Yu Hua - Brothers

The children nodded and said that they had. He continued, "I live at the front of the alley. My surnames Tao, and my full name is Tao Qing. If you need anything, come over to Red Flag Alley to look for me."

He stood up and walked to the door. The spectators outside immediately stepped aside, afraid of brushing against the man who had just embraced a dead man. Song Gang and Baldy Li followed him outside. When Tao lifted the cart, Song Gang said in imitation of Mama Su, "You will be rewarded in the next life."

The man nodded and left. Baldy Li and Song Gang saw him lift his hand to wipe his eyes.

That afternoon Baldy Li and Song Gang stayed at the dead Song Fanpings side. Song Fanpings flesh was shredded and streaked with dried blood, and the children were terrified by his appearance. His body was motionless, his gaping mouth was motionless, his eyes were wide open, and the pupils within were two dull little pebbles without a hint of light. Baldy Li and Song Gang had wept, wailed, and even bit, and now they started to tremble.

The brothers could see the heads and bodies of people hovering outside their window and hear the buzz of their conversation. Those people were discussing what kind of man Song Fanping was and how he had died. When someone mentioned how pitiful these two kids were, Song Gang let out a few sobs, followed by Baldy Li, and then both boys continued to gaze out fearfully. They also heard the buzz of the countless flies that had descended onto Song Fanpings corpse. The flies multiplied, swarming around the room like flurries of black snowflakes, to the point that their buzzing even drowned out the talk outside. Flies began to bite Baldy Li and Song Gang, as well as the people outside peering in — the children could hear the slapping of hands on limbs, faces, and chests. The spectators cursed as they left, having been driven away by the flies.

The light in the room began to glow red. The two children walked outside their house, and seeing that the sun was going down, they remembered that Song Fanping had promised he and Li Lan would be home by sunset. Baldy Li and Song Gang held each others hand and headed once again for the bus depot. When they passed the snack shop next to the station, they saw Mama Su seated inside. Song Gang explained to her, "We're here to wait for our mother. She's returning from Shanghai."

The two children walked to the part of the station where the buses pulled in. They stood on tiptoe and craned their necks in the direction of the highway. At the far edge of the horizon, beyond the fields, a cloud of dust was rolling in. They could make out that it was a bus headed their way and could hear the blare of the bus s horn. Song Gang turned to Baldy Li and said, "Mamas back."

Song Gangs face was drenched in tears, while Baldy Li's had flowed down his neck. The bus moved toward them in a cloud of dust that enveloped and blinded them. Once the dust had dispersed, they saw passengers carrying bags and suitcases emerging from the depot. First a handful of people, then an entire line filed past the two boys, but Baldy Li and Song Gang did not see Li Lan. They waited until the last person emerged from the depot, but they still did not see their mother walk out the door.

Song Gang timidly approached the last passenger. "Is this the bus from Shanghai?"

The man nodded. He looked at the boys’ tear-streaked faces and asked, "Whose children are you? Why are you standing here?"

His questions brought forth a torrent of tears from both Baldy Li and Song Gang. Startled, he grabbed his luggage and hurried away, repeatedly glancing back curiously at the two children. The boys cried after him, "We are Song Fanping's kids. Song Fanping is dead. Now we're waiting for Li Lan to come home. Li Lan is our mother…"

Without waiting for the children to finish, the man had already walked far away. Baldy Li and Song Gang continued to wait at the entrance to the station, thinking that perhaps Li Lan would be on the next bus. They stood there for a long time, until the big wooden door of the main hall was shuttered and the heavy metal gate of the bus depot was locked up. They still stood there, waiting for their mother to come home from Shanghai.

Night fell, and Mama Su from the snack shop walked over to them. She stuffed two meat buns in their hands, saying, "Eat them while they're hot."

The boys ate the buns and heard Mama Su tell them, "There are no more buses coming in today, and the door of the station has already been shut. Run home now; you can come back tomorrow."

The children trusted Mama Su. They nodded, eating their buns and wiping away their tears, and then went home. As they were leaving they heard Mama Su say with a sigh, "Poor children…"

Song Gang stopped, turned to Mama Su, and said, "You will be rewarded in the next life."

AT THE CRACK of dawn, Li Lan was waiting at the front gate of the hospital. Though in his letter Song Fanping had said that he would not reach Shanghai until noon, after two months’ absence the fierce wave of longing that Li Lan felt for him led her to wake up before dawn and sit on her bed, waiting for daybreak. A roommate, who had awakened in the middle of the night from postoperative pain, was so startled by the sight of the motionless, ghostlike Li Lan that she let out a scream that almost ripped open her new stitches. When she realized that it was Li Lan sitting on the bed, the patient resumed her moans of pain. Li Lan felt deeply sorry. After gently muttering a string of apologies, she picked up her travel bag, walked out of the room, and made her way to the hospitals front gate. The street was dark and empty, and the solitary Li Lan stood there with her solitary travel bag — two silent, dark shadows cast on the hospital gate. This time it was the guards turn to be startled. The old guard with the enlarged prostate gland had awakened needing to pee and walked outside. When he saw the two dark shadows, he shuddered and wet himself, hollering, "Who's there?"

Li Lan told him who she was, what her room number was, that she was leaving today, and that her husband was coming to pick her up. Still unnerved, the old guard pointed at the other dark shadow and demanded, "Who's that?"

Li Lan lifted her bag. "It's a travel bag."

Only then did the old man relax. He circled behind the shack and pissed out the remaining urine, all the while complaining, "Scared me to death, made me fucking wet my pants…"

When Li Lan heard his complaints, she remorsefully lifted her travel bag and walked through the gate and down the street to the corner. She stood next to a big wooden electrical pole and listened to the humming of the current while gazing back at the darkened gate. At this moment Li Lan suddenly felt at peace. While sitting on her bed in the room, she had felt she was waiting for daybreak; but now as she stood at the street corner she felt she was waiting for Song Fanping. In her imagination she could already see his tall, strong figure walking over, filled with passion.

Li Lan — standing there the whole time, her small, frail figure motionless in the dark — was a frightful sight. A few men walking down the street didn't notice her until they were only a few yards away. Seeing her, they jumped in surprise and immediately crossed to the other side of the street, all the while casting backward glances at her. Another man bumped into her as he was rounding the corner and was so startled he trembled all over, but then he feigned calm as he walked around her. As he walked away his shoulders were still ashudder, leading Li Lan to let out a soft chuckle. It was this eerie sound, emanating as if from a female ghost, that thoroughly undid the man, who then took off in a wild sprint.

Only when rays of sunlight illuminated the entire street did Li Lan stop resembling a ghost. She still stood at the street corner, but now she was becoming human. As the street grew busier Li Lan took up her bag and walked back to the hospitals front gate. Now her waiting had officially begun.