女人和土匪（英譯本）：殺地主、富農哪能有罪？

 

 

Chapter 21

 

Yang Yongchun told much about his bitter past. In fact, he was not quite aware of the origin of his bitterness. Yet, the past seemed unforgettable. Why did he kill that dirty couple? Should he have forgiven them? These questions had bothered him for years.

If you killed a life, you would have to pay for it. That was common sense. He was worried about that. That was why he joined the Kuomingtang army. Today he had told the others his bitter past. Now it was the time for judgment.

The people present were silent. The house was still except for the smoking of tobacco and the occasional coughs. Yang was regretful to have told the others his bitter past. He was also sorry to have regarded Director Yan as his close friend. He was aware of the likely consequence of his past acts. The stillness of the house seemed like a verdict of death sentence to Yang.

Yang could no longer bear. He cursed, “Shit! Why do you keep quiet? I have told you all about my past. Why do you still stare at me? Give me a sentence whether it’s death or not.”

“Don’t forget class conflicts!” Cao Fade shouted at the motion of Director Yan.

“Down with the exploiting class!”

“Justice for Comrade Yang!”

“No class oppression any more!”

“Let’s not forget our past bitterness!”

Yang felt relieved at these slogans. He was glad that these people showed sympathy for him as an oppressed poor farmer. He felt that a powerful hand was helping him. Wasn’t it the Communists? Wasn’t it Chairman Mao Zedong? He no longer felt like a criminal. Instead, he was hailed as a hero. After the slogans were over, Yang began to notice the others’ discussions about his act of killing.

Liu Lijing said, “Dear brother, what a heroic act! I might have done like you in that situation.”

A platoon captain remarked, “If I were you, I might have saved the life of the woman for more days. Then, I would torture her with sex and other means. I would let her know the cost of disloyalty.”

A company captain interrupted, “Don’t you think that is a silly act? That woman cried over her lover’s death. She was a dirty woman. Do you mean to be stained by her notoriety?”

“If it were me, I would sell her to a whorehouse.”

“I would not do anything against her if it were me. She was so beautiful and you married her for nothing. Don’t you think you were taking advantage of the beauty in the world?”

The leaders were impatient with these wild remarks. Cao Fade interrupted:

“Dear comrades, we are now discussing the bitterness and unfair treatment of Comrade Yang. Don’t digress from the topic. Dear comrades, you used to work for capitalists, but now you’re working for the Communists as masters. What a big difference! We have studied for a month by now. Don’t you think we have made much progress? I hope you can learn much from Comrade Yang’s case.”

Liu Lijing patted his own legs and said, “I have learned a lot. If you asked me to go on with my feelings, I would say that Yang killed a landlady or a wicked woman, or a bitch. He was innocent. I realize that the Communists have killed the bad, whereas the Kuomintang the good.”

Director Yan added indifferently, “Comrade Liu, you are speaking in a bad way. That’s dangerous.”

“Dear brothers, do you think I am speaking in a bad way? Where is my fault?” Liu stood up with his hands on the waist, shouting loudly. “Let’s ask Director Yan to point out my mistake.”

Yan stood up calmly, remarking, “What are you now? What are you standing for? Think of this first. The Communists are the leaders of the whole Chinese. It is a great political party.”

Liu interrupted, “Don’t talk horse. Director Yan, allow me to ask you a question: now that Yang killed two persons, wasn’t he guilty? How could we forgive him in terms of class struggle?”

“You’re right. Yang killed two people. But you must know what people he killed.”

Liu replied, “Killing is merciless. Had Yang thought a lot before he acted? Had he tried to find if he was killing a poor or rich person, or a good or bad person? Shit! He was just thinking of revenge on a dirty couple!”

Yang nodded, saying, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Liu said to Yan, “Aren’t I right? Don’t you think Yang should stay in prison and wait for capital punishment? I’ll visit him in prison and give him some nice drink and food before he goes west. Killing is killing. You must pay a price for that. Die as if you were dying for the Communist cause, ok?”

Yang could no longer bear. He cursed, “What a son of bitch you’re! The Communists treat me well, but what about you, Liu? I once saved you in the battlefield. You are a mean man!”

The people present were excited. Director Yan motioned them to stay calm. Then, he said, “Please raise your hands if you think Yang was guilty.”

About half of the people raised their hands. Yang found they were all from the Kuomintang army. The Communist soldiers did not do that.

Yan asked the Kuomintang soldiers, “Do you think Yang is an oppressed or oppressing person?”

“An oppressed man.”

“What about Wang Yi the idle man?”

“Like his father, a landlord. But Yang’s wife isn’t.”

“Good remarks!” Yan applauded, going on, “Let me ask Yang: How many houses and acres of land your wife’s original family had?”

“Quite a few acres of land. Besides, they got three houses with tiles, two thatched houses and a simple hut.”

“Did your wife once work in the fields?”

“No. How could she do that? She even had no strength to stand in the strong wind.”

“That means their land was farmed by others.”

“Right. Otherwise what shit could they feed on?”

Yan said to the others in a loud voice, “Dear comrades, didn’t you hear what Yang said? His wife fed on others’ work. She was from an oppressing family. Yang was oppressed and he must be regarded as a poor and innocent man. The woman with tuberculosis played a trick on Yang by having him as her son-in-law. Her purpose was to make him a free slave in the family.”

Applause followed Yan’s words. Nevertheless, Liu said, “Fuck! How could Yang be regarded as a slave given that he penetrated his penis into the vagina of the woman’s daughter?”

Yan turned a deaf ear to that, arguing, “Was the girl so willing to marry a poor man? That’s why she did dirty things with another man. The old saying goes: bad people flock together. Yang’s wife and her lover Wang Yi were just people of the same nature. We should help the poor like Yang! He killed the dirty couple for justice. He was innocent!”

Many Kuomintang soldiers changed their minds, shouting, “Yang was innocent!”

Yan went on, “Now that the new China has been set up, the poor are the masters of the country. The Communists are the supporters of the poor. Comrade Liu, don’t you think you killed a lot in the past? We aren’t judging you over that, but you should realize that Yang is a good man even though he killed the dirty couple. Do you think Yang was guilty?”

“No!” The others shouted.

“Yes or no?”

“No!”

Yang felt relieved at these words. He was glad that he had received the help from the Communists. He thought the Communist troops were more suitable for him.

Yang’s happiness did not go long before Liu said again, “Killing is killing. In the battlefields this is excusable. But Yang killed them from behind. In kind words, we say he killed a dirty couple. In bad words we say he killed for love failure or violence. The Kuomintang soldiers would not consider this as class conflicts. Never!”

Liu did not just target at Yang in this way. In fact, Liu had many personal secrets. He did not want to tell them to the others. He had once killed Japanese as well as Communist soldiers and leaders. He did not want to suffer for his past acts. At present he would not get involved in dangerous situations. Anyway, his soldiers listened to him. He was a dead shot. He wanted to find out what the Communist would do to them.

But his move went in the wrong direction. Yang was not aware that Liu had done many evil acts. He just wanted to vent his anger as long as it did not hurt Zhang Yunxuan. Thus, he roared:

“Fuck Liu! Didn’t you kill a lot? Why do you want to kill me? I joined the Kuomintang army for livelihood. If I had met the Communist army earlier, I would never have joined you the Kuomintang bandits. If I were to be killed for my killing of the dirty couple, what about you who killed five Red Army wounded soldiers? Phew!”

Liu realized the seriousness of the situation, interrupting, “Dear Yang, I’m just joking with you. Why do you slander me in this way?”

Yang replied, “Can you joke with me in this way?” Then, he left the meeting and joined Zhang Yunxuan’s group for discussions.

Yang had not expected that his exposing of Liu’s past acts would make a big stir. The Communist leaders were much concerned about this. They even traced the matter to the division officers of the Kuomintang army.

The next day Yang was asked to criticize Liu. Liu was pushed to the front of the campaign site, flooded by the slogans from the Kuomintang as well as the Communist soldiers, “Punish the evil-doer who killed the Red Army soldiers!” Yang even heard the words of revenge. Cao Fade was excited. He patted Yang on his thin shoulders, remarking, “You have done a great deed!”

Zhang Yunxuan handed over the military power soon and took office in the Provincial Commerce chamber. In the following days some accused Kuomintang officers were transferred. Liu realized that he was coming to the edge of doomsday. He got some soldiers to leave with him as a rebellion.

Yang heard of the rebellion. He saved Director Yan with the prize sword Zhang Yunxuan had given him. He escaped the barracks with Director Yan and Secretary Cao.

Later, Yang knew that Liu killed the Communist leaders he had captured. The Communist troops fought against Liu and his soldiers. Nevertheless, they escaped to the mountains.

The children were now back in the house. Yang’s story attracted all the people present, who showed great respect for his heroic acts of saving the provincial leaders. Comrade Li said, “No wonder you stay in Mr. Zhang’s house. I realize it’s the government’s arrangement.”

Comrade Gao gave a glance at the clock on the wall, saying, “We have known all about Comrade Yang. Let’s talk about Dai Min’s residence here.”