24. Feng Shui

How happy I am. On your way to Paris, you have stopped for two days in Beijing. And here you are, staying at my place while your parents are out.

You told me this evening that the living room’s Feng Shui was quite fine. That’s where you and I sleep, on the sofa.

But the Feng Shui in the bedroom where your little brother was asleep (and later on your mom and dad) wasn't as good, did you say.

You held my hand and walked me to the door, and begged me to go in and check for monsters. Of course, I did.

Didi was fine, and we didn’t find any hidden beasts.

Since you’re only three years old, I was surprised to hear you speak of this Chinese practice and asked you, in French, what you meant.

You looked at me with exasperated eyes and explained, as if I was a bit dumb, that feng is for wind while shui is for water.

I know that!

Then, you said that when the Feng Shui is not good, monsters can enter the house.

I know that too!

That’s why, every Spring Festival, I buy drawings made of paper-cuts and paste them around my bed, facing the door, at the right angle from the window. These guardians of the house will keep evil spirits out. Didn’t you think your laolao knew this?

But where, by the way, did you learn about Feng Shui? Not from your parents, I gather. Must be at the Chinese kindergarten. Or playing with the kids on your street.

I take it very seriously that a child your age worries about the flow of qi, although it’s the perfect time to do so. By age four or five, you’ll probably get over it.

Now tell me, is that why you take such great care in positioning your toys on the floor? Making parallel, serpentine lines of dolls and plastic cars as if building a path.

Are these energy trigrams, the casseroles you’ve laid out on the balcony?

And that circular pattern made of multi-colored beads on the coffee table, is it to ensure harmony?

You’ve turned my small mirror in the bathroom upside down. It was probably disrupting spheres of influence. Or the balance within our environment. Or the cycle of some elements.

Even your food on your plate has to be organized in a special way.

Yes, you’re very particular about the orientation of objects in your space. I saw the picture your mother took of the toys you arranged so carefully on the steps leading to your living room in Xi’an. Was there a correlation with your thoughts?

I do hear the way your father treats you. It breaks my heart, honey.

Know that I love you,
Laolao