Old Wei and
Young Wei
Part 5

[Please page down for the other parts to the story which were posted earlier. They appear in reverse order.]

Grandfather returned just as the sun was an hour or two from setting. It
was low in the cloudless sky and the heat of the day had lessened a bit. He
found me almost in the same place he had left me. I was sitting still
beneath the shade of the tree.

"Come to the market with me," he said. I noticed he was carrying two
melons. He handed one to me.

"Why are we going back? Did you not finish shopping, Grandfather?"

"Look at the melon." I did.

"Sniff it." I did.

"What do you smell?'' I did smell something strange, but I was curious to know what all this was leading up to. It smelled like melon and I told my Grandfather just that. He snorted and walked on.

"It isn't a melon? It looks like a melon. It smells like a melon. It even
feels like a melon. What is wrong?"

"You are holding a monkey melon. It is not best. It is fit for a monkey,
but not for your family. If you do not use your eyes and nose, your family
will not eat well. Learn to be careful.''

"Grandfather, if you are carrying the melon out of the market, didn't you
buy it?''

Grandfather stopped and looked at me. He even smiled. He was happy. I
rarely saw him smile this way. What had I said to make him so happy? What
could I do to keep that smile upon his face?

"I bought two," he said. "They are both monkey melons. I bought them from
two different fruit stands. I want you to return them for me and get a
good, fresh melon.''

Ah. It was a test. I was here to show Grandfather that I could be a true
man and make a merchant who had cheated us be honest. I was here to defend
my family honor and let that seller know he could not take advantage of an
old man and his family. Everyone heard that monkey melons were sold by
scoundrels who tried to pretend their fruit was sweet and delicious. They
knew it wouldn't be tasted until dinner time, and by then it was too late.
They go from market to market, never selling in the same place twice.
Grandfather was aware of this when he bought the melons. He could tell by
their smell. He could tell by their look. He left me at the tree so I could
return the melons as a test. How clever Grandfather was. I would not make
him ashamed of me. I would get a fresh melon or someone would get a black eye.

Old Wei and
Young Wei
Part 6

[Please page down for the other parts to the story which were posted earlier. They appear in reverse order.]

My luck is like a crow. A crow that makes a lot of noise. You know the crow is somewhere in the trees, but it is always hiding. If the crow is seen, it flies away. That is my luck.

Grandfather was putting me to a test. He had bought two monkey melons in the marketplace from different merchants. He told me what they were and that they had to be returned. I had vowed that anyone who sold bad fruit to Grandfather would pay. I would finally show Grandfather I had become a man.

Do you hear that crow laughing? Ah. I thought so. You are older and wiser than I was that day. You have already suspected it would not be so easy, didn't you? Hah. It was true. I knew that it would be a horrible experience as soon as Grandfather took me to the place where he bought the first melon. He pointed out the stand to me. It was on the side of the main road in the marketplace.

Any merchant wanting to sell a lot of produce always came early to get the best location. Some farmers were always in the same place, so they had a permanent stand built right inside the market on the main road. Other poor farm families who brought produce less often were on the side of the main road. You could find bargains on the side of the road, but you could also get tricked. Men who looked for a fast yen or two were always coming to the market when they passed through town. They would get rid of their junk
and move on. You might never see them again. If they did return, they would try to change their looks or what they sold. Repeat customers were something to be avoided. Many times they would leave the market early fearing a customer might return and cause trouble.

Grandfather went to just such a stand. It had a crude hand-lettered sign that said "Lung's Fresh Melon". Lung was standing behind his merchandise, which was a table filled with monkey melons, just like the one Grandfather bought. Where is the crow you ask? Ah. I was coming to that next.

Standing at that very table ready to purchase a melon was that old bag of bones in a dress, Fang Li's mother. I had half hoped the woman would bite into the monkey melon just as she was bragging to all her friends what a good shopper she was. I was chuckling to myself as I thought of this. I saw the witch spitting out pieces of melon from her mouth half choking on the rancid taste. What a thought. Ha ha. Then I saw dear Fang Li helping her mother to inspect the melons. It was then I knew how it would happen. Poor
Li would carry these heavy melons home. She would be gentle and kind to her mother, of course. When the melons were served at dinner and the taste became obvious, her mother would save face by blaming her daughter. It was Fang Li who would be punished. I was even sure that the mother had been the one to turn off the main road, thinking to save money and keep the difference from her husband. Women like this in China were all too common in those days.

What could I do? I turned to find out where Grandfather was, but he had vanished again. How was I supposed to prove myself to him if he was not around to watch? What should I do to protect Fang Li? My heart was racing and the monkey melon that I had to return was growing warm in my hands. I decided to act as soon as I saw old Lung leer at Fang Li. He smiled at the mother, but he licked his lips when he looked at the daughter. What an evil old man, I thought. It will be justice for me to make him take back his melon..... and Fang Li's as well! I would be a hero and Fang Li would see the real Wei. I would be her champion at last.

Yes. Now you know how the crow began to shake his wings preparing for flight. My lucky crow, who would circle the market laughing out loud before flying away.

Old Wei and
Young Wei
Part 7

[Please page down for the other parts to the story which were posted earlier. They appear in reverse order.]

Lung looked up and saw me coming. His watery eyes blinked. He suspected trouble. Anyone can walk toward a fruit stand with empty hands and not look suspicious. I was not walking with empty hands.

Lung continued to wait on Mother Fang. She was still in the process of choosing some melons. Clearly she had no skill as a shopper or she would know what Grandfather knew. The melons were Monkey melons. They would make the people who tasted them spit them out.

Lung called out two names. If he called them to help him because he was busy, then he would be a good merchant, hoping to make sure a customer was served. I knew he did not call them because he was busy with Mother Fang. The first man who came to the front of the stand was slightly taller than Lung. He had dirty skin that was coated with sweat. The muscles on his chest told me he lived a life of hard and heavy labor. All that work must have made him angry. His face did not smile. His anger showed in the red color of a scar that was on his forehead. It ran across his forehead and ended down near his right eye. He should have been happy. Whatever had marked up his face so badly might have taken out his eye.

If the first helper looked ugly and menacing, the other one was even worse. He looked like a monster. He was big and fat. He looked like he was big enough to fight an elephant and win. He had a cold, dull stare. He clearly did not like trouble makers. He wanted me to know this with the angry grunt he let out.

"10 yen," he said, reaching his hand out toward me. Mother Fang turned to watch our exchange of words. She was interested in all this. Why was I carrying a melon? Fang Li, her angel of a daughter, was behind her mother. I dare not look at the daughter for fear her mother would know the truth and kill me with her bare hands. I had to think about doing what was expected of me.

"This melon was paid for by my Grandfather. He gave it to me to return to you. It is not good."

The man grabbed the melon out of my hands. He inspected it and then sniffed it, nodding his head accordingly. "This is a monkey melon," he said.

"That is exactly what my Grandfather said. Since you know it is a bad melon, please give me our money back."

"This melon is not ours," he said, tossing the melon back to me. "We don't sell bad fruit."

"My Grandfather told me he bought this one from your stand."

"Your Grandfather? Where is your Grandfather? I might remember him if I saw him, but I know I haven't seen you before. You think that I am going to give you one of my fresh melons for this monkey melon? Hah. Think again."

"Xu, my son, is there some problem?" Lung had turned ever so slightly away from Mother Fang. Mother Fang had yet to pay for her melons, but both old people had heard every word of our exchange.

"This boy wants to make us take his monkey melon and exchange it."

"Yes. That is exactly what I want. However, if you try to give me another monkey melon, I'd prefer you returned the money to me that my Grandfather gave to you."

"Oh," smiled Lung, looking at Mother Fang, "Do you know how many boys play this little trick on us? They think we are so stupid just because we come from another town. Ha ha. Well, boy, it was a nice try. Take your melon and go eat it. Your little trick will not work today."

Mother Fang was looking directly at me. Her face was a mask. She was expressionless. Here I was, the boy who broke wind in her face, and now I was trying to cheat an honest merchant. Here I was, the violent little boy who broke Chen's jaw. Would some low life like me not stoop so low as to cheat a seller of fruit out of a melon? I knew exactly what she was thinking. It was all so clear to me. I looked back at Lung.

"I am not the cheat here. You are. This melon was sold to my Grandfather and is no good. I will not leave here until you do the right thing. Return the payment or exchange this for a good melon... if you have any."

"Why, you insulting young puppy! Look at all that you see! All these melons are top quality! Not one melon is a monkey melon! Be gone, or my sons will teach you the value of having proper respect."

The son called Xu had moved out from behind the stand and now stood right in front of me, stomach to stomach. If we had to fight, I would not give him too much advantage. I moved around him quickly and addressed the father.

"You have insulted me, sir. I have been honest in my speech. You have taken advantage of someone who has my deepest respect. How do you think I can go back to him with the bad melon you sold to him?"

"Excuse me, Madam.", said Lung. "Young man, let us go into the back of our stand and discuss this like gentlemen." Lung was smiling. He wanted to kill me, of course, but not in front of a customer who had yet to pay for her melon.

"I will do no such thing. I want money or a fresh melon."

Without even a moment's hesitation I felt the hands of the other son reach behind me. He grabbed my arms causing me to drop the melon to the ground. It split open and the smell was strong and terrible. I was then, with my hands being firmly held behind me at the mercy of Xu. Xu was standing and waiting for his brother to spin me around. The first punch landed right in the middle of my stomach. I felt the air go right out of my body. Ah, such pain, such humiliation. I did not think they would be so foolish as to do this in front of a customer. It was my mistake. Xu lifted my head. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Fang Li had grabbed her mother's arm in fright. She had cried out when Xu hit me. Ah, the pain of my humiliation was even greater. I would be beaten badly. I would return without even the monkey melon. I would lose face with Grandfather forever. All would happen in front of Fang Li to witness. It could not be worse.

Xu flexed his knuckles, readying for another blow. How Mother Fang must be enjoying the punishment of the rude ruffian she knew was in front of her. I was the cheat. I know she thought that. I could not struggle against the other son, his grip was too tight.

"Deng, my son. Let the boy go. If he wants to fight, let him fight Xu fairly. If he wants to leave, let him leave." The wily old bastard waited for Xu to get his first punch in before making the offer. I was out of breath and could hardly fight back, but if Lung thought I was going to leave, he would soon learn that Zhang Wei was more of a match for him than he thought!

To Be Continued 

Old Wei and
Young Wei
Part 8

[Please page down for the other parts to the story which were posted earlier. They appear in reverse order.]

Xu had punched me. It was a shameful thing. His brother Deng had to hold my arms behind my back. Now old Lung thought I'd creep away, but he was wrong. The use of such force only deepened my determination. It was no longer a matter of the fact that Fang Li or her mother were watching all this. Now it was a matter of honor and I would not leave until I was given a refund or a fresh melon.

When Deng released me I made it a point to slowly brush myself off. What I was really doing was stalling for time. I needed to catch some air back into my lungs.

"You," I finally gasped, "are the shameful fraud. Every one of these melons is a monkey melon. Did you notice the smell of my melon when I was forced to drop it?"

I turned to Fang Li's mother. "Watch," I said to her, and without a moments more hesitation I grabbed the melon out of her hand a threw it on the ground. Deng, angered by all this, grabbed me around the waist and began to squeeze me. My air was in short supply, but I had enough energy to swing my foot back deep into his groin. He howled with pain and dropped me, but it did not matter. Brother Xu was closing in fast. He shoved Deng to the side
and Deng, who was doubled over in pain, dropped to the ground.

Xu picked me up by one hand right around my neck. He lifted me up and off the ground. He was shouting a lot of extremely bad words. I figured this was the end of a short, sad life. I closed my eyes waiting for the end. It did not come. Xu dropped me completely. When I opened my eyes I saw Mother Fang standing over Xu, the cane she hit him with was still in her hand. Fang Li rushed over to me. She cradled my head in her arms. Oh the pain. Oh, what heaven. I felt wonderful and terrible at the same time. She looked right into my eyes. Her hand gently brushed my cheek. Mother Fang walked over and had Li brace me until I was sitting up.

"The boy is right. Smell this melon you were about to sell me. Do you deny it?"

Lung looked over the top of his glasses and his eyes narrowed. "It must be some mistake. I know boys like this are always trying to trick honest people. Who knows what he rubbed on the melon before he dropped it?"

"If he rubbed this melon it was only on the outside. You take your melons and leave this market. If I see you again I will report you to every honest merchant with a stand here. They will not let you stay. Leave our town. Pack quickly and you may avoid spending the night in jail."

Mother Fang prodded me with her cane. "Get up, boy. You can do it on your own. Li, you can let him stand up on his own." Mother Fang looked at me. She ran her hands over my neck.

"Good thing you have a strong, thick neck. It must be from all the exercise of carrying around that bone head you try to think with." She smiled at her own humor. It was her chance for a bit of a reprimand, but it was not forthcoming.

"You are just like your Grandfather, Wei. He would not let anyone take advantage of him when he was your age. He liked to fight, too, as I recall. Have him tell you about the time he took me to the Park. If he remembers it, that is. It was a long time ago."

I was shaken. Grandfather dated the old crow? Hah. My lucky crow had flown away and had been replaced by an old crow instead. I guess that is a bit unkind as, after all, she did rescue me. I wondered then if it was because I had been right or if it was because she knew Grandfather.

Lung's two sons were shaking themselves off and I was worried that they would soon attack again. However all the commotion had drawn a crowd, and this was something that Lung feared most. I walked right up to the old man and stuck out my hand.

"Ten yen, please." I looked the old crook right in the eye. He was really mad. He looked at me, Mother Fang and then the crowd. A smile seemed to cross his face. He looked out and spoke to the crowd.

"We must close early today due to a family emergency. Sorry for any inconvenience."

It was spoken as if nothing had happened. He was trying to save face, so I shouted a bit louder demanding my money.

Lung threw the coin at me and cursed me. "May that one be your mother-in-law someday" he said. I returned the intended insult in kind. "And may your sons never find a mother-in-law to care about them!"

"What happened here?" I knew that voice. It was Grandfather. "I turn my back for one moment and the boy disappears. Wei, what did you do?" I handed Grandfather the coin. He took it and put it in his pocket.

"Come, boy. We have shopping to do and you have wasted enough time."

I turned around to Mother Fang, who was walking back to her daughter. "Thank you," I said to her back. She looked over her shoulder and said, "No, Wei, I thank you. You bought only one melon. We were about to buy several. Thank you." Mother Fang smiled at me. From the distance beyond I could see Fang Li's smile. Her head nodded to me and I nodded back.

What Mother Fang said reminded me that Grandfather had not bought one melon, but two. Where was the other melon? I ran to catch up with Grandfather. I had questions to ask him, but of course I would not be able to. If I did ask, he'd never answer them. I wondered what had happened in the Park. I wondered why they did not greet each other. Questions on top of questions. My Grandfather was a bigger puzzle than I had thought.

Old Wei and
Young Wei
Part 9

[Please page down for the other parts to the story which were posted earlier. They appear in reverse order.]

I was wondering about the second melon I had to return. It seemed that I had passed Grandfather's test by getting his money back for the first melon. Why did I need to return a second one? Did Grandfather want to see if it was skill or luck? If I could return one melon it might be just luck, but two melons would prove to him that I was a man. I was thinking about all these things as I walked behind Grandfather. Since we had left the first fruit stand he had said nothing to me... as usual.

Ahead of us was the second melon. Gao was holding onto it for Grandfather. It was why Grandfather did not have it in his hands when he came to look for me.

Grandfather approached Gao and offered his thanks to him for holding the melon. He then curiously asked Gao to take me to Bin Su's fruit stand. The second melon was bought there, I guessed. Why did Grandfather want Gao to take me there. Gao was blind. It was more likely that I would be taking him to the place. Grandfather's only communication to me, as Gao started down the road back into the market, was "Go on, follow after, Gao. Return the melon and bring me my money back. Hurry up. It will be growing dark once the sun sets and I want to be heading home."

I caught up with Gao, who had not walked very far. I took the melon from him without protest. His hands being free, they found my arm. We walked the rest of the way with me as a guide for his footsteps.

"Why do you suppose Grandfather wanted you to go with me?", I asked Gao.

"He did not tell me. He just said to go and that when we were done we would all walk home together. He is watching my bags of food while he waits for us. Since you will have no food to carry, he offered to carry my things while you walk with me. I am curious, too. Why did Wei come all this way to buy and return two melons? He did no other shopping. Isn't that crazy?"

I agreed. I could understand none of this. If it was only to test me, then might it not also be a test of my character. Would Grandfather think I was weak if I said too much to Gao about my suspicions? Grandfather was a man who said so little... what would he think of a chatterbox for a Grandson? I decided to say as little to Gao about my thoughts as possible.

It was not long before we arrived at Bin Su's fruit stand. Bin Su had been in this market for many years. Everyone knew her. She was a good seller of fruit. She never lost a customer. Her prices were higher than others, but people rarely complained to her. Could she have really sold a monkey melon to Grandfather? I decided to check the melon again. I held it up to my nose and smelled the strong, pungent, rotting aroma from deep inside the melon. It smelled terrible, but you wouldn't know it unless you held it right under your nose. It was a monkey melon sure enough, but the question I asked myself is if it came from Bin Su? Grandfather said it did, so it must have. Maybe Bin Su was sold some bad melons herself. Would she not know these were bad melons? I wondered about this as we approached her stand.

Gao spoke to me in a hushed whisper: "Look, Wei-chan, I still have to buy some fruit. Bin Su must have seen us walking together. If you make her angry she will not sell me any fruit, perhaps. Please let me buy my fruit from her first before you try to return that melon."

It seemed a reasonable request. I did not enjoy being called "Wei-chan" because I was not a baby any more, but I decided he was only teasing me. I brought Gao up to the stand. He asked me to let him feel the peaches. I took him to Bin's large tray of peaches.

"How do they look?", asked Gao. "What is their color?"

"Do you know what color they are supposed to be, Gao?"

"Of course. I have bought peaches before. I can buy better ones than you. You are blinded by all the colors you see. When I choose the peaches it is by their touch. My hands can feel their rich flavor. Ha ha. I am an expert at finding the best fruit. If Grandfather Wei was with me he would not have bought those monkey melons. Ha ha."

Gao was wrong of course. Grandfather deliberately bought the melons to test me, but I was not about to explain all that to Gao. Bin Su saw us and walked over. She greeted us together.

"What do you want today, Gao? Fresh peaches? These are the best in our province. They are sweeter than I was when I was this young, and I was once very sweet at this age."

Gao laughed with Bin. I found this amusing, too, but I had to stay a bit more serious since my work was still ahead of me. Bin could joke about her young age, of course, now that she was an old woman. Bin must have been at least 30 years old. Her youth was a long time ago. At least that is what I thought back in those days. I stood back to let Gao do his shopping. Bin was helping him now and I was just in the way. I watched them chatter with each other. Bin was a good match for old Gao. They laughed with each other like lovers. If Gao had not been blind would Bin have married him? I felt
something sad in all that as I watched them get along so well.

Gao chose his peaches and I watched as Bin put them in her scale. A funny thing happened next. She looked at me with a wink. She put her finger to her lips, motioning me to stay silent.

"Gao, you wanted only a few peaches? These weigh less than you think. Go pick out a few more so I can make some money. It is the end of the day. I promise to give you my discount price. It is better to sell these cheaply than to see them go bad. I don't sell bad fruit to my customers, you know."

Bin Su had deliberately lied to Gao. His fruit weighed more than she said. She was not only going to give him more fruit, but she was going to charge him less for it. Ah, how heavy that melon felt in my hands then. I watched Bin Su sneak a few extra things into Gao's bag, too. She charged him next to nothing for his fruit and complained bitterly about how tough a customer Gao was. She was smiling as she complained.

"Ah, a customer like me is what you need to stay honest. If all of your people knew fruit like I do you could not charge them your high prices!" Gao was teasing with Bin Su.

"Hah. My customers could easily be like you. If they looked more at me than at the fruit they would be blinded by my beauty. I am the best pick in this store, and a bargain, too."

"I don't argue about that. You do treat me well, but only because you know you have to. I know fruit better than you do!"

They went back and forth like this as Bin Su packed Gao's fruit into a bag. She actually snuck even more into the bag. I felt my melon weighing in my hands like a stone. My heart told me this woman could never sell anyone a monkey melon, even if they begged for one.

Bin Su turned to me to ask if I needed any help. She saw me holding the melon in my hands. It was time to decide what to do.

"No, I am fine," I said. "I was just walking with Gao. I will help him to carry these packages home."

Bin Su handed me a peach and said: "Good boy. Eat this on the way home if you can find a free hand. That monkey melon you are holding looks rather heavy. You do know it is a monkey melon, don't you?"

"Oh, yes. I know. I know very well. Thank you."

I knew I had made the right decision then and there. I put the melon down and took the peach from Bin Su, thanking her. Gao took my arm and I took his packages.

"What about the melon?", Bin Su asked as we walked away. "Save it for Gao when he comes back," I laughed. "We'll see if his memory is as good as his knowledge of fruit."

All along the way Gao spoke quite affectionately of Bin Su. He stopped at one point and told me he was glad I did not try to return the melon.

"Do you know that woman always puts extra fruit in my bag. She thinks she is fooling me each time, as if I never count how many things I take. Ha ha. She has such a good heart. It would have been a shame to make her take back that melon."

I was silent all along the rest of the journey. I was right. Gao knew it. Would Grandfather agree? Or would he think I cheated him by exchanging his melon for a peach?

The next installment will conclude the story of "Old Wei and Young Wei".

Old Wei and
Young Wei

Conclusion