Yu Hua - Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

“What’s done is done,” Xu Sanguan comforted her. “Everything’ll be fine once we get married.”

“I can’t marry you. I have a boyfriend. And my dad would never agree. My dad likes He Xiaoyong.”

And so it was that Xu Sanguan, cradling a bottle of yellow rice wine and a carton of cigarettes in his arms, arrived at Xu Yulan’s door and sat down at the table across from her father. After he slid the wine and the cigarettes across the tabletop, he began a lengthy discourse.

“Do you know who my dad was? My dad was a famous carpenter. My old man made furniture for all the best families in town. No one else could make a table as fine as his. When you ran your hand across the tabletop, the wood was as smooth and shiny as silk. You know who my mom was? My mom was Golden Flower. You know who she was? She was the most beautiful woman on the west side of town. People used to call her the Westside Beauty. After my dad died, she married a Nationalist company commander, then ran off with him. I’m my dad’s only son. I don’t know if Mom and that company commander ever had any kids or not. I’m called Xu Sanguan. My uncles’ two sons are older than me, so I rank third in the Xu family. I work in the silk factory, and I’m two years older than He Xiaoyong, and I started working three years before he did, so I definitely have a lot more money than he does. If he wanted to marry Xu Yulan, he’d have to save up for a few more years, but I already have enough to get married now. I’m ready now; all I need is your permission.”

Xu Sanguan added, “Xu Yulan is your only child. If she were to marry He Xiaoyong, your family line would be broken for good, because no matter whether the kids were boys or girls, their last name would still have to be He. And if she married me? My last name is the same as yours, Xu, so no matter if we had boys or girls, they would all be named Xu. Your family line will remain intact, and you’ll always have descendants to burn incense for you at the family shrine. Look at it this way — if I marry Xu Yulan, it would be just the same as if I agreed to take on your family name instead of making Xu Yulan take mine.”

When Xu Sanguan’s speech reached this juncture, Xu Yulan’s father broke into a wide grin. He looked across the table toward Xu Sanguan and, drumming a tattoo on the tabletop with his knuckles, said, “I’m going to accept this bottle of wine, and the carton of cigarettes. What you say is absolutely right. If my daughter marries He Xiaoyong, my family line will be broken forever. But if she marries you, both of our family’s futures will be assured for generations to come.”

When Xu Yulan was informed of her father’s decision, she sat on the bed, tears falling from her eyes. Her father and Xu Sanguan stood to one side. Watching as she wiped the tears from her face, Xu Yulan’s father said to Xu Sanguan, “Take a good hard look. This is what women are all about. When they’re truly happy, all they can do is cry.”

Xu Sanguan said, “I’m not so sure it’s because she’s happy.”

At this point Xu Yulan interjected, “What am I supposed to say to He Xiaoyong?”

Her father replied, “Just tell him that you’re getting married. And that the groom’s name is Xu Sanguan, not He Xiaoyong.”

“How can I tell him something like that? What am I supposed to do if he can’t take the news and he starts bashing his head against the wall?”

“If he does himself in, then there’s not a whole lot more you could say to him.”

In her heart Xu Yulan didn’t want to let He Xiaoyong go so easily. He was the man who liked to fold his arms around his elbows as he talked, the smiling man who came to her house almost every day, the man who would bring her dad a bottle of wine almost every other day and sit drinking and chuckling at the table to keep him company. And there had been a couple of occasions when, taking advantage of the fact that her dad had gone around the block to the public toilet, he suddenly pushed her behind the door and pressed her body against the wall with his own. Each time it happened, she had been so scared that her heart leaped wildly in her chest. The first time she didn’t feel anything but the pumping of her heart. The second time she discovered his beard. His beard had slid back and forth across her face like a brush.

And the third time? This is what Xu Yulan asked herself as she lay in bed in the quiet of night, her heart pounding as she imagined her father standing up to leave, walking out the front door, and turning the corner toward the public toilet. He Xiaoyong had jumped to his feet, toppling the stool on which he had been sitting, and pressed her against the wall for a third time.

Xu Yulan made a date to meet He Xiaoyong on the old wooden bridge. It was already dark. As soon as Xu Yulan caught sight of He Xiaoyong, she broke into plaintive sobs. She told He Xiaoyong that someone named Xu Sanguan had treated her to steamed dumplings, preserved plums, candied fruit, and half a watermelon, and how, when it was all over, she had found herself obliged to marry him.

He Xiaoyong, noticing that someone was crossing the bridge, said in an anxious whisper, “Hey, hey! Don’t cry. Stop crying. If someone sees you crying, what’ll they think? Where would that leave me?”

Xu Yulan said, “Go and give Xu Sanguan his eighty-three fen back. Then I won’t owe him anything.”

He Xiaoyong said, “We’re not even married yet, and you want me to pay back your debts?”

“He Xiaoyong, you have to take my family name when we get married. Otherwise my dad’s going to give me to Xu Sanguan.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Do you think a man like me would actually agree to take on someone else’s name? And let our sons be named Xu? Impossible.”

“Then I have to marry Xu Sanguan.”

Xu Sanguan married Xu Yulan one month later. She wanted a bright red cheongsam to wear at the wedding; Xu Sanguan bought one for her. She wanted two cotton-padded jackets, one bright red, one bright green, to wear during the winter; Xu Sanguan bought her a bolt of red fabric and a bolt of green fabric so that she could sew them for herself in her spare time. She said they should have a clock, a mirror, a bed, a table, and stools, plus a basin and a chamber pot for the house; Xu Sanguan told her he had already taken care of everything.

Xu Yulan began to think that Xu Sanguan wasn’t necessarily any worse than He Xiaoyong. Xu Sanguan was even a little bit more handsome than He Xiaoyong. He certainly had a lot more money in his pockets. And from the looks of things, he was a lot stronger too. So now when she saw Xu Sanguan, she would break into a smile. “I’m very capable, you know. I can sew, and I’m a good cook. You’re really pretty lucky, getting a wife like me.”

Xu Sanguan sat on a stool, nodding and smiling.

“I’m pretty and I can work hard. In the future, I’ll personally tailor all the clothes you wear, and I’ll take care of all the housework too. Except for the heavy chores — like buying the rice and buying coal — you have to do those. But I won’t let you do anything else, I’ll take very good care of you. You’re really very lucky to have me, don’t you think? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you nodding?”

“I am. I’ve been nodding all along.”

“Oh, and another thing,” Xu Yulan remembered. “Listen carefully. When I’m on vacation, I can’t do a thing, not even soak the rice or wash the vegetables. I’ll need to rest for those few days, so you’ll have to take care of all the housework. Understand? What’s wrong now? Why aren’t you nodding?”

Xu Sanguan duly nodded. “What kind of vacation do you mean? How long does it take?”

“Aiya!” Xu Yulan exclaimed. “You don’t even know what kind of vacation I mean?”