Yu Hua - Brothers

They slowly made their way to the coffin store. When they finally arrived, Li Lan sat on the front stoop, panting and wiping at the blood on her forehead. She smiled and announced to the people inside, "I'm here."

Everyone in the coffin store recognized her and asked, "Who are you buying a coffin for this time?"

Embarrassed, Li Lan replied, "For myself."

Initially startled, they all broke out laughing and said, "We've never had a living person buying a coffin for himself before."

Li Lan also smiled. "Yes, I've never heard of it either."

Pointing to Baldy Li, she continued, "My son is still young and wouldn't know what kind of coffin to get, so I thought that I'd reserve one and he can come pick it up later."

Everyone in the coffin store knew of the notorious Baldy Li. Cackling, they looked at him as he stood diffidently by the door, then remarked to Li Lan, "Well, he's not that young."

Li Lan lowered her head. She knew why they were cackling. Li Lan selected the cheapest coffin, one that cost only eight yuan. It was the same kind of unvarnished, thin-planked coffin that she had bought Song Fanping. Her hands trembling, she fished out her money wrapped in a handkerchief and paid them four yuan, with the remainder to be paid when the coffin was picked up.

After going to the Civil Affairs Bureau to take care of Baldy Li's orphan aid and then purchasing a coffin at the coffin store, Li Lan felt that the two biggest burdens she had been shouldering were now taken care of. She could check into the hospital the following day, but by her reckoning it was only six days until the Qingming holiday, when they would pay their respects to the dead. She shook her head, telling herself that on Qingming she wanted to go visit Song Fan-pings grave in the countryside, and then she would check into the hospital.

Li Lan slowly dragged her body, which felt increasingly like a deadweight, to Liu Towns bookstore. At the stationery counter she purchased a packet of white paper, then she slowly made her way home, resting repeatedly along the way. Sitting at the table, she started to make paper ingots and coins. On every Qingming festival since Song Fanping passed away, Li Lan had cut out a basketful of paper ingots and coins and then would set off on the long journey to the countryside to burn them at his grave.

By this point Li Lan was so ill she barely had any strength left. After each ingot, she had to rest for a while. Her hand trembled as she struggled to draw lines on the coins or write out the characters GOLD and SILVER on the ingots. It took her four whole days to finish what she ordinarily would have completed in an afternoon. She then placed the paper ingots in the basket and carefully rested the paper coins strung together with white thread on top of them. Smiling, she let out a long sigh, followed by some tears, sensing that this was probably the last time she would be able to visit Song Fanping's grave.

That night she called Baldy Li to her bedside and examined him carefully. She was comforted to see that her son looked nothing like that man named Liu Shanfeng. Her breathing labored, she told him, "The day after tomorrow is Qingming. I'd like to go visit the grave, but I don't have the energy to make it that far."

"Ma, don't you worry," Baldy Li replied. "I'll carry you."

Li Lan smiled and shook her head, then mentioned her other son. "Why don't you go to the countryside tomorrow and bring Song Gang back? The two of you can take turns carrying me."

"No need to fetch Song Gang." Baldy Li firmly shook his head. "I can carry you by myself."

"No," Li Lan said. "The road is too long; you would exhaust yourself trying to carry me alone."

"If we get tired, well rest under a tree." Baldy Li waved dismissively "We'll just sit and rest."

Li Lan still shook her head. "Go fetch Song Gang."

"No need," Baldy Li replied. "I'll think of something."

Baldy Li yawned and said he was going to the outer room to go to bed. At the door he turned to Li Lan and said, "Ma, don't you worry. I guarantee that I'll get you comfortably to the countryside, and then bring you comfortably back to town."

Baldy Li, who by now was fifteen, lay down in his bed. Within five minutes he had come up with a plan, and so he closed his eyes and immediately started snoring.

It wasn't until afternoon the next day that Baldy Li leisurely made his way out of the house. First he went to the hospital, where he paced the halls as if he were a visitor coming to see a relative; the moment he noticed that no one was at the nurse's station, he ducked right in. Once inside, he took his time, selecting from among a dozen or more used IV bottles, raising each of them to see which had the most glucose left. Once he had made his selection, he swiftly hid it under his shirt, ducked back out of the nurse's station, and left the hospital.

Baldy Li paraded down the street with his swiped bottle. From time to time he dangled it in front of his eyes, trying to figure out exactly how much glucose was left inside. He guessed that there was probably half an ounce, but in order to be sure, he walked into a soy sauce store and asked the vendor how much liquid he thought there was inside. The soy sauce vendor was of course an old hand at this sort of thing. He gave the bottle a couple of twirls and announced that between half an ounce and an ounce was left. Pleased with this estimate, Baldy Li took back the bottle and said, "This is pure nutrition."

Baldy Li walked smugly with his glucose into Blacksmith Tongs shop. Baldy Li knew that Blacksmith Tong had his own pullcart, and he was hoping to borrow it for a day to take Li Lan to the countryside. Baldy Li stood at the door of the shop and watched Blacksmith Tong raining down sweat while working a piece of metal. After a while Baldy Li waved at him benevolently, as if on an inspection visit, and said, "Take a rest, take a rest."

Blacksmith Tong put down his hammer and wiped his sweat-drenched face with a towel. He watched as Baldy Li sauntered into his shop and comfortably took a seat on the long bench he used to sexually exploit. Blacksmith Tong growled, "You little bastard. What do you want?"

Baldy Li chuckled. "I'm here to collect my debts."

"Fuck," spat Blacksmith Tong, as he whipped his towel in the air. "And what debt would that be, you little bastard?"

Baldy Li continued chuckling. He reminded Blacksmith Tong, "Remember what you said to me two weeks ago in front of the bathhouse."

"What did I say?" Blacksmith Tong honestly couldn't remember.

Baldy Li pointed to himself. "You said that I, Baldy Li, was truly something, and that someday you were going to treat me to a bowl of house-special noodles."

Blacksmith Tong remembered now. He hung his towel back around his neck and growled, "Yeah, so I did say that. What are you going to do about it?"

Baldy Li decided to shift to flattery. He said, "Who doesn't know your stature in this town? When you, Blacksmith Tong, say ‘Jump,’ everyone asks, ‘How high?’ You would never go back on your word, would you?"

"You really are a little bastard," Blacksmith Tong said, laughing. He couldn't maintain his bullying tone any longer, but he did find a loophole. Smugly, he said, "It's true I said I'd treat you to a bowl of house-special noodles someday. But someday — that could be any day. I certainly don't know when."

"You got me!" Baldy Li showed his admiration by giving him a thumbs-up but then immediately cut to the chase. "How about this: I won't have you treat me to a bowl of house-special noodles, but if you lend me your cart for a day, we'll call it even."

Blacksmith Tong had no idea where Baldy Li was going with this. He asked, "So why do you want to borrow my pullcart?"

"Aiya!" sighed Baldy Li. He explained to Blacksmith Tong, "My mother wants to go sweep my father's grave in the countryside. You know how sick she is. She certainly couldn't make it by walking, so that's why I want to borrow your pullcart."