He Who Does Not Brush His Teeth

Unlike many children, I was never one to keep secrets from my mother and father. Everything I saw or heard, I told my parents. When I counted the number of seagulls that perched on the shore of Shuangyu Port, I revealed the number to my parents, as if it were some big secret. When the sailors came to the port with new goods, I described each and every item the sailors and merchants brought. Precious metals, glinting gold and silver and bronze. Delicate porcelain of blue and white, with flowers and dragons and immortals from legends painted onto the glossy surfaces. And even when I passed a drunkard who laid sprawled out in the middle of the market, reeking of sour alcohol, I told my parents of the awful stench. 

My parents enjoyed listening to my stories. They would always listen so intently when I spoke. Mother would chop and dice vegetables or stir pots of stew as she listened. And everyday, I would visit Father in his workshop to tell him my daily tales. In his workshop, Father would craft beautiful weapons of iron and bronze. Clank. Clank. His hammer would pound against metal as sparks flew left and right, but neither Father or I would flinch. 

I always loved watching Father work. His hands were swift and sure, but also precise and delicate. As he worked, his brows creased in concentration and his shoulders were mountains. Steadfast and powerful, his hammer pounded against metal at a constant tempo.

Today, before I could pay Father my daily visit to his workshop, Mother stopped me. "Zhuhua, I need you to deliver this medicine to Baldy Li for his sore tooth."

I grimaced. "Do I have to?"

"Help your mother out, please? I have more prescriptions to make, and I still have to prepare dinner for Father."

"I don't mind helping. It's just that Baldy Li's breath…" I scrunched up my face.

Most of the villagers at Shuangyu Port had the decency to clean their teeth with toothbrushes made from wood and pig bristles, which were then dipped into a mixture of salt and vinegar to scrub onto their teeth. But the sailors who frequented our small port village seemed to loathe brushing their teeth. Perhaps sailors in general did not like to brush their teeth. They were probably too worried about scurvy to care much about brushing their teeth. But even amongst the sailors who frequented Shuangyu Port, there was one man infamous for being the worst offender of oral hygiene -- Baldy Li.

"Don't be rude now," Mother said. "He is a valuable client of ours."

"I will do anything to help out! I can grind the moxa powder for you. I can even go out and harvest new herbs for you! Just please, I don't want to visit Baldy Li. Last time I went, I gagged when he said hello."

"You will have to hold your breath then. Here, deliver this to him as well, and tell him to use it to scrub his teeth with a mixture of salt and vinegar."

Mother handed me a wooden brush with bristles at the end. "Off you go now."

Before I could utter another word of protest, Mother ushered me out of the house. Reluctantly, I made my way to Baldy Li's place. With the parcel of medicine and toothbrush in hand, I dragged my feet through the dirt roads of Shuangyu Village.

Our village was small, but the villagers were friendly and sociable. As I strolled through the market, every auntie and uncle greeted me. Instead of taking the direct route to Baldy Li's house, I decided to take a detour through the market, towards the port where dozens of ships were docked. The harbor at Shuangyu Port was shaped like a crescent moon with deep blue waters that rippled with the drifting of each ship and boat. At one of the docks was a massive ship that towered high like bamboo. Men came pouring out of the ship, bringing with them crates upon crates of miscellaneous items. 

I was about to approach the ship to ask about the contents of the crates when someone called out to me.

"Little Zhuhua, Little Zhuhua!" 

I turned to find a stout and robust woman in her forties headed towards me. "Good afternoon, Auntie Pei."

"Are you running another errand for your mother?"

"I am. I have to deliver some medicine to Baldy Li."

"Ah, I see your mother is working hard as usual. Please, tell your mother her medicine worked wonders for the wart on my husband's foot. Come, come, let me get you a jug of rice wine to bring to your mother as thanks. I brew the best wine in all of Shuangyu Port!"

"Oh no, Mother does not like to accept gifts from others."

"But I insist!" Auntie Pei tried to grab my wrist.

"I can't," I said, dodging Auntie Pei's hand. "Mother will scold me if I come home with alcohol."

Auntie Pei did not falter. "If you don't accept my kindness here, I suppose I will have to have the rice wine delivered to your house!"

"Auntie please, neither my parents drink wine."

"A life without wine? That is not how one should live!"

Before Auntie Pei could say anything more, several men shouted from the ship that had just docked at Shuangyu Port. 

"Oi! There's a stowaway on board!"

"How did a little rat manage to wriggle his way onto our ship?"

"Is he working for that bastard Zhu Wan?"

Several sailors, all of whom were gruff and tanned from hours under the unforgiving sun, dragged a man from the ship and tossed him onto the port for all to see. The man's hands were bound and his clothes were disheveled, but underneath the dirt and grime, one could discern that his robes were made of high quality silk. Although the man was being lugged around like the crates of imported goods, he remained calm.

He sat up, back straight and regal. "I do not work for this Zhu Wan you speak of," he said. "I am visiting this island because my master heard that the herbalist on this island was blessed by the god Shennong and can cure seemingly incurable ailments. Is there such an herbalist here?"

"If you just wanted to visit this island, why did you have to sneak onto our ships?"

"I may be a mere servant, but I am not blind to the happenings of the world. Shuangyu Island is known for harboring violent and unforgiving wokou who steal and trade goods without the blessing of our Great Emperor. What reasonable sailor would wish to take me to this island?"

"Who is this noble master of yours?"

"My master wishes to remain unnamed. However, the medic and anyone who gives me information about the medic shall be compensated handsomely."

Some of the men seemed tempted by the offer. It wasn't uncommon for the wokou of Shuangyu Port to encounter stowaways, but it wasn't everyday that they encountered servants who dressed in high quality silk. Whoever the master of this servant was, everyone was certain he was a wealthy man.

One of the men, a smaller man with a beak-like nose, asked, "How will we be compensated?"

But before the stowaway could answer, another man emerged from the crowd. He was a tall man with a heavy build. The men of the port made way for him, bowing. His footsteps rang loud and clear, and his bald head glistened under the sun. 

"Greetings, Baldy Li."

"We have a stowaway, I see," Baldy Li said. His teeth were black and rotten, the smell causing the nearby men to wince. Although I wasn't near Baldy Li, I felt myself wincing as well.

"Yes, we are going to lock him up for interrogation," someone said.

Baldy Li nodded once in approval. Then he turned to the small man with a beak-like nose. Baldy Li approached the beak-nosed man and leaned in close before flashing a rotten toothed smile. I almost gagged at the sight, pitying the beak-nosed man.

"You want to know how much the servant will compensate us, correct?" Baldy Li asked.

The beak-nosed man trembled but nodded hesitantly, Baldy Li's imposing figure towering over him.

Baldy Li laughed. "Then I will give you all the time in the world to ask him." He turned to one of the bowing men and said, "Lock him up with the servant too." 

The beak-nosed man fell to his knees, kowtowing to Baldy Li. "Sir, forgive me! I was tempted and blinded by greed. I promise it will never happen again."

But Baldy Li merely smiled his rotten toothed smile as several men dragged away the servant and the beak-nosed man. 

"Anyone else want to know how much the stowaway will compensate us?"

The men around him kept their heads lowered. No one spoke.

"Good, good," Baldy Li said. "You may go now."

Dismissed, the men on the port scurried off to continue hauling goods from the boat. Baldy Li was about to head off when I called out to him. 

"Baldy Li!" I called. "Mother asked me to deliver some medicine for you."

Baldy Li turned towards me and smiled. Unlike his previous smile, which was cold and heartless, this one was genuine. But no matter how genuine his smile was, his smile was nowhere nearly as genuine as the stench of his decaying teeth. I held my breath and handed the medicine to him.

"Medicine for your toothache," I said.

"Ah, how kind of your mother," Baldy Li said. "Are you sure she doesn't want compensation?"

"Of course not, you are her most valuable client."

"Your mother is truly a fairy sent to us from the sacred mountain of Putuo."

Baldy Li then turned and headed back into the crowd of men who hauled shipments left and right. Only then did I remember the toothbrush Mother had told me to give to him after I complained about his breath. I pulled out the toothbrush from my sleeve and was about to call out to him again, but then I noticed that with each step he took, Baldy Li was greeted by several men, all of whom bowed to him in great respect. He, who did not brush his teeth, was able to have one of his men locked up for merely being enticed by a handsome reward. It was no wonder everyone at Shuangyu Port held him in such high reverence.

"He is a valuable client of ours," Mother had said.

Finally understanding the meaning behind Mother's words, I stuffed the toothbrush back in my sleeve and headed home.