Yu Hua - Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

The two followed Xu Sanguan’s lead as he guided them down a twisting narrow lane, saying as he went, “I can’t hold it in anymore. Let’s find somewhere to pee.”

Genlong said, “You can’t pee. If you pee, all that water will go to waste. And you’ll have less blood to spare.”

Ah Fang said to Xu Sanguan, “We drank a lot more than you, and we’re still holding it in.” He turned to Genlong. “His bladder’s small.”

Xu Sanguan, brows furrowed against the pain of his swollen bladder, began to move more and more slowly down the lane. “Can it kill?”

“What do you mean can it kill?”

“Kill me ! I mean, could my stomach burst?”

“Do the roots of your teeth ache?” Ah Fang asked.

“My teeth? Let me check. . No, I guess they don’t.”

“Then there’s nothing to be afraid of. As long as your teeth don’t ache, there’s no risk of the bladder bursting,” Ah Fang affirmed.

Xu Sanguan brought them to a stone well near the hospital, which stood under the canopy of an old tree, its sides carpeted in green moss. A wooden bucket with a length of neatly coiled hemp rope tied to its handle lay to one side of the well. They threw the bucket into the well, where it hit the water below like a resounding slap in the face. When they had drawn a bucketful of water, Genlong and Ah Fang each drank two bowls. Ah Fang handed Xu Sanguan his bowl, and he too drank a bowl of water. Ah Fang and Genlong urged him to drink another, but after Xu Sanguan poured the water into the bowl and took a couple of sips, he poured what was left back into the bucket. “My bladder’s too small. I can’t drink any more.”

They made their way toward the blood donation room at the hospital, moving as carefully as women in the final month of pregnancy, their faces tomato red with the effort of holding in the urine. Ah Fang and Genlong moved even more gingerly than Xu Sanguan, for they were still burdened by melon-laden carrying poles. Their hands were clasped around the cords from which the watermelons were strung so that the poles wouldn’t wobble back and forth with each step. But the hospital corridor was a narrow one, and a few of the people squeezing past could not help but jostle the poles. The water distending Ah Fang’s and Genlong’s bladders wobbled along with the watermelons, and their faces went crooked with pain. Each time they were jostled, they had to rest until the watermelons stopped swaying, then continue painstakingly down the hallway once the poles had steadied.

Blood Chief Li sat behind a desk in the blood donation room, feet propped atop an open desk drawer, and his legs splayed to reveal his crotch. All the buttons on his fly had fallen off, and a pair of flower-print underwear peeked through the gap between. There was no one else in the room besides Blood Chief Li. As soon as Xu Sanguan saw him, he thought to himself, So this is Blood Chief Li. Isn’t he the bald guy who comes by the factory to sell fried silkworm chips?

When Blood Chief Li saw Ah Fang and Genlong shuffle in with their carrying poles, his feet slid back onto the ground, and he gave out an affable chuckle. “So it’s you two! You’re back again.” Then he glanced toward Xu Sanguan and gestured in his direction. “I think I’ve seen this one before.”

“He lives in town,” Ah Fang said.

“That must be it,” Blood Chief Li said.

Xu Sanguan added, “You’re the one who comes by our factory to sell silkworm chips, right?”

“You’re at the silk factory?” Blood Chief Li asked.

“That’s right.”

“Damn,” Blood Chief Li went on. “No wonder I’ve seen you around. Are you here to sell some blood too?”

Ah Fang said, “We’ve brought you some watermelons. Fresh picked this morning from the fields.”

Blood Chief Li raised his buttocks from the chair to lean across the desk and inspect the watermelons more closely. He chuckled. “They’re pretty damn big too. Just set them down in the corner.”

Ah Fang and Genlong bent over in an effort to extract the watermelons from their baskets and set them down in the corner. But no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to bend far enough, and after several abortive tries, their faces went a fiery red and the sound of their panting filled the room.

The smile faded from Blood Chief Li’s lips as he watched them struggle. “Just how much water did you drink this time?”

Ah Fang replied, “Just three bowls.”

Genlong, standing to one side, corrected him, “He had three. I drank four.”

“Bullshit.” Blood Chief Li’s eyes were fixed on them. “You think I don’t know how big your bladders are by now? I know damn well that when you two really get going, your stomachs swell up as big as a pregnant lady’s belly. Ten bowls, at the very least.”

Ah Fang and Genlong broke into sheepish grins, and Blood Chief Li, won over by their smiles, waved his hand as if to dismiss the matter. “Forget it. At least you two still have a conscience. At least you two still remember me from time to time. You can sell this time, but don’t do it again.” Then he shifted his attention toward Xu Sanguan. “Come here.”

Xu Sanguan moved over to the desk.

“Move your head a little closer.”

Xu Sanguan lowered his head, and Blood Chief Li reached out a hand, grabbed hold of the skin around Xu’s eyes, and forced them wide open.

“Let’s take a look at your eyes. Let’s see if there’s any jaundice. No. . then stick out your tongue, let me see your innards. . Doesn’t look so bad. All right then, you can sell blood as well. And listen here. Usually the rule is that we’re supposed to take a sample first and check if you have any diseases. But you’re a friend of Ah Fang and Genlong, and I wouldn’t want them to lose any face — especially considering that this is our first meeting. In short, just consider this as my little gift to you.”

AFTER THE THREE MEN finished their transaction, they made their way, step by painstaking step, toward the hospital’s public lavatory. Xu Sanguan followed closely behind the other two. They kept their eyes to the floor, silent and grimacing with pain, wary of the one false move that might cause their bladders to burst.

They lined up in a row in front of the hospital urinal, and as they began to pee, a wave of intense pain rolled across the roots of their teeth. Their teeth began to chatter so resoundingly that the splatter of their urine on the wall was very nearly drowned out by the sound.

Not long afterward they arrived at the Victory Restaurant. The Victory Restaurant was nestled under an old bridge, and the peak of its roof barely reached the stone underside of the structure. A mass of weeds grew from in between the roof tiles, cascading over the eaves like eyebrows. The front door was almost indistinguishable from the tall windows, edged by wooden slats, that ran across the storefront. The three walked into the restaurant through one of these windows and took a table by another window that looked out over the creek that ran through the west end of town. A few discarded vegetable leaves floated past them on the current.

Ah Fang shouted to a waiter, “A plate of fried pork livers, and two shots of yellow rice wine, and make sure to warm up the wine for me.”

Genlong shouted in turn, “A plate of fried pork livers, two shots of yellow rice wine, and warm up my wine as well.”

Xu Sanguan had watched closely as they shouted out their orders and, impressed by the aplomb with which they had slapped the table for emphasis, followed suit with a shout, “A plate of fried pork livers and two shots of yellow rice wine. Oh, and warm mine up too.”

In a twinkling three plates of fried pork livers and three pots of rice wine were delivered to their table. Xu Sanguan lifted his chopsticks and was just about to spear a piece of the pork liver when he noticed that Ah Fang and Genlong had lifted their wine pots instead. Squinting with anticipation, they slowly took a sip, and then simultaneously emitted a long hissing sound, upon which their facial muscles visibly relaxed and they both broke into satisfied smiles.