Yu Hua - Brothers

It was in vain. When he approached, Baldy Li realized that Song Gang had in front of him only a bowl of clear water; putting a bit of salt on his tongue, he let it slowly melt, then chased it with a sip of water, followed by a sip of soy sauce. He puffed his cheeks as if he were savoring this, and only after the taste of soy sauce had fully marinated his tongue did he take another sip of water.

Song Gang used his last bit of energy to eat his salt and soy sauce and drink his water. He was so hungry he had no desire to say anything to Baldy Li, merely pointed at the other bowl of water on the table. Baldy Li knew that this bowl had been prepared for him, and he sat down at the table. Though he was greatly disappointed, he followed Song Gang's lead. A dab of salt and soy sauce and a sip of water was better than nothing at all. Though in truth this lunch consisted of nothing, it made Baldy Li feel that at least he had eaten something. He felt a little better and lay down on the bed, muttering to himself that he wanted to see what there was to eat in his dreams. With a lick of his lips he fell asleep.

Sure enough, the moment he started dreaming he dove headfirst into a giant steamer. Hot steam poured from its sides, and several cooks dressed in white grunted "Hey-ho, hey-ho" as they labored to lift off the giant steamers lid. Baldy Li could see that there were as many steamed meat buns inside as there were people at the struggle sessions in the schoolyard, and each of the buns was oozing meat juices. The cooks put the steamer lid back on, saying that the buns weren't done yet. Baldy Li argued that they were definitely done, the juices were already oozing out of the buns, but the cooks ignored him. He could only stand to one side and wait and wait, until the meat juices were already seeping out of the steamer, whereupon the cooks finally exclaimed, "They're done!" With another series of "Hey-ho, hey-hos" they lifted the lid and said, "Have one!" Baldy Li felt like a diver as he thrust his head into the steamer and scooped up a whole armful of meat buns. And just as he was about to bite into a juice-seeping bun, he woke up.

Song Gang, who had shaken him awake, pushed Baldy Li and cried out hoarsely, "I found it! I found it!"

The meat bun vanished without a trace after Song Gang's poking and prodding, and Baldy Li was so upset he started wailing. Wiping his tears, he kicked Song Gang while yelling, "Buns, buns, buns!" But Baldy Li immediately broke into a smile when he saw that Song Gang was waving grain ration tickets and money, of which Baldy Li could make out two five-yuan bills.

Song Gang chattered excitedly about how he came to find the money and ration tickets that Song Fanping had left them. Baldy Li couldn't understand a single word, his head being already stuffed to the brim with the thought of succulent meat buns. Suddenly getting a second wind, Baldy Li leapt off the bed and said to Song Gang, "Let's go! Let's go buy some buns!"

Song Gang shook his head. "I should first go ask Papa. If he says yes, then we can go buy them."

Baldy Li replied, "By the time we find your father, we'll have starved to death!"

Song Gang shook his head again and said, "We won't starve to death. We'll find him real soon."

They had money and grain rations, and they almost had buns — but now this idiot Song Gang wanted to go ask his goddamn father's permission! Baldy Li was so impatient he started stomping his feet. He eyed the money and tickets in Song Gang's hand and was about to make a leap for them when Song Gang, realizing that Baldy Li was about to snatch them, quickly stuffed everything into his pocket. The two ended up in a tangle and fell to the ground. Song Gang tightly covered his pockets with both hands, and Baldy Li tried to unlock his fingers to get to the pocket. Neither child had eaten anything all day, and both were weak with hunger. They fought for a while and then stopped to catch their breath, their mouths open as they huffed and panted. Then they resumed their grappling and panting. Finally, Song Gang got up off the floor and was about to dash out, but Baldy Li crawled up and blocked the door. Both boys were so tired they couldn't even stand straight. With Baldy Li at the door, they faced each other and panted, taking the opportunity to rest for a while. Then Song Gang turned to go into the kitchen, and Baldy Li heard him gulping down a ladleful of water from the cistern. A sated Song Gang walked up to Baldy Li, hoarsely yelling at him, "I'm all set to go again!"

Song Gang shoved Baldy Li aside and ran out the door, going to look for their landlord father. Baldy Li lay on the floor like a dead pig, then crawled and sat at the entrance like a sick dog. His hunger made him let out a few wails, but crying made him feel even hungrier, so he immediately stopped. Baldy Li could hear the sound of the wind blowing through the tree branches and could see the sunlight shining on his toes. He thought to himself, If I could munch the rays of sunlight like stir-fried pork and drink the wind like a bowl of meat broth, then I'd be set. Baldy Li sat leaning against the door frame for a while, then he got up to go to the kitchen and gulped his fill of water from the cistern. He now felt he had a bit of strength back, so he shut the door and walked into the street.

That afternoon Baldy Li paced the streets with his last remaining shreds of energy. He didn't find anything to eat, but he did run into the three middle-school students. Baldy Li was leaning against a wutong tree when he heard a few titters and someone calling out to him, "Hey, kid."

By the time Baldy Li lifted his head, they had already surrounded him. One look at their gleeful faces and Baldy Li knew that they were planning to practice their sweeping kicks again. This time he was simply unable to run away and told them, "I haven't eaten all day."

Long-haired Sun Wei said, "Let's feed you a few kicks, then."

Baldy Li pleaded with them, "No more sweeping kicks today. I'll eat them tomorrow."

"Nope," all three replied. "You have to eat them today and tomorrow."

Baldy Li pointed at the electrical pole not far off in the distance and continued to beg. "Don't feed me any more kicks. Why don't you let me go have sexual relations with that pole?"

The three middle-schoolers burst out laughing, and Sun Wei replied, "First you have some kicks, and when you've gotten your fill, go have relations with that pole."

Baldy Li wiped his tears. The three middle-schoolers politely deferred to one another, generously wanting to offer up the opportunity to make the first kick.

At this point Song Gang appeared. He ran from the opposite side of the street, buns in his hands, and plopped himself down right beside Baldy Li, dragging him to the ground. When both kids were seated on the ground, Song Gang, his head covered in sweat, handed Baldy Li a steaming hot meat bun. Baldy Li took it and stuffed it into his mouth. With his first bite the meat juices oozed out of the corner of his lips. Baldy Li choked before he could even finish the first bite, and he sat there motionless, his neck extended. Song Gang patted him on the back while smugly saying to the three middle-schoolers, "We're already sitting on the ground. How are you going to sweep us down?"

"Fuck." The middle-schoolers looked at one another, then repeated, "Fuck."

The three had no idea how to sweep-kick Baldy Li and Song Gang when they were already on the ground. They discussed dragging the two kids to their feet, but Song Gang warned them, "We'll scream for help. People from the street will all come over."

"Fuck that." Long-haired Sun Wei said, "If you had guts, you'd stand up."

Song Gang replied, "If you had guts, you'd sweep-kick us up."

The students eyed Baldy Li and Song Gang helplessly. Cursing, they looked at one another and watched Baldy Li eat his meat bun. After wolfing down the bun, Baldy Li regained some of his energy, and he seconded Song Gang, adding, "We're very comfortable sitting down here, even more comfortable than we would be in our own beds."