Can Xue - Five Spice Street

The writer sought only to stress: X is a woman with neither conscience nor feelings. As for this fiasco, it had nothing to do with talent. She wasn’t educated (she herself said she ‘‘didn’t know even one character’’-of course, this was a little exaggerated). She had never ‘‘given much thought’’ to anything she chanced upon. How could she have great talent? ‘‘Friends, don’t worry: you didn’t work in vain.’’ There will come a day when ‘‘conditions are ripe.’’ Everything will become clear. Our meetings in the dark room and our lofty methods of expression-all were unique: they embodied the wisdom of our ordinary people as well as our elite. These have practically and realistically been entered into our glorious history, which is on the writer’s windowsill, its rays of light shooting in all directions. A thief who one night planned to steal this treasure unexpectedly couldn’t open his eyes because of the rays of light. He took a hard fall-this audacious thief! In the writer’s eyes, Madam X lived an unprofitable life. She couldn’t actualize her plot. She was lonely, too, as a result of what she did. She didn’t mix with anyone, nor did she have one friend in whom she could confide. Was this worthwhile? Would she keep fishing? After this she would probably catch fewer and fewer fish and in the end run out of patience!

The Second Diagram of the Maze

How can we predict Madam X’s future direction? Our analyses reveal Madam X to be an insignificant, eccentric person. It seems we’ve verified that, as an entity, she exists on our Five Spice Street. But just when we were about to move on to blackboard work, the second problem flashed into the writer’s mind. He shouted loudly: ‘‘Hold on!’’ And so everyone stopped what he was doing and stared at the writer with doubtful eyes. The writer began explaining: If this issue isn’t resolved, all our previous efforts were in vain. The question is: If Madam X is an entity, she is destined to advance. And if so, then there must be a direction. How could we overlook this basic question?

This morning we all happened to pass by the snack shop on the corner and saw her and her husband offload peanuts and beans from a small vehicle and move them into the house. We stood to the side for a long time, each person inwardly verifying Madam X’s existence. But was this all? Verifying her existence was like lifting a heavy load. We must carry this heavy load to the end. How could we turn our backs on the issue of her future and her outlook? She wasn’t an old philosopher, nor could she change into a fossil like an old philosopher. So her possibilities for change were infinite. Consequently we must observe her forever, present our conclusions, and make predictions. Otherwise, we won’t have thoroughly verified her existence. It was irresponsible. A living person was ‘‘doing things’’ right under our noses: how could we now and in the future pretend to be ‘‘aware of nothing’’? These words startled the elites, who were intoxicated with their success. They once more summoned their courage, came together, and brainstormed intensely. We already knew that after going through that storm, Madam X had recovered her inner serenity, and now every day, she happily carried on her trade in peanuts and beans without a worry and hardened her heart ‘‘not to see anyone.’’ She just looked at the weights on the steelyard and so forth. Had she thereby become enlightened? Had she remolded herself? Only infantile, ignorant young people would raise this kind of question. Our elites who knew the ways of the world and who had crossed swords with Madam X couldn’t cling to such an illusion. As the proverb says: Despite apparent changes, a thing remains the same. No matter what face Madam X shows, she is always the same: Carrying on her illicit affair in the dark granary and selling peanuts on the corner were simply two aspects of her essential nature. If we think it through, we can see that selling peanuts was ‘‘a continuation of her illicit affair’’ or ‘‘preparation for a new illicit affair’’ or ‘‘an accumulation of energy for a volcanic eruption.’’ Each characterization is apt. Didn’t she whimsically reveal to her sister that she still had enough energy to start all over? In fact, she isn’t there selling peanuts at all; she’s adjusting her secretions and exercising her energy! She’s looking for new quarry with her third eye!

Many of us used to go out of our way to be solicitous of her welfare. Some worked so hard at this that their families broke up (for example,

X’s husband’s good friend). We had high hopes. Though it was clear that Madam X wouldn’t change, nor would we gain anything from it, we persisted in ‘‘sticking it out.’’ This remarkable process revealed our rare value. Even the gods were moved by it (at one time, a genius had proven this by sitting on the roof of a thatched cottage). Some people not only didn’t plan to gain any advantage but actually endured a kind of self-torture, which turned into a mania. How much willpower our people had! With people of this sort, it didn’t matter whether Madam X’s future direction was obscure or bright. We would ‘‘have nothing to worry about.’’

As to the future, there were both pessimistic and optimistic opinions. The pessimists thought: Madam X’s desires would increase, and after a few years, she would possess certain power, and the community’s control over her would weaken. They reached this conclusion not because of Madam X but because of certain people in our community who were really devil-raising viruses. These viruses would spread over time, and our undertaking would be destroyed by them.

Let’s look back for a moment. After the X and Q incident began, a small number of people couldn’t remain calm. They put aside their work and all day long strolled around Madam X’s small house. They talked while enjoying their leisure: the center of their lives had undergone a historic shift. Now it was better-they no longer had to deal with common things like blackboards. They had been fed up with this work some time ago, and long since had wanted to give it up. They hadn’t been born to do this kind of dull work. Their talents should have enabled them to do better things. This X and Q incident allowed them to display their talents: this was really a good opportunity bestowed by heaven. One by one, they quit their jobs, and if they weren’t allowed to quit, they walked anyway. A glorious future tempted them! Missions that would suit their tastes and interests awaited them! They had to come to a decision. If they didn’t take part in a battle with light packs, how could they accomplish anything? First, they had to cut off all escape routes: quitting their jobs was the first step. After that, they would be as agile as snakes and as keen as dogs.

However, according to the observers’ report, after these persons quit their jobs, they didn’t act as they had planned. They used the X and Q incident as the excuse to leave home, and after circling around X’s small house a few times, they went into their blockhouse — the public toilet. They didn’t discuss strategy. They just squatted for a long time telling ribald jokes and made obscene conversation for the whole day. They labeled this conversation: theoretical discussion. It was precisely this ‘‘theoretical discussion’’ that caused them, with bulging bloodshot eyes, to attack Madam X twice on a secluded street corner. Although they didn’t accomplish their goal, they still disgraced the community. Their fake discussion caused certain people to desecrate our ancient, elegant language. Because of this, one or two of them replaced such traditional phrases as ‘‘spare-time recreation’’ and ‘‘connubial harmony’’ with such low- class slang as ‘‘screw’’ and ‘‘bang.’’ These dirty words hung from their lips the whole day: they said them over and over again to show their virility and defy tradition. In fact it was amusing and showed their low self-esteem. Everyone who ran into them on the street was disgusted, as though he’d eaten maggots by accident.