起義後淪為兵匪的國民黨官兵們

 

摘自張宗銘長篇小說：《女人和土匪》（英譯本）

 

Chapter 26

  

The next morning Liu Lijing changed into the dress of Miao nationality, and wore a blue headdress. He did look like a Miao man. Xiao Jiutong passed two bowls of wine to Liu, saying, “Let me use the wine as a way of bless for you.”

Liu was moved at this. He finished the wine given to him. He put two grenades at the waist and a Browning pistol around his belly. He hugged Xiao as a way of thanks and then set out on his way.

At this crucial moment Liu missed Dai Min a lot. He was aware that it was almost impossible to rescue Commander Cao from the hands of the Communist troops. He thought maybe he should die with the commander as he had killed his daddy and brother, an act considered infilial in China.

In order to save Commander Cao from the insults, Liu had planned to die with Cao together by means of the explosions of grenades. Liu felt relieved at this thought. He seemed to have become an indifferent being given his bitter past. He thought he was doing everything now for survival rather than for a cause or a political party. At the time of making farewell to Xiao, Liu felt that he actually cherished feelings. He wiped away tears in his eyes and set out.

It was almost 7 a.m. The city was still quiet in many places. Yet, peddlers were busy with their sales of pig intestine noodles, fermented sticky rice and other delicacies. There was a smell of fragrance in the early morning wind and air. Liu wanted to enjoy the best of life. He went into a noodle restaurant and ordered three bowls of noodles and two taels of liquor. There he had a good time.

At 8 a.m. Liu came to the northern gate bridge and put some lettuce on the ground as a disguise of being a peddler. Then, he heard some people curse, “Fuck the bandit head! He even cursed a lot before his death.”

At this, Liu left the lettuce about, and joined those people in walking to a site. Those people wore Miao dresses and walked to a building named House for Public Education. There were many PLA soldiers guarding the site. Liu was a little scared. Luckily, nobody noticed his strange looks and his weapons. He came into the house, and saw Commander Cao locked in a big wooden cage, with a large audience around.

Cao was shabbily dressed. He looked dirty, with a lot of dung poured on his dress. But he sat in an upright way with an air of serving the Kuomintang Party devotedly.

The audience was not content with watching Cao only. They cursed and provoked him. Human dung was cast into the cage.

Cao was insulted. He looked at the audience angrily. He wanted to curse them, but then his gaze met Liu’s. Liu found the PLA soldiers indifferent to the audience’s insults. He got angry.

Liu put his hands at his waist, shouting, “Commander Cao, I…” He had hardly shouted when Cao shook his head wildly and blamed, “Go away! I won’t let you go when I come back! Go away!”

Cao’s eyes were full of tears. He even bit his tongue, making it bleed a lot. The audience was content with the sight, but Liu was heartbroken. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

A PLA officer noticed Liu’s tears and walked towards him. Liu suddenly had an idea, saying, “Thanks to the PLA for capturing Cao! Thanks to the Communist Party and Chairman Mao!” The officer was happy at this, and did not ask any further questions.

After he left Cao, Liu felt sorrowful. Cao was going to be executed. That meant the Kuomintang troops had been totally defeated. There was no way for the Kuomintang Party to get back the power. Liu found his hope of life disappearing. He was sad with his misfortune.

Liu came back to the northern gate bridge. There his lettuce was still laid. He had once met Zhang Yunxuan here. He did not think Zhang would live a happy life at this moment, so maybe he could make use of Zhang. He contemplated a lot.

It was cloudy and many people went and came through the bridge. The buses then were not driven by gas but by charcoal. The drivers had to move the fan handle quickly in order to get the power. Thus, smoke, spark and vapor went all the way. The non-passengers walked all the way. Some young women sat by a bronze statue nearby, and exposed their fair and big breast as an offer to feed the babies of other people in need. Some old people chatted happily together. Peddlers sold all kinds of delicacies like sticky rice power balls, fermented sticky rice, peanuts, fried preserved tofu and rice cakes. However, this did not make Liu think his childhood happy.

All of a sudden, Liu saw Dai Min. She was dressed in a modern way: robe, and high-heeled shoes. She was charming indeed. Liu was excited. He ran after her quickly. He wanted to hug and kiss her. He would like to pour out his passions to her.

Dai found Liu, and got excited, too. She almost tripped over the stone road.

Madame Wang asked her, “What’s wrong with you?”

Dai cast a glance at Liu, saying to Madame Wang, “Will you please go back first? I’ll have my shoes repaired near the bronze statue.”