Like I said, that’s enough bullshit. I’m here to get even for what you did to me.
What did I do? I’ve never done anything to you.
Who told you to remove Wang Renmei’s IUD without my knowledge? I forced myself to keep my voice down. Some busybody sent a telegram to my unit, which ordered me back home to take her in for an abortion. If I don’t, I’ll lose my commission and my Party membership. Now, Renmei has run away, so what do you recommend?
Who fed you that line? Yuan Sai rolled his eyes and spread his hands. When was I supposed to have removed Wang Renmei’s IUD? I’m a fortune-teller who calculates fortunes by numbers, yin and yang, good and evil, and feng shui. That’s what I do. Why would an ageing man like me get involved in removing IUDs? What you’re saying might not seem inauspicious to you, but it is.
No more games, I said. Everyone knows that Little Immortal is a man of many talents. Feng shui and fortune-telling may be ‘what you do’, but you have time left over to geld animals and remove IUDs. I’m not going to take you to court for what you did, but I’m not going to let you off the hook either. Before you removed Wang Renmei’s IUD, you should have checked with me.
I’m innocent, this is slander! Yuan Sai insisted. Bring Wang Renmei here to face me, and we’ll see what she says.
She ran off, and I don’t know where she’s gone. Besides, would she admit it? Would she rat you out?
Xiaopao, you son of a bitch, you’re not just anybody, you’re an army officer, and you have to stand by what you say. How dare you accuse me of removing your wife’s IUD. Got any proof? You’ve besmirched my reputation, and I’ll sue you if you make me mad enough.
All right, what it’s come down to is… I’m not blaming you. What I’d like from you is advice. The way things are now, what do you think I ought to do?
Yuan Sai shut his eyes, rubbed his fingers together, and began to mutter. Then his eyes snapped open. Worthy brother, he said, great joy!
How’s that?
Your wife’s pregnancy is the reincarnation of an important individual in the last dynasty. Since great secrets must not be divulged, I cannot tell you the individual’s name, but I can give you four lines you mustn’t forget: When the child is born, one, he’ll have a fine physique; two, he’ll accomplish great deeds; three, he’ll rise to unprecedented heights; and four, he’ll be invested with all the trappings of authority!
Weave your fairytales, I said, though what I heard filled me with a hard-to-describe happiness. Yes, indeed, if she could bear a son like that…
Yuan Sai had no trouble reading my mind. With what appeared to be a smile, he said, Heaven’s will cannot be transgressed.
I shook my head. But if Renmei has the baby, my days are over.
There’s an old saying: Heaven always leaves a door open.
So tell me.
You send a telegram to your unit saying she’s not pregnant, that it was a rumour begun by someone who has it in for you.
Is that what you consider a foolproof plan? I said with a sneer. Do you think you can carry paper in fire? Once the child is born, what about registering for residence? How about school?
Why think so far ahead, good brother? Just having the child is a victory. Policy enforcement is strict around here. Other counties are rife with ‘bootleg kids’. There’s no more collective and everyone has plenty to eat. Go ahead and raise the kid. We’re all citizens of the People’s Republic of China, and you can’t tell me that the country will declare him a non-citizen.
But if word gets out, won’t that be the end of my career?
Then there’s nothing I can do for you. Only one end of the sugar cane is sweet.
Damn that bitch, she needs a serious beating. I finished what was in my glass and got down off the kang. She’s the cause of all my rotten luck.
Don’t say that, good brother. I’ve looked at both your fortunes, and I tell you, Wang Renmei was born to help her husband achieve great things. Your successes will come from her.
Help her husband? Ruin her husband is more like it. I smiled coldly.
The worst that can happen is for Wang Renmei to have the child and you give up your career to come home and tend your field. What’s wrong with that? In twenty years, your son will rise high in the world, and you’ll live the enviable, comfortable life of a gentleman farmer. Isn’t that something to look forward to?
I wouldn’t be so upset if she’d told me beforehand, I said, but how am I supposed to swallow this sort of deceit?
No matter what you say, Xiaopao, the child in Wang Renmei’s belly is yours, and whether it lives or dies is up to you.
You’re right there, it is up to me, and I want to remind you that all walls have holes. You need to be careful.
I took the sleeping child from Yuan Sai’s wife and started walking out. As I was saying goodbye to her, she said softly, Let her have the baby, good brother. I’ll help you find a secret place to do it.
A Jeep was parked outside Yuan Sai’s gate. A pair of policemen got out and stormed through the gate. Sesame Twist tried to stop them, but they pushed her out of the way and swooped into the house. Smacking sounds and Yuan Sai’s screams emerged, followed a few minutes later by Yuan Sai himself, handcuffed and wearing his shoes with the backs stepped on, in the custody of the police.
Why are you arresting me? he protested, his head cocked to look at one of his escorts. What did I do?
Knock it off, the policeman ordered. Why are we arresting you? You know better than anybody.
Xiaopao, you have to get me out. I haven’t broken any laws!
A heavy-set woman stepped out of the car.
Gugu!
She removed her hospital mask and said coldly, Come see me at the health centre tomorrow.
8
Let her have the baby, Gugu, I said sadly. I no longer want my Party membership or my commission…
She banged the table with her hand, sending water splashing over the sides of the glass in front of me.
What a misfit you are, Xiaopao! This isn’t just about you. For three years the commune has not had a single case of exceeding the birth quota. Are you going to be the one to ruin our record?
But she’s tried to kill herself more than once, I said with difficulty. What if she goes through with it?
With a cold look, she said, You know local policy where that’s concerned? Don’t hide the bottle if they want to take poison, give them a rope if they want to hang themselves.
That’s cruel!
You think that’s what we want? You don’t need cruelty in the army, and you don’t need it in the cities; you especially don’t need it in foreign countries — all foreign women want is to enjoy themselves. They don’t have children in response to government encouragement, not even if they’re rewarded for having them. But this is rural China and we’re dealing with peasants. We can reason with them, we can talk about policy, we can wear out shoe leather and talk ourselves hoarse, and will they listen to us? No. So what do we do? We have no choice but to control population growth, carry out national policy, and meet our superiors’ goals. So what do we do? Those of us involved with family planning are reviled during the day and are the targets of missiles when we’re out walking at night — even five-year-old children jab our legs with awls. Gugu rolled up a pant leg to show me a large purple scab. See that? A cross-eyed little bastard in Dongfeng Village did that to me a few days ago. You haven’t forgotten what happened with Zhang Quan’s wife, have you? — I shook my head, recalling the incident in the surging river a decade or more before — she jumped into the river and we pulled her out, but Zhang Quan and his fellow villagers insisted that we pushed Geng Xiulian into the river, where she drowned. They wrote a letter, signing it in blood, that went all the way to the State Council, and in the end we were forced to sacrifice Huang Qiuya.