Bao Qing was determined to fight off Renzheng’s hands and said, ‘I don’t drink. Take it back to him. He already made enough a fool of me last night.’ Renzheng held the wine up, carefully selecting his words.
‘He had a drop too much last night, but he asks you not to take it to heart. This is high-quality wine, a token of goodwill for you to take back to Beijing.’
Spitefully, Bao Qing responded, ‘I don’t drink. If I take it back to Beijing, I won’t drink it. Why can’t you guys get that through your thick skulls no matter how often I tell you?’
Renzheng winked and said, ‘That’s true. You intellectuals don’t drink all that much.’ He took a look at Bao’s sister and smoothly slipped the wine into her hands. He said, ‘Well then we’ll just let your brother-in-law take it home. In any case, I can’t take it back to Fatcat. He’d have my head.’
Frostily, ignoring Renzheng, Bao Qing took out his cell phone and phoned his wife from the station waiting room. Renzheng took the hint, but just as he was about to leave, Bao Qing’s hand restrained him, pulling him all the way down the steps. ‘Renzheng, you’re a good guy. When I was making such a fool of myself yesterday, why did you just stand by and watch? Tell me the truth: did I shine Fatcat’s shoes? Did he actually slap me?’
Renzheng’s eyes were sparkling, but what he said was, ‘No, no. Nothing like that.’
Bao Qing watched Renzheng’s expression nervously, ‘Don’t play dumb with me. Why didn’t you stop me when I was shining his shoes? He used the drink as an excuse to go crazy and you just watched as he slapped me!’
Renzheng waved his hand and said, ‘Hey, nothing like that happened. You shined his shoes, you say? You think he slapped you? We’re all grown-ups now — Fatcat would never have made you shine his shoes, let alone slap you. Besides, he would never dare to bully you any more.’
Bao Qing instinctively rubbed his cheek, thinking, Well, it doesn’t hurt, but I wasn’t in a very clear state of mind at the time. He looked at Renzheng suspiciously, ‘It seems drunken people all make fools of themselves, and there isn’t any stopping them. Or am I perhaps remembering things wrongly? Did you shine his shoes? Were you the one he hit?’
Bao Qing watched Renzheng lift up his head, and on his face was a remarkable expression; a mixture of wiliness and pride that was hard to describe. ‘No, I didn’t shine them, sure as I’m my mother’s son. Ever since we were kids, I haven’t shined his shoes for him, not even once. And he’s never slapped me, either.’ Suddenly he laughed and poked Bao Qing in the stomach. ‘Don’t let it stick in your throat. You can’t make a fuss over what people do when they get drunk. Forgive him this once. A great spirit forgives the trespasses of his inferiors.’ Without knowing why, Bao Qing suddenly covered his face with his hands. Then he heard Renzheng sigh: ‘You can never tell what changes time may bring. You’ve both made good. Out of all of our friends and classmates, you’re the only one who can stand up to him. If he hadn’t been drunk, he would never have dared to slap you.’
As they were speaking, the long-distance bus emerged from the depot. A crashing noise gave Bao Qing a fright, until he realized it was the sound of the doors opening automatically. The holiday was over and everyone glowed with health. Even the bus had celebrated the New Year, for it seemed that the doors had been fixed.
Goddess Peak
The steamship pier was far dirtier and more crowded than a village market; people loitered around, some squatting, some standing, some lying with their limbs splayed wherever space would allow, their mouths wide open, breathing in the filthy air and snoring indulgently. The piercing whistle of the steamboat didn’t bother them; it was quite obvious they weren’t passengers.
Miaoyue and Li Yong were almost the last two passengers aboard. Li Yong was pulling Miaoyue along firmly by one hand. With the other hand, she held up her long black skirt as she was dragged like a puppet towards the ticket-taker. She seemed to know what sort of a figure she cut, judging by the mortified expression frozen on her face. Reaching the ticket examiner she bumped into someone who looked like a farmer, and instead of apologizing to the man, her reaction was to shrug off Li Yong’s hand. ‘What’s the bloody rush? The boat hasn’t even left. There’s no need to hurry.’
Li Yong turned back to cast a fleeting glance at his girlfriend; he was carrying a travel bag slung over each arm and shoulder and Miaoyue’s purse hung around his neck. Li Yong realized she was angry, but he remained calm. He stood on his tiptoes to look up to the deck of the steamboat and called out loudly, ‘My bro! There’s my bro!’ He waved to a man on the deck, at the same time pulling Miaoyue towards him in an embrace. ‘Do you see my bro? He’s waving at us right now.’
Miaoyue could see a man wearing a collared blue-and-white striped shirt. A cigarette was dangling from his lips and he was leaning on the railing, one hand raised high in a salute. It was a quick, casual wave, much like that of a VIP. Miaoyue’s automatic reaction was to look behind her, but of course there was no one there; in fact, she had realized immediately that he was waving at her, but she deliberately looked away. Actually, even without Li Yong pointing him out, she would have known that he was Mr Cui.
As they boarded the ship, she continued to look steadily in front of her; but then she said, ‘Your bro? Hmph! Is that your bro?’
Miaoyue was quick to make remarks, often resulting in comments she didn’t even know the meaning of herself. She was a girl who liked to take men down a peg. With regard to Mr Cui, the truth of the matter was that when she had seen him on the deck she had found him taller and better built than she’d imagined, and also a little younger and a little more handsome than she had expected.
* * *
The three of them had reserved a second-class cabin. The room was not particularly big, but quite clean. It was Miaoyue’s first time on a boat and her face lit up with pleasure despite herself; her eyes strayed over the room, then she felt the bedclothes with her fingers, ‘Pretty comfy, huh?’ As soon as she spoke she regretted it, for she saw the look Cui cast towards her. It was only a brief glance, but it made her desperately want to take her words back.
Smiling, Cui said, ‘Is it your first time on a boat?’
‘Maybe. So what if it is?’ Miaoyue said. ‘Is it such a big deal to take a little steamboat? It’s not like we’re on an aircraft carrier or something.’
For a moment Cui was taken aback, then he looked at Li Yong and remarked, ‘Pretty tough.’
‘She talks tough,’ Li Yong said, ‘but she has a good heart.’
‘Who says I have a good heart?’ Miaoyue said. ‘You don’t even know me.’
Li Yong laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. ‘Fuck, man. It’s just the three of us, nobody else. This is gonna be nice. That was really smart, bro, to book the cabin.’
‘Oh, he’s got the money. When you’ve got it, flaunt it.’ Miaoyue had retrieved a cosmetic case from her bag and was delicately retouching her make-up. Addressing herself to the little mirror, she said, ‘Well, at least I know I wish there was someone else here; someone a little more fun, otherwise I’ll probably die of boredom.’
When neither man had anything to say in reply, she felt she had finally worked off her anger. Still, she was free to consider them as clumsy conversationalists, and at this thought she smiled secretly. She sneaked a glance at the two men in the back of her mirror; they were smiling with similar expressions of tolerance. Li Yong approached her and spoke quietly into her ear, ‘You could be a little politer to my bro. Have you forgotten how he got you your job?’