Yu Hua - Brothers

The two kids placed the milk candy in their mouths, slowly licking, chewing, and swallowing their saliva, which was now sweetened with candy and tasted like cream. Baldy Li put some rice into his mouth and chewed it along with the candy, and Song Gang did the same. The rice was now as sweet and creamy as candy. Now the grains of rice in their mouths also became White Rabbits. As he savored every bite, Song Gang cried out affectionately, "Baldy Li, Baldy Li."

Baldy Li also cried out, "Song Gang, Song Gang…"

Song Fanping and Li Lan smiled contentedly. Looking over at Baldy Li's shiny pate, Song Fanping commented to Li Lan, "We really should call him by his name, not his nickname." Song Fanping scratched his head. "I only know him as Baldy Li, I don't even know his real name."

He asked Li Lan, "What is Baldy Li's name?"

Li Lan couldn't help but smile. "You just said not to call him by his nickname, but you just did."

Song Fanping raised both hands in surrender. "So from this day forward, what should we call him if we don't want to use his nickname?"

Li Lan burst out, "Baldy Li's name is—"

She covered her mouth before she finished, realizing that she had used his nickname. She couldn't help giggling. "His name is Li Guang."

"Li Guang." Song Fanping nodded. "Now I know."

Then Song Fanping turned to the two boys and said, "Song Gang, Baldy Li, I have something to say to you—"

Song Fanping saw that Li Lan was suppressing a giggle and asked carefully, "Did I call him by his nickname again?"

Still smiling, Li Lan nodded. Song Fanping scratched his head and said, "Well, okay, let's use the nickname then. It's impossible not to call him Baldy Li."

He burst out laughing and turned to the two boys again. Once his laughter had subsided, he said, "From this day forward, you will be brothers. You must treat each other like your own blood, look out for each other, and stick together in sickness and in health, in happiness and in misfortune. You must study hard and strive to improve…"

Song Fanping and Li Lan became husband and wife, and Song Gang and Baldy Li became brothers. Two families became one. Baldy Li and Song Gang slept in the outer room, and Li Lan and Song Fanping slept in the inner room. That night, the children lay in bed cradling their White Rabbit wrappers, sniffing the remaining traces of creamy sweetness and thinking about how they would encounter more White Rabbits in their dreams. Before he fell asleep, Baldy Li kept hearing the creaking of the bed inside and heard his mother sigh and moan, sometimes even bursting into a wail. But Baldy Li felt that this night his mothers cries sounded different from before, as though she weren't really crying. In the creek outside the window, a small boat floated by, and the rhythmic stirring of the oars echoed Baldy Li's mother's voice from the inner room.

SONG FANPING was a happy man. Although his face was covered in bruises and it hurt to smile, he would still laugh heartily. On the second day of his marriage he made a big show of washing Li Lan s hair outside the house. His face was swollen like one of those pigs’ heads hanging in the window of a butcher shop, but he paid no heed to the snickers of his neighbors. He poured well water into a face pail and helped Li Lan wet her hair. Then he applied soap and started to massage her scalp like a professional barber, until her entire head was covered in soapsuds. Finally, he brought another pail of well water to rinse her hair out, then used a towel to dry it and a wooden comb to comb it through, refusing to let her do anything herself. When Li Lan looked up, she saw that there was a crowd of a dozen or more adults and children gathered around her. She flushed bright red but also beamed with happiness.

Song Fanping announced that he wanted to take a stroll. Li Lan s hair was still dripping, and she looked hesitantly at Song Fanpings swollen face. He knew what she was thinking and assured her that his face was just fine. He turned to lock up the house, then took Baldy Li and Song Gang by the hand and walked ahead, leaving Li Lan with no choice but to follow.

The four of them walked down the street hand in hand. Passersby watched them and tittered, knowing that this was a second marriage for both of them, and that the groom had gotten into a fight with six people the day of his wedding. They simply couldn't believe that this bruised and swollen groom was now sauntering down the street, beaming with contentment. Whenever he saw someone he knew, he would greet them and happily introduce Li Lan: "This is my wife." Then he would point at the children: "And these are my sons."

Everyone looked very pleased, but their pleasure came from different sources. Song Fanpings was that of a groom, while the crowd's pleasure derived from the freak show they felt they were witnessing. Li Lan knew what their snickers meant and what they were saying as they pointed at her family, and therefore she lowered her head. Song Fanping also knew what the snickers meant but nevertheless told Li Lan, "Lift your head."

The family strolled down two main streets. When they walked past the soda shop, the children looked longingly inside, but their parents dragged them along until they arrived at the photography studio. Song Fanping stopped and announced that he wanted to take a family portrait, having completely forgotten about his swollen face. Li Lan suggested that they could come back later, but Song Fanping had already walked inside. He turned back and saw Li Lan standing with the boys outside the door, so he enthusiastically waved them inside. But Li Lan held on to the boys and refused to go in.

When Song Fanping explained to the photographer that he wanted to take a family portrait, the man looked at him with astonishment. It was then that Song Fanping realized that today might not be a good day to have his picture taken. Cocking his head, he saw his face reflected in the studio s mirror and said to the photographer, "Well, perhaps not today, then. My wife says we can come back later."

Song Fanping walked happily out of the studio, still chuckling to himself. His happiness infected Li Lan, and both of them chuckled as they continued their stroll, until soon Baldy Li and Song Gang were giggling too, though they had no idea why.

The newly remarried Li Lan was aglow with happiness. For the past seven years, ever since her first husband drowned in the public latrine, she had endured a life worse than death. Her hair had become tangled like a bird s nest, but now she resumed the girlish braids of her youth and even tied two red bows at the ends. Her complexion was suddenly blooming as if she had eaten ginseng, her migraines disappeared, and she started humming again. Her newly remarried husbands gestures became expansive with pleasure. When he walked about the house, his steps would ring, and when he pissed against the wall outside, the urine would splatter like a thunderstorm.

This newly remarried couple stuck together like honey throughout their honeymoon. Whenever they had a free moment, they retreated to the inner room and shut the door tight. Baldy Li and Song Gang could only imagine what was going on inside. They heard loud smacking sounds and were firmly convinced that their parents were hiding inside to eat from that bag of White Rabbits. The sounds could be heard not only throughout the day but late into the night. Before it was even dark, the two of them would force Baldy Li and Song Gang to go to bed and then would lock themselves in their room, their lips smacking away. Neighborhood children were still running around outside, but Baldy Li and Song Gang were forced to go to bed. Listening to the smacking sounds, they would fall asleep with tears in their eyes and drool on their lips. The next morning they would wake up and find that their tears had dried up but their saliva was still flowing.