Chapter 31 Chapter Thirty-One

When I arrived at Yiliting Tea House, it was in chaos.A hookah in the servants' room was on fire, and the maids were scurrying about without paying any attention to me.I just walked through the hall by myself to the room where Minister Yenhe was entertained last week.I didn't expect someone to be inside so early, but the door opened, and I saw the chairman sitting at the table, holding a magazine in both hands, looking at me from above the reading glasses.When I saw him, I was too surprised to speak.Finally, he managed to speak: "My God, President! Who left you here alone? The hostess must be angry."

"She's the one who left me here," he said, closing the magazine. "I'm wondering what happened to her." "You don't even have anything to drink. I'll get you sake." "That's what the mistress said. If you don't come back like this, I'll have to read magazines all night. You'd better stay with me." I got up and walked to the president, and felt that the spacious room covered with pale yellow silk had become very small, because I thought no room was big enough to hold my emotions.I expected to be overjoyed to see him again after such a long interval, but unexpectedly found myself sad for no reason.I used to worry that the Chairman would age prematurely in the war.As I walked through the door, I noticed that the crow's feet in the corners of his eyes were much darker than I remembered.The skin around his mouth has also begun to loosen, although I think it makes his sharp jaw more dignified.When I knelt down to the table, I stole a glance at him and saw that he was still looking at me.I was about to speak, but he spoke first.

"Sayuri, you are still a beautiful woman." "Oh, President," I said, "I don't believe you. It took me half an hour at the dresser tonight to get the dimples out of my cheeks." "I believe you have suffered a lot in the past few years, and so have I." "President, if you don't mind me saying that... I heard a little about your company's plight from Mr. Yan..." "Yeah, well, let's not talk about that. Sometimes we get through adversity simply because we think about how beautiful the world will be when our dreams come true."

He smiled sadly at me, the expression was so beautiful, I was unaware of the perfect curvature of his lips. "Now you have a chance to use your charisma to turn things around." Before I could speak, the door opened, and Mameha came in, followed by Pumpkin.We talked for a while, and Nobu and the minister also arrived.The Minister grunted a few times at the pumpkin, and tilted his head to let her move so that he could squeeze beside me.After introducing each other, Pumpkin chatted with the minister. A few moments later, three maids brought their dinner.I was a bit hungry and had to pass over the ginkgo custard served in a beautiful celadon dish.The maid then brought grilled tropical fish on pine needles.Yanding noticed how hungry I was and insisted that I try it.Later, the president let Mameha have a taste, and asked Pumpkin to taste it too, but she refused.

"I'm not going to touch the fish anyway," said Pumpkin, "I don't even want to look at it." "What's wrong with this fish?" Mameha asked. "It's a long, long story, and no one is going to believe it." "Big liar!" I said. I'm not really saying the pumpkins are lying.Before Gion closed, we played a game called Big Liar.Everyone in the game has to tell two stories, one true and the other false.Those who listen to the story have to guess which is true and which is false, and if they guess wrong, they will be fined to drink a glass of sake.

"The story goes like this. I was born in Sapporo. There was an old fisherman who caught a strange fish one day and could talk." Pumpkin began to say. Mameha and I looked at each other and laughed. "Laugh if you want," said the Pumpkin, "but it's true." "Okay, go ahead, Pumpkin. Let's listen," said the President. "Well, the thing is, the fisherman took the fish out to wash it, and it made a sound like a man talking, but the fisherman couldn't understand it. He called a group of fishermen, and everyone listened for a while. Soon the fish was gone. Dying, because it was out of the water for too long, so they decided to kill it. Then an old man came out from the crowd and said that he understood every word the fish said, and it spoke Russian."

We all laughed out loud, and even the Minister grunted a few times.When we calmed down, Pumpkin said, "I know you don't believe it, but it's true." "I want to know what that fish said." The president said. "He was dying so... the voice was very soft. The old man leaned over and put his ear to the fish's lips..." "Fish don't have lips!" I said. "Yeah, it's attached to the fish...whatever it's called," Pumpkin went on, "to the mouth. The fish says, 'Let them clean me up. I don't want to live anymore. The fish that just died over there is me. wife."

"So the fish are married!" Mameha said, "They also have husbands and wives!" "That was before the war," I said. "After the war they couldn't afford to get married. They just wandered around looking for work." "It was before the war," said Pumpkin, "yes, before the war, before my mother was even born." "Then how do you know it's true?" Yeon said, "Of course the fish didn't tell you." "The fish died right then and there! How could it tell me I wasn't born yet? Besides, I don't understand Russian."

"Okay, pumpkin," I said, "so you think the fish that grow can talk too?" "I didn't say that. But it looked a lot like the talking fish. I wouldn't eat it if I was starving." "If you haven't been born yet," said the president, "even your mother hasn't been born yet, how do you know what that fish looks like?" "That fish is famous back home. My mother described it to me, and I'm telling you, it's like that thing on the table!" "Pumpkin, thank God for someone like you," said the president, "you make us all fools."

"Okay, I'm done with my story, and I'll leave the other one alone. If any of you want to play 'Liar,' let the other one begin." Then Mameha and Nobu both told two stories. After Pumpkin was punished with a glass of wine, his mind became dull, and he guessed Nobu's story wrong again.Then it was my turn. "This is my first story. One night a few years ago, Kabuki actor Yogoro got very drunk and told me he thought I was beautiful." "That's not true," said Pumpkin. "I know Yogoro." "I'm sure you understand. But he said I was beautiful. From that night on, he sent me letters from time to time, each with a little black curly hair glued to the corner."

Nobu sat up straight, and said angrily, "Seriously, these kabuki actors are really annoying!" Everyone is waiting for my second story.At the beginning of the game, I didn't want to say this, I was a little nervous, I didn't know if I should say that. "When I was a child," I began, "one day when I was in a bad mood, I went to the Baichuan River and cried..." As soon as the story begins, I feel like I'm crossing the table and grabbing the chairman's hand.From my point of view, no one else in the room could hear the strangeness in my words, and only the president would understand this secret.At least, I hope he understands.I felt as if I was having an intimate conversation with him that I had never had before, and as I talked, my body warmed up.I was about to continue speaking when I looked up at the president again, hoping that he was looking at me in astonishment.However, he didn't seem to care at all.Suddenly I felt empty, like a girl trying to pose in a crowd but the street is empty. I knew that everyone in the room was getting impatient, Mameha said, "Huh? What's down here?" Pumpkin also muttered something, but I couldn't hear it clearly. "I'll tell another story," I said, "do you remember the geisha Satoshi Okao? She died in a wartime accident. Many years ago, she told me one day that she used to be afraid that there would be a serious A wooden crate fell on her head and crushed her to death. And that's how she died. A crate full of iron parts fell off a shelf." I had been in a trance until I realized that both of my stories were half-truths and half-false.I don't care about that, because most people are cheating when they play this game.I waited for the chairman to be elected, but he guessed that the story of Yogoro and Curly was true, so I announced that he was right.Pumpkin and the minister had to drink fine wine. Next it's the chairman's turn. "I'm worried about Pumpkin, so let's keep it simple. If she has another drink, I think she's going to die." The pumpkin really didn't even look good.I don't think she heard the chairman at all until he called her name. "Pumpkin, listen up. That's the first story. I was at a party at the Yiliting Chaya tonight. This is the second, a few days ago, a fish walked into my office - well, this one doesn't count , you might believe that fish walk. How about this one. A few days ago, I opened a desk drawer and a little man in a military uniform jumped out, singing and dancing. Well, which one is real?" "You don't want me to believe that a man jumped out of your drawer?" said Pumpkin. "Choose one. Which one is true?" "The other one, I can't even remember what it was." "President, you have to drink fine wine for this." Mameha said. As soon as Pumpkin hears "fine wine", she must think she guessed wrong again, because then we see her drink half a glass of wine, and then things don't look good.The president was the first to notice and immediately snatched the cup from her hand. "Pumpkin, you are not a drainpipe," said the president.She stares blankly at him, and he asks if she heard what he said. "She might have heard it," Nobu said, "but she certainly couldn't see you." "Come on, Pumpkin," said the president, "I will accompany you home. If necessary, I will drag you home." Mameha said he wanted to help, so the two helped Pumpkin out, and Ruyan sat at the table with the minister and me. "Oh, minister," Yan finally said, "how do you feel tonight?" I saw the minister drunk like a pumpkin, but he murmured that he was very happy tonight. "Had a great time, really," he added, nodding several times.After that, he raised his glass again and asked me to pour it for him, but Nobu snatched it.