Yu Hua - Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

When Xu Sanguan caught up to him, he saw that Yile really was crying. He said to him, “Your mom and I can’t do anything about it either. We just want you to do well down there so you can get a transfer and come back as soon as possible.”

With his father walking by his side, Yile stopped wiping the tears on his face. He shifted the book bag, which was slipping off his shoulder, across his back. “I know.”

The two walked ahead without exchanging any more words. Xu Sanguan walked faster than Yile and had to stop every few steps to wait for him to catch up before he continued down the street. When they came to the front entrance to the hospital, Xu Sanguan said, “Yile, wait here for a little while.” He walked into the hospital.

Yile stood outside the door waiting, but after a few minutes he sat down on a pile of bricks, his book bag dangling again from his shoulder, the two hard-boiled eggs still held in one hand. He started to feel like eating a little something, so he took one of the eggs, tapped it lightly against a brick, peeled off the shell, and put it in his mouth. He slowly chewed on the egg, eyes fixed on the hospital’s front entrance. He ate very slowly, but by the time he had finished one egg, Xu Sanguan still hadn’t emerged from the door of the hospital. He turned his eyes away from the door, put his book bag on his knees, folded his arms on top of the book bag, and then cradled his head with his arms.

After a few more moments Xu Sanguan returned. “Let’s go.”

They walked west until they reached the ferry pier. Xu Sanguan told Yile to sit down in the waiting room and went off to buy his ferry ticket. When he was finished, he sat down next to Yile to wait for the boat, which was due to depart in half an hour. The room was crowded with people, the majority of whom were peasants who had come up to town early that morning to sell produce and were now on their way home. They had piled their carrying poles on the floor and sat holding their baskets, now emptied of produce, in their hands, smoking cheap cigarettes, and cheerfully chatting among themselves.

Xu Sanguan pulled thirty yuan from his front pocket and stuffed it into Yile’s hand. “Take this.”

Yile, taken aback by the sight of his father suddenly handing him so much money, asked, “Dad, that’s for me?”

Xu Sanguan said, “Take it. Now. Put it somewhere safe.”

Yile looked down at the money. “Dad, I’ll just take ten yuan, all right?”

Xu Sanguan said, “Take all of it. I earned it selling blood just now. Take all of it. Some of it’s for Erle too. Erle’s far away from town, but he’s pretty close to where you are, so you can give him ten or fifteen the next time he comes to see you. Tell him to use it wisely. You two are far away from home, so we can’t look after you. You two brothers have to take good care of each other.”

Yile nodded and took the money.

Xu Sanguan continued, “Don’t waste this money on unnecessary things. Be careful with it, and spend it wisely. If you feel tired, but you don’t have any appetite, buy yourself something good to eat to give yourself strength. And when Spring Festival comes around, buy two packs of cigarettes and a bottle of liquor and give them to the chief of your production brigade. That way, when the time comes, you’ll be able to come back to town much sooner. Got that? Use it wisely. The best steel is for the blade and not the handle.”

It was time for Yile to get on the boat, so Xu Sanguan stood and escorted Yile over to the gate where they collected the tickets. He watched him board the ferry, then shouted, “Yile, remember what I told you. The best steel is for the blade, not the handle.”

Yile turned back toward Xu Sanguan and nodded his head. Then he ducked his head and walked through the low door into the cabin.

Xu Sanguan was left standing by the gate. He stood by the gate until the ferry began to move down the river, and only then did he turn to make his way home.

LESS THAN A MONTH after Yile went back to the countryside, the chief of Erle’s production brigade came to town. He was well over fifty years old, bearded, and when he smoked cigarettes, he liked to attach the butt he had just smoked to the tip of a fresh cigarette in order to conserve tobacco. In the half hour that he spent at Xu Sanguan’s house, he smoked four cigarettes, starting three of them with the end of the cigarette that had just preceded it. After he had ground the fourth cigarette out on the floor and placed the butt in his pocket, he stood and told them that he had plans to eat lunch somewhere else, but that he would be back for dinner at Xu Sanguan’s place.

As soon as Erle’s brigade chief left, Xu Yulan sat down on the doorstep and began to wipe tears from her eyes. As she rubbed her face, she said, “It’s the end of the month, and all we have left in the house is two yuan. How can you have someone over to dinner on just two yuan ? When you have company, you have to serve them fish and meat, and you need to supply wine and cigarettes as well. All you can get for two yuan is a pound of meat and half a fish. What am I going to do? ‘Even the cleverest maid is in trouble when there’s no rice in the larder,’ so how am I supposed to have someone for dinner when there’s no money to feed him? And this is no ordinary guest. This is Erle’s brigade chief. If there isn’t very much to eat, Erle’s brigade chief won’t be pleased, and if Erle’s brigade chief isn’t pleased, it’s going to be tough on Erle. Not only will he lose all hope for a transfer back to town, but he’ll also have a harder time of it in the production brigade. It’s the brigade chief who’s coming to dinner, and we have to wine him and dine him and give him some nice presents as well. How can I manage with just two yuan ?” Xu Yulan swung around to face Xu Sanguan inside the room. “Xu Sanguan, I’m going to have to ask you to sell some blood.”

Xu Sanguan sat for a moment nodding his head, and then said to her, “Go get me a bucketful of water from the well. I’ll need to drink water before I sell blood.”

Xu Yulan said, “There’s water in that cup over there. Drink the water in the cup.”

Xu Sanguan said, “There isn’t enough water in the cup. I have to drink a lot of water.”

Xu Yulan said, “There’s water in the Thermos too.”

Xu Sanguan said, “The water in the Thermos is too hot. I asked you to get me some water from the well. Now I want you to do it.”

Xu Yulan nodded her assent, stood, and rushed to the well. When she returned, Xu Sanguan told her to put the bucket on the table and asked her to bring him a bowl. He proceeded to down bowl after bowl of water. After the fifth bowlful, Xu Yulan began to worry that he’d hurt himself. “Stop drinking. I’m afraid you’ll hurt yourself.”

Xu Sanguan, paying her no mind, drank two more bowls of well water. Then, clasping his stomach with both hands, he stood carefully up from the table and took a few mincing steps forward. He paused for another moment by the doorway before stepping into the lane.

Xu Sanguan went to the hospital to see Blood Chief Li. “I’ve come to sell blood again,” he said to him.

Blood Chief Li was by this time already well into his sixties. His hair had gone completely white, and his back was hunched. He sat at his desk smoking cigarettes, coughing, and spitting a seemingly incessant flow of phlegm onto the floor. As he spat, his cotton-soled shoes would slide back and forth across the floor in a futile effort to wipe the floor clean of phlegm. He looked at Xu Sanguan for a moment and said, “You just sold me some blood the day before yesterday.”

Xu Sanguan said, “I was here a month ago to sell blood.”