Yu Hua - Brothers

LIN HONG was completely immersed in her happiness. Her handsome husband would take her to the knitting factory every morning on his shiny and fashionable Eternity bicycle. Walking into the factory, she would repeatedly turn and see Song Gang standing next to his bicycle waving at her. When she walked out each evening, he would be waiting there for her, smiling broadly. Lin Hong didn't know that he was helping Baldy Li behind her back, and by the time she discovered it, this had been going on for a month.

The first time Lin Hong noticed that the money and grain coupons were missing from Song Gangs pocket, she smiled and, without saying anything, replaced them with another twenty cents and two more grain coupons. Standing nearby, Song Gang also didn't say anything, though her heartfelt smile made him feel very uneasy.

Lin Hong didn't realize that Baldy Li made off every day with Song Gang's money and grain coupons. Every day without fail she would refill Song Gang's pockets. At first she was delighted that he seemed to be taking better care of himself and had finally recognized that, when he was hungry, he should buy himself something to eat. Gradually, however, she began to find it strange that he had gone from not being willing to spend anything at all to always spending everything he had with him, never even coming back with any change. She figured that, no matter what he was buying himself to eat, at least there should be some change left over. She looked at him suspiciously, but he avoided her gaze. Finally she asked him directly, "What do you eat every day?"

Song Gang opened his mouth, but no words came out. Lin Hong asked him again, but he merely shook his head and said that he hadn't eaten anything. She stared in astonishment, but he again avoided her gaze then reluctantly confessed, "I give it all to Baldy Li."

Lin Hong stood speechless in the middle of the room. Only then did she remember that Baldy Li had become a beggar, because up to that point she had completely forgotten about his existence. In her world there was only Song Gang; now that bastard Baldy Li had once again shoved his way in. When Lin Hong estimated that, over the course of the past month, Baldy Li had taken about six yuan from them, she couldn't help crying. Repeating "Six yuan" over and over to herself, she noted that, if they economized, that would have been enough for the two of them to live for an entire month.

Song Gang bowed his head and sat down on the edge of the bed, unable to bring himself to look at her. It wasn't until she burst into tears and asked him how he could have done something like this that he finally raised his head, looked her in the eye, and said, "He is my brother."

"But he isn't even your biological brother," Lin Hong responded. "And even if he were, he should still support himself."

"He is my brother," Song Gang repeated. "Eventually he will be able to support himself, but before our mother died, she asked me to look after him—"

"Don't bring up that stepmother of yours," Lin Hong interrupted.

Song Gang was hurt by Lin Hong's remark and shouted back, "She was my mother!"

Lin Hong stared at Song Gang in astonishment — this being the first time since their marriage that Song Gang had raised his voice to her. She shook her head silently. Realizing that Song Gang had yelled at her after she said "stepmother," she knew that she had misspoken. She didn't dare say another word, and the room fell silent.

Song Gang sat with his head bowed, a blizzard of memories swirling back to him. It was as if he and Baldy Li had forged a path through a blizzard, a path that had gradually extended to the present day but had then suddenly disappeared. He was lost in thought and at a loss as to what to do. It was as if the white snow blanketed all possible paths. It wasn't until he caught sight of Lin Hong's feet as she stood there in the middle of the room that he finally came to his senses. He noticed that her shoes and pants were both threadbare and knew that her shirt was old, too. When he thought of how she economized every day, he became distraught and felt that it had been truly wrong of him to give Baldy Li money behind her back.

After a long time passed, Lin Hong realized that Song Gang had no intention of speaking. Feeling herself getting angry again, she snapped, "Say something."

Song Gang lifted his head and earnestly said, "I was wrong."

Her heart immediately softened. She looked at Song Gang's earnest eyes and couldn't help but sigh. Then she started trying to console him, saying that six yuan was not very much money that they could pretend it had been simply stolen. She suggested that sometimes an unexpected loss might help avert a future adversity. Lin Hong insisted, however, that Song Gang have nothing more to do with Baldy Li. She took another twenty cents and two grain coupons from her purse and placed them in Song Gangs pocket. He was moved by her gesture but said, "I don't need any more money."

"You do need it." Lin Hong looked at him. "But you should definitely spend it on yourself."

After they went to bed that evening, they engaged in their usual pillow talk. Song Gang tenderly embraced Lin Hong, and Lin Hong, with a sweet smile, basked in his inexhaustible love for her. Even after she fell asleep, a smile remained on her face.

When he got off work the next day, Song Gang rode his bike to the knitting factory to pick Lin Hong up. When Baldy Li, who was still staging his sit-in, spotted him, he immediately jumped up and called out. Song Gangs heart skipped a beat when he heard Baldy Li. He brought the bike to a halt and stood there, and as he heard Baldy Li walking over, Song Gang was afraid he would ask him again for money. Baldy Li did, in fact, extend his hand and say shamelessly, "Song Gang, I haven't eaten or drunk anything all day."

His pulse pounding, Song Gang reflexively reached into his pocket and grabbed the money and grain coupons he had there. Then, however, he blushed and shook his head. "I don't have anything today."

Baldy Li was tremendously disappointed and reluctantly pulled back his hand. He swallowed his saliva and, with a downcast expression, said, "I have been swallowing my saliva all day, and now I have to swallow my own fucking saliva all night as well."

At this point, Song Gang, as if possessed, took the money and grain coupons out of his pocket and handed them to the downcast Baldy Li. Baldy Li laughed in surprise and cursed as he accepted the money, "Damn it, you've also learned duplicity!"

Song Gang laughed sadly as he rode away. That night the moment Song Gang had been dreading most took place after dinner, when Lin Hong checked his pocket and discovered that his money and grain coupons were gone. This time she had been expecting to find them there, and when she found that they were gone, she became very alarmed. She looked at Song Gang fearfully, hoping that he would tell her that this time he had spent the money on himself. When she put her hand in his pocket, Song Gang closed his eyes in agony, and when he reopened them and saw her frightened face, he said with a trembling voice, "I was wrong."

Lin Hong realized that it was Baldy Li who had taken the money and grain coupons. She looked disappointedly at him and then began screaming in fury, "Why did you have to do that?"

Song Gang was mortified. He wanted to explain, but the only words that came out were "I was wrong."

Lin Hong wept tears of fury. Biting her lip, she said, "I just gave you this money yesterday, and today you immediately went and gave it to Baldy Li. Couldn't you at least have waited a few days? Couldn't you have just let me be happy for a few days?"

Song Gang hated himself. He gritted his teeth as if he wanted to castigate himself, but what came out were those same three words: "I was wrong."