In his anxiety, his garbled speech inexplicably turned clear.
The only sounds on the other side of the gate were the heartbreaking howls of my mother-in-law.
Gugu raised her arm for the sake of the deputy militia chief and then made a chopping motion.
Step on it! the man shouted to the driver.
The roar of the tractor thudded against eardrums, the cable stretched taut enough to cut into the bark of the tree, from which sap oozed. Inch by inch the tractor moved ahead, sending blue smoke spurting into the sky from the vertical exhaust pipe up front. The driver, who was wearing blue canvas overalls, a white towel around his neck and a duckbill cap, kept looking back, biting his lip under a black moustache. He had the look of a model worker. The tree creaked as it began to list, such a sad sound. The cable had bitten deeply into the trunk, white wood showing as chunks of the bark broke off.
Get your arse out here, Wang Jinshan! Xiao Shangchun was pounding on the gate with his fists, hitting it with his knees, and butting it with his head. Now even my mother-in-law’s sobs had stopped.
The tree leaned, farther and farther, its canopy of leaves fluttering to the ground.
Xiao Shangchun staggered over to the tree. My tree… my family’s bloodline tree…
Roots were moving just below the surface.
Xiao Shangchun struggled back to my father-in-law’s gate. Wang Jinshan, you son of a bitch, we’ve been neighbours, good ones, for decades, almost becoming relatives, and now you want to destroy us.
The roots were now exposed, like light yellow pythons, moaning as they felt the air. Some snapped in two, others grew longer and longer, all those underground pythons… The leafy umbrella swept the ground like a gigantic broom, willowy branches splintered as they bent down and raised eddies of dirt. The bystanders sniffed the air, which carried the smells of fresh soil and tree sap.
Wang Jinshan, I’ll split my head open at your door, damn you! Xiao banged his head against the gate. We heard nothing, not because his head produced no sound, but because it was swallowed up by the roar of the tractor.
The tree was dragged a dozen metres away from Xiao Shangchun’s house, leaving a gaping hole with torn roots where it had once stood. Children were already digging to find young cicadas.
My aunt announced through the battery-operated bullhorn, Next we will pull down Xiao Shangchun’s gate arch.
People carried Xiao over to the side, where they pinched the spot beneath his nose and massaged his chest.
Neighbours of Wang Jinshan, take notice — Gugu spoke calmly — go to your homes to gather up your valuables. After we pull down Xiao Shangchun’s house, we’re coming for yours. I know this seems unreasonable, but lesser reason must give way to greater reason. And what is that? Family planning, controlling our population growth. I’m not afraid to be the villain, someone has to be. I know you all want me to die and go straight to Hell. Well, we Communists don’t believe in such places, and materialists have nothing to fear. And I wouldn’t be afraid even if there were such a place. Who would go to Hell if not me? Remove the cable from the tree and affix it to Xiao Shangchun’s gate arch!
All my father-in-law’s neighbours rushed in and began kicking and pounding on his gate. They threw bricks and tiles into his yard. Someone even brought over some dry corn stalks to stand up under the eaves. Wang Jinshan, he yelled, if you don’t come out, we’ll set your house on fire!
Finally the gate opened. Standing there was neither my father-in-law nor my mother-in-law; it was my wife. Her hair was a mess, she was covered in mud and dirt, and she had on only one shoe — the left. She’d obviously just crawled out of the cellar.
Gugu, she said as she walked up to my aunt, isn’t it enough that I go with you?
I always knew that my nephew’s wife had a profound understanding of right and wrong, Gugu said with a smile.
I have to give you credit, Renmei said. If you were a man, you could command an army.
Just like you, Gugu said. When you broke the marriage contract with the Xiao family back then, I knew you were an exceptional woman.
Renmei, I said, this has been hard on you.
Let me see your hand, Xiaopao, she said.
I reached out my hand, not knowing what she wanted with it.
She grabbed it and took a bite out of my wrist.
I didn’t pull my hand back.
Dark blood seeped from two rows of teeth marks on my wrist.
She spat on the ground. You’re making me bleed, she said spitefully, so I did the same to you.
I offered her my other hand.
She pushed it away. I don’t want it, you taste like a smelly dog!
Xiao Shangchun had come to and was pounding the ground and bawling like an old woman: Wang Renmei, Wan Xiaopao, you owe me a tree… you have to pay me!
I’ll pay you shit! my wife shot back. Your son rubbed his hands all over my breasts and kissed me on the mouth. That tree is payment for the theft of my innocence!
Ow! Ow! Ow! A bunch of half-grown youngsters shouted their approval of my wife’s comeback.
Renmei! I called out angrily.
What are you bellowing about? She climbed into Gugu’s car, stuck her head out the window, and said: He felt me through my clothes!
10
Chairwoman Yang of our unit’s family-planning committee arrived. She was the daughter of a high-ranking military officer, a division commander. Her name was familiar, but this was the first time I’d seen her.
The commune leadership held a banquet for her; she asked that Wang Renmei and I attend.
Gugu dug up a pair of leather shoes for Renmei.
The banquet was held in a private room in the commune’s dining hall.
I think I’ll stay home, Xiaopao, Renmei said. I’m afraid of meeting high-ranking officials. Besides, this has been nothing to be proud of, turning the world upside down and all.
Gugu smiled. What’s there to be afraid of? Even the highest official has only one nose and two eyes.
Chairwoman Yang invited Renmei and me to sit next to her at the table. Taking Renmei by the hand, she said cordially, Comrade Wang, I want to thank you on behalf of the army.
What I did was wrong, Madam Chairwoman, Renmei said, obviously moved. I caused you trouble.
I’d been afraid that Renmei would say something offensive, and was relieved to hear her speak with such civility.
My nephew’s wife is a woman of high consciousness who became pregnant by accident and asked me to have the pregnancy terminated, Gugu lied. Her frailty was the reason we waited so long to perform the procedure.
Young man, Chairwoman Yang said, it’s you I need to criticise. All you male comrades are careless, hoping to be lucky not to impregnate your wives.
I nodded in agreement.
The Party secretary stood up, glass in hand. Join me in thanking Chairwoman Yang for taking time out of her busy schedule to instruct us on our work, he said.
I’m familiar with this area, she said. My father fought a guerrilla war here during the Jiao River campaign. His command post was in this very village. That’s why I feel so comfortable here.
That pleases us a great deal, the Party secretary said. I hope the chairwoman will take a message back to our elderly leader, expressing our wish that he personally come to inspect our work one day.
Gugu stood up and held out her glass. Here’s to you, Chairwoman Yang.
Chairwoman Wan is the daughter of a martyr, the Party secretary said. She followed her father into the revolution when she was still very young.