Yu Hua - Brothers

Finally, she unwrapped the thirty thousand yuan that Song Gang had carefully wrapped in newspaper and placed under the pillow, and she nearly fainted. Her legs gave out as she knelt, looking at the bills scattered across the bed, and it was then that she understood their significance. She picked up every bill and carefully folded it. From Song Gangs swellings on his chest and the wounds under his armpits, she knew that every one of these bills was soaked with his sweat and blood.

When they cremated Song Gangs corpse five days later, the people of Liu saw Lin Hong again and noticed that her eyes were red and swollen. By that time she didn't have any tears left, and her expressionless gaze seemed oddly detached. When Song Gangs corpse was pushed into the cremation furnace she didn't wail in grief as people expected she would but, rather, closed her eyes and silently told Song Gang, "Regardless of what I might have done, you are the only person I have ever loved."

Baldy Li also received Song Gang's letter, and tears also streamed down his face as he read it. In his letter, Song Gang recalled their tragic childhood and how they had relied on each other for survival. He mentioned how, after he went to the countryside, he had taken long bus rides to come back and see Baldy Li; how, when he came back to Liu Town at the age of eighteen to work, Baldy Li had happily gone to make him a spare key; as well as the happiness they had both felt the first time they received their wages. Then he mentioned Lin Hong, and at this point Song Gang's tone became joyful as he recalled with something resembling pride how Lin Hong had not fallen in love with Baldy Li but instead had fallen in love with him. Song Gang told Baldy Li that he had always been secretly happy for each of Baldy Li's successes. He said that, before their mother died, she had urged him to look after Baldy Li, and therefore he was happy that, when he saw their mother, he would have no regrets and could tell her how great Baldy Li was. Song Gang once again became sorrowful as he described how he still very much missed their father, Song Fanping, and how, if it weren't for that family portrait, he probably wouldn't even be able to remember what Papa looked like. He hoped that, after all these years, Papa's appearance would not have changed, and when he encountered him in the netherworld, he would be able to recognize him at once. In the final page of the letter Song Gang encouraged Baldy Li to look out for Lin Hong, in consideration of their brotherly love. The last line of Song Gang's letter read: "Baldy Li, you once said to me: ‘Even if heaven and earth were to be turned upside down, we would still be brothers.’ Now I say to you: ‘Even if we are separated by life and death, we will still be brothers.'"

Like Lin Hong, Baldy Li read Song Gang's letter over and over again, and each time he finished, he would slap his own face and cry out in anguish. Since Song Gangs death, Baldy Li had become a different person. He no longer went to work and instead spent the entire day sitting silently in his mansion. Deputy Liu was the only person permitted to enter. As Liu reported the company's operations Badly Li would stare at him like a kindergartner staring at his teacher, and when Liu finished his report and stood waiting for his instructions, Baldy Li would look out the window and say with a sigh, "Its almost dark."

After a while Deputy Liu would have no choice but to prompt Baldy Li, "Boss Li, it is your intention that I …"

Baldy Li would turn around and pathetically say to Deputy Liu, "I am now an orphan."

As Lin Hong was sorting through Song Gangs remains, she discovered two things she needed to give Baldy Li: the family portrait and Baldy Li's appointment letter as factory director, which Song Gang had carefully copied out by hand. She placed the documents into two envelopes and asked Deputy Liu to deliver them. As Baldy Li accepted the envelopes from Deputy Liu the family portrait slipped out and fell to the floor. Baldy Li knelt down and picked it up, then walked toward his desk carrying the photograph and the other envelope. After sitting down, he opened a drawer and started rustling through it, eventually finding another family portrait. He looked at the two photographs, then carefully placed them together in the drawer. As he walked back to Deputy Liu he opened the other envelope and saw the appointment letter that Baldy Li had copied out by hand. He stopped walking and stared in confusion at the words on the page, and when he saw the seal that Song Gang had drawn with red ink, Baldy Li finally realized what it was. His body started to sway, and he collapsed to the floor.

Baldy Li didn't leave his mansion until the day they cremated Song Gang's remains. When he left, he didn't want his BMW or his Mercedes but walked alone, teary-eyed, to the crematorium. As Song Gang was being inserted into the furnace Lin Hong didn't cry but Baldy Li wept silently. Then, Baldy Li, tears streaming down his face, walked out of the crematorium. The black BMW and white Mercedes followed him slowly, but he flew into a rage and told both cars to get out of his sight. Then he wiped his tears and continued walking on alone. The onlookers were astounded, saying, "Who knew that Baldy Li was such a sentimental heroine under all that bluster?"

Baldy Li did not return to the office but, rather, went to the Good Works Factory — now his Liu Town Economic Research Business Corporation. The appointment letter Song Gang had meticulously copied out brought back many memories for Baldy Li. He hadn't seen his fourteen loyal minions for years, and now he missed them terribly.

When Baldy Li suddenly showed up, he startled the two cripples, who were still playing chess and cursing each other. They immediately cried out, "Director Li!" and excitedly ran over, one of them tumbling to the ground and the other slamming into the door frame. Baldy Li treated them as if they were his own sons, helping the one who had fallen down get back to his feet and massaging the head of the one who had run into the door frame. Then he took both cripples by the hand and walked toward his other twelve loyal minions. The cripples cried out excitedly, "Director Li has come! Director Li has come!"

The three idiots and four blind men heard this, but the five deaf men couldn't hear anything. The four blind men reacted faster than the three idiots, and they hurried outside, tapping the ground with their canes. Only one, however, succeeded in getting out, while the other three all ended up jammed in the doorway, none of them willing to give way for anyone else. They kept shouting, "Director Li!" and their eyes narrowed to mere slits, making their mouths seem obscenely large. The three idiots also reacted, and simultaneously rushed toward the door. When they saw Baldy Li, they all shouted "Director Li!" but the doorway was already blocked by the three blind men. The three idiots nevertheless crowded forward at the same time, pushing the three blind men in front of them to the ground. Again, it was Baldy Li who picked each of them up, after which the crippled, idiot, and blind loyal minions delightedly crowded around him as he walked into the meeting hall. The five deaf men sitting in the meeting hall finally realized what the excitement was about, and each of them leapt up from their chairs. The two deaf men who were able to speak also called out "Director Li!" while the three deaf-mutes opened and closed their mouths. Baldy Li stood among them and heard one "Director Li!" after another. After he felt he had heard enough, he gestured toward the seats and invited them to sit down. After the fourteen loyal minions sat, they started twittering away, until one of the crippled men called out and asked them to be quiet. The other cripple, meanwhile, faced the five deaf men and repeatedly opened and closed his mouth. In this way, the meeting hall immediately quieted down, and the former crippled factory director told the other thirteen loyal minions, "Let us welcome Director Li, who has come to speak to us."