Zhou the Millionaire VII

The “den of the raven” was destroyed. The “raven” had its head and tail broken by the manmade streamlet. It could not lay any more egg for the occupants of the house built in the “den.” Zhou's lucky days were over.

The downfall of the Zhou family was brought about by the multimillionaire's only son and heir whom people believed was sired by the few drops of blood of the monster lamprey that was poisoned to death a short while before it could have earned enough merit to become immortal. As the fish was cut up, it emitted blood from its belly, a few drops of which stained the waist part of Mrs. Zhou's dress. She was at the kitchen to watch her chef prepare the fish for a feast.

The son, with two given names, was a lovable boy. One name given him was Gold-Prosperity. He brought gold and prosperity to his father. The other name, a courtesy one, was Dailong (代龍) or Substitute Dragon. He turned out to be a dragon like the one St. George is believed to have slain. Pampered since he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the boy grew up into a frivolous spendthrift indulged in every sensual pleasure. He would spend a thousand taels of silver without batting an eye to satisfy his whim. His doting parents could do nothing to control him. He had much of the real estate his father owned sold without the latter's knowledge. After he had learned of his son's wicked misdeeds, the father was taken ill, and died shortly afterwards.

Without his father keeping an eye on him, the heir sold all twelve junks plying between Bank and Amoy to end the export-import business. All rice paddies and real estate, including the Katsura Flower Mansion, changed hands. He died penniless. People believed the lamprey spirit had its revenge.

The Katsura Flower Mansion was torn down to make room for a freight train yard while Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule. The neighborhood was named Kabayama after the first Japanese governor-general of Taiwan, Sukenori Kabayama (華山資紀). A series of go-downs was erected. It was called the Kabayama-soko or Kabayama Go-downs. The area is now an unfinished cultural park a stone's throw away from the Taipei Railway Terminal.

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