Mrs Spring Fragrance

Tian Shan is an outlaw, "recorded by the American press as 'a wily oriental, who ‘by ways that are dark and tricks that are vain,’ is eluding the vigilance of our brave customs officers” (128).

Having lost her mother at a young age, Fin Fan, the daughter of a Canadian Chinese shopkeeper, is Tian Shan’s “kindred spirit” (128). Being extremely independent, she does not succumb to the pressures to convert to Christianity, like her father has. This makes her seem like something of an outlaw among members of the Canadian Chinese community, “for all proper Chinese females in Canada and America, unless their husbands are men of influence in their own country, conform upon request to the religion of the women of the white race” (128).

Tian Shan invites Fin Fan on a walk around the mountain, where she asks him to recount his latest adventure. Tian Shan tells her of the perilous journey he had taken through the rapids of the St. Lawrence River, trying to avoid detection. Tian Shan asks him why he risks his life to return to Canada, when he could just stay in America where he is able to make a better living. It is in that moment he realizes he keeps returning to Canada for Fin Fan. The next morning Tian Shan leaves Fin Fan a letter, writing that he will remain in America for one year because “[h]e was possessed of a desire to save money so that he could have a wife and a home” (130).

During that year, Fin Fan’s father, Lee Ping, tries to arrange a match between his daughter and a young merchant named Wong Ling. Fin Fan tells Lee Ping she would sooner become a domestic servant for a Canadian woman than marry someone her father has chosen for her. Because Canadian laws prohibited a father forcing his daughter into marriage, it is up to Wong Ling to make his own case for Fin Fan’s hand in marriage.

After one year, Tian Shan writes to Fin Fan letting her know that he has saved up his money, and he asks if he should come for her. When he gets an encouraging reply, he travels straight to her. When he arrives at the shop, he sees that he has competition. Wong Ling is there, and uncertain how to handle the situation, Fin Fan, “whilst loving one with all her heart, showed much more favor to the other” (132).

Eventually, Tian Shan picks a fight with Wong Ling and almost kills him. Fin Fan blames herself and encourages Tian Shan to go on the run to avoid arrest. Tian Shan is now a fugitive in both America and Canada.

One day Fin Fan reads an article in an American newspaper that one of her father’s customers has left behind:

A Chinese, who has been unlawfully breathing United States air for several years, was captured last night crossing the border, a feat which he is said to have successfully accomplished more than a dozen times during the last few years. His name is Tian Shan, and there is no doubt whatever that he will be deported to China as soon as the necessary papers can be made out (133).

Fin Fan immediately goes to her father’s closet, looking for a man’s suit that will fit her. Fin Fan allows customs officials to catch her, as she Is without any documents. They put her in the same cell as Tian Shan. The guards tell Tian Shan that they will be deported back to China together. Dejected, Tian Shan does not pay his new cell mate any attention at first, but when Fin Fan touches Tian Shan’s elbow, he asks the stranger what he wants. The stranger answers:“To go to China with you and to be your wife” (134).