Yu Hua - Brothers

"That's true." Little Guan also went pale. "It doesn't mention anything about business."

The other four quickly took the telegram and read through it again, then looked at one another. Tailor Zhang was the first to say something on Baldy Li's behalf: "If he is suggesting that Mama Su change the name of her brand, he must already have scored a few business deals."

"Tailor Zhang is right." Blacksmith Tong pointed at the bench on which they were sitting. "I know Baldy Li. When he was a little runt, he would come here every day and engage in sexual relations with this long bench. That little asshole is not like other people, and everything he does he wants to do to excess—"

"Blacksmith Tong is right," said Yanker Yu, interrupting him. "This little asshole has a bigger appetite than anyone I know. That time he came to borrow my recliner, he also wanted to borrow my oilcloth umbrella and almost borrowed my table as well. As a result, in a single day he transformed my magnificent dental stall into a naked sparrow."

"Yanker Yu is correct," added Little Guan, recalling incidents involving Baldy Li. "This little bastard could do business from an early age, using Lin Hongs bottom to cheat me out of a bowl of house-special noodles. As he ate happily I was left drooling."

"You are right," Popsicle Wang chimed in. "That little bastards ambitions are sky-high. Other people are content with becoming as rich as an oil well, while he wants to be as rich as a ten-thousand-ton oil tanker."

Seeing the five of them so confident, Mama Su began to worry anew about her fifteen shares, saying, "When Baldy Li brings a whole bunch of business back here, what will I do if he doesn't recognize my shares? You all have to serve as my witnesses!"

"Don't worry." Blacksmith Tong pointed to the telegram in Tailor Zhang's hands. "This telegram is your evidence, and as such is much more compelling than anything the five of us could say."

Mama Su immediately grabbed the telegram from Tailor Zhang and, cradling it to her chest like an infant, said happily, "Fortunately, I went to the temple to burn some incense, whereupon Baldy Li sent this telegram. Now he won't be able to ignore my fifteen shares. Burning incense is truly effective!"

After Baldy Li sent his enigmatic telegram, this document became like the Communist sun rising in the East, instantly liberating his six partners from the shackles of darkness and despair. Their excitement sustained them for another half a month, but there was no more news from Baldy Li. The partners yearned through the day, yearned through the night, yearned every hour, every minute, and, in the end, every second. But still there was no trace of Baldy Li. He had vanished in Shanghai like a stone in the ocean. From that point on, no more of his telegrams arrived in Liu.

Their hopes dashed once again, the six partners returned to passing their days and nights in extreme anxiety. Two months had now gone by. Tailor Zhang paid the second month s rent for the warehouse and gave the country girls their second months salary. Then, with a trembling voice, he said, "Only two thousand yuan remains of our sweat-and-blood money."

Everyone shuddered, Mama Su with them, until she again remembered that she hadn't contributed any money to the pot, and once again she felt at ease. At this point, the partners experienced a definite crisis of confidence in Baldy Li. It was Yanker Yu who first expressed his dissatisfaction: "Who does this bastard think he is? Are we doing business together? Or are we playing hide-and-seek?"

"You're right," Tailor Zhang agreed. "Even if a pin falls to the ground, it still makes a sound. It's not right for Baldy Li to disappear like this without giving us any notice."

"Don't even mention a pin," Little Guan added angrily. "Even a fart will make a sound."

Popsicle Wang added, "That little bastard is not worth a fart."

Blacksmith Tong was pale with fury but still didn't say anything. Everyone else looked at him reproachfully. Tong understood what they were thinking as if they had said it aloud: If he hadn't invested those first four thousand yuan, our own money would have stayed in our pockets. Blacksmith Tong, however, was stewing indignantly: They say that the power of example is infinite, but being the one to set an example just makes you the scapegoat.

The six partners fell silent, then Tailor Zhang continued in a quavering voice, "In another month, there won't be enough money to pay the rental fees and salaries." His voice was cold and flat, and after he finished speaking, he gazed at Tong in a cold and flat manner. Blacksmith Tong felt that the others were also staring him in the eye— except Yanker Yu, who was staring straight at his mouth, as if counting the good teeth.

Blacksmith Tong sighed deeply and said, "How about this: Let's first let the thirty country girls go. When we need them, we can always call them back."

The other partners didn't answer but, rather, continued staring coldly at Blacksmith Tong. He knew that they were thinking about the rental fees for the warehouse, and that none of them was willing to continue throwing his remaining money into it. Blacksmith Tong shook his head, then nodded and said, "How about this: Lets first cancel the rental on the warehouse, and if Baldy Li does return with new business, we can always rent it again."

Some of the partners began nodding, and Tailor Zhang raised a question: "What about the thirty sewing machines?"

Blacksmith Tong pondered for a moment, then suggested, "Lets divide the sewing machines based on how much each of us contributed and take them home."

Tailor Zhang personally sent the thirty country girls home, personally canceled the warehouse rental, and personally divided up the thirty sewing machines based on the amount each partner had invested. Mama Su hadn't contributed any money, so she of course didn't receive a sewing machine. With all of these funereal affairs now taken care of, the partners continued meeting every evening in Blacksmith Tongs shop, only now they sat as mute as six ghosts, and by nightfall the shop was as silent as a grave.

Another month went by, and still there was no news from Baldy Li. Mama Su was the first to stop attending the nightly meetings, and Tailor Zhang, Little Guan, and Yanker Yu soon followed her. In the end it was only Popsicle Wang, who had invested the least amount of money, who still duly reported at the blacksmith's shop every evening. He would sit there in front of the downcast Blacksmith Tong, sighing, wiping away his tears, and pathetically asking, "Has our sweat-and-blood money been lost like this?"

"There's nothing we can do," Blacksmith Tong replied with a hollow look in his eyes. "When it comes time to sever one's flesh, one has no alternative but to slice it off."

JUST WHEN the partners had all but lost hope, Baldy Li reappeared, completely covered in dust from his travels. By this point, he had been gone from Liu Town for three months and eleven days. He walked into Liu Towns bus depot one evening, still wearing the same clothes and still carrying his bag in one hand and the world map in the other. He walked right into Mama Sus snack shop and sat down. She initially didn't recognize him, because when he left he had a shiny bald head but now he had long hair and a full beard. He pounded the table and shouted, "Mama Su, I'm back!"

Mama Su jumped in surprise. Pointing at Baldy Li's long hair, she asked, "What in the world is this?"

"I've been unbelievably busy," Baldy Li replied, shaking his head. "I was so busy in Shanghai that I didn't even have time to shave my head."

Mama Su clasped both hands to her chest and looked over at her daughter, who was standing there with an astonished look. Carefully, she inquired, "And how did that go?"