Yu Hua - Brothers

The county office manager nodded and said he would look into it. A little more than an hour later, he and the Real Estate Bureau director returned together and told Baldy Li that the county had agreed to rent him three empty street-front stores at a low price and would permit him to use that empty warehouse for three years. The only condition was that he had to have the five mountains of scrap cleaned up within forty-eight hours.

"Two days?" Baldy Li shook his head. "Two days is too long. As Chairman Mao said, We must seize every minute between dawn and dusk. I will have this cleaned up within a day."

Baldy Li was true to his word. He hired 140 peasants and, combined with his 10 part-time workers and himself, the 151 of them worked twenty-four hours straight, and the five mountains of scrap vanished as if by magic. Not only did they sweep everything clean; they even placed two neat rows of potted lilies where the scrap heaps had been. When the county governor and the party secretary came to work the next morning, they stared in astonishment, thinking that they had come to the wrong place. Even the governor couldn't help but exclaim, "In all fairness, it must be admitted that Baldy Li has his good qualities."

The people of Liu had gotten used to Baldy Li's mountains of scrap. When they suddenly vanished, everyone ran around excitedly with the news, as if a new continent had been discovered. One after another they came to the entranceway of the government building to marvel at the sight and remarked that only now did they notice that the scenery around the entranceway was as beautiful as a painting.

One week later, Li's Salvage and Recycling Company held its grand opening. Two days earlier Blacksmith Tong had called a meeting with Tailor Zhang, Little Scissors Guan, Yanker Yu, and Popsicle Wang, whereupon they had reached two decisions. First, everyone would pool their money and buy a pile of firecrackers; and second, they would invite all their friends and relatives to attend. The day of the opening, about a hundred people came to offer their congratulations, as well as two hundred more spectators who crowded around to ogle at the hour-long fireworks display. The scene was as lively as a temple fair at New Years. A beaming Baldy Li was still dressed in his usual ragged clothes, though for the occasion he sported a giant red corsage pinned to the front of his shirt. He stood on a table and spoke to the well-wishers, stammering and overcome with emotion. "Thank you … thank you … thank you … thank you…"

After he had stammered out a whole string of thank-yous, he finally said relatively fluently, "Even if someone in the family had gotten married, we still wouldn't have had this many guests. Even if we had had a death in the family, we still wouldn't have seen this many people at the funeral…"

The guests erupted in thunderous applause, and Baldy Li, who had just regained his composure, once again was overcome. Wiping his eyes and sniffling, he opened his mouth to speak but found himself completely choked up. He let out a few sniffles before finally being able to speak again. Sobbing, he said, "There's an old song you have all probably heard:

Neither the earth nor heaven is as vast as the kindness of the Party.

Neither mother nor father is as close as Chairman Mao.

A thousand or ten thousand goodnesses cant compare to the goodness of socialism.

And neither the river nor the sea is as deep as class love.

Baldy Li wiped his eyes and said, "I want to change the words to this song, and sing the new version for you." He then began to sing through his tears:

Neither the earth nor heaven is as big as the kindness of the Party and your kindness.

Neither mother nor father is as close as Chairman Mao and all of you

A thousand or ten thousand goodnesses can't compare to the goodness of socialism and all of your goodness.

And neither the river nor the sea is a deep as your class love.

BALDY LI'S scrap business boomed. A year later he obtained a passport with a Japanese visa so that he could travel to Japan to drum up some business. Before leaving, he paid a visit to his five former partners, asking them if they were interested in investing again. Baldy Li was now not lacking in money, but seeing that he was about to become as rich as an oil tanker, he immediately thought of his five former partners and felt that he should give them another opportunity, allowing them to follow him on the road to wealth.

Still in his tattered clothing, Baldy Li went to see Blacksmith Tong. The last time he arrived with his world map; this time he came with his passport in hand. He shouted at a sweat-covered Blacksmith Tong, "I'll bet that you've never seen a passport, have you?"

Blacksmith Tong had certainly heard about passports, but he had never seen one. Wiping both hands on his apron, he took the passport and examined it. He leafed through it enviously and cried out, "What is this foreign paper pasted inside?"

"This is a Japanese visa."

Baldy Li proudly put his passport away, carefully placing it in the pocket of his tattered shirt. He then sat down on the long bench with which he had had sexual relations as a boy, hiked up one leg, and grandiosely discussed his plans for his scrap business. He said that China could no longer satisfy his business needs, but perhaps the world could. He would first go to Japan to make some purchases. Blacksmith Tong asked, "Purchase what?"

"Purchase scrap," Baldy Li said. "I will start an international trade in scrap."

Then Baldy Li asked Blacksmith Tong whether he was interested in investing again. He said that he was now in a much better position than he had been four years earlier. If Blacksmith Tong was interested in investing now, he wouldn't charge him one hundred yuan for a share but one thousand. Even at one thousand yuan a share, Blacksmith Tong would still be getting a good deal. After Baldy Li finished, he threw Blacksmith Tong a nonchalant, take-it-or-leave-it glance.

Blacksmith Tong remembered the painful lesson he had learned the last time he invested, and a feeling of uneasiness welled up as he looked over at Baldy Li, standing there in his tattered clothing. He reasoned: When this little bastard stayed put in Liu Town, he actually managed to get quite a few things done. But once he crosses the town line, who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into? Blacksmith Tong shook his head and said that he wouldn't invest, explaining, "I'm content with what little I have and don't aspire to make a fortune."

Baldy Li laughed as he stood up, and with a magnanimous expression he walked to the door and once again pulled out his passport. Waving it at Blacksmith Tong he said, "I am now an international warrior."

Baldy Li left the blacksmith shop and then proceeded to visit Tailor Zhang and Little Scissors Guan. After hearing his plans to develop an international scrap business, they both hesitated, asking him if Blacksmith Tong had agreed to invest. Baldy Li shook his head, saying that Tong was content with what he had and lacked greater ambitions. Zhang and Guan said that they too were content with what they had and didn't have greater ambitions. Baldy Li looked at them pityingly and nodded as he said to himself, In order to be an international warrior, one must have courage.

As soon as Baldy Li left, Tailor Zhang and Little Scissors Guan rushed into Blacksmith Tongs shop and asked about investing in Baldy Li's new venture. Blacksmith Tong frowned. "All Baldy Li has to do is leave Liu Town and I go into a frenzy. Furthermore, scrap is not exactly an up-and-up kind of business."

"That's right," agreed Tailor Zhang and Scissors Guan, nodding.