Mother handed a scallion-stuffed flatcake to Laidi, who merely stared back at her. “Feed it to him!” Blushing shyly, Laidi had obviously forgotten her mad passion of three days before; the shy look on her face proved that. Mother looked first at her, then at Sima Ku. Her eyes were like a golden thread that drew Laidi and Sima Ku’s gaze together. Their looks spoke volumes. Laidi took off her black robe, under which she was wearing a purple jacket, purple-bordered pants, and purple cloth slippers. Her figure was graceful, her face thin and lovely. Sima Ku had harnessed her passion, but in doing so had created in her a sense of lovesickness. She was still a beautiful woman, well versed in coquettish-ness, an attractive widow. As he stared at her, he said, “Take good care of yourself.” Laidi responded with a strange comment: “You’re a diamond, he’s a piece of rotten wood.” She walked up to him, dipped the scallion-stuffed flatcake into the yellow paste Sima Liang was holding, and twisted it neatly in the air to keep the paste from dripping to the ground. She then held it up to Sima Ku’s mouth. He threw back his head and then lowered it to take a savage bite of the flatcake, which he chewed with difficulty, making loud crunching noises. His cheeks swelled; a pair of large tears seeped from his eyes. He stretched his neck to swallow, sniffled loudly, and said, “Those scallions have a real bite!”
Mother handed me one of the flatcakes and another to Eighth Sister. “Jintong,” she said, “feed it to Sixth Brother-in-law. Yunii, feed yours to Sixth Sister.” As Laidi had done before me, I dipped the cake in the yellow paste and put it up next to Babbitt’s mouth. His twisted lips parted as he bit off a tiny piece. Tears ran from his blue eyes. He bent down, placed his dirty lips on my forehead, and kissed me loudly. Then he walked over to Mother; I thought he was going to hug her, but since his hands were tied, all he could do was bend down and touch his lips to her forehead like a goat nibbling a tree. ‘Til never forget you, Mama,” he said.
Eighth Sister groped her way over to Sima Liang, reached out and dipped her flatcake in the bean paste, with Sima Liang’s help. Holding it up in two hands, she raised her face. Her forehead looked like a crab’s shell, her eyes were two deep, dark wells, her nose was straight and her mouth was wide, with tender lips like rose petals. My eighth sister, whom I’d always taken advantage of, was truly a pitiful little lamb. “Sixth Sister,” she chirped, “Sixth Sister, this is for you.”
As tears filled her eyes, Sixth Sister picked up Eighth Sister. “My poor, ill-fated little sister,” she sobbed.
Sima Ku finished his flatcake.
All this time, Lu Liren was gazing at the river out of the corner of his eye. Now he turned and said, “It’s time to board the raft.”
“Not yet,” Sima Ku said. “I’m still hungry. In olden days, when the court was about to execute a criminal, they made sure he’d eaten his fill first. You people of the 16th Regiment call yourselves a benevolent army, so the least you can do is allow me to fill up on scallion-stuffed flatcakes, especially since our mother-in-law made them with her own hands.”
Lu Liren looked at his watch. “All right,” he said, “go ahead and stuff yourself while we ferry Babbitt across the river.”
The mute and six of his soldiers picked up their wooden spades and jumped gingerly onto the raft, which rocked in the water and twisted to one side as the waterline dipped below the surface and sheets of water spilled over the sides. Two soldiers with loosened leggings leaned back to bring the raft under control. Lu Liren was worried. “Old-timer,” he said to Zunlong, “will it take two more?” “No, have two of the men with oars get off.” “Baldy Han, Pan Yongwang, you two come back.” Holding their wooden spades, they jumped off the raft, which rocked so severely that some of the soldiers nearly fell into the river. The mute, clad only in his underwear, growled, “Strip! Strip! Strip!” After that day, no one ever heard another Gr-ao from him again.
“Okay?” Lu Liren asked Zunlong. “Yes,” he said as he took the spade out of one of the soldier’s hands. “Yours is a benevolent army, and you’ve earned my respect. In the tenth year of the Republic I ferried a senator across the river. If you won’t take offense, I’d be honored to serve you, even as a pack animal.”
“Old man,” Lu Liren said, clearly touched, “that’s what I had in mind, but was too embarrassed to ask. With you at the helm, I know this raft is in good hands. Who’s got liquor?”
An orderly ran up and handed Lu Liren a dented metal canteen. He unscrewed the top and held the canteen up to his nose. “Authentic sorghum liquor,” he said. “Old man, I offer you a drink on behalf of my superiors.” He handed the canteen to Zunlong with both hands. Stirred by this honor, Zunlong rubbed some of the mud off his hands before accepting the canteen and taking ten or more deep swallows before handing it back to Lu Liren. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, as a redness moved from his face down to his neck, and from there to his chest. “I’ve drunk your liquor, sir, which links our hearts together.” With a smile, Lu Liren said, “Why stop at our hearts? Our livers are linked, and our lungs, even our intestines.” Tears seemed to spurt from Zunlong’s eyes as he leaped onto the raft, getting an immediate foothold at the rear. The raft rocked ever so slightly; Lu Liren nodded his approval, before walking up to Babbitt, looking down at his bound hands, and smiling apologetically. “I know this is hard on you, Mr. Babbitt. Commander Yu and Director Song asked for you by name, so you can expect courteous treatment.” Babbitt raised his hands. “Is this what you call courteous treatment?” “In a way it is,” Lu Liren said calmly, “and I hope you’ll let it go at that. Now it’s time to go.”
Babbitt looked over at us, saying good-bye with his eyes before turning and jumping onto the raft. This time it rocked heavily, and he swayed with it. Zunlong reached out to steady him from behind with his spade.
Following Babbitt’s lead, Niandi bent down and kissed me clumsily on the forehead, then did the same to Eighth Sister, running her thin fingers through Eighth Sister’s soft, flax-colored hair. “My poor little sister,” she said with a sigh. “I hope the old man above has a good life planned for you.” She then nodded to Mother and the children lined up behind her, and turned to board the raft. “Sixth Sister, there’s no need for you to go,” Lu Liren reminded her, to which she responded mildly, “Fifth Brother-in-law, there’s a popular saying that a steelyard’s sliding weight doesn’t leave its arm, and a good man doesn’t leave his wife. You and Fifth Sister were inseparable, weren’t you?” “I just want what’s best for you,” Lu Liren said. “So Fll do as you wish. You may board the raft.”
Two of his guards picked up Niandi by the arms and placed her on the raft. Babbitt reached out to steady her.
The raft was sitting low and uneven in the water; parts were completely submerged, others were an inch or so above the surface. Zunlong said to Lu Liren, “Commander Lu, it’s best if my guests are seated. That goes for the men with the oars too.” So Lu Liren gave the order: “Sit down, all of you. Mr. Babbitt, for your own safety, please sit down.”
Babbitt sat down on the raft – more accurately, he sat down in the water. Niandi sat down across from him, also in the water.
The mute and five of his soldiers sat down, three on each side of the raft. Zunlong was the only person standing, feet planted firmly at the rear of the raft.
The little red flag continued to wave on the opposite bank. “Send a signal,” Lu Liren said to the signalman, “so they’ll be ready to receive the prisoners.”