This has been my introduction to Chang and now I can't imagine why I hadn't read her before. The first story tells of Weilong, a good student living in Hong-Kong who, when her parents decide to emigrate back to their native Shanghai for economic reasons, takes the fateful step of asking her aunt Mrs Liang to help her out. Weilong is afraid of losing a year and would rather stay in the same school. However, Mrs Liang who, against the wishes of her family, chose to be the concubine of a wealthy old man rather than marry within her own class, is hardly the one to take studies seriously. She only accepts to help Weilong if the girl lives under her roof and not in boarding school, because she hopes to use her as bait to attract young men to her home. Now a wealthy widow with faded looks, Mrs Liang likes nothing better than to be seen as still attractive to younger men. Weilong ends up falling in love with one of the gigolos who hang around Mrs Liang's house. Although she has no illusions at all about Georgie, she marries him, on the understanding that from then on she will prostitute herself to provide for him, as well as for Mrs Liang who has used her cunning to convince Georgie to accept the deal. At first I couldn't believe that a sensible girl like Weilong would fall for such a piece of dirt as Georgie, but in fact Weilong goes into this crazy bargain with her eyes open. What she has realized is that for a committed but not stellar student such as her, it will be quite difficult to earn a living even after graduating. On the other hand, finding a husband both rich and to her taste is unlikely in Hong Kong society. In the end, she finds selling herself for the benefit of one she loves the lesser of two evils.
The second story also revolves around an unsatisfactory marriage, this time between Roger, a teacher, and a young woman called Susie. This time Chang is looking mostly at the expat community rather than at the Chinese and mixed blood communities. From the beginning of the story Roger is nervous about the outcome of his choice of Susie as his wife, because Susie's sister, Millicent, was abused by her husband on her wedding night and quickly divorced him. The rumors of this scandal are still reverberating in the expat community of Hong Kong, and Roger doesn't quite know what impact this has had on Susie. He soon finds out as she, too, flees home on their wedding night. Belatedly, Roger is forced to realize that the girls from that family have had so little sexual education they see the slightest embrace as a prelude to murder. Although many people suspect the truth, and don't condemn Roger, his predicament is so awkward in the scandal-loving expat milieu that he has to resign his job, and eventually commits suicide.
Both stories are quite absorbing and I was particularly struck by the translation, which is quite possibly the most foreignizing translation I've ever read. For some reason, while it can be said that Emmanuelle Péchenart goes out on a limb, the limb doesn't snap.