Su Tong - The Boat to Redemption

Silence settled over the shop. Customers and barbers alike were tongue-tied. But only momentarily. Like oil popping in a pan, one person spun around in his swivel chair, while others tried but failed to stifle giggles as a frenzy of whispering began. Huixian was the first to come to my defence. ‘Have you gone mad, Zhao Chunmei?’ she demanded. ‘Your mouth is going to get you into trouble. Even if their whole family are your mortal enemies, you still don’t have the right to say whatever you want about their ancestors. You could bring the wrath of the heavens down on your head.’

‘Did I say anything about their ancestors?’ Zhao shot back. ‘I don’t have time to waste on that, even if could. I’m telling you, people, it’s confidential information, but my brother says that the next time Ku tries to file an appeal, my brother will go public with it.’

It took Old Cui and Little Chen, plus some of the customers, to keep me from charging at Zhao Chunmei. ‘Calm down,’ they said. ‘Don’t fly off the handle. Don’t demean yourself by reacting to a woman’s empty-headed talk. If it’s confidential information, it could be true, it could be false. We’re the only ones who heard it, and it won’t go any further. You’re OK with that, aren’t you?’

Working together, they managed to bundle me out of the shop, followed by Zhao Chunmei’s shrewish comments. ‘Where are you taking him?’ she said. ‘Bring him back in here. I want him here, so I can settle things with him once and for all. And if he lays a hand on me, I’ll see him punished by law.’

There was no calming me down. I fired off a stream of filthy, almost hysterical curses, which drew the attention of passers-by on the street. Holding my arm with all his might, Old Cui shouted to Huixian, ‘Come out here, I can’t hold him. He’ll listen to you.’

She ran out and glared at me. ‘Do you think that kind of filthy talk makes you a man? Why provoke her? You can’t win with a woman like that, especially with what your father owes her. So leave now before a crowd starts to gather and she goes into broadcast mode, blaring the news to anyone who’ll listen. Put yourself in your father’s position. Do you think he could stand it if this news reached him?’

Huixian’s advice calmed me down, and I decided to avoid further conflict. I walked across the street to the cotton-fluffing shop to wait for Zhao Chunmei to come outside. I hated her with a passion. The shop’s proprietor came out to ask what was going on, but the look in my eyes sent her scurrying back inside, afraid of what I might do.

I waited a long time, but no Zhao Chunmei. Huixian came out with a kettle. ‘Still here? What fiendish plan are you cooking up? Are you going to confront her alone out here? I tell you, calm down. A real man would not fight with a woman. So what does that make you?’

I shook my head. ‘You water your flowers and don’t worry about me.’ To be honest, I wasn’t sure why I was waiting for Zhao Chunmei. What was I going to say to her? I hadn’t decided. What did I plan to do to her? Nothing, given my timid nature. I watched Huixian water her plants; a new sunflower bloomed, its golden petals having burst open so it could stand tall, fresh and tender. It was velvety soft and immature, and I saw Huixian smile as she looked at it.

My gaze was fixed on a young woman and a single sunflower, so when Zhao Chunmei came out of the barbershop, I didn’t know what to do. She was several metres away when she turned and spat on the ground. For me that was like waking from a dream.

I made up my mind to follow her. Not to retaliate or scare her — the loathing I felt for her took a new direction. I resolved to make her tell me everything, so I could learn the true secret of Father’s legacy once and for all.

It didn’t take long for Zhao Chunmei to realize that I was following her, and she took that as a threat. At first she kept turning around and rolling her eyes at me, a sign of contempt, but as the distance between us narrowed, fear crept in, and she grabbed a mop that was drying in the sun outside a house and pointed it at me. ‘What’s made you so bold all of a sudden? Why are you following me in broad daylight? Come on,’ she said, ‘I don’t care what you’re planning, just come on.’

I gestured for her to calm down. ‘What’s got you so worked up? I just want to ask you something.’

‘I’ve seen lots of people like you,’ she said. ‘I’m not worked up. If you’ve got something to say, spit it out; if you’ve got gas, let it out.’

‘Not here,’ I said. ‘Let’s go somewhere where there aren’t so many people.’

Once again she got the wrong idea. Her eyes blazed as she raised the dripping mop over her head and was about to hit me in the face. ‘Somewhere where there aren’t so many people? It’ll still belong to the Communist Party, even if there’s nobody there. You think I’m afraid you’ll try to kill me?’

I had to keep moving to stay out of range of the mop. ‘Why don’t you put that down? Don’t worry, I won’t touch you. I just want to clarify something. You said my father is Rotten Rapeseed’s son. Where’s your proof?’

‘I don’t need proof, my brother is Zhao Chuntang, a Party leader. Whatever he says is all the proof anyone needs.’

‘Maybe, maybe not,’ I said. ‘If he spouts nonsense in his sleep, is that proof? I’m asking you, how does Zhao Chuntang know that my father is Rotten Rapeseed’s son? Can he prove it?’

She blinked and pondered my question for a moment before laughing smugly and saying, ‘He’s a leading official, so of course he can prove it. He read it in a top-secret document.’

Zhao Chunmei’s expression told me everything I needed to know: that what she said was not an empty rumour. My heart fell as I imagined Zhao Chuntang opening a manila envelope with ‘Top Secret’ stamped mysteriously in red. I imagined what the document said: Upon investigation, it has been revealed that Ku Wenxuan is the son of the river pirate Old Qiu and the prostitute Rotten Rapeseed. Effective immediately, make appropriate changes in all the materials in Ku Wenxuan’s dossier and terminate all financial benefits for a martyr’s family member . Then an almost paralysing fear and boiling anger hit me, and I began to quake. Top-secret document? That’s not what it was; it was a death-dealing document, and I didn’t believe it. Could they change an orphan’s parentage so easily? — a martyr one day and a prostitute or a bandit the next? I didn’t believe a ridiculous document like that existed. At that moment I was reminded of the birthmark on Father’s backside. Maybe it had never been a mark of glory, but of sin! Could he ever atone for his sin? My poor father, my self-confident father, my atoning father, all that remained to him in this world was a single barge. He had gone into hiding on the river, and if this shameful news were ever to reach him, where could he hide then?

I despaired for my father and, lacking any other course of action, decided to negotiate with Zhao Chunmei. ‘Aunty Zhao —’ Hearing my own voice, soft, supplicating, ingratiating, I was incredulous. Was that me?

She looked as surprised as I was, her eyes big and round. ‘So now you’re calling me Aunty, are you? Sounds strange to my ears.’ She snorted and produced a little sarcastic smile. ‘Well, it won’t do you any good. I can’t save your father, and wouldn’t if I could.’

‘I’m begging you, Aunty Zhao. You have to leave him a reason to live. You’re driving him to his death.’

‘Who is? Don’t you put that on me! You never heard me say that pretending to be a martyr’s son or being the son of Rotten Rapeseed was a death sentence. Take my word for it, the organization has treated him as well as he deserves, and my brother has showered him with kindness. Even after committing a crime of that magnitude, he still draws his pay and receives his food rations. And don’t forget, he has a barge, so you have no reason to be dissatisfied with your lot.’