公安和暗娼 《女人和土匪》（英譯本）（52）

Chapter 52It was the second check-up in Guiyang after liberation. During the first-time check-up, Wu Simei was lucky, for she had menstruation and had to stay at home for a rest. The second time was unfavorable to her. The prostitute almost brought a disaster to herself. The new government was strict with prostitution, and any prostitute could be sentenced to prison for 3 years. They had to work hard in the prison.Wu Simei visited her sisters (other prostitutes) in prison on a cold winter day. She saw them working hard with some male prisoners by the road. In a pool the prisoners were busy stamping their feet on mud for construction work. Her friends were tearful at the sight of her.Yet, they dared not protest. The PLA soldiers were standing by them. Wu Simei was scared. She decided to change her living way. She could not tolerate such punishment. She hoped she could marry a nice man.There were many officers and officials in Guiyang, but she had no chance to meet them. What’s more, her experiences could frighten them. It was really hard to find an ideal man.When she had a good life, she would tell herself not to get stuck in prostitution. However, when she had a bad life, she would tell herself that it was the last time for her to do that kind of thing.Her worry came true. That night, the man seemed to have never touched any woman before. He had sex with her over and over. She urged him to leave, but was so tired that she fell asleep. Then, the loud knocks woke her up. That man was so scared that he crawled under the bed. She cursed, “What a useless man! What a lusty but bad man!”Wu Simei put on her dress in a hurry, and felt puzzled. The man asked her, “What should I do?”She gave him a kick, replying, “Put on your dress and sleep in the room outside.”After that was settled, she asked the man, “What’s your surname?”The man answered in a trembling voice, “Wei.”The knocks got louder. She said to him, “My name is Wu. Tell them we’re cousins. Remember!”She tidied up her room, and turned on the light. She pretended to ask in an annoyed way, “Who is knocking at the door at midnight?”Cao Fade replied outside, “Open the door. We’re doing the check-up.”Wu opened the door, and she saw a short, fat, dark man with beard. The man looked like a ball, with lusty eyes and acnes on his face. This was a man with a strong sexual desire, Wu thought. Wu felt that she had the hope of getting saved. She stared at him. He entered the house and his hands touched her belly somehow.Behind him, stood two armed soldiers and Mr. Xu, a neighborhood committee leader. She heard Mr. Xu whisper, “It’s her.”Cao Fade searched the rooms with a flashlight. The two soldiers did their own work of check-up. Xu saw the man on the bed, and made a gesture to Cao.Cao said to Xu, “You’re responsible for examining the man. I’ll go inside to question the woman.” Xu woke up the man, and Cao dragged Wu, saying, “Let’s talk inside.”Wu took Cao into the room. She sat on the bed and stared at him boldly. She pursed her lips and her temples were shown. She found him stare at her breasts hungrily. Wu heard Xu speak outside, “What’s her name? What’s your relationship?”The man replied, “I am her cousin. She is named Wu Simei.”Mr. Xu shouted, “Speak in a low voice! Are you giving signals to her?”Cao calmed down at the shout. He asked her in a low voice, “Are you Wu Jiaxiu?” She pursed her lips and nodded. She pursed her lips, for many men said that was lovely and sexy. He cleared his throat and gave a cough, as if telling her he was not interested in flirting.But Wu still stared at Cao boldly. Cao felt the woman had a desire for him. He found her pretty and sexy. He decided to exchange his power for sex. Then, he sat beside her, and asked her in a low voice:“What’s the name of the man outside?”“He is my cousin, named Wei.” At this time, Mr. Xu shouted outside, “What’s her mother’s name? Tell me!”Wu was scared. She knew this was a critical moment. She did not like the short, fat, dark man before her, but thought he could help her.So, she held Cao’s hands, saying in a low voice, “Please help me.” Her touch excited Cao instinctively. He also touched her hands. Then, she said, “Come here tomorrow. I’ll tell you all about me.”Cao understood the hints. He got up in a hurry and went outside. The soldiers told him that they had found nothing special. Then, Cao spoke to Xu, “This is not the proper place to question them. Let’s take them to the public security office.”Wu closed the door fearfully. She followed them in the lane. She hated the man who prostituted her tonight. She thought him useless and unmanly. Fortunately, Cao might be able to help her.Cao told Xu and the public security workers that they should catch prostitutes on the spot. He said, “I found the cousins sleep on different beds when I entered. We could not mistreat her this way.”A public security worker replied, “Commander Cao can decide over this.” Then, he left. Thus, Wu was set free, and her saver was this fat, short, dark man! She left, thinking that Cao was a great ugly-looking man.Cao had no patience to wait. He came back in 4 hours. It was hard to believe.It was 10 a.m. Women like Wu generally worked at night and rested in the daytime. She was sleeping soundly. Then, she was woken up by knocks. She thought it might be a neighbor, asking uneasily, “Who are you?”“It’s me.”“Everybody is called me in the world. Who are you?”“Cao, last night…”She had not expected that he would come so soon. He was an important person for her. Wu opened the door quickly and Cao stood outside. His face was red; inside him was a coward heart thought he looked strong physically.She asked, “Do you want to come in? I look untidy with my hair.”He replied, “Yes, I do.”She let him in and closed the door. He asked her, “Did we trouble you last night?”“No.” She answered. He was ugly-looking, but she knew she could hardly get a handsome man. Those men would have well-educated girls as their wives. She thought she was lucky. She decided to live with him and stopped being a prostitute. She said, “People like to cast slanders on us. Maybe Mr. Xu said something bad against me, so you came here last night.”He replied, “It’s not so. Last night we had a check-up throughout the city. Only those important people could be exempted from the check-up.”“Then I should give thanks to you. Why do you stand there, Black Egg?”He hugged her and breathed heavily, “What? Do you call me Black Egg?”She shouted, “Black Egg! Round Ball! Fuck Man!”Cao was eager to have sex with Wu. He found this woman lovely and seductive. His wife in Jingdezhen could not match her. He felt this woman comfortable. He had a good time with her that morning.Now, Cao came to the entrance of the lane. He saw Wu waiting for him. He recalled the letter from his wife in Jingdezhen. In the letter was written: No way of divorce! And enclosed was a photo of their naked sons with their penises shown. He had not told Wu that he was married. She had been urging him to marry her. He had not told her about his marriage and family. She just thought he was single.Wu saw him and gestured to him with her hands. He took out the letter, and tore it and the photo, and threw them into a garbage pile. Then, he strode to Wu’s house.