An Oxcart for a Dowry, by Wang Zhenhe

Wang Zhenhe (1940 -1990) was a Taiwanese fiction writer. As a prominent member of the “nativist movement” he was concerned with exposing social issues, the lives of ordinary people and “the grotesque and unseemly side of human character”. Satire and humor were frequently present in his work. He is also the author of: “Ghost, North Wind, Man”, “Xiao Lin Comes to Taipei” and “Rose, Rose, I Love You”. (source: The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature).

Whenever there was money in his pocket, he soon found himself sitting in the ryoriten*, tasting the duck cooked in danggui** wine. He had never had a chance to taste such good food before.

* A Japanese-style restaurant.

** Ligusticum acutilobum: an aromatic herb, the root of which has medicinal uses.