Chapter Text
“Again.” Liu Minghui panted as she struck the head of the mannequin once more.
“Again.” The raspy voice demanded. Liu Minghui repeated the move. When the side of her hand touched the hand of the mannequin, a bamboo staff swatted her. Then the bamboo staff hit the back of her knee, her stomach, and her other hand. She hissed at the pain.
‘You are too fast. You put too much strength into your strike. You are leaving yourself wide open.” The old lady whom her mother decided would be her teacher got up, arching her back and putting her hands behind her back.
“Watch closely.”
She put her slightly bent knee on her left foot and faced the same direction as her feet. Her right hand was extended with the wrist bent behind her, and her left hand pushing her fingertips at eye level. She relaxed her body as she turned both palms up. She dropped her right elbow and knee and then brought her foot to the floor. “You have to keep the weight on the front leg. And only as you extend your right hand, should you put the weight in the back leg. It’s all about balance.” While her right hand took the same position as the left hand had earlier, the left hand dropped on the waist, slightly cupped.
She dropped the position and turned to Liu Minghui. With her wrinkled hand, she pointed to Liu Minghui's stomach. “This is your dantian. This is the most substantial energy form from which the physical body is created. It is your essence.”
She lifted her left foot and slowly placed it on her toes, as if taking a step. “This is what we call High Pat on Horse. Now do it.”
She tried to repeat the step. The staff hit her on the back of her thigh. Then it lifted her chin. “You are too fast. Again.” It only ended with her sprawled out on the ground, painting and wincing from all the hits she took. Whenever she finished training with her sabom, she always felt energized, which completely differed from this sensation. Wang Yaling clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“I swear I am trying.” Liu Minghui said. “Shifu.” Wang Yaling berated her. “I swear I am trying, Shifu.” She said again.
“My girl, you are simply trying wrong. You just imitate the movement; you don’t understand them. Tai Chi is not a martial art you fight with; it’s a martial art you live with.” She scrunched her nose at what her Shifu said. Martial arts were martial arts. You are supposed to get stronger and fight other people. Wasn’t that the goal of training? What need was a martial art you can’t use? The bamboo staff hit her on the back of her head again.
She rubbed her head at the sting. “I know what you are thinking. Sit.” She sat down on the mat. “Close your eyes.” When she closed her eyes, she felt her Shifu stand behind her. “See, you are sitting, but your eyes are already moving, your fingers are twirling. You do not have patience. You accumulate so much yang energy, and not enough yin.” She touched her forehead. “You need to relax. You need to think. To stop using your body instead of your mind.”
She didn’t even last five minutes before she opened her eyes to see if her Shifu left. She received a tap on her forehead for that. “Aiyah, what can I do with you?” She paused and thought deeply. “I think I have a solution. Follow me.” She stood up and walked behind her Shifu, who walked incredibly slowly, showing none of the grace she possessed earlier when demonstrating the move. “Your mother sent you to me because of that one fight you had.” She winced at the reminder. “You severely hurt that other girl. You are too aggressive, and you can’t control your strength.”
They went down the stairs, and she unlocked a door that she had never been allowed in. The strong smell of herbs and flowers accosted her as the door opened.
“Is that a flower shop?”
“Yes, it is dearie. I unfortunately had to close it down when my daughter moved to another country, leaving this sick old lady alone. Alas, I cannot tend to the flowers and customers.” She said with a smile that didn’t meet her eyes.
“What does that have to do with me?” She spoke. At the venomous look she gave her, she quickly added, “Shifu.”
“What you need is patience. You have an uncanny ability to copy my moves correctly, but without the core, they feel empty. You have the strength, the overwhelming yang energy. But Tai Chi is a balance between yin and yang. So, until further notice, no more competitions.”
“What!” Liu Minghui cut her off. “See, you are proving my point. You do not think. Let me finish what I was saying.” She smiled sheepishly as Wang Yaling glared at her. “As I was saying, you need to learn patience, because you are a danger to yourself and others, and what better way to learn than to run a flower shop?”
The keys she held jingled as she tried to unlock the backdoor. Once the rusted lock was unlocked, she was able to get into what was once a beautiful flower shop. Her footsteps slowed as she looked around. Some of the flowers had withered, while others grew wildly, tangling up their vines. The hydrangea Shifu loved to take care of had turned blue. She placed her messenger bag next to the front desk and took off her white shirt, placing it on top of the chair. Next to the front desk, two pairs of gloves were hung on the wall. One pair was smaller than the other, fit for a child. The other was bigger, older and torn.
She stared at the wall for a moment before grabbing the older pair. She went to the storage to get the agricultural limestone to fix the acidic soil of the hydrangea. She grabbed the shears, too.
When she was done trying to get the flowers back to their original shape, it was already dark outside. She wiped the sweat dripping on her forehead. Carefully, she placed the gloves back, her gaze lingering a bit too much as she packed her stuff to leave. As she was about to leave through the backdoor again, she saw another door. One, she vividly remembered that she was never allowed to go in. Grabbing the sets of keys, she found one she didn’t recognize.
Taking it and slipping it in the lock, she successfully unlocked the door. She turned on the lights. The room was small. It was closer to a closet than a room. In it, she saw things she never thought she would. Pictures of her were hung. Almost no dust was collecting in the room. Some pictures were of her competitions. Another was her smiling with her first-place cup. In those, she was young. It must have been from when she was still living in China.
A sword was next to the pictures. It was the first sword she used, gifted by her Shifu. Then on the shelf, there were multiple journal pages, all of which she figured in. She wasn’t smiling in those.
It was then she realized, despite being under her tutelage for years, that she didn’t have a single picture of her. Not even of them together. She dropped to her knees and placed her head between them. Once she received the invitation to be in the national taekwondo team, she didn’t hesitate to leave behind Shifu. She thought she would get over it. She thought she didn’t like her and would jump at the opportunity to get rid of her.
All those years, she never reached out.
Tears dropped slowly on the floor.
Even though she never contacted her, Shifu followed her career.
The sword didn’t have a single bit of rust.
She was watering the plants when the bell attached to the door jingled. She looked up to see the customer. The customer was a lady clad in a traditional qipao. It was deep velvety red, with black plum blossom. She was fanning herself slowly with a golden tuanshan. Once they met eyes, her gaze softened, deepening the wrinkles around her mouth. She walked towards her with her elegant gait.
“Hello, my dear, how have you been? I have heard the news.” She smiled and put her tattooed hands on top of hers. Liu Qingge tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I am doing fine, Ayi. I am getting used to running the store again. The old employees didn’t quite meet the standards that we should have been keeping. I am doing this alone, again. Brings quite some memories.”
She smiled, her eyes knowing. She understood that she didn’t want to talk about it. “Well, it has been a while since we last saw each other. You were so small before, you grew so much.” She said while mimicking pinching her cheeks. She leaned on the table. “I am glad to see you again, though I wish it were under some other circumstances. You were the only one selling us healthy flowers. I think I still have the little manual you made me for taking care of the peonies I bought the first time here.” She laughed slightly as Liu Qingge’s ears reddened.
“Are you here for anything? Or are you just in the mood to tease?” She crossed her arms.
“I'm growing old, I forgot what I wanted when I saw your pretty face. I am actually here for flowers.” She said. “Chrysanthemums. Any colours.”
Chrysanthemums symbolized goodbyes. She walked while the lady followed her. She stopped in front of the white chrysanthemums. “How many?”
“Give me five bouquets of fifteen.” She looked at the stock they had and counted. In the end, she would have to give her all of the chrysanthemums she owned. She picked them up and prepared the bouquets. She brought the five bouquets towards the front desk. As the customer got ready to pay, Liu Qingge asked, curious. “Who are you saying goodbye to?”
“I am retiring.”
“You are?”
She hummed in agreement. “I am preparing to give these bouquets to my lovely flowers at the parlour.” She held up her shaking hands. “These hands are unable to tattoo anybody anymore.” She saw Wu Lianli's eyes go vacant. “They have been tattooing for almost 40 years.” She forced a smile as she put down her hands, holding the fan to mask the shake. She remembered hearing from her Shifu that Wu Lianli was the first female tattoo parlour owner. Her parlour was one of the oldest still open to this day. “I am passing the mantle to my apprentice. It's time for the new generations.” She smiled wryly.
As Liu Qingge prepared to hand her the flowers, she realized that Wu Lianli wouldn’t be able to hold them all. Instead, she carefully placed them on the cart for those types of situations. Following the tattoo parlour owner outside, she locked the door of her shop. The cart rattled quietly on the pavement as they made their way towards the parlour.
Unlike the other buildings, the parlour had a curved rooftop reminiscent of traditional houses. The building was also the only one not in a unit. The sign read: Warm Red Pavilion. The door slid open, revealing the inside. The parlour was quiet, except for a faint buzzing. She turned unconsciously towards the sound and saw a customer lying on their stomach while a woman was tattooing their back. Her eyes locked onto the tattoo artist, who was wearing a black sleeveless hanfu, a modernized version that had a high-collared vest that was sharp enough to pass for armour, with a gold bamboo embroidery on the left side. Her long hair was held by two hairpins, keeping her hair out of her face. Her gaze was focused, with one hand steadying the customer and the other gently guiding the tattoo machine.
From what she could see from her viewpoint, she was doing a calligraphy tattoo. “Persons who walk different paths cannot make plans together to go separate ways?” She whispered to herself as she read the tattoo.
“My flowers are already here. Would you be willing to wait for a moment while I give them the bouquets before you can take the cart away?” Wu Lianli’s voice spooked her out of her trance. She nodded and stood behind the cart while the Madam of the Warm Red Pavilion called for her tattoo artists. Four women came forward, but that one tattoo artist stayed focused on her craft. The way her eyes twitched, she knew she was being called over, but didn’t move. Liu Qingge frowned.
Wu Lianli exhaled softly while looking at the woman, but she quickly turned her attention to the ones who were present. She took the bouquet one by one and handed them to four women who were all wearing different versions of traditional outfits. One was wearing a Shanghai-style qipao, her makeup giving her a seductive look. She quickly averted her eyes. Two were wearing hanfu, with bright colours. And the last one was wearing a tang suit over regular pants. The Madam shared her news, but she zoned out; her eyes were drawn to the only person left behind. Her eyes were scanning her, stopping at her arm, which was littered with ink.
Not in a way to decorate like she would have imagined. But in a way that seemed purposeful, evidential. A horizontal line on her wrist, half a character that she couldn’t recognize, lines on her forearm, a broken band on her elbow and vines of thorns wrapped around her upper arm. There was more ink that she couldn’t decipher, crawling under her high-collared vest. She could see the faint muscles in her arm. She wondered if she practiced any sports or was only working out. Was the rest of her body strong, too? She could see that the customer’s twitching was steadied by her strong grip.
“Thank you for your patience.” The tattoo parlour’s owner said. Liu Qingge turned back and saw a girl crying. The others weren’t, but she could decipher their sadness. It seemed she was done. She looked back at the last tattoo artist. Following her gaze, Wu Lianli laughed softly. “This is my apprentice. She doesn’t like to be bothered when tattooing. You can just leave me the last bouquet, and I'll give it to her later.” She nodded, her gaze fixed on the lonely bouquet on the cart.