Yu Hua - Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

Xu Sanguan said, “You only had one piece of meat. Eat the rest of your meat.”

Xu Yulan shook her head. “Give it to Yile and the rest of them. Bring it home and let Yile and the rest eat it.” Then she stretched out a hand and pounded her legs with her fist. “My legs are numb from standing so much.”

The way she looked brought the beginnings of tears to Xu Sanguan’s eyes. He said to her, “There’s an old saying that still rings true. The more you see, the more you learn about the world. I think I must have aged ten years in the last few months. It’s true that ‘you can know a man’s face but not his heart.’ We still don’t know who’s responsible for that poster. Who knows? You usually don’t mince words, so you might have offended any number of people. From now on, you better be more careful. The ancients said that the more you say, the more you lose.”

These words struck a chord in Xu Yulan. She burst out, “There was just that one time with He Xiaoyong, and now look at the state I’m in. You and Lin Fenfang did the same thing, but no one’s ever bothered to ‘struggle’ against you.”

Xu Yulan’s words terrified Xu Sanguan. He looked hastily around to see if anyone was nearby, and when he was certain it was safe, he whispered, “You just can’t say things like that. Don’t ever say that to anyone else.”

Xu Yulan said, “I won’t say it again.”

Xu Sanguan said, “You’re already in hot water, and I’m the only one in the world who’s trying to save you. If I got thrown in the water along with you, there’d be no one left to pull you out.”

AROUND NOON Xu Sanguan usually emerged from the house with the aluminum lunchbox in hand. People who were familiar with him knew that he was on his way to deliver Xu Yulan her lunch, and they would always call out, “Xu Sanguan, making a delivery, eh?”

But one day a stranger stopped him on his way to Xu Yulan’s spot and asked, “Aren’t you Xu Sanguan? Is that the food you’re bringing over to that woman named Xu Yulan? Let me ask you this. Have you held a struggle session at home? I mean to denounce Xu Yulan?”

Xu Sanguan held the aluminum lunchbox tightly to his chest, lowered his eyes to the ground, and nodded. “She’s already been denounced all over town.” Then he counted all the places she’d been struggled against on his fingers. “They denounced her at the factory, and at the school, and on the street, and she’s been through five struggle sessions at the town square.”

The man said, “She has to be struggled against at home too.”

Xu Sanguan didn’t know this man, and he wasn’t wearing a red armband either. It was impossible to tell who he was or where he came from. Even so he had little choice but to listen and pay heed to what the man had said.

He said to Xu Yulan, “People are watching us, you know. Someone asked me today if we’d had a struggle session at home yet. He said we have to denounce you at home as well.”

Xu Yulan had only just come home from the street. She lifted the “Xu Yulan, Prostitute” placard from around her neck and set it down on the floor behind the door. Then she replaced the stool she had stood on all day beside the table, picked up a rag, and started wiping the seat. She continued to wipe the stool without a glance in his direction as she listened, and when he was finished, she said, “Go ahead then.”

That evening Xu Sanguan called to Yile, Erle, and Sanle and said, “Tonight our family’s holding a struggle session. And who are we denouncing? Xu Yulan, of course. From now on you have to call her Xu Yulan. You’re not allowed to call her Mom at a struggle session. You can’t call her Mom until we’re finished with the meeting.”

Xu Sanguan had his three sons sit down in a row. He sat in front of them, and Xu Yulan stood to one side, although he had set out a stool for her too. The four of them sat on stools, while only Xu Yulan remained standing, head bowed, just as if she were still out on the street.

Xu Sanguan said to his sons, “Today we’re denouncing Xu Yulan, so she really ought to remain standing. But since she’s been standing all day on the street and her feet are swollen and her legs are numb, do you think we can let her sit down on a stool instead? All in favor raise your hands.”

As he proposed the motion, Xu Sanguan raised his own hand. Sanle rapidly followed suit, while Yile and Erle exchanged glances before raising their hands.

Xu Sanguan said to Xu Yulan, “You may sit down.”

Xu Yulan sat down on the stool.

Xu Sanguan said to his sons, “Each of you has to speak out. If you have something to say, don’t hold back. If you don’t have anything to say, keep it brief. But everyone has to say something so that if anyone asks, I can tell them in all honesty that everyone spoke at the meeting. Yile, you go first.”

Yile turned and looked at Erle. “Erle, you go first.”

Erle glanced at Xu Yulan, gazed toward Xu Sanguan, and finally looked over at Sanle. “Let Sanle go first.”

Sanle’s mouth dropped open, as if he were about to laugh but had thought better of it. He said to Xu Sanguan, “I don’t know what to say.”

Xu Sanguan looked at Sanle and said, “Well, I guess you wouldn’t have had much to say anyway.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll start with a few words then. They say that Xu Yulan is a prostitute. They say she sees clients every night, that she charges two yuan a night. But I want you all to think about that. Who exactly is it that sleeps in the same bed with Xu Yulan every night?”

When he finished speaking, Xu Sanguan looked questioningly over at Yile, Erle, and Sanle. His three sons gazed silently back toward him.

Finally, Sanle broke the silence. “It’s you! You sleep in the same bed as Mom every night.”

“That’s exactly right,” Xu Sanguan said. “It’s me. Every one of Xu Yulan’s johns is me. But can you really call me a john?”

Xu Sanguan saw Sanle nod his head. Then he watched as Erle also nodded in agreement. Only Yile refrained from nodding.

Xu Sanguan pointed at Erle and Sanle and said, “Did I tell you two to nod? I wanted you to shake your heads. You idiots! You really think I’m her john? When I married Xu Yulan, I spent a lot of money on the wedding. I hired six men to play drums and gongs, and four men to carry the sedan chair. I had a three-table spread, and all the friends and relatives I could think of showed up at the party to eat and drink their fill. Everything about our marriage was on the up-and-up. That’s why I’m not a john and she’s not a whore. Though I should add that Xu Yulan did make one big mistake, and that mistake was He Xiaoyong.” He glanced at Yile and continued, “You know all about Xu Yulan and He Xiaoyong’s affair. That’s what we’re going to denounce at today’s meeting.”

Xu Sanguan turned to face Xu Yulan. “Xu Yulan, it’s time for you to come clean to your sons about the affair.”

Xu Yulan bowed her head and whispered, “How can I tell my sons about that? How could I even begin to talk about that with them?”

Xu Sanguan said, “Don’t look at them as your sons. Just try to see them as the revolutionary masses who are denouncing you.”

Xu Yulan looked up at her three sons. Yile sat with his head bowed. Only Erle and Sanle were looking at her. She swiveled her eyes back toward Xu Sanguan, who said, “Go on.”

“I committed some crimes in my past life.” Xu Yulan wiped her tears. “And I’m paying for it in this life. I must have offended He Xiaoyong in my past life, and he took his revenge on me in this one. He’s dead and gone now, but I’m still paying.”

Xu Sanguan said, “Enough of that.”

Xu Yulan nodded, and lifted up both of her hands to wipe her face. “Actually, He Xiaoyong and I only did it once. I never thought that after just one time I would end up pregnant with Yile—”