啥都緊缺的人民共和國

 

 

摘自《女人和土匪》（英譯本）

 

 

          Chapter 27

 

Zhang Yan was puzzled why Uncle Yang, or Madame Wang, or other maidservants did not come to meet him after school today. This had not happened before. He played with Fang Yu for a while at school. Then they ran to the gate of the Construction Bureau on

Yuxiu Road

. There were two stone lions at the gate. The two boys climbed up the lions and imitated many legendary heroes such as Yue Fei, Zhang Fei and Guan Gong. They had a good time.

A strong wind whirled, making many things fly high into the air.

Fang Yu pointed at the whirlwind, shouting, “Look, candy paper!”

Then, Fang Yu jumped off the lion and jumped up into the air to catch candy paper. Zhang Yan was moved at this. He recalled the past in the classroom.

Fang Yu’s textbooks were full of candy paper. The candy paper with slogans against the American invaders in Korea was new and precious. Anyone with a piece of such candy paper would be hailed as a hero. The textbooks at that time were not thick. So, Fang Yu placed three to four pieces of candy paper on each page. That attracted the attention of many classmates.

Zhang Yan admired Fang Yu a lot. So did the other classmates.

Suddenly, Zhang Yan heard the teacher shout, “What’re you doing here? Go out to do the morning exercises.” The other classmates left in a hurry. Fang Yu wanted to put back the candy paper into his bag, but it was too late.

“Give it to me!” The teacher said coldly.

Fang Yu guarded his bag and refused to surrender.

The teacher said, “Are you rebelling? We did not charge you for the textbooks. But you must tear the candy paper inside the textbook one by one.”

Fang Yu cast a glance at Zhang Yan, who shook his head. The teacher saw that, and said, “Don’t pretend to be wise, Zhang Yan! Fang Yu’s mom collects garbage in order to send him to school.  He doesn’t have good living conditions. Or he would be much better at study than you. The candy paper is not good for his study. So, give me the paper!”

“Fang Yu looks bigger than me. That’s why he is smarter. Everybody in our class praise him for the big head by singing.” Zhang Yan said in an amused way.

The teacher shouted, “Why do you feel amused? You’re different. Your daddy is a Kuomintang general, and your mom is a capitalist daughter. Why did you motion Fang Yu to behave in a bad way?”

Zhang Yan was annoyed, refuting, “No, my daddy is a general who did the uprising for the Communists. How could you say he is a Kuomintang general?” Zhang Yan was fed up with that salutation. He thought his daddy was a Communist now that he had done the uprising.

The people liked to find faults with the others’ past. They paid little attention to their contributions. Even teachers did that. Zhang Yan felt sad indeed. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

The teacher saw that, heaving a sigh, “Zhang Yan, please do not interrupt when I speak next time. Ok? It’s time for exercises. Go out and enjoy yourself!”

Zhang Yan wiped his tears, replying, “I’ll go out with Fang Yu.” He was worried that the teacher would pay a visit to his home for this case. But then the teacher said, “I’ll forgive you this time. But please don’t do this next time.” She shouted at Fang Yu, “Did you hear me? Give me the candy paper!”

Fang Yu guarded his schoolbag with caution and lowered his head. Maybe the candy paper was too precious for him. The teacher did not mean to snatch it from him. The students had finished their exercises and were coming back to the classroom.

Facing the others, the teacher said, “The candy paper is dirty. It comes from garbage. It’s not good for health. Give it to me, or I’ll tell your mom about it.”

Fang Yu kept quiet. Then Zhang Yan said, “The candy paper was given by his auntie.”

“What do you mean by auntie?”

“Auntie is my mom.” Fang Yu answered in a low voice.

“Why do you address your mom in this way?”

“We are the people of Shui nationality.”

“Shui nationality? There are no people of this nationality in Guiyang.”

“We’re from Libo County. There are many people of this nationality there.”

“No wonder.” The teacher said. “Then, why did your auntie give you the candy paper?” She felt puzzled.

“My family is poor. My auntie has no money to buy better things for me. The candy paper has been washed by my auntie.”

The teacher was moved at the motherly love. She lowered her hands and wiped away the seat on her face, saying, “Then will you please promise to the teacher that you’ll not bring the candy paper into the school later?”

“Ok.” Fang Yu replied at once.

Fang Yu did not need to give up the candy paper. The candy paper looked like heroes to him. It symbolized the brave PLA soldiers fighting against the American invaders in Korea. It symbolized his love for the Chinese soldiers and hate for the invaders.

Thus, Fang Yu and many children cherished such candy paper. The whirlwind brought candy paper and happiness to them. With this thought, Fang Yu sang happily and loudly on the stone lion, “Go across the Yalujiang River and fight against the American invaders!”

Suddenly, Fang Yu hurt his ankle. He sat down. He tried to remove a piece of mud off his feet, only to find he had bled a lot.

“Dear Fanf Yu, doed it hurt? Why don’t you wear shoes?”

“Do you know how much time people have to spend on a pair of shoes? At least ten days and nights. Last night I found my auntie making shoe soles for me. I cried. I told my auntie that my classmates go to school on bare foot. So would I. My auntie said that you are dressed formally and well at any time, and you have leather shoes. She said she should give me such things as well, but she was too poor to afford them.”

Zhang Yan stared at Fang Yu without a word. It was true that many classmates of his went to school on bare foot. If they had socks and shoes to wear in winter, it meant that their families were well-off. Thus, when it got cold in winter, many students brought little charcoal stoves to the classrooms. Smoke filled the rooms then. Some others who did not have the stones would have to stamp their feet from time to time so as to warm themselves. In summer, the situation was better. The students could run on bare foot. Fang Yu’s mom was great, Zhang Yan thought.

At this time, Fang Yu announced proudly, “My auntie is going to make me a pair of cloth shoes with a rubber sole, for playing soccer. If she finishes it, I will wear it to the sports ground.”

Zhang Yan said, “Your auntie is great.”

Fang Yu replied, “Your family is better.”

A high voice drifted over, “Ha! Ha!”

The slogans broke the stillness at dusk and made the road excited.

Zhang Yan and Fang Yu ran over and found tens of people binding something with big ropes. They then saw it was the copper statue. It did not stand upright but was laid flat on the ground.

Zhang Yan asked, “Why did they dismantle the statue of Zhou Xicheng? How could the minority people celebrate their festivals later without it?”

Fang Yu answered, “I guess they’ll replace it with a statue of Chairman Mao.”

“True. Chairman Mao’s statue looks greater.” Zhang Yan said, admiring Fang Yu’s wit.

The bronze statue was put in the courtyard of the Construction Bureau. The audience heaved a sigh, “What a big copper statue!”

Little Black picked up a tile and rubbed it against the statue, yelling, “it is yellow copper!” Another child said, “No, red copper.” Little Black was a little annoyed, casting a glance at the child and saying, “At least 3 meters long.”

Little Black was someone the other children dared not disagree with. Zhang Yan cast a glance at the child who disagreed with Little Black: he was thin and dark, with big eyes and a new navy uniform for kids. He also wore a pair of sports shoes. He was studying the statue.

Fang Yu took Zhang Yan away, and they stood behind the child. Great! He had a ball in his hands, a ball that cost dimes. Few students could afford such a ball.

Zhang Yan remembered that the garden of his house had almost been changed into a soccer field. He needed a medium-sized ball. At this time, Big Black said, “This statue is at east 400 kg.”

Unexpectedly the little child replied as if in a discussion, “I guess it is over 500 kg.”

Little Black shouted, “I think you desire beating today. Shall I give you a good beating?” The little child replied calmly, “I didn’t annoy you. Why do you say that?”

Big Black yelled while catching his collar, “You annoyed us. Why did you interrupt us in speaking?”

“This is nothing serious. Why do you want to fight?”

A little girl with pigtails came and said, “Dear brother, let’s go home.” Big Black pushed the little boy, but Zhang Yan went up to help the latter. The two fell down on the statue. The little boy looked at Zhang Yan gratefully. Then, they left. The little boy and girl went into a house where once the Christianity Association was located.

“This little boy is great!” Zhang Yan said to himself. Then, he felt a pair of hands covering his eyes. He knew it was his cousin Zhang Yong. Zhang Yong said, “I have been looking for you throughout the school.”

“Why didn’t Uncle Yang and Madame Wang come to meet me today?” “They had to leave today. Madame Wang cried for she was reluctant to leave you. Also, the public security workers are talking with Uncle Yang and your mom. I hear that you have made trouble.”

Zhang Yan was shocked at this. He had never fought with any other kids. He remembered he made the teacher angry this morning. But was that trouble?

He entered the courtyard. He saw Zhang Zhong carrying two pails of water on the stone steps. It was really hard for him. The servants had left, so they had to do housework by themselves. Zhang Yan and Zhang Yong went up to help Zhang Zhong, only to make more water splash all the way. Comrade Gao from the public security office saw Zhang Yan and asked him while touching the little boy’s hair, “You have just left school. Right?”

Suddenly, Zhang Yan recalled that Comrade Gao had made friends with the school master. They said that many rich people hid their gold and refused to give it to the government. The new republic needed gold. The government had passed a decree that no household was allowed to own over three taels of gold and over five taels of silver. The government needed gold for guns and airplanes to fight against the American invaders. Zhang Yan was aware that the trouble was the two taels of gold he had donated.