The Last Rose of Shanghai

Aiyi can’t move in with Ernest because everyone will consider her his mistress, and she doesn’t want to tarnish her family’s name. Ernest pays for her to stay at the inn for the next three months and sees her every day. At the bakery, the threat of the Japanese is constantly present, and Ernest’s hand begins to seize up again. Thinking of his parents, Ernest goes to a synagogue and feels peace and a sense of tradition. He prays for everyone he loves.

Ernest and Golda see an Austrian refugee, Sigmund, outside the bakery. They feed him and Sigmund explains that, without the JDC, there are 8,000 refugees crammed in a single building, without food or medicine. Remembering the power of attorney, Ernest decides that he must find Laura Margolis. He hires Sigmund to help at the bakery, hoping that he’ll befriend Miriam.

Aiyi doesn’t understand why Ernest is fixated on finding Margolis and helping the refugees. She feels that it's dangerous and there are too many refugees to help all of them. Ernest asks her to find where the camp is, and she agrees, moved by his tears for others. Yet Aiyi is more concerned about her future; her wedding date is long past and she needs to become engaged to Ernest so that she won’t be utterly ruined. This will require contact with her family. She is frustrated that Ernest thinks more of the refugees than their situation. Nonetheless, she gives her chauffeur jewelry to bribe someone for information about the location of the camp. They learn that it is on Pudong Island and, unwillingly, Aiyi has her driver find an honest ferryman to take Ernest there. She tells him this and is annoyed by his happiness at the news.

The ferryman takes Ernest to Pudong, through a river clogged with corpses, trash, and debris. Pieces of large ships and a Japanese patrol make the crossing dangerous. On Pudong, he sees factories and several peasants with no shoes. The tobacco factory is guarded and Ernest creeps closer to see English-speaking prisoners. The peasants seize him and steal his clothes. Ernest returns later, waving Margolis’s scarf, but the Japanese guards see him and he must retreat.

Aiyi suggests that Margolis isn’t in the camp and says that she won’t pay the ferryman for Ernest to go to Pudong again, or to the other camps. He embraces her and asks for one more try.

Aiyi misses her home and has her chauffeur drive her by it. Japanese soldiers are everywhere and Yamazaki is now an important official in the occupation’s government. Aiyi is too nervous to talk to Cheng and Sinmay, but she does see Ying. He is entering a Japanese home and Aiyi realizes that he must work for them. She weeps, believing that her brother is “a traitor” (265). She thinks of how shocked her grandfather would be at her and her siblings. Back at the inn, it’s hot and Aiyi removes everything but her bra and underwear. She hears a knock and cracks the door. Cheng pushes his way inside.

Ernest finally finds Margolis in the Pudong Island camp. She is ill. They talk through the fence, but a Japanese soldier fires at them. Margolis gives Ernest the name and address of the man for whom the power of attorney is intended, and he runs. Ernest goes to Mr. Bitker, who is Russian and therefore still free. Mr. Bitker is glad to be able to access the JDC money, but it has depreciated while supplies have become even rarer. Bitker thinks that the war will continue for several years, so they need to stretch the money. He asks Ernest to help feed the refugees through his bakery. Though producing at the scale necessary will eat up the bakery’s store of flour, Ernest can’t say no.

Cheng saw Aiyi drive by and followed her. He is disgusted with her lodgings and angry at how she humiliated him. Aiyi is scared until Cheng says that “for [his] entire life [he’s] tried to protect her” (271). She sees that he is genuinely hurt. He apologizes for yelling and leaves. Aiyi realizes that she doesn’t know Cheng as well as she thought. A cramp reminds Aiyi that she hasn’t menstruated since arriving at the inn. Aiyi thinks of her mother, who had bound feet but saved Aiyi from it despite family pressure. However, she also suffered Aiyi’s father’s abuse in secret. Aiyi knows that her pregnancy would have horrified her mother.

Aiyi throws herself into sex with Ernest to drive away her terror. She ignores him speaking about his agreement with Bitker, asking instead if he likes children. Aiyi believes that mixed-race children have awful lives. Ernest says that when their circumstances are better they can have children.

Ernest labors heavily to produce the bread that the refugees need. He barely sees Aiyi anymore, though he is trying not to neglect her as he did Miriam. Ernest hasn’t been paid by Bitker yet and uses his own savings to pay his workers. The Japanese are rumored to have let stateless Jews go free, but Ernest is still nervous when they’re nearby. He overhears Miriam say something affectionate about him and feels that the bakery has returned his sister to him. Bitker pays Ernest something and gives him more flour. Ernest secretly buys other supplies from the black market. One day he sees the bellboy from Sassoon’s hotel trying to sell the Jazz Bar piano. Ernest buys it as a gift for Aiyi.

Aiyi meets Sinmay at a teahouse; she thinks that he’ll consider her disgraced, but she needs his help. The place is quiet. To Aiyi’s surprise, Sinmay pours her tea. He tells her that it is the last cup there. Emily wrote to Sinmay that the Japanese conquered Hong Kong, and she escaped execution due to a fake certificate saying that she was Sinmay’s wife—the same one she’d used to protect his printing press from the Japanese. Emily still loves Sinmay, and that inspires him to accept Aiyi and Ernest. He tells Aiyi to come home, even after she confesses her pregnancy. She is joyful but confused. Sinmay explains that he is leaving to be with Emily now that his printing press has collapsed. He has told no one else and says that Peiyu can sell their family heirlooms if necessary. Aiyi finds herself angry and protests that Sinmay is abandoning the family. Nevertheless, she bids Sinmay farewell at the docks and becomes happy that her brother encouraged her to be with Ernest. She hopes that they can move into her family home. The afternoon is beautiful as she goes to the bakery to tell him.

Ernest watches Yamazaki out the bakery window but does not recognize him. The Japanese looked over the piano before allowing it inside the store. Trying to convince himself that things are fine, Ernest begins to play the piano, settling on Beethoven. Sigmund tells the other workers that Ernest got the piano for Aiyi; Miriam, Mr. Schmidt, and Golda are all negative about Ernest’s relationship with a Chinese woman. Yamazaki enters the bakery, completely drunk. He compliments the Beethoven and demands that Ernest continue. Yamazaki notices the star-shaped scar on Ernest’s hand and introduces himself before questioning Ernest as to his name and nationality. Aiyi appears at the door. Yamazaki recognizes her and realizes that Ernest is the man he’s been hunting. He accuses Ernest of collaboration with the Chinese and yells that “[a]ll of [them] deserve death” (286). Yamazaki tries to shoot Aiyi; Ernest fights to get the gun out of his hand, and another shot fires. Seeing Miriam fall, Ernest bludgeons Yamazaki into unconsciousness. He realizes that Miriam is dead.

Holding Miriam, Ernest doesn’t register Aiyi. She tries to hold him but she doesn’t know what to do. Golda tells Aiyi to leave. Aiyi doesn’t want to, but when Golda tells her that she’s responsible for Miriam’s death, Aiyi runs out of the bakery. Mr. Schmidt and Sigmund carry Yamazaki away, hoping that he won’t remember what happened and arrest the denizens of the bakery. They are also hostile to Aiyi. She returns to the bakery, wanting to tell Ernest about their child and her family’s openness. When he finally turns to her, Aiyi sees that he is a very different person than the one she fell for.

Ernest can’t believe that Miriam lost her life trying to protect him. Inside his mind, he instinctively yearns for Aiyi’s comfort. He thinks of his parents grieving and his mother’s instructions to care for Miriam and “marry a good Jewish girl” (291). He now sees his prevention of Miriam’s travel to America as a failure to give her a future. Aiyi speaks to him and Ernest feels that he can no longer be with her, knowing that his attempt to protect her resulted in Miriam’s death. He tells Aiyi that their relationship is over. She pleads with him, and he feels awful but walks away.

In shock, Aiyi takes her car back to the inn. She is tortured by everything reminiscent of Ernest. In the morning, she returns to her family compound. Sinmay is gone and Ying isn’t around; Aiyi hides in her room. She feels both guilty for Miriam’s death and abandoned by Ernest. Sinmay left debts, which Peiyu can only pay by releasing all the servants, including Aiyi’s driver. Peiyu sells the Nash and begins selling precious family treasures, giving the pawnshop a deal in return maintaining their anonymity.

Aiyi, now visibly pregnant, goes to the bakery. Ernest is absent, so Aiyi tells Golda that she wants to see him. Ernest never shows. Peiyu realizes that Aiyi is pregnant by Ernest and tells her that she and Sinmay are a disgrace. With six children to feed, Peiyu will not help Aiyi when the baby is born. She tells Aiyi to give it up, saying that if Aiyi’s mother knew of the situation, she would have insisted Aiyi die by suicide.

Every night, Ernest reads a little of the Webster dictionary next to Miriam’s ashes, mourning her. Being at work distracts him, but never enough. He misses Aiyi but thinks that “loneliness [is] a fair punishment” (299). An insomniac, he leaves the apartment and sets up a table at the bakery where he works all night. At 2:00 am, Golda checks on him and makes sexual advances to him. Seeking “oblivion” (300), Ernest has sex with her.

The Japanese investigate Ernest over Yamazaki’s beating. He tells them that he misplaced his passport but is German. They hold him for two days but ultimately release him. Bitker sends steak to the bakery to celebrate Ernest’s freedom. He shares the meat with his employees. The occupation government imposes a new currency on China, which allows Ernest to sell the two apartments he owns for lots of money. He begins to buy food and fuel from his Chinese suppliers, secretly reselling them to international people in hiding and to Shanghai locals. A US victory in the Pacific results in the Japanese commandeering the bulk of Chinese supplies, causing inflation to erupt even further. Ernest sells his goods in this economy and becomes rich.

Aiyi gives birth to a daughter. She is miserable at the destruction of her body and hears warped music. Peiyu holds the baby and will not give her to Aiyi. She feels that the baby will ruin Aiyi’s life, noting that being “birth tools” ruins most women’s lives (304). Peiyu grudgingly lets Aiyi see the child, who has Ernest’s eyes, before taking the baby away. Aiyi collapses into sleep. Later, Peiyu refuses to tell Aiyi what she did with the child, and Aiyi feels that she “lost [her] daughter because [she] didn’t fight for her” (305).

Cheng visits, bringing food to the family. He asks Aiyi what is going on. She reveals everything and weeps on him. Cheng still wants to protect Aiyi, and they get married. She compares the wedding to the picture that her mother used to paint of it: Instead of being beautiful and surrounded by luxury, Aiyi is exhausted, post-partum, and impoverished. Going to Cheng’s car, she puts on a red veil and has a vision of Ernest in Chinese wedding clothes. She pushes it away and accepts Cheng’s offered hand.

Sorebi is quiet after this part of the tale, making Aiyi anxious. She asks if Sorebi has children. Sorebi talks about her nine-year-old son Ben. Aiyi asks that Sorebi humor her and show a picture. Aiyi asks more about Ben, but Sorebi turns the conversation back to Aiyi. Aiyi tries to figure out how Sorebi will present Aiyi’s surrender of her daughter. Sorebi promises not to judge Aiyi, saying that she would never do such a thing but knows that it happens in China. That American attitude troubles Aiyi, but she knows that she has no ground to stand on. Sorebi thanks Aiyi for explaining how Miriam died, after many contradictory reports from her interviewees. Aiyi wants to tell Sorebi “something extremely important” but feels disoriented (310).

The JDC money to support the refugees runs out, and Ernest uses his own money to provide for them. He thinks that Miriam would have been proud and again thinks that, if he’d let her go with the Blackstones, she would be alive.

Ernest strikes a deal to buy a large number of ships—the most in Shanghai. He wants to become the leading shipping magnate along the eastern coast of China in order to make enough money to support the refugees indefinitely. Ernest goes to small parties held by the few non-Chinese people looking to make money in Shanghai, remembering Sassoon fondly. It becomes awkward to be single at these parties, so Ernest starts bringing Golda, buying her whatever she wants. They haven’t had sex again, despite Golda’s interest. Even with his prosperity, Ernest is not happy, and he thinks of Aiyi. He tries to get in touch with her to no avail and goes to visit her home. He sees Japanese soldiers inside and a nearby salesman tells him that the house was sold. Ernest wonders if he has lost Aiyi for good.

Cheng remains uninterested in Aiyi’s inner life and feelings, but Aiyi values his loyalty, especially in the face of his mother’s prying about grandchildren. Aiyi avoids music, knowing that Cheng wouldn’t approve. She is no longer physically afraid of Cheng and they have sex often. She feels that she has a “good life” and hopes that she will grow to love her husband.

Playing mah-jongg with his Chinese colleagues, Ernest learns that Aiyi and Cheng are married. He goes to the house, but a servant won’t let him in.

Ernest returns to his office to find Yamazaki waiting. Ernest wants to kill his sister’s murderer. However, Yamazaki acts as though nothing ever happened. Ernest knows that he cannot hurt Yamazaki or everyone connected to him will die. He’s heard that a Nazi colonel met with the Japanese emperor and encouraged the Imperial Army to eradicate the Jews through gas or medical experiments. Yamazaki makes polite conversation until revealing that he is there to offer a business partnership with Ernest. Yamazaki also gives his condolences for Ernest’s statelessness, highlighting that Ernest is unprotected. Ernest must agree to the partnership. After Yamazaki departs, Mr. Schmidt points out that the Japanese can take whatever they want from a man with no country. Though after Miriam’s death he promised to never play music again, Ernest goes to the piano in his office and imagines pressing the keys, thinking that the Japanese could destroy his ability to care for the refugees.

Aiyi heard that Peiyu had to sell the family home and move into a hovel in a bad area. She wants to bring Peiyu and the children to live in Cheng’s large mansion, thinking that Peiyu might share Aiyi’s daughter’s location in return. Cheng doesn’t want to make the trip but won’t let Aiyi go on her own. On the drive, they see a Japanese officer, and the chauffeur slows to avoid attention. Japanese anti-Chinese sentiment has been rising as the war drags on. Aiyi catches sight of a poster featuring Emily Hahn and lurches out of the car to look. She suddenly realizes that the Japanese officer they saw is Yamazaki. When Cheng tries to pull Aiyi back into the car, Yamazaki tells Aiyi that she’s a “whore” for going from a white man to a Chinese man and insists that she kneel and apologize. Cheng intervenes and Yamazaki shoots him. Cheng dies in Aiyi’s arms.

Aiyi mourns Cheng, sitting up for the traditional vigil. Cheng’s mother believes that his death is Aiyi’s fault and abuses her. Ying attends the vigil but Aiyi feels that she doesn’t know him anymore, since he’s a collaborator of the Japanese. After the vigil is complete, Cheng’s mother kicks Aiyi out of the house with no money. Aiyi packs all the things that Cheng bought for her and gets on a bus.

In his office, Ernest awaits Yamazaki. He’s drafted the partnership contract and has hidden a pistol in a desk drawer. All of Ernest’s employees are nervous. Sigmund runs in to say that the Japanese are making arrests. Yamazaki enters and tells Ernest that the emperor has commanded that Jewish refugees be interned and their property restricted. Ernest’s business is entirely under Japanese control. Ernest goes for the pistol, but seeing his friends in handcuffs, he knows that he must go quietly.

The others are sent on, but Yamazaki takes Ernest to a torture center, imprisoning him in sight of brutal ongoing torture. Yamazaki leaves Ernest there for six days, the same amount of time that Yamazaki was hospitalized after Ernest bludgeoned him. At the end, Yamazaki releases Ernest in return for Ernest’s signature turning over his bank accounts. Outside the prison, Ernest begins walking but is swiftly forced onto a truck that delivers him to the designated area for “Stateless Persons” (332).