1 - Setting Sail
Gao Qing’s Distress
Chapter 23
Published December 20th, 2024Spring in Canton[1] was drawing to a close, but the weather hadn’t warmed up at all. Gao Qing sat in the courtyard, blankly staring up at the sky. It had been almost two months since he came under the employ of his Australian masters.
After transferring him over, Master Gao had instructed him to report back every move of the Australians. He also promised that if the Australians never returned or their relationship soured, Master Gao would still take him and his family back in.
Gao Qing and his wife also discussed several times what to do if the Australians wanted to take them back to Australia. Back then, he wasn’t certain if Master Gao would be able to take care of the family he’d leave behind.
These Australian masters were quite kind to their servants. After hearing of Gao Qing’s hardship, they even gave extra rice and a monthly allowance to their son. However, they were foreign merchants after all, and there would inevitably be a day they returned to their home land. What if he was really taken back to Australia? Logically speaking, they were the masters of his family; wherever they went, his family would have to follow. However, Gao Qing didn’t want to leave his home again–he had already fled once from his hometown, and if he had to go to Australia which was thousands of miles away…Australia was a wild land, and he hadn’t heard much about it. Even if there were some strange and exquisite objects, how could living there compare to China? Although Guangzhou was not technically his hometown, he would definitely miss it still after living here for so many years.
Gao Qing felt quite distressed thinking about everything. He had lived in Master Gao’s house for many years, and knew that the Portuguese merchants would always wait for the wind and set sail in the sixth month to return to Portugal. So, he guessed that the Australian merchants would also leave around then–would they take his family away as well?
Gao Qing sighed again and squinted his eyes to look at the backyard doorway. Counting the days, the Australian masters would come within the next few days.
In the last two months, the three masters would come once every half a month or so and stay for several days consecutively. He didn’t know when they came or how they even entered the residence. He only knew they had arrived when the gate of the masters’ courtyard was open and the rooms were lit, or when goods were piled up in the hall and under the eaves.
Their behaviour was quite mysterious, and Gao Qing even felt a little fearful. Although Master Gao had asked him to investigate these Australian merchants, he didn’t dare to do it. Although it wasn’t difficult to just lurk in the courtyard, what if he saw something he wasn’t meant to and got caught…
Gao Qing knew that the most important thing with being a servant was to make sure he didn’t know things he shouldn’t know, no matter if his masters were from the Great Ming or from Australia.
However, Gao Di didn’t understand his father’s thinking. He trotted over and asked, “Father, Mom wants to ask you when will the masters arrive? She wants to prepare food. Last time, Master Wang told her to cook up a good meal so that he could try the dishes of the Great Ming.”
“It will be within these few days.” Gao Qin counted on his fingers for a while, “have you prepared all the accounting books?”
“It’s all ready. At the end of last month the masters looked through them and praised me for remembering it all and being careful.” Gao Di raised his chin proudly. “Master Wang also helped me correct my spelling.[2] Master Xiao said that he would teach me Arabic numerals in the future which would let me calculate faster than other accountants.”
“Good, good. As long as the masters like it.” Gao Qing said vaguely. It was a good thing that the children were liked by the masters. If they were Chinese, it would be a good future for the children, but, alas… these masters were foreigners. He would be reluctant to take his children with him if they were to be moved to Australia.
“I think that Master Wen likes my sister a lot. He always talks with her and gives her gifts. Will he marry my sister?”
This was a hard knock on Gao Qing’s heart. He frowned and thought for a while, before finally saying, “It depends on her luck.” But deep down he was quite unwilling.
Just when he was starting to feel depressed, he heard the door open. It was Manager Yan. Gao Qing hurriedly greeted him and invited him to sit at the stone table in the courtyard. He sent his son off to get tea and fruits.
“Old Gao, the Australian merchants are coming by again in the next few days. Any updates on the things Master Gao asked you to do?” Manager Yan didn’t fluff around and got straight to business.
“To answer your question… I really haven’t figured it out.” Gao Qing knew that what was coming was quite inevitable, “those masters are very cautious and never ask people to go into their rooms. Every time they come and go they leave no traces.”
“It’s been two months already and you still spout the same excuse. You’re still a goddamn waste of space.” Manager Yan had always had a close relationship with Master Gao. He had never taken Gao Qing, a servant who hadn’t even stepped foot inside the inner courtyard, seriously at all. He spoke without restraint.
“Yes, sorry master, I’m a stupid person.”
“How do you want me to answer Master Gao?” Manager Yan rolled his eyes, “Master is already very dissatisfied with you…”
“Then I have to ask Manager Yan to please bear with me…” Gao Qing panicked. He fumbled in his waist and took out two qians of silver–the whole surplus from two months of saving. He had planned to use it to buy some clothes for his two children, but at this moment, he was thoroughly scared by Manager Yan’s words. Although he was technically no longer under the employ of the Gao family, he didn’t yet dare to entrust his fate entirely to the Australians.
Manager Yan took the proffered coins and stuffed them into his sleeve. “I’ll help you deal with Master Gao. But this matter, although we can put it off for one day, we can’t delay it for fifteen! No matter what, we need to find out more about these people!”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
“As soon as the merchants arrive, invite them over immediately. The moment they arrive! Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Manager Yan, after saying his piece, left the residence. Gao Qing wiped the sweat from his head and frowned even deeper. Helping Master Gao with his investigation would definitely draw the ire of these new masters. It would also be a very ungrateful action given the kindness that these Australian merchants had shown them so far. Even the fact that he was passing on the information of his masters to another amounted to a serious crime of betrayal. However, if he ignored Master Gao’s instructions, he would definitely have no chance of seeking refuge with him in the future, not to mention the countless ways a person like Master Gao had at their disposal to deal with a servant like him.
Just as his thoughts were straying into wild territory, one of his sworn brothers in the Gao family, Gao Chang, came over. He was carrying a big box filled with smoked snacks that Master Gao Ju was giving to the Australians. Gao Qing cheered up at the sight. He asked his wife and daughter to come out and collect the gift, before he himself went into the kitchen to clean up.
"Did Manager Yan come to blackmail you again, brother?" Gao Chang was a strong young man in his mid-twenties. He and Gao Qing came from the same hometown, and both ended up in the service of Master Gao. They even both ended up working in the outer courtyard, and so they took oaths of brotherhood in private.
"Alas..." Gao Qing muttered.
"Brother, you are too much of a coward," Gao Chang said angrily, "You belong to the Australian merchants now, why do you even bother with Master Gao? Your masters were kind enough to let you save some money, so why did you just go and shove it down a shithole!”
"Brother, please don’t talk about it..” Gao Qing looked at the sky hanging just above the courtyard wall, "My family... I’m afraid that they’ll still have to take refuge under Master Gao in the future." After that, he refused to say more.
"That’s so strange. My brother's whole family has been given to the Australian merchants. Why do you want to return to Master Gao? Is it possible that they don't want you anymore?"
"That's not true. The masters treat us very well. They are kind and gentle with everyone. They are people with hearts of gold."
“Then why would you ever want to return to the Gao family? You were just a lowly servant there, and now you’re pretty much half a manager. I envy your luck.”
“But they are still foreign merchants!”
“So what? They are not those red-haired, green-eyed Portuguese, with their weird smells.” Gao Chang disagreed, “Although it is sometimes hard to understand what the masters’ say, and they also dress strangely, they are after all Chinese people.”
“But they will leave one day. What if they take my whole family with them?”
Gao Chang suddenly realised what was troubling his sworn brother. Gao Chang never cared about such familial matters: he grew up an orphan, and was now still a bachelor. He had nothing to tie him down unlike Gao Qing.
"Brother is probably right to be worried. But in my opinion, it’s fine to go. Although the Ming Dynasty is good, it’s not like we’re really part of it. Here you are a slave, but you would still just be a slave in Australia. How bad could it be? Your masters are very kind-hearted. You and your family will definitely not suffer if you go." He smiled and said, "If I were you, I would definitely go and see this little China in Australia across the seas."
"Brother, you are right, but I don't want to die in a foreign land." Gao Qing sighed, "When there was famine in my hometown, I even abandoned my old house and ancestral grave, all to find a way to survive. I was taken in by Master Gao. It has been more than ten years since. My old house and ancestral grave have been destroyed... I have already given up the idea of going home in this lifetime..." As he spoke, tears came down and his voice was choked with sobs, "Brother, I am already over 40 years old. If I still go and journey over mountains and seas, and end up being buried overseas…I really can’t rest in peace."
Gao Chang saw his brother's sadness and hurriedly comforted him. But Gao Chang still didn't agree with his brother. After all, when the servants of the Gao household died, only those with a good reputation could rely on the grace of their masters and their savings to buy a place for burial in a temple. Ordinary servants were just sent off in a thin coffin and carried to the public grave outside the city to be interred in a random spot. Gao Qing i wanted to stay here in Guangzhou just to end up like that? Gao Chang couldn't help but feel a little sad for his sworn brother.
For the first time in more than 20 years upon this mortal realm Gao Chang felt a ray of light flash across his heart. He, who had been so far living a muddled life as a slave, felt a new hope dawning: maybe, there was something better than this world he had known…