Love in a Fallen City

The story opens in the evening at the Bai family home in Shanghai, where Fourth Master Bai is playing the huqin, a bowed string instrument. Mrs. Xu, a matchmaker, arrives with a message that Sixth Sister’s ex-husband has died of pneumonia. Third and Fourth Master discuss how the dead man’s family wants Sixth Sister, Bai Liusu, to go mourn for him, but she refuses as they are divorced. Fourth Mistress says that Sixth Sister is bad luck because her ex-husband spent all his money and now that she is back in the Bai family home, the Bais are going bankrupt as well. Liusu, her brothers, and her sister-in-law argue, and Liusu storms out to go to speak with her mother, Old Mrs. Bai. Her mother tells her that she should be understanding of her sister-in-law, Fourth Mistress, because her husband spent money on gambling and sex workers, stole from the family, and cannot work because he is sick. As a result, Third Sister-in-law, her third brother’s wife, now runs the house. Her mother advises Liusu to go back to her ex-husband’s family because the household is short on money. Then, Fourth Mistress arrives to tell Old Mrs. Bai that Mrs. Xu is waiting to talk to her about marrying off Seventh Sister, Baolu. As Old Mrs. Bai gets up to leave, Liusu begins sobbing and begs her mother to help her.

A little while later, Mrs. Xu arrives and comforts Liusu. She says her family should support her after they lost all of her money in the stock market. They talk about Baolu’s engagement, and Liusu helps Mrs. Xu down the stairs. Then she goes to her bedroom and listens to Fourth Master playing the huqin on the balcony.

After Mrs. Xu leaves, the family discusses the proposed engagement between Baolu and a wealthy businessman named Fan Liuyuan, a “playboy” who gambles and frequents sex workers. They aren’t sure if he will agree to the match because Baolu is the daughter of a concubine. Mrs. Xu also finds a match for Liusu, a customs official named Mr. Jiang, although the Bai family is indifferent to her remarriage. The family goes to the meeting arranged between Liuyuan and Baolu. When they return, Baolu seems disappointed. The Third and Fourth Mistresses tell Fourth Mistress’s daughters, Jinzhi and Jinzhan, that Liuyuan danced three times with Liusu, not Baolu.

A few days later, Mrs. Xu tells the family that she is preparing to move to Hong Kong, Liuyuan has gone to Singapore, and Mr. Jiang has found another wife. Mrs. Xu proposes that Liusu come to Hong Kong with her to improve her prospects of finding a husband, and Liusu agrees.

The Xu family and Liusu arrive in Hong Kong. They check in to the Repulse Bay Hotel. As they go to their rooms, they see Liuyuan with an elegant woman. The woman leaves. Liuyuan tells Liusu that he has been waiting in Hong Kong to see her. He shows her to her room and tells her that he is staying in the room next door. That evening, they all go to a party at the Hong Kong Hotel. Liuyuan and Liusu dance together, and he teases and flirts with her. Then, he tells the group that Liusu has a headache and he will escort her back to their hotel. As they leave, they see the elegant woman Liuyuan was talking to earlier; she is an Indian princess named Saheiyini. Liuyuan tells Liusu that Saheiyini was exiled by Prince Krishna Karumpa and depends on a rich Englishman to support her. They come upon a gray brick retaining wall near the Repulse Bay Hotel. Liuyuan tells her, “This wall makes me think of the old sayings about the end of the world” (139). He says that if they can meet at this wall after the apocalypse, they will know they truly love each other.

Liuyuan begins courting Liusu, and they go out together every day. One day, at the beach, Liuyuan and Liusu are slapping sand flies off each other when Liusu gets offended and walks away. Liuyuan begins to spend more time with Saheiyini. A few days later, Liuyuan runs into Liusu and tells her that he doesn’t want to go talk to Saheiyini because of his feelings for Liusu. Liuyuan and Liusu begin to see each other again, and one night, Liuyuan tells her he loves her. She gets angry because she doesn’t think he will marry her, but Liuyuan accuses her of thinking that “marriage is long-term prostitution” (149). When she realizes he won’t marry her, she decides to return to Shanghai, and Liuyuan escorts her back home.

Liusu’s family is disappointed and scandalized that she is not marrying Liuyuan after the very public courtship. At the end of November, Liuyuan sends a telegram asking Liusu to return to Hong Kong. He meets her at the dock, and they spend the night in her room at the Recluse Bay Hotel. The next day, he tells her he is leaving for England in a week and that he will rent her a house in Hong Kong. She agrees. They set up a house with a Cantonese maid named Ah Li. Liusu has only just moved in when on December 8, 1941, Hong Kong is bombed by the Japanese. A bomb falls on her house, but she, Ah Li, and Ah Li’s child survive. The next day, Liuyuan arrives—his ship never left the harbor. They decide to return to the Repulse Bay Hotel, which has become a battleground. Eventually, the fighting ends, and they go back to the house.

Liuyuan and Liusu do their best to make a life in the damaged house in the bombed-out city. One day, in the market, they run into Saheiyini. Liuyuan tells her that he and Liusu are married. Soon after, Liuyuan and Liusu publish a marriage announcement in the paper. They return to Shanghai, but Liusu remains estranged from her family. They blame her because Fourth Mistress had divorced Fourth Master: “Liusu had divorced and married again with such astonishing success—no wonder other people wanted to follow her example” (167). After their marriage, Liuyuan no longer teases Liusu in the same way, which for Liusu is both good and a little sad. In the end, the Battle of Hong Kong ensures that Liusu gets what she wants.