MADONNA'S
MARRIAGE
Madonna grew up in the shanty area of Shanghai's Zhabei District,
and wanted to be an artist from when she was young (and as a result
took not a few artists as lovers). But at 16 she dropped out. Her
father and an older brother were crazy about liquor, and used her
for target practice when they were drunk. Her mother was a weak-willed
woman who couldn't protect her daughter.
One day she boarded a train bound for Guangzhou. She didn't have
much choice. She began working as a bar girl, accompanying guests
as they drank. Cities in the south at that time were in the midst
of a wave of unprecedented growth. Many had money, and some of them
had so much money that it left you speechless. Even her smallest
movements expressed a sense of refinement that women from other
provinces just didn't have. The clientele liked her, flattered her
and were willing to do things for her. Her standing in that circle
rose quickly, and in no time she had begun to recruit girls and
run her own business.
They called her "Yang Nan-Nan," a pet name Shanghainese give to
girls who are fair-skinned and pretty. She wore long black dresses
with fine shoulder-straps and diamond rings from her admirers. With
her black hair lying against her pale white face, she looked like
a queen who dwelled within a secluded, innermost palace, behind
layer upon layer of thick curtains.
"When I recall scenes from that period, it really seems like a former
incarnation. A simple title captures it: 'Beauty and the Beasts.'
I did master the principles of how to domesticate a man. Maybe when
I get old I'll write a book just for women, instructing them how
to accurately control a man's mind. When you want to kill a snake
you have to strike it squarely on the heart. Men also have pressure
points where they are weakest. Young women nowadays may mature earlier,
and they are tougher and braver than we were, but women still get
the short end of the stick in many ways."
She adjusted her pillow, looked over and said: "Don't you agree?"
"When you get down to it, the social system still devalues the needs
of women and frowns upon their efforts to clearly recognize their
own worth," I said. "Girls who are more street-smart are put down
as 'crude,' and those who are more gentle are treated as 'empty-headed'
flower vases."
"Anyway, girls have to improve their brainpower. Being a bit smarter
doesn't hurt." Madonna paused, asking me if I agreed. I said I did,
even though I wouldn't praise myself as being a women's lib warrior,
but what she said rang true. Her words helped me to discover that
there was a hidden place in her mind which housed deeper thoughts.
"So how did you get married to ... your deceased husband?" I asked.
"Something happened which taught me that in that world, no matter
how much influence I might have acquired through my relationships,
I was really just a pretty flower who could easily shrivel and die.
At the time I particularly liked a girl from Chengdu. She had studied
management at Sichuan University, read widely and could discuss
things like art with me.
"The girl didn't have anywhere to live, so I took her in to share
a flat with me. One evening three fierce-looking guys came looking
for her. It turned out they were from the same hometown in Sichuan,
and they had pooled cash and given it to her so she could come to
Guangzhou and invest in futures. But literally overnight she lost
100,000 renminbi. Having lost all her capital, the girl was penniless
and had no choice but to work as a bar girl. But she avoided contact
with other Sichuanese and didn't inform the investors of her failure.
In the end, these guys came looking for her with their knives concealed.
"I was in the bathroom taking a shower when they came, and when
they discovered me, they took me along too. It was a terrifying
situation. My room was turned upside down, and my jewelry and 30,000
renminbi were stolen. I explained that all of this had nothing to
do with me, and they should let me go. They just shoved cloth into
my mouth. I thought they intended to sell me and her to slave traders
in Thailand or Malaysia."
Her cold, clammy hands clung to mine. As she told her story, her
fingers trembled. "So you chose to get married?" I asked.
"Yeah, to get out of the business," said Madonna. "At the time there
was an old codger—a multimillionaire in real estate—who
wanted to take me as his wife. In the end, I overcame my repugnance
at the thought of sleeping with a wrinkled mummy and married him.
I guessed he wouldn't live long, and my instinct was proven right.
Now I have money and freedom, and I'm luckier than most women. Even
though I'm bored silly, I'm still better off than your typical laid-off
garment worker."
From Shanghai Baby by Zhou Weihui. Copyright (c) 1999 by Zhou
Weihui. English-language translation copyright (c) 2001 by Simon
& Schuster, Inc. Translated by Bruce Humes. Originally published
in China in 1999. Reprinted by permission of Pocket Books, a division
of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ALSO IN YOUNG CHINA: THE ARTS 
