Miss Pao's eyes ex ploded with sparks as she said, "I tipped you yesterday for waiting on the tableWhat other tip do you want? You don't take care of my cabin Ah Lix silently reached his hand into his pocket and after a long time pulled out a hairpinIt was one of those Miss Pao had flung away the other dayWhile sweeping the floor he had found only one of the three At first Fang wanted to scold Ah Lix, but seeing how seriously Ah Lix had pulled out this magical object, he couldn't help laughing "You think it's funny?" Miss Pao snapped"If you think it's so funny, you give him some moneyI don't have a cent!" And with that she turned and strode off Afraid that a disgruntled Ah Lix might run his mouth off to DrLi, Fang gave Ah Liu some more money, charging it up to his bad luckFang then went on deck by himself and watched disconsolately as the ship drew up to the Kowloon wharfOther disembarking passengers, both Chinese and non- Chinese, also came upHe hid himself in a corner, not wishing to see Miss PaoOn the wharf, policemen, porters, and hotel agents who had come to greet passengers were clamoring noisily; a group of people were waving handkerchiefs at the ship or gesticulatingLi was among them and wanted a closer look at himFinally, the gangplank was lowered, and after the immigration procedures were completed, friends of departing passengers swarmed aboardMiss Pao rushed into the arms of a balding, dark, 24 pudgy man in big glassesSo this was the fiance he was supposed to resemble! He looked like that? Well, of all the insults! Now he understood everythingThat remark of hers was nothing but a "come-on Up to this time he had been quite pleased with himself, thinking she had taken a liking to himWho would have thought that having been tricked and made use of by her, he was even being secretly ridiculed by herWhat was there to say except that adage, which was so old it had grown a long white beard and so stale it was moldy: "Women are the most dreadful of all!" As he was leaning against the railing and thus lost in thought, Miss Six's soft voice unexpectedly came from behind him, "Are you staying on board daydreaming, MrFang? Some body has gone and left you! You have no one to keep you company!" He turned around and saw Miss Six dressed with elegance and charmWithout knowing what possessed him, he said, "I'd like to keep you com pany, but I'm afraid I haven't the good fortune or the qualifications!" Having made this rash remark, he braced himself for a polite rebuffA spot of red appeared on Miss Six's cheeks beneath her lightly applied rouge, spreading out like oil stains on a piece of paper, covering her face in an instant and making her look bewitchingly bashfulAs if barely able to raise her eye lids, she said, "Who, me? I don't think I'm important enough!" Spreading out his hands, he said, "Just as I said, you wouldn't give me the honor~ "I want to find a hairdresser to have my hair washed Would you like to go with me?" she said"I was just about to go get a haircutWhen that's taken care of, we can take a ferry to Hong Kong and go up to the Peak26 to have some funWhen we come down, I'll take you to lunch After lunch we can have tea at Repulse Bay27 and in the evening see a movieHow's that?" With a smile she answered, "MrFang, you've really thought of every thing! You've planned for the whole day She didn't know Fang had only passed through Hong Kong once on his way abroad and couldn't even re member the directions Twenty minutes later, Ah Lix took his bag of clothes to the dining hall to await the French supervisor to clear him for going ashoreThrough the porthole he caught a glimpse of Fang Hung-chien behind Miss Six, descend ing the gangplank with his hand around her waistHe couldn't repress a feeling of surprise and admiration as well as scornUnable to express these complicated feelings in words, he spat a mouthful of thick saliva into the spittoon with a loud "Tsui!" 2 IT IS SAID that "girl friend" is the scientific term for sweet heart, making it sound more dignified, just as the biological name for rose is "rosaceae dicotyledonous," or the legal term for divorcing one's wife is "ne gotiated separation by shop consent

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