Yu Hua - Brothers

"The Matsushita family's." Yu opened his jacked to show Little Scissors Guan and pointed to Popsicle Wang, saying, "His is a Sanyo."

"Not bad," Little Scissors Guan said, nodding approvingly. "Those families are not bad at all."

Yanker Yu laughed, saying, "Which family's is yours?" "Also not bad." Little Guan pulled open his jacket. "Sony." "You too are an electronics king!" Yanker Yu shouted with glee. Little Scissors Guan pointed behind him, saying proudly, "In my closet I also have a Hitachi brand suit."

Popsicle Wang noted with surprise, "Your two suits are in the same business?"

Yanker Yu added, "You are your own competitor."

"You are correct." Little Scissors Guan was very satisfied with Yu's remark and patted him on the shoulder. "This is called challenging oneself."

Yanker Yu and Popsicle Wang tittered as they left Little Scissors Guan's shop and proceeded to Blacksmith Tongs. Tong was wearing a dark blue suit, over which he had his trademark apron. The apron was covered with little comet-shaped burn holes. Yu and Wang stared in disbelief at the sight of Tong wearing a suit to do his hammering and soldering, leading Popsicle Wang to whisper to Yanker Yu, "Can a Western suit also be used as work clothes?"

Overhearing them, Tong proclaimed, "A suit is work clothes." He put down his iron hammer and added, "The foreigners on television all wear suits to work."

"Yes, that's true." Yanker Yu instructed Popsicle Wang, "Suits serve as foreigners’ work clothes."

Popsicle Wang looked at his own suit and said, somewhat disappointed. "So all this time we've been wearing work clothes?"

Unfazed, Yanker Yu excitedly asked Blacksmith Tong, "Whose is yours?"

Blacksmith Tong calmly removed his apron and opened his jacket. "It's the Tong family's."

Yanker Yu was startled. "They also have the Tong surname in Japan?"

"I stitched it on myself," Tong explained with unmistakable pride. "I asked my wife to remove the original Japanese name and replaced it with my own."

Yu nodded and said, "Your own surname is certainly fine, it's just that it isn't famous."

Tong snorted and, putting his apron back on, said, "You people in your foreign clothes have completely forgotten your Chinese ancestry and have lost all integrity. Why were there so many traitors during the war? One has only to look at people like you to understand why."

Saying this, Tong lifted his hammer and continued pounding the iron, whereupon Yu and Wang turned around and walked away. Yanker Yu said angrily to Wang, "Damn, if he has so much integrity, then why's he still wearing a Japanese suit?"

"That's right," Popsicle Wang said. "Isn't that like trying to hawk your wares as a whore but still competing for a chastity medal?"

Soon even the county governor started wearing a Japanese junk suit. His was embroidered with the surname Nakasone, which was the name of the Japanese prime minister at the time: Yasuhiro Nakasone. The governor had heard that Baldy Li had obtained a shipment of Japanese suits, and he noticed that the people in the provincial government were all wearing these suits. He immediately wanted one for himself and asked Tao Qing to accompany him to Baldy Li's warehouse to take a look. The governor got himself this Nakasone suit, and Tao Qing got a Takeshita one. When the governor tried his on, he found that it fit very well, almost as if it had been specifically tailored for him. He looked at himself in the mirror, thinking he never would have guessed he was so similar to Yasuhiro Nakasone. Of course, the governor could not go about town flashing his adopted family name as Yanker Yu and Popsicle Wang did. As a result, it was only when he removed his jacket to drape it over his chair that people spotted the Nakasone name, whereupon they would invariably cry out, "Governor, you are wearing a suit of the Japanese prime minister!"

The governor would be secretly pleased but feign disapproval, saying, "It's coincidental, purely coincidental."

Tao Qing, however, was quite displeased, given that he was the one who had found the Nakasone suit in the first place. He was on the verge of trying it on when he noticed the governor glaring at him. Tao Qing therefore didn't dare take the Nakasone suit, and the governor snatched it up. Tao Qing managed to squeeze out a smile and compliment the governor on how well the suit fit, and in order not to expose his own political ambitions, he then grabbed another suit, a Takeshita, for himself. After this, every morning when Tao put on his Takeshita suit, he would remember bitterly the Nakasone. Unexpectedly, half a year later, Yasuhiro Nakasone stepped down as prime minister, and his replacement's name turned out to be Noboru Takeshita. Meanwhile, the county governor was transferred away, and Tao Qing was promoted in his place. In his new capacity as county governor, Tao gazed at his reflection in the mirror in his Takeshita suit, and as a flood of emotions rushed through his mind, he muttered, "It is indeed fate."

AFTER BALDY LI made his fortune from junk suits, his first thought was of Song Gang. Now that his plans had come to fruition, he decided to invite Song Gang to join him in creating a business empire together. Baldy Li turned the house upside down looking for the sweater Song Gang had knit him when he first became factory director. The next day he wore it, with his coat open so that the image of the Great Prospects Ship embroidered on the front of the sweater was clearly visible, and sailed majestically through the streets of Liu to Song Gangs place. He hadn't been there since the day he had shown up with his vasectomy certificate following Song Gangs wedding. Baldy Li stood there, watching Song Gang and Lin Hong through the window, and when the two of them opened the door and walked out, he excitedly pulled open his tattered coat and said warmly, "Song Gang, do you remember this sweater? Do you remember this Great Prospects Ship? Song Gang, you were right, I am now finally captain of my own Great Prospects Ship. Song Gang, why don't you come and be the ship's first mate?"

When Song Gang opened the door and saw Baldy Li standing there, he jumped with surprise, never expecting to see his brother waiting outside his house. He hadn't said a word to Baldy Li for several years, and when they would run into each other in the street, he would quickly ride past on his bike. Therefore, when Baldy Li started shouting something about a Great Prospects Ship, Song Gang looked uneasily at Lin Hong, but Lin Hong remained calm and collected. Song Gang bowed his head as he pushed his bike across the threshold and then, his head still bowed, waited for Lin Hong to climb on and sit behind him.

Baldy Li continued warmly, "Song Gang, I didn't sleep well last night since I was thinking all this through. It occurred to me that you are too honest, too easy to be taken advantage of, so I can't put you in charge of anything except the finances, but if you would come and manage my finances, it would take an enormous load off my mind."

As Song Gang started to ride away he told Baldy Li coldly, "I already told you: You should give up hope."

When Baldy Li heard this, he simply stared in astonishment. He had never imagined Song Gang could be so heartless. After staring for a while, he rushed after Song Gang, cursing, "Song Gang, you bastard. You fucking listen to me — last time it was you who severed our relationship, but this time I'm the one who is breaking things off. From now on, we are no longer brothers!"

Baldy Li was crushed, and as he rushed after Song Gang and Lin Hong, he called out, "Song Gang, you bastard. You have forgotten about our childhood!"

Song Gang heard Baldy Li's curses as he was riding away, and that final "You have forgotten about our childhood" instantly brought tears to his eyes. He rode away in silence, and Lin Hong, sitting behind him, also didn't utter a sound. Song Gang's attempts to be heartless toward Baldy Li were all for the sake of Lin Hong, but she showed no reaction whatsoever, making him uneasy. After he turned the corner, Song Gang softly called out, "Lin Hong, Lin Hong …"