Yu Hua - Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

“Yile, do you understand now why I care so much for my fourth uncle? It’s because he picked me up and carried me to my grandpa’s house that night. People have to keep to their conscience. Fourth Uncle’s been gone for a few years now, but whenever I think of him, I feel like crying. You have to keep to your conscience. I’ve raised you for thirteen years now, and in those thirteen years there have been times when I’ve hit you or yelled at you. But you can’t take those things to heart, because I did them for your sake. I don’t know how many times I’ve been worried because of you. Because all else aside, I’m not your real dad. You know that. Now your real dad’s in the hospital, and he’s about to die because the doctors can’t do anything to help him. Now Mr. Chen over on the west side — the Mr. Chen who’s a fortune-teller and an herbalist — says you’re the only person who can save He Xiaoyong. He Xiaoyong’s soul has already left his body, but Mr. Chen says that if you climbed up on He Xiaoyong’s roof, you might be able to call his soul back home.

“Yile, the way He Xiaoyong treated us was unforgivable, but people have to let bygones be bygones. Let’s forget about the past for now. Right now his life is in danger, and we’ve got to help save it. He’s a human being after all, and if someone’s about to die, you have to do what you can, no matter what you think about him. And he is your real dad. Do it because he’s your dad. Climb up on the roof and call for his soul.

“Yile, He Xiaoyong will recognize you as his own son now. And even if he didn’t, I could never be your real dad.

“Yile, remember what I’ve told you today. You need to have a conscience. I’m not saying you need to pay me back for everything I’ve done for you. That’s not what I mean at all. All I ask is that you come to see me as I saw my fourth uncle. That would be enough. After I get old and sick and die, if you would remember from time to time how it was that I raised you, and if you feel sad for a moment, maybe even shed a tear or two for me, that would be enough for me. That would make me very happy.

“Yile, follow your mom. Yile, listen to me. Go and call He Xiaoyong’s soul back home. Yile, go on now.”

That day it seemed that everybody in town had heard that Xu Sanguan’s Yile was going to climb up onto He Xiaoyong’s roof, sit on top of the chimney, and call for He Xiaoyong’s errant soul to come home. They crowded in front of He Xiaoyong’s front door, standing and watching as Xu Yulan escorted Yile into the house to be greeted by He Xiaoyong’s woman, who talked with them for a long time before pulling Yile by the hand behind her skinny frame toward a ladder leaning against the side of the house.

A friend of He Xiaoyong’s was already on the roof, and another friend stood below, holding the ladder steady. Yile climbed up the ladder to the roof, and the man took his hand, leading him diagonally across the tiles to the chimney, where he helped him sit down squarely atop it. After Yile had taken up his high perch, he kept his hands on his legs and watched the man who had brought him there move back down toward the ladder. He grasped the edges of the roof tiles with the palms of his hands before finding a foothold on the top rung of the ladder. Finally, like a man disappearing under water, he sank below Yile’s line of sight.

Yile sat on the chimney and looked at the dank light reflected from the roofs surrounding him. A swallow let out a few piercing cries, circled above his head, and flew away. Seconds later a whole school of smaller swallows chirped out a much softer response. Their cries emerged from the eaves of the house just across from where Yile was sitting. Yile gazed out toward the mountains that rose and fell across the horizon. They were so distant that they resembled nothing so much as clouds or shadows, gray and blurry and insubstantial.

The people standing below craned their necks in anticipation of the moment when Yile would begin to call for He Xiaoyong’s soul. They were looking up at him with their mouths all agape, waiting for a sound, for a cry, but no sound came. One by one they lowered their heads, rested their necks, and wondered what exactly was happening on the roof above. From Yile’s perch, their anxious voices sounded like the twittering of magpies.

He Xiaoyong’s woman shouted toward Yile, “Yile, start crying now. That’s what Mr. Chen said you should do. Once you start crying, your dad’s soul will hear you.”

Yile looked down at the crowd of people below and saw them pointing and waving their fingers at him. He turned his head away from them and discovered that he was all alone on the roof. There wasn’t anyone on any of the roofs around him. All the roof tiles in every direction were covered with green weeds that swayed back and forth in the wind.

He Xiaoyong’s woman called out once again, “Yile, quick! Start crying. Why aren’t you crying? Go on and cry.”

Before Yile began crying, He Xiaoyong’s woman herself started to cry. “Why isn’t the kid crying? I thought we’d explained everything to him very clearly. What’s wrong with him?” She called out once more, “Yile, cry. I’m begging you. Start crying.”

Yile finally asked, “Why do you want me to cry?”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “Your dad’s in the hospital, and he’s about to die. His soul has already flown away from his body, and it’s getting farther and farther away. If you don’t hurry up and cry, he’ll be too far away to hear you. Quick, start crying.”

Yile said, “ My dad’s not in the hospital. My dad’s working at the silk factory. My dad’s not going to die. He’s pushing the cocoon cart at the factory. My dad’s soul is safe inside his body. Who says my dad’s soul has flown away?”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “Xu Sanguan from the silk factory isn’t your dad. Your dad’s in the hospital. Your dad’s He Xiaoyong.”

Yile said, “Nonsense.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “It’s the truth. Xu Sanguan really isn’t your dad. He Xiaoyong’s really your dad.”

Yile said, “Nonsense.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman swung around toward Xu Yulan. “All I can do now is beg. You’re his mom after all. Say something to him. Make him cry. Make him call for He Xiaoyong’s soul to come home.”

Xu Yulan stood motionless for a moment before replying, “There are so many people watching. What exactly do you want me to say? I’ve already lost any face I might ever have had in their eyes. They’re all laughing at me inside. What am I supposed to say to him? I’m not going up there.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman sank to the ground and began to frantically bow and scrape in Xu Yulan’s direction. “I’m down on my knees in front of you. I’ve lost just as much face as you. And if they’re laughing, it’s me they’re laughing at first and foremost. I’m on my knees. I’m begging you. Please go talk with Yile.” Tears poured from her eyes as she pleaded with Xu Yulan.

Xu Yulan said, “Stand up. When you bow like that, I’m the one who loses face, not you. Stand up. I’ll go talk to him.” Xu Yulan stepped forward, raised her face to the roof, and called out, “Yile! Yile, turn this way. It’s me, your mom. Please just cry a little bit, shout a few times. That’s all you’ve got to do to bring He Xiaoyong’s soul home. When he’s back, I’ll take you home. Come on now.”

Yile said, “Ma, I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to shout.”

Xu Yulan said, “Yile, you’ve got to cry now. You have to shout. More and more people are coming to watch us, and I’m losing face. If any more people show up, I’ll never be able to show my face again in this town. Go on and shout for his soul. After all, He Xiaoyong’s your real dad.”