Yu Hua - Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

Sanle too giggled. “He must not have seen him.”

That morning Yile walked in the direction of He Xiaoyong’s house. He was on his way to find his real father. He was going to tell his real father, He Xiaoyong, that he was never going back to Xu Sanguan’s house again. He wouldn’t go back even if Xu Sanguan took him to the Victory Restaurant to eat noodles every day. He was going to take up residence at He Xiaoyong’s house. He wouldn’t have two little brothers anymore. He would have two little sisters instead. One was called Xiaoying and the other was Xiaohong. And he wouldn’t be called Xu Yile anymore either. He would become He Yile. What it all amounted to was this. From now on, whenever he saw He Xiaoyong, he would call to him: Dad, Dad, Dad.

The doorstep at He Xiaoyong’s house was just like the doorstep Yile had just left at Xu Sanguan’s. There the doorway had been occupied by Erle and Sanle. Here He Xiaoying and He Xiaohong were sitting on the doorstep. When they saw Yile approach, they turned to look inside.

Yile announced, “Your big brother’s here.”

They swiveled their heads back in his direction.

Yile saw He Xiaoyong standing inside the door and called out to him, “Dad, I’m home.”

He Xiaoyong emerged from the house, pointed at Yile, and barked, “Who are you calling Dad?” Then he waved Yile away. “Get out of here.”

Yile stood his ground. “Dad, this time it’s different. Last time Mom made me come see you. I didn’t want to come. This time I came on my own. Mom doesn’t even know I’m here. Xu Sanguan doesn’t know either. Dad, now that I’m here, I’m not going back again. Dad, I’m moving in with you.”

He Xiaoyong repeated, “Who are you calling Dad?”

Yile answered, “You’re my dad.”

“Bullshit,” He Xiaoyong said. “Xu Sanguan is your dad.”

“Xu Sanguan isn’t my real dad. You’re my real dad.”

He Xiaoyong told Yile, “If you call me your dad one more time, I’m going to kick you with my feet and beat you with my fists.”

Yile shook his head. “You wouldn’t do that to your own son.”

The neighbors were gathering around the door. A few of them stepped forward and said, “He Xiaoyong, even if he’s not your son, you really shouldn’t treat him like that.”

Yile told them, “I am his son.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman emerged from the house and, gesturing toward Yile, told the onlookers, “It’s that Xu Yulan woman again. That bitch must have sent him here. One day she’s screwing around with some jerk, and the next day it’s some other jerk, and then what does she do? She sends her little bastards to other people’s houses to beg for money. She wants other people to feed, clothe, and house her bastard kids. It’s really too much. Most people can’t even take care of their own these days. Our family hasn’t eaten anything in days, we’ve been hungry for a month, and there’s almost nothing left between our bellies and our backsides by now.”

Yile waited for He Xiaoyong’s woman to finish. Then he turned to He Xiaoyong and said, “Dad, you’re my real dad. Take me to the Victory Restaurant for a bowl of noodles.”

“Did all of you hear what he said?” He Xiaoyong’s woman shouted to her neighbors, “He wants to eat noodles. Our family’s been eating chaff and weeds for two months now, but he’s coming over here asking for noodles. And he wants to have them at the Victory Restaurant no less.”

“Dad, I know you don’t have any money now. Why don’t you go over to the hospital and sell blood? You’ll have plenty of money if you sell some blood, and then you can take me to eat noodles.”

“Aiya!” He Xiaoyong’s woman began to scream. “And now he wants He Xiaoyong to go to the hospital to sell blood! He wants to kill our He Xiaoyong! He wants to murder him! He Xiaoyong, can’t you just get this kid out of here?”

He Xiaoyong took a step toward Yile. “Get the hell out of here.”

Yile didn’t move. “Dad, I’m never leaving you again.”

He Xiaoyong reached out, picked Yile up by his collar, and hauled him a few steps backward. Unable to hold him off the ground any longer, he put Yile back down and began to drag him down the lane. Yile’s hands grabbed frantically for his own collar, and his face contorted as he gasped for air. He Xiaoyong pulled him to the end of the lane, pushed him against a wall, and brandished a finger in front of his face. “If you ever come by here again, I’ll slaughter you.”

With this warning he turned and left. Yile stood with his back against the wall and watched him retreat down the lane to his house. Then he stepped away from the wall and walked into the street. After looking to his left and to his right to orient himself, he began to head west, head bent and eyes lowered to the ground.

A few people who were acquainted with Xu Sanguan saw an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy walking to the west with his head down and his eyes to the ground. They saw that his eyes were streaming with tears and that his tears sometimes fell onto his shoes. They wondered whose family he belonged to, and why he was crying as if his heart were broken. When they moved in for a closer look at the child, they realized that he was Xu Sanguan’s Yile.

The first one to approach him was Blacksmith Fang. Blacksmith Fang said, “Yile! Yile, why are you crying?”

Yile said, “Xu Sanguan isn’t my real dad. He Xiaoyong isn’t my real dad either. I don’t have a dad. That’s why I’m crying.”

Blacksmith Fang said, “Yile, why are you heading west? Your house is to the east.”

Yile said, “I’m not going home.”

Blacksmith Fang said, “Yile, you’d better go home now.”

Yile said, “Blacksmith Fang, why don’t you buy me a bowl of noodles? Then you can be my real dad.”

Blacksmith Fang said, “Yile, what sort of nonsense is that? Even if I bought you ten bowls of noodles, I would never be your real dad.”

Farther along the road, others came up to talk to him.

“You’re Xu Sanguan’s Yile, right? Why are you crying like that? Why are you walking west all on your own? Your house is on the east side. Why don’t you go on home?”

Yile said, “I’m not going home. Go tell Xu Sanguan that I’m never coming home again.”

They said, “If you’re not going home, then where do you think you’re going?”

Yile said, “I don’t know where I’m going. All I know is that I’m not going home.”

Yile added, “If any of you will buy me a bowl of noodles, I’ll be your son. Do any of you want to buy me some noodles?”

THEY WENT to tell Xu Sanguan.

“Xu Sanguan, your Yile is bawling his head off and walking toward the west side.”

“Xu Sanguan, your kid doesn’t want you to be his dad anymore.”

“Xu Sanguan, your Yile is saying that anyone who’s willing to buy him a bowl of noodles can be his dad.”

“Xu Sanguan, your Yile is going around everywhere asking people to be his dad, just like a beggar, and you’re still sitting with your feet up in that chair of yours? Why don’t you go get him home?”

Xu Sanguan stood up from his rattan chair. “That little brat’s getting worse and worse. If he wants to find his real dad, he should go look for He Xiaoyong. What does he think he’s doing, asking everyone else to be his dad? If He Xiaoyong isn’t his real dad, who the hell is? What’s he doing going west? That’s the opposite direction from his real dad’s house.”

When he was finished speaking, he sat back down in his rattan chair. The others said, “How come you’re sitting back down? Go and bring him home!”

Xu Sanguan said, “If he wants to look for his real dad, who am I to stand in his way?”

They could not very well argue the point, so one by one they went on their way. But a little later a few others arrived at the door.