Yu Hua - Brothers

Baldy Li shook his head. "Perhaps you'd be bare tomorrow, but you'd have your feathers back the very next day."

Yanker Yu burned with anxious curiosity. He felt as if he had been reading a serialized novel and had just reached a cliff-hanger, so he couldn't do anything but agree to loan out his umbrella as well. Baldy Li went on for a few more sentences on Lin Hong's bottom, but what Yanker Yu heard next was all about Poet Zhao's hand. Dumbfounded, he took a little while to recover enough to ask, "What happened? How did Lin Hong's bottom turn into Poet Zhao's hand?"

"I can't help it." Baldy Li sighed. "That bastard Poet Zhao ruined my moment, and yours, too."

Now Yanker Yu fell into a blind rage, all of it directed toward Poet Zhao. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, "That bastard Zhao, I swear I'm going to pull out one of his good teeth."

With Blacksmith Tongs pullcart and Yanker Yu's recliner and umbrella in tow, Baldy Li then stopped by the warehouse of the town's department store. There he sweet-talked and peddled the secrets of Lin Hong's bottom yet again and managed to borrow a pile of rope. Now his mission was accomplished and, whistling a revolutionary tune and pulling the cart noisily behind him down the main street, he returned home victorious.

By this point it was dark and Li Lan had already gone to bed. In anticipation of the long road ahead the next day, she had eaten and retired early. Ever since Baldy Li had become notorious all over Liu Town, Li Lan had felt that she had completely lost control of this son of hers. He often returned home late at night, and she could do nothing but sigh.

When Baldy Li arrived home, he saw that the lights were out, so he knew his mother had gone to bed. He set the cart down lightly and crept into the house, where he turned on the light and sat at the table to wolf down the dinner his mother had set out for him. Then he got to work. By the light of the rooms lamp and the moon outside, he first placed the recliner on top of the pullcart, securing it tightly with the rope. There was an opening for a cup in the chairs armrest, so Baldy Li stuck the umbrella handle through it and then used the rope to fasten it securely in place.

By that point it was well past midnight, but Baldy Li did another careful inspection of the rig, reinforcing various parts with rope. When he was finally done, he circled the cart twice more, his hands behind his back. He couldn't stop grinning. He felt that the cart, chair, and umbrella were as firmly bound together as arms and legs on a torso. Satisfied, he let out a huge yawn and went in to go to bed. Once he was lying down, though, Baldy Li discovered that he couldn't fall asleep, so worried was he that someone would steal his masterpiece. So he grabbed his blanket and went outside. He crawled up onto Blacksmith Tongs cart and lay down on Yanker Yu's recliner. Now feeling secure, he started snoring the moment he shut his eyes.

Li Lan woke up at daybreak to find Baldy Li's bed empty and his blanket missing. Unable to figure out what had happened, she shook her head and opened the front door, then gasped when she saw the odd contraption sitting outside with her son sleeping on top.

Li Lan's gasp woke Baldy Li from his dreams. Seeing his mother's astonished expression, he rubbed his eyes, climbed down from the cart, and proudly explained that the pullcart belonged to Blacksmith Tong, the recliner and the oilcloth umbrella were Yanker Yu's, and the hemp rope binding it all together was borrowed from the department store's warehouse. Baldy Li exclaimed, "Ma, now you can travel in comfort!"

Li Lan regarded her demon of a son and wondered, How in the world could a fifteen-year-old pull off a feat like this? She felt that she really didn't know him at all, this son who seemed to be able to whip something out of his bag of tricks every other day.

Mother and son had breakfast, and Baldy Li then lifted their hot-water thermos and carefully poured water into the glucose bottle. "There's somewhere between half an ounce and an ounce of nutritious glucose in here," he told Li Lan, adding that it was in case she got thirsty on the road.

Baldy Li thoughtfully placed his neatly folded blanket over the chair, explaining that it was going to be a bumpy ride but the padding should do the trick. With his left foot holding down one of the pullcart's handles, he gently helped Li Lan climb onto the cart and lie down on the chair. She cradled the basket with the paper ingots and coins and looked up at the oilcloth umbrella over her head, realizing that it was to keep the sun and rain off her. Baldy Li then handed her the bottle with the hot water and glucose mixture. As Li Lan accepted the bottle tears rushed down her face. Baldy Li saw that she was weeping and asked, astonished, "Ma, what's wrong?"

"Nothing at all." Li Lan dabbed at her eyes, then smiled. "Son, lets get going."

That morning Li Lan took a ride on the most luxurious pullcart Liu Town had ever seen. The cart wound its way down the main street with Baldy Li at the fore. The crowds stared, mouths open in astonishment. They simply couldn't believe their eyes; never in their wildest dreams having imagined such a contraption. Someone called out to Baldy Li, asking him how he had managed to put this thing together.

"This thing?" Baldy Li smugly replied. "This thing is my mom's exclusive-use cart."

Everyone was befuddled. "What's an exclusive-use cart?"

"You've never heard of an exclusive-use cart?" Baldy Li asked, then continued proudly: "The jet that Chairman Mao flies in is his exclusive-use jet, the train compartment that Chairman Mao travels in is his exclusive-use compartment, and the car that Chairman Mao rides in is his exclusive-use sedan. Why? Because no one else can use them. My mom's cart is her exclusive-use cart. Why? Because no one else can ride in it."

Everyone broke out into knowing laughter, and even Li Lan couldn't help but laugh out loud. With myriad emotions Li Lan watched as her son proudly pulled her exclusive-use cart through the streets. This son, who had once shamed her as deeply as her first husband, Liu Shan-feng, now filled her with a pride akin to what she had felt with Song Fanping.

The women in Liu Town thought that Li Lan's cart resembled a wedding sedan. Giggling nonstop, they called out to Li Lan, "Are you getting married off today?"

"No, no," Li Lan replied, blushing. "I'm going down to the countryside to sweep my husband's grave."

Baldy Li pulled Li Lan's exclusive-use cart out the southern gate. When she heard the creaking of the wheels, Li Lan guessed that they had just gone over the wooden bridge and were now bumping along down the dirt road. She could smell the country air as a fresh spring breeze wafted past her; she raised herself, holding on to the umbrella pole, and looked out to a field of golden greens glistening in the sun. She watched the winding paths that framed each paddy, the various details of houses and trees at a distance, the ducks flying over the nearby pond and their reflection in the water, together with the sparrows flying by the road. This was the last trip that Li Lan would take along this dirt road; despite its bumpiness, she fully enjoyed the beautiful spring day while riding along on the cart.

Li Lan looked down at her son pulling the cart with all his strength. Baldy Li was now bent over and constantly wiping the sweat from his brows. Feeling sorry for him, she urged him to take a rest, but Baldy Li shook his head and replied that he wasn't tired. Li Lan tried to get him to pause and drink from the drip bottle, but he again shook his head. "That glucose water is nutrition for you."

When she saw how good her son was to her, Li Lan wept tears of joy. Sobbing, she said, "Good son, please, I'm begging you, take a rest and have some water."