Yu Hua - Brothers

Their jaws still locked open, the boys could only shake their heads.

The chicken search party consisted of a trio of men, a trio of women, and a trio of middle-school students, as well as a couple of boys slightly older than Baldy Li and Song Gang. The eleven of them surrounded Song Gang and Baldy Li, clucking at them angrily, "Where are our chickens? Did they follow you?"

Baldy Li and Song Gang nodded, and the mob turned back to Song Fanping and Li Lan. "See! The little bastards admit it."

They turned again to Baldy Li and Song Gang. "Where are our goddamn chickens?"

The boys shook their heads, which angered the mob. "You little bastards, you just nodded, now you're shaking your heads…"

The crowd insisted that roosters and hens were not fleas and ticks, and therefore they had to be somewhere in plain sight. They walked into Song Fanping's house, searching, opening cabinets, looking under the bed and into pots. The long-haired middle-school student, Sun Wei, even started sniffing Baldy Li and Song Gangs open mouths to see if he could detect any chicken on their breath. Sun Wei sniffed for a while but couldn't decide, so he called Victory Zhao over. Victory Zhao also sniffed for a while but couldn't tell either, so he asked Success Liu to come take a whiff. Success Liu smelled for a while and also concluded, "I don't think so."

After failing to find so much as a single feather, the search party came back outside, cursing and swearing. Song Fanping was no longer beaming with pride but, rather, had turned steely-faced. His bride was pale with terror and tugged at his clothes to hold him back, afraid that her new husband would start a fight. Song Fanping had been suffering silently, and even when these people barged out of his house saying all sorts of foul things, he still restrained himself, just glaring at them with firmly set eyes.

The search party started looking around the outside of the house. A few of them even took turns peering into the well, but they didn't see any hens and roosters, just the reflections of their own faces. The three middle-school students clambered up the tree like monkeys to see if the roosters and hens were hidden on the roof. They didn't find any chickens, though they did see a few sparrows.

Unable to find anything, the search party continued uttering proanities, fwhereupon one suggested, "Maybe they fell into the toilet and drowned while sneaking a peek at women's butts."

"Chickens also look at women's butts?"

"Roosters."

The men guffawed and the women tittered. By this point Li Lan was shaking all over. She no longer dared to even hold on to Song Fanping's clothes, feeling that she was bringing her own misfortunes onto her new husband. Song Fanping couldn't bear another word, and these people were still chattering as they walked away, "How about the hens?"

"The hens wait till the roosters drown and then remarry."

Song Fanping pointed to the man who was talking and bellowed, "Get back here!"

All of them turned back. Three men plus three middle-school students, three women and two boys. Song Fanping saw that they had stopped in their tracks, and he yelled again, "Get back here!"

All of them started cackling. The three men and three middle-school students walked up to Song Fanping and surrounded him, while the three women took the two boys and stood to one side, as if watching a good show. They knew they had him outnumbered and sneeringly asked him, "Do you want to treat us to a wedding banquet?" Song Fanping retorted, "No banquet, just my fist." He then pointed to the man in the middle and demanded, "Repeat what you just said."

The man sneered, "What did I say?"

Song Fanping hesitated, then said, "You were saying something about a hen…"

The person said, "Oh!" as he remembered, then asked, "You want me to repeat that?"

Song Fanping said, "If you dare say it again, I'll smash your mouth."

The man looked at his companions and the three students. "And what if I don't?"

Song Fanping, stunned for a moment, eventually sighed. "Get out of here."

The group started laughing. The three middle-school students blocked Song Fanping and chanted in unison, "After the rooster drowns, the hen remarries?"

Song Fanping raised his fist, then lowered it again. He shook his head at the three students and pushed them out of his way. He was going back in when the first man said, "What does the hen remarry? Another rooster!"

Song Fanping turned around and punched him. His punch was swift and devastating, and the man promptly toppled over like an old blanket being tossed aside. Baldy Li and Song Gangs mouths suddenly both snapped shut.

When the man got up off the ground, his mouth was full of blood, and he spat out a mouthful mixed with saliva and snot. After Song Fanping threw his punch, he leapt out of the circle the group had formed around him. When they came at him, Song Fanping crouched down and kicked his right leg straight out. Baldy Li and Song Gang at that moment learned what a "sweeping leg kick" was; Song Fanping knocked down the three men with his one leg and made the three students stumble over one another.

When they got up to leap at him again, Song Fanping shot out his left leg, catching one man in the stomach. The man fell back to the ground with a howl and also dragged down the two men behind him. The men and middle-school students stared at one another in astonishment, trying to absorb what had just happened.

Song Fanping stood facing them with clenched fists. One of the men started hollering that they were going to surround him. The six of them immediately crowded around and started pummeling him. The moment he rushed out of the circle, he would be trapped in the middle again. It became a mêlée. No one could see what they were doing anymore. Sometimes the men seemed squashed together like steamed buns, and at other points they scattered like popped corn.

The two boys, who were about three or four years older than Baldy Li and Song Gang, then took the opportunity to grab the brothers and slap their cheeks, kick their shins, and spit in their faces. At first Baldy Li and Song Gang didn't give an inch and tried to slap, kick, and spit back. But they were short and couldn't reach the faces or the legs of their tormentors, and furthermore they had less spittle to spit out. After a few rounds, Baldy Li and Song Gang realized they were done for and started wailing.

Song Fanping heard their cries, but he was fighting one against six and couldn't get over to help. Baldy Li and Song Gang had to hide behind Li Lan, who at this point was crying even harder than they were. She appealed to Song Fanping's neighbors and to the passersby who had gathered around to watch the show, begging them to help her new husband. She appealed to them one after another, as Baldy Li and Song Gang clutched at her clothing. The two older boys followed behind, continuing to slap, kick, and spit. Baldy Li and Song Gang wailed for Li Lan to help them as Li Lan begged the spectators to help her husband.

Eventually, a few of the neighbors and spectators rushed up and separated Song Fanping and his six tormentors, pulling them off to either side as they themselves stood in the middle. Song Fanping's eyes were swollen, blood was dripping from his mouth and nose, and his clothing was in tatters. The other six were equally bad off, though at least their clothes were still intact.

The peacemakers started to work on both fronts. They reasoned with Song Fanping, explaining that anyone would naturally be upset if they had lost their chickens, and when people are upset they can't help but say ugly things. They also reasoned with the tormentors, explaining that today was not just any day but, rather, was Songs and Li's wedding day, and that they should take that into consideration. The peacemakers pushed Song Fanping into his house and the others back into the street, urging them, "Forget it, forget it. It's easier to make friends than enemies. Song Fanping, go back to your house, and everyone else go home."