在广州的日子

半年不见兴华，他已用流利的粤语与人交谈，真是令我赞叹不已。到了公司为我们租的房子，我们住一楼，房东住楼上。兴华已将之布置妥当，大小家具共19件，摆设得非常体面。

1949年初，广州仍是太平盛世，完全不能想象江南一带危急的状态。我也发现广州和香港一样用港币。买菜的方式更是不同，一天要买两次菜，上午买午餐的菜，下午买晚餐的菜。我知道我得慢慢适应这新环境，最主要的是得赶紧学讲几句实用的广东话，不然真是寸步难行。

我们商量了一阵子结婚典礼应该在哪里举行，是在教会呢，还是酒楼，后来终于决定就在酒楼。我少不更事，听说爱群酒楼是此地最好的酒楼，就要求在那里举行婚礼，兴华也答应下来。后来才知道这苦果日后还得自己来吞。我们请了教会里的李志英长老证婚。在广州既没有亲人，除了老同学陈兆潼以外，也没有真的朋友。但兴华请了他公司里所有同事，再加上教会中初识的一些弟兄姐妹，还有两位杭州来的张弟兄和翁弟兄。婚宴席开六桌，每桌都有一支烤全乳猪，是耗资三百港元的上等酒席。我们所收到的礼物大多属银盾，锦缎之类，而礼金也是港币五元，十元左右。豪华的婚礼使我们终生难忘，但当我们付了婚礼费用之后，有数月之久我们都分期付款偿还公司。出门时我不需要带皮包，因为身无分文，连一张港纸也没有。

人说吃在广州，这话果然不错。我和兴华遍尝各种美味，即使在门口小贩所叫卖的芝麻糊，红豆沙，绿豆沙等等都是价廉物美。在结婚前我还未进过厨房，但兴华一再鼓励我，即使煮坏了，他也从不嫌不好吃。因此我很努力学习，改良，很快就对烹饪产生兴趣。最主要的就是兴华的鼓励和称赞，并且他以实际行动，努力加餐，来表示对我的肯定，使我更加想要精益求精。

兴华在广州沙面教会中担任领诗，有时在牧师证道时将粤语信息翻译成国语，教会里的弟兄姐妹因此渐渐对我们有些认识。不久，我怀孕了。等怀孕现象稍微减轻一点时，我开始参加教会执事室的值班工作。

平静的日子过得并不长。五月，上海已被解放，共军节节逼近湖南，广州也随之紧张起来。教会中的负责弟兄指示弟兄姐妹要好好祷告，看神如何带领，走与不走，全应由神指引。我和兴华因此每天同心祷告为此求主。他的公司在香港有办事处，老板希望他去香港，而我却一心想要到台湾。我想去台湾的因素有很多：老板的女儿明显喜欢兴华，每次遇到他就挑逗不止，我看了心里很不高兴；再则，国民政府此时已以台湾为反攻基地，我自认很爱国，去那边有风雨同舟的感觉；而且教会中的一位军人弟兄，顾念曾常来往于台湾，广州之间，告诉我上海好多位爱主的年轻人都已去了台湾，台北的教会很兴旺，于是我对台湾更是嚮往极了。基于以上三个理由，我和兴华沟通，他也接受并赞成我的想法。我们便积极地准备去台湾。

It'd been six months since I last saw Charles. What a surprise, he was already conversing fluently in Cantonese! Our home was a cozy second floor apartment rented by Charles's company. He had bought 19 pieces of furniture and furnished it nicely.

Guangzhou was using Hong Kong Dollar as currency and it was still stable and prosperous, nothing like the Hangzhou I just left. Not only did I have to pick up Cantonese quickly in order to get around, I had to get used to some different customs too. For instance, everyone bought fresh meat and vegetables twice a day, once in the morning for lunch and once in the afternoon for dinner.

We decided to hold our wedding at Guangzhou's finest hotel, Ai Qun Jiu Jia. At 14 floors, it was also the tallest building in town. The banquet cost us HKD300 per table and we invited six tables of acquaintances and Charles's colleagues to attend. An elder in our church solemnized the wedding. We were too young to consider the consequences of such a lavish wedding. For a few months afterwards, I could go out without bringing a purse as I simply had no money to put in it!

As the saying goes,"Go to Guangzhou for food",Guangzhou is indeed a city of wide variety of good food. Even the snacks hawked by the street vendors were delicious. I had never stepped in a kitchen before this, but thanks to Charles's constant compliments and encouragement, I grew to like cooking.

Charles served as worship leader at the church and sometimes interpreted for the Cantonese speaking pastor. People in church gradually got to know us. Not long after getting married, I found I was pregnant. I had a difficult couple of months, but felt better later and started helping out at the church office.

Alas, the idyllic life of newlyweds did not last long. Shanghai fell in May and the Communist armies were pressing towards Hunan.Guangzhou started to feel the heat. In church, pastors and elders asked the congregation to each pray for his/her own future. Charles's company wanted him to go to Hong Kong, but I was determined to go to Taiwan. There were a few reasons for this: the boss's daughter clearly liked Charles and flirted with him openly, I of course didn't like that at all. Secondly,the Nationalist government had settled on Taiwan as the base for regaining mainland and I considered myself patriotic and wanted to follow the government there to weather the storm together. Finally, I heard that many old friends from my church in Shanghai had gone to Taiwan and the Lord was with the churches in Taiwan. All the more I wanted to join them there. I discussed it with Charles and he also felt that it was a good idea,so we started planning to go to Taiwan.