As the raft opened up space between it and the speedboat, Little Lion jumped in the direction of the raft but landed in the water. She did not know how to swim and began to sink almost immediately. Gugu shouted for someone to save her. Chen Bi and Wang Gan jumped at the chance to row with all their might, moving the raft out into the flow.
Rescuing Little Lion took a long time. The man with the pole reached out to bring her close to the side, but she grabbed his leg and pulled him into the water with her. He was a weak swimmer, so another man jumped in. Meanwhile, Qin He’s piloting skills had seemed to vanish, to which Gugu reacted with rage. No one on the other boats or rafts was willing to come to their aid. But Little Lion was, after all, my wife, so I poled with all my might to get as close as possible. I nearly collided with a raft behind me and barely managed to keep from tipping over. Little Lion’s head was surfacing less and less frequently, so I knew it was time to act. Abandoning the raft and the pole, I jumped into the river and swam as fast as I could to rescue my wife.
A question mark had risen in my mind at the moment she jumped into the river. Afterward, she boasted that she had detected the sacred smell of blood from a birthing woman and saw blood running down Wang Dan’s leg. So she jumped — there is, of course, another explanation — a delaying tactic, risking drowning to buy time. She said she’d prayed to the river spirit: Wang Dan, hurry up and have your baby! Do it now! Once it’s out in the world, it’s a human life, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, protected as a flower of the motherland. Children are the nation’s future. Of course, she added, my little trick didn’t work on Gugu. She knew what I was doing from the get-go.
By the time we fished Little Lion and the family-planning cadre out of the river, Wang Jiao’s raft had travelled at least three li. To top it off, the speedboat’s engine had died, and Qin He dripped with sweat as he tried to restart it. Gugu flew into a rage. Little Lion and the waterlogged man were lying just inside the handrail, heads over the side, puking water.
Gugu jumped around furiously for a moment, but then abruptly grew calm. A sad smile creased her face, which was illuminated by a ray of sunlight that had broken through the cloud cover; it also lit up the turgid surface of the river and painted her with the look of an ill-fated hero. She sat down on the deck next to the cabin and said to Qin He, You can quit acting. All of you.
Qin He froze for a moment. Then he started the engine and the boat sped after Wang Jiao’s raft.
As I thumped Little Lion’s back I sneaked a look at Gugu, who lowered her eyes one moment and smiled the next. I wondered what was going through her mind. She was forty-seven years old, and it suddenly dawned on me that her youth was far behind her, that she was well into her middle years. And yet her weatherworn face had the sad look of someone much older. I thought back to all those times my now departed mother had said to me: What is a woman born to do? When all is said and done, a woman is born to have children. A woman’s status is determined by the children she bears, as are the dignity she enjoys and the happiness and glory she accrues. Not having children is a woman’s greatest torment. A woman without children is something less than whole, and she grows hard-hearted; a woman without children ages faster. Mother had Gugu in mind when she said that, but she’d never have said it in front of Gugu. Was Gugu getting old so fast because she was childless? At forty-seven, if she did find a husband, was a child even possible? And where was the man who might be that husband?
The speedboat easily caught up with Wang Jiao’s raft, and as they drew near, Qin He slowed to nudge up close.
Wang Jiao stood at the back of his raft, pole in hand, ferocity written on his face as he took a fighting stance.
Wang Gan sat up front with Chen Er in his arms.
Chen Bi sat in the middle, holding Wang Dan in his arms, alternately crying and laughing. Wang Dan, he was shouting, have the baby, have it now. Have it and it’s a living human being. Have it and they won’t hound us any more. Wan Xin, Little Lion, you’ve lost. Ha-ha, you’ve lost!
Tears streaked the man’s stubbled face.
The air was split by Wang Dan’s screech, a terrifying, gut-wrenching cry.
The speedboat was right next to the raft. Gugu stood up and reached out her hand.
Chen Bi whipped out his knife and growled menacingly, Take that fiendish hand back.
This isn’t the hand of a fiend, it’s the hand of an obstetrician.
As my nose smarted, I suddenly realised what was happening. Chen Bi, I shouted, take Gugu aboard and let her deliver Wang Dan’s baby!
I hooked his raft with my pole to let Gugu shift her stout frame over.
Little Lion jumped aboard after her, medical kit in her hand.
When they took out a pair of scissors and slit open Wang Dan’s bloody trousers, I turned around, though I held on tightly to the pole behind me to keep the raft and speedboat from separating.
An image of Wang Dan floated into my head: she lies on the raft, her lower body blood-soaked, a tiny body with a big belly, looking like an angry, frightened dolphin.
The river roiled, day and night. The clouds parted, freeing the sun to send down bolts of light. The flotilla of rafts and boats rode downriver with its loads of peaches. My raft, now pilotless, actually followed the flow of water with them.
I was hoping expectantly, hoping amid the sound of Wang Dan’s shrieks, hoping amid the pounding of the surf, and hoping amid the braying of animals on the bank.
A baby’s first cries came on the air.
I spun around and saw Gugu holding a newborn, early-arriving baby in both hands. Little Lion was wrapping gauze around its middle.
Another girl, Gugu said.
Chen Bi, head down, was devastated, like a deflated tyre. He pounded his head with both fists. The heavens have abandoned me… The agony he felt was unmistakable. The heavens have abandoned me… five generations of the Chen family will end with me. I can’t believe it!
What a scumbag you are! Gugu cursed him.
Even though Gugu sped Wang Dan and the baby back up the river in her speedboat, the mother could not be saved.
According to Little Lion, Wang Dan rallied just before she died, her mind clear for a brief spell. She had lost so much blood her face was like a sheet of gold foil. With a smile on her face, she mumbled something to Gugu, who bent down to hear what she was trying to say. Little Lion told me she did not hear what was said, but Gugu did. The gold pallor on Wang Dan’s face faded to grey, her eyes were opened wide, though the radiance was gone. Her curled body looked like an emptied sack or a cast-off cocoon. Gugu sat beside Wan Dan’s lifeless body, her head hanging low. A long time passed before she stood up, heaved a long sigh, and said, either to Little Lion or to herself: What was all that for?
Gugu and Little Lion cared for Wang Dan’s baby, Chen Mei, until she was out of danger and healthy enough to go on living.
Book Four
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Dear Sugitani sensei,
I find it hard to believe it’s already been three years since we retired and moved back to Gaomi. Though the period has not been without its hardships, they have been more than offset by one very pleasant surprise. With fear and trepidation I read the high praise over the material on Gugu in the letter I sent. You said that a bit of reorganisation could turn it into a publishable novel, but I’m not so sure. First, publishers may not welcome a novel on this theme or topic. Second, if it is published, it could seriously upset Gugu. Though I have taken pains to show my respect, many painful episodes are still there for all to see. As for me, I am using this epistolary narrative form as a way to atone for my sins and find a way to lessen their impact. Your comforting remarks and reasoning have eased my mind considerably. Since writing can serve as an apology or an appeal for forgiveness, I will keep at it. And since writing must be sincere to make that appeal, that will be my goal.