for getting in a compromising situation with a stranger like that. But then she couldn’t help but savor the feeling once again… Was she sex-starved? Impossible. Five years without the touch of a man wasn’t hard because she had buried herself in work. She was content and thought that she could probably live like that for the rest of her life. Could she? Already she missed the sight of the bronze bare chest and the musky scent. She still wondered how it would be to kiss those beautiful lips... she imagined they would be hotter than they looked… Devil or Prince, he was going to be either a curse or a blessing, or both. Why did he react that way in her mention of their custom? Was he proud or ashamed of it? Or was he unhappy about it? A mysterious man… She took a deep breath and tried to get him off her mind. It was none of her concern. She wasn’t here to do research like Charlene. Neither was she interested in an affair with a mountain prince, especially when she was doing so well with her life: She was a successful senior programmer / web-designer, making a living doing what she enjoyed doing. Life had been good to her and she should be grateful.

  Soaking comfortably in the tub, she marveled at the fast development of China. She had grown up in a mountain village not unlike this one. Bathing was done in a wooden tub and they had had to boil hot water for it. As the caldron was small, the most they could have was half tub a time. Knowing that the water was heated by solar panels she had seen earlier in the yard, she was even more impressed. Solar technology wasn’t even available in most of the parts of United States. She had thought that the showy Olympics ceremony in Beijing was a sham but now she began to believe that China had indeed progressed. And thank goodness for progress, she thought as she felt her limbs relax. And slowly fell asleep.

  She started in the tub when the phone rang. She struggled up and picked it up.

  “Sharon, have you fallen asleep?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine, I’m getting up!”

  While Charlene was waiting she quickly put on clean t-shirt and jeans and they went down to dinner together.

  The aroma of Sichuan berry peppers, a local spice, welcomed them as soon as the got to the courtyard.

  Sadama was waiting for them at the door of the dining room. Seeing them she took Charlene by her arm and helped her in to the dining room. Lit by skylight, the dining room had the style of a Moso living room, with beds warmed by hearths lining the walls and a dozen round tables in the center. The pillars were painted in red and there were mural paintings of Buddhist gods on the walls.

  Nobul was sitting on a bed playing with Binma.

  One of the round tables was covered with a half dozen plates topped with delicious looking food. A bronze bowl the size of a wash basin was sitting in the center and inside was the sizzling fried fish that Nobul had mentioned earlier. The sight instantly made Sharon aware of her hunger.

  The child came in shortly, followed by a tall woman holding a plate in her hand.

  “Hello,” the woman said to Sharon as soon as she placed the plate on the table, “I’m Namu. Nobul’s cousin. Nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you, and thank you for making a sumptuous dinner for us.” Sharon stared at the woman, who looked about the same age as herself, had healthy, glowing skin and extremely beautiful facial features similar to that of Nobul’s but with a touch of femininity.

  The woman smiled, “I’m just helping out. Sadama made the fish. I merely chopped and cooked the simple vegetable dishes.”

  The “simple vegetable dishes” consisted a plate of squash sautéed with dried shrimps, pickled eggplants steamed with sweet rice, and boiled cabbage with dressing made of sesame oil and soy sauce, and green chili fried with Sichuan berries.

  “All the vegetables are fresh from their own garden,” Charlene explained as soon as everyone settled down at the table, “200 percent organic.”

  Sharon had some white squash. Indeed, it was sweet and juicy and it had a fragrance that wasn’t present in the squash she had had from the supermarkets.

  While she was tasting the vegetables Sadama had piled up her plate with food, “Don’t just eat vegetables. Have some home-made bacon and sausages. We raised the pigs and fed them with our potatoes. No chemical or fattening food. Also the fish were from the lake. Urcher, Nobul’s brother got them early this morning especially for you.”

  “Really?” Sharon was moved by the hospitality, “Shouldn’t we save some for him?”

  “Oh don’t worry about him. He eats the fish all the time.”

  Soon Sharon was so busy chewing that she had no time to speak. All she could do was to nod and make sounds of approval.

  After dinner they chatted in the dining room. Sharon earned the affection of Binma by answer his questions about the airplane she had taken.

  “Is it as big as this house?”

  “Yes it is.”

  “Wow!” The boy cried, “It must look like a really, really big bird!”

  “Yes. A giant bird!” Sharon laughed.

  “And it’ll make uncle Nobul’s plane look like a fly.”

  “You have a plane? Where is it?” Sharon asked the big man who was laughing.

  “It’s a helicopter in Chengdu. I use it for business trips only.”

  Sharon raised her eyebrow. This guy could be called a mountain elite.

  “I want to be a pilot when I grow up.” Binma announced very seriously.

  “Daydreaming again.” Namu, who had just come out of the kitchen, said, shaking her head.

  “Well, he’ll also learn how to make it true. He’ll become the first Moso pilot in the nation.”

  Namu rolled her eyes and smiled at Nobul.

  There was an unmistakable affection in Namu’s eyes as she was looking at Nobul and it was not an affection among siblings. Sharon saw it and was instantly possessed by a strange sensation.

  After they had said goodnight to everyone the two sisters went to Sharon’s room and sat on the balcony to chat. A couple of lampposts illuminated the shore. Further above the lake the moon had pierced through the thick clouds. The water shimmered with silver. The night was peaceful except the moaning of som
e domestic animals nearby.

  “This is so nice!” Sharon sighed with content as soon as she sat down on a bamboo armchair. She had spent vacations or weekends on waterfronts in LA, but such privacy and tranquility were a first.

  “I’m glad you like it here.” Charlene said, “I was worried that you wouldn’t.”

  “Are you kidding?” Sharon said, “Not liking such a luxurious hotel?”

  “Well. You’re, I mean, we both are pretty spoiled.”

  “Yeah, I know. To tell you the truth, I was imagining you living with no indoor bathroom.”

  “I was imagining that too. But I guess I got lucky. My friend Steve emailed me a few months ago and told me the condition of his field site in New Guinea Island. The natives built a shed for him to live and they ate nothing but cassava everyday: boiled cassava, baked cassava, cassava soup, cassava cake, cassava breakfast, and cassava dinner. The mosquitoes were abominable and he left in a panic after someone in his host family had gotten malaria. He stayed there for less than a month. I think he’s going to Korea instead for his research.”

  “Poor thing.” Sharon shook her head while imagining Steve being attacked by mosquitoes in the jungles of New Guinea. She had seen him once, a very cute Korean American who had a feminine look.

  “Of course, there are inconveniences here too.” Charlene said, “The village still relies on well water, so water might be in short supply, especially when there are too many tourists around. And in extreme bad weather it would take awhile for the water to be heated. There are occasional power outages, but still, it’s much better than I expected. I wouldn’t mind living here for two more years.”

  “Two more years?” Sharon cried. “Are you kidding? Isn’t it almost time for you to return home?”

  “Yes I am kidding. Two more months is what I mean, sister.” Charlene laughed.

  “You don’t have to stick to the one year plan, do you?”

  “No, but I haven’t finished what I had planned to.”

  “You can come back another time.”

  “It doesn’t make sense to do that if I could finish it this time.” Charlene sounded defensive.

  “But what about your health?”

  “I’m all right, Sharon! Please!” Charlene threw her head back and suddenly became stiff as she murmured, “Ah, here it comes.”

  “Are you all right?” Sharon stood up at once and put her hands on Charlene’s shoulders.

  A moment later Charlene took a deep breath. “Yes I’m all right. It’s just another attack. But it’s getting weaker and weaker every time it occurs.”

  Sharon didn’t want to upset her sister. She looked at Charlene with solicitous eyes.

  “I’m sorry to worry you like that Sharon. But give me a week or two and see how it goes. If the symptoms don’t go away completely, I’ll go home with you.”

  A rumbling of engines followed by the voices of a child and a woman broke the silence of the night. A moment later through the space of the railing Sharon saw Nobul’s bike passing by, with Namu in the back, holding Binma in front of her.

  It was such cozy family picture that Sharon felt uneasy again. She wondered whether they were lovers. After all, cousin marriages were permitted in many cultures. But she felt shy asking Charlene directly about it. Instead, she probed, “How many siblings does Sadama have?”

  “She is the only child of the last Moso chief and his Han bride, known as Empress. One of the islands was named after her. But the chief had had other lovers before he married Empress. Namu was the grand-daughter of the chief by one of his Moso lovers.”

  “Oh,” Sharon worked on the information. “So, Namu is related to Nobul and Urcher by only 6.25 percent of chief’s blood?”

  "6.25 percent?"Charlene said with a puzzled look, "let me see. Sadama and Namu's mother are half siblings, and they share one eighth of the chief's genes, one eighth divided by two is one over sixteen, one divided by sixteen is zero point zero..." Charlene stopped here and grimaced, "Urgh! I hate math! Why are you so good at it? It's unfair."

  Sharon didn't answer her sister, but thought gloomily: Nobul and Namu are not so much related really. Therefore they were probably permitted to marry each other. Perhaps Binma is Nobul's son! That would explain why Nobul doted on the child. But why did Binma call Nobul 'uncle?' Is it the custom of the Moso? Maybe that was why he was so mad when she brought up the subject of 'father'…

  “What do you think of Nobul? Sharon?” Charlene broke the silence.

  “Uh,” Sharon was caught off-guard, “he’s ok.”

  “Ok? That’s it? So he’s not an arrogant mule anymore? Interesting,” Charlene moved closer to look closely at her sister, “You’re blushing. Did something happen in the cave?”

  “Nice try. You can’t see me blushing in moonlight.”

  “Come on, Sharon. Tell me. I see the look on your face when Nobul and Namu chatted.”

  Really? Was she so obvious?

  “Well,” Sharon yielded to her sister’s coax, “I got scared by a cave worm. And he…helped me out. That was it.”

  “Um!” Charlene considered, “it was not just ‘it!’ It sounds quite romantic!”

  “Stop it.” Sharon’s cheek burned.

  But Charlene wouldn’t. “Sharon and Nobul, how could I not think of it earlier? It’ll be fun!”

  “What’re you talking about? I’m not here for fun. Besides, they’re a pair, aren’t they? Nobul and Namu. Is the child Nobul’s?”

  “No, Binma is not Nobul’s child. But Namu is definitely interested in Nobul. In fact, every woman in the village, single or married, is.”

  Sharon wasn't happy to hear that. “Then he must be very busy at nights.”

  “Maybe. He is called “Prince” by the tourist agents, which really means Playboy. By the way, he hates it when people call him that.”

  “Really?” Sharon laughed. No wonder he looked embarrassed earlier. “So is he indeed a playboy?”

  “I have no idea.” Charlene shrugged. “He doesn’t have a regular girlfriend although he does flirt with the tourists sometimes.”

  “Then he’s a playboy.”

  “If you insist. But a millionaire playboy.”

  “A millionaire?” Sharon raised her eyebrows again. Mountain elite was all she could imagine him to be. A millionaire was too much.

  “Yes. Hard to imagine, isn’t it. Self made too. He’s a world famous architect and has a company in Chengdu.”

  “No kidding? What kind of buildings does he design?”

  “Ethnic style hotels, like Shangari-la. He and his brother built this one, from the house itself, to tables, chairs and beds. He has been a carpenter since he was a child, and is especially good with wood carving, which is a distinct feature in his design.”

  “I have noticed it. So did he do all the woodcarvings here in the hotel?”

  “Some of it. Some were done by his employees. He has a wood-carving factory in Chengdu and also one here in the village. It provides a major source of cash income for the villagers. But I'm sure he did some of the windows. He likes windows and says they're the most important artistic features in a house.”

  “Really?” Sharon looked at the window frame near her. It was carved in intricate geometric patterns constructed with small squares radiating from a bigger square in the center. She wondered how long it would take to carve that many squares. Could a man with such size and blunt manner do such meticulous work?

  “So, what do you think?” Charlene teased her sister, who was still gazing at the window frame.

  Sharon moved her gaze to Charlene. “I think it’s astonishing. China has become something entirely different from the one that I knew. Mountain millionaires, my goodness, who could have thought of it twenty years back…”

  “Sister, I’m asking what you think of him, Nobul.”

  “Oh,” Sharon avoided her sister’s eyes and mumbled, “I think he is impressive, sis. And I wonder why you haven’t fallen for him.”

  “W
ell,” Charlene giggled, “But you’re right when you call him an arrogant mule. And I don’t care for alpha males.”

  “Oh? So you prefer the beta male in the family?”

  “That’s not what I mean!”

  “So you don’t like Urcher either?”

  “Well,” Charlene stammered, “I mean, Urcher is sweet and he’s been helping me a lot, taking me here and there to interview people. But…”

  “But what?”

  “But it’s unprofessional for me to get involved with him or anyone here. After all, I’m here to work.”

  “Oh!” Sharon nodded and said playfully, “I see. You’re torn between work and personal feelings.”

  Charlene giggled louder, “Not that serious. We're good friends. Besides, he might have a walk-marry partner. Anyway, let's talk about you and Nobul. I think you suit each other.”

  Sharon chuckled, “What're you talking about? We’re very different.”

  “Both of you have black hair and brown eyes, both are born in Sichuan, speak the same language. And he's an alpha male, you're an alpha female.”

  “Alpha female? I'm not…" Sharon protested.

  "Hold on," Charlene interrupted her sister, "I haven't finished yet. You're both designers. He designs houses, and you design websites."

  "And the two have nothing to do with each other…" Sharon mumbled.

  “What is he lacking to you? Education? He’s intelligent even though he hasn’t gone to college. He's self-taught in everything, including architectural design. He’s responsible for all the five star ethnic hotels in the region. He also designs the carving patterns and has been commissioned to design the China Hotel in Shanghai. He was named for the ten most promising youth of the nation last year and was a representative of the Moso people.”