Sun blinked as he considered what Father meant by the word dignity. A sneer of disdain accompanied a couple of pats on his leg. ‘Dignity, you say? Don’t you mean face? Old Ku, if you don’t go ashore, it’s because you’re ashamed to show your face.’
But Father shook his head insistently. ‘You’re wrong, Old Sun. You really don’t understand. Face is face, and dignity is dignity. I’ve walked a bumpy road in my days and tasted everything life has to offer — sweet, sour, bitter and hot. Face means nothing to me any more, but I’ve got my dignity, and I’ll hold on to it, no matter what it costs. I’m not going ashore until my case is resolved!’
Seeing my father’s eyes grow moist, Sun Ximing knew there was nothing more to be said. He was smart enough to leave it at that, so he turned to the next best thing to Father — me. ‘Then let Dongliang go in your place. He may not be the best talker, but he’s been to school. The authorities will want someone who can write, so he could prove to be of some use.’
With a quick glance at me, Father said, ‘What good could he do? He can’t make things right, but he’s sure to mess them up. If you want to put your trust in him, I can’t be responsible. Ask him if he’s willing to go.’
Seeing the hopeful look in Sun Ximing’s eyes, I quickly looked away and said, ‘I don’t care.’
‘What do you mean, you don’t care?’ Sun said doubtfully. ‘Do you want to go or not?’
‘“I don’t care” means he wants to go,’ Father said. ‘This boy doesn’t know how to give a straight answer to anything.’ He reached down, took off one of his sandals and smacked me with it. ‘Won’t you ever change?’ he complained. ‘I try to bring you up right, but you refuse to do what you’re supposed to. Can’t you give a straight answer?’
Truth is, Father didn’t understand me. All he cared about was his own dignity, not mine. The reason I was being so difficult was because I had mixed feelings. I knew that taking Huixian ashore was the right thing for the boat people to do, but I hated the idea. Winds often blew clothes that were drying on the shore into the water, where the boat people fought to scoop them out, dry them and wear them as their own. And waves often picked up logs from the lumber yard and sent them downriver, where they were pulled up out of the water and hidden in cabins. The boat people would take anything out of the water, it didn’t matter what. Now that a lovable little girl had come to them, why wouldn’t they keep her? I was angry at Sun and the others, but there was no way I could tell them.
So I stuck a pen into one of my pockets and followed the boat people ashore to give up the girl. She rode on Desheng’s shoulders, her face covered in rouge put on by the women, in high spirits as she sucked on a sweet. I knew why she was so happy — they’d told her they were taking her ashore to find her mama.
Now that the floods had passed, much of Milltown was in ruins, with mud everywhere. Amid the dirt and filth, red flags and throngs of people lent the construction project a more exalted air than ever. The land around the piers had been opened up, rice-paddy style, although close-up it looked more like the trenches you see in war movies. There were people down in the trenches and above ground nearby. With shock-troop banners on poles dotting the ground, our delegation had trouble finding its way. One of the banners read ‘Sunflower Shock Troop’, which reminded me of my mother. Would she be a member of that troop? I climbed up a nearby hill to get a better look into the trenches, but didn’t see her down there. A woman was reading a commendation letter over the PA system, extolling the virtues of a labourer who had passed out on his work site. Time after time, he’d lost consciousness, then got up to continue digging, only to pass out again. I listened, not to what the voice was saying, but to how it sounded. Could that be my mother? No, it was the voice of a younger woman, crisp, but lacking the emotion I’d always heard in Mother’s voice. No, the PA voice belonged to someone else. A river flows thirty years to the east, then thirty years to the west. Mother’s revolutionary voice had been replaced by that of an unknown younger woman.
The security group appeared out of nowhere and rushed towards our delegation, shouting, ‘Stop where you are! Stop, I said! You can’t come ashore!’
Xiaogai and the others blocked our way next to a stack of drain-pipes. They’d been joined by a woman they called Wintersweet. She carried a truncheon like the others, but stood behind the men. She added her voice to theirs: ‘Go on back, you can’t come ashore.’
The confused boat people, who had been backed up against the small mountain of drainpipes, darted glances all around. ‘This construction may be your business,’ Sun said, ‘but, as they say, well water doesn’t stop the flow of river water. Why can’t we come ashore?’
‘What’s all this well-water and river-water business?’ Scabby Five said as he grabbed Sun’s sleeve. ‘Sooner or later well water flows into the river. Didn’t you see the signs? We’re in the middle of a mass campaign, and the piers are a construction site, off limits to idlers.’
‘After all we’ve contributed to the project, how dare you call us idlers?’ Sun complained, knocking Scabby’s hand away. ‘We’re on our way to see the authorities. How do you expect us to get there — sprout wings and fly?’
‘You’re nothing but a raucous crowd,’ Xiaogai said. ‘Why choose this time to go looking for the authorities? And what do you want to see them for?’
Before Sun had a chance to answer, Desheng said, ‘To report on a new trend in class struggle. And if you won’t let us come ashore, we’ll see that you’re made responsible for what happens.’
Xiaogai glared at Desheng, then spun around to see if there was any reaction from Sun Ximing. Sun wore an enigmatic smile that indicated he liked what he heard. Xiaogai didn’t know whether to believe Desheng or not. ‘What trend in class struggle could you boat people have? Have you scooped a Taiwanese secret agent’s parachute out of the river or something?’ His tone of voice had changed from firm to cautious. Special circumstances called for special handling. ‘Come ashore if you have to, but you need to be registered. I’ll want names, time of coming ashore, and time of return to your barges.’
‘Whatever you say. Start with me,’ said Sun Ximing. Careful not to take this too lightly, he turned to the delegation. ‘Give him your names,’ he said with a wave of his hand.
‘I don’t need you to tell me. We know all about you people.’ Xiaogai looked at his watch. ‘Take out your family register, Baldy,’ he said. ‘The following boat people came ashore at ten-forty a.m.: Sun Ximing and his wife, Gu Desheng and his wife, Six-Fingers, your name is Wang Jinliu, right? Wang Jinliu, and Ku Dongliang. Write that down.’
They missed Huixian, who was in the arms of Desheng’s wife, yawning sleepily. Only the sharp-eyed Wintersweet had noticed her. She walked up to get a good look at Huixian, then sniffed her neck. ‘Hold it!’ she cried. ‘There’s a stranger among them! This little girl doesn’t belong on a barge. I can tell by the smell. She doesn’t stink, she’s had a bath. Find out where she’s from.’
Suddenly wary, Xiaogai and Scabby Five went over to get a good look at Huixian and reached the same conclusion: the girl definitely did not live on a boat. Their eyes lit up. ‘Where’s this little girl come from?’ they said at almost the same time. ‘So this is your new trend in class struggle. Where’d you snatch that kid?’
‘Trust you people to resort to slander!’ Sun Ximing complained. ‘What good would it do us to snatch a little girl? We barely have enough to feed our own kids. What would we do with somebody else’s — feed her river water?’
‘Don’t twist things around!’ Xiaogai demanded shrilly. ‘We’re not interested in your stomachs. Our job is to register people. Tell me, whose child is she?’