《女人和土匪》（英譯本）

 

Chapter 36

 

On the playground of the Yuxiu Road School, the students were playing happily: rope-skipping, slingshots, and tops…

Zhang Yan and Fang Yu got into the school. They recalled the child from another province who dared disagree with Big Black and Little Black the other day. He was really great, they thought. That child was at school, too. He got a medium-sized soccer in his hands, and many kids stared at him with admiration. He played the ball by himself for a second, seeming to invite the others to join him in playing.

Zhang Yan and Fang Yu could control themselves at such a time. Zhang Yan remembered his mom told him not to play soccer at school, saying that it was easy to make him injured. He seldom played soccer at school, indeed. But this time the temptation was especially big.

The boy looked thin and dark. His ball had attracted Little Black and Big Black.

Big Black snatched the ball from the boy, who smartly made it go in another direction. The ball hit a girl of an upper grade. The girl cried sorrowfully.

It was common for a girl to cry at school because of such a matter. So, the kids paid no attention to her. Instead, their attention went to the ball. The little boy was delighted that so many kids liked this ball. He smiled. Zhang Yan was moved at this sight. He thought such a feeling was divine. Didn’t his mom tell him to behave in this way? This boy was great in his eyes!

The bell rang for class. Zhang Yan and Fang Yu felt sorry that they had not touched the ball. Little Black got the ball. The little boy requested, “Little Black, give back the ball to me. It’s time for class.”

Little Black cast a glance at the little boy, and then he kicked the ball hard. It went out of the campus, with his word, “Go and fetch it by yourself!”

The little boy replied, “What a shameful act!”

The ball was precious at that time. The little boy ran out of the school to get it back.

The first class was Chinese. The teacher had not come yet. The students sat politely in the classroom. A few minutes later, the teacher came. She looked about and said to a person outside, “Oh, good! You came today.”

Zhang Yan and Fang Yu looked ahead, and found it was that lovely boy.

“Dear students, let me give an introduction to this boy. His name is Yan Yuan. Let me repeat our discipline: Do not bully the newcomers!”

“No.”

“Then, let’s change the seats. Fang Yu, sit with Wu Yuzhen, not with Zhang Yan.”

The teacher’s decision amused the class. Wu was the eldest student in class. She was 14, and was supposed to have engaged. Her eyesight was bad because of a lack of nutrition. She could hardly see at night. Thus, she got the nickname of “black chicken blind.”

In the early years of the new republic, most families could not afford electric lights. The students were asked to use writing-brushes. Wu was not good in sight. At night, she did her homework in a bad way. There were only dark stains here and there on her exercise-books. The teacher later made a surprising decision, “Miss Wu is allowed not to hand in her homework any more.”

Now, Fang Yu was arranged to sit with Wu. He was puzzled. He was not willing to leave Zhang Yan, nor was he willing to sit with that girl. So, he said nothing and remained motionless in his seat.

“Why? Fang Yu, please change your seat. Listen to me!”

Fang Yu still remained there.

The teacher felt annoyed and had a sense of pride loss. Her face turned red. At this time, Yan Yuan spoke, “I’d like to sit with Miss Wu.” Zhang Yan’s gaze met Yan Yuan’s. The two boys greeted each other with smiles.

This little boy was great, Zhang Yan thought. He was even divine and godly!