Mo Yan - Frog

Let’s have a look at the wedding chamber, she said as she ate.

Renmei was sitting on the windowsill — the kang was too hot for her — reading a children’s book by light coming in through the window. She was giggling.

Gugu is here, I said.

Renmei jumped down and took Gugu’s hand in hers. Just the person I’ve been looking for, she said. And here you are.

What is it?

Renmei lowered her voice. I hear you have some kind of drug I can take to make me have twins.

Where did you hear that? Gugu said with a frown.

Wang Dan said so.

A nasty rumour, Gugu managed to say as she choked on the muffin. She coughed, her face turned red, and she drank the water my sister rushed to hand her. She thumped her chest a couple of times. There’s no such drug, she said, but even if there were, I wouldn’t hand it out to anyone.

Wang Dan said a woman in Chen Family Village took a pill you gave her and had twins, a boy and a girl, Renmei said.

Gugu stuffed the half-eaten muffin into my sister’s hand. Damn, that makes me mad! she cursed. I can’t tell you how hard it was to get a baby out of that little witch Wang Dan, and she has the nerve to go around spreading rumours. I’ll split that shitty mouth of hers the next time I see her.

Don’t get mad, Gugu. I nudged Renmei’s leg with my foot. You just shut up! I said under my breath.

Ouch, damn you! Renmei said with excessive drama. You almost broke my leg.

You can’t break a dog’s leg! Mother said angrily.

You’re wrong, Mother, Renmei said insistently. Xiao Shangchun broke the leg of my second uncle’s dog with his steel trap.

Xiao Shangchun, who had returned home after his retirement, spent most of his time brutalising living creatures. Arming himself with a fowling piece, he went around shooting birds, all kinds of birds, even magpies, which the villagers considered harbingers of good luck. He’d put up a mist net, with holes so tiny even inch-long fry could not get through, to catch them. And he’d set powerful steel traps in the woods or in the graveyard to catch badgers and weasels. A dog belonging to Renmei’s second uncle had its leg broken when it carelessly stepped into one of his traps.

Gugu’s face darkened when she heard the name Xiao Shangchun. That evil man, she said through clenched teeth, deserves to be struck by lightning. But no, he lives the good life, with fine food and drink. He’s healthy as an ox, which just goes to show that even the heavens are afraid of that louse.

The heavens might be afraid of him, Gugu, Renmei said, but I’m not. If you need a wrong revenged, I’ll do it for you.

That made Gugu happy. She laughed. I’ll tell you the truth, I was opposed to my nephew marrying you at first. But I changed my mind when I heard that you broke off your engagement with Xiao Xiachun. She’s got spunk, I said. So he’s going to college, so what? The Wan family children will all go to college, and not just any college, but Peking University, Tsinghua University, Cambridge, and Oxford. And not just undergraduate degrees either, but MAs, even PhDs. They’ll be professors and scientists and champion athletes!

Then give me the drug that’ll let me have twins, Gugu. That way I can double my contribution to the Wan family’s legacy. The news will probably kill Xiao Xiachun!

My goodness! They all say you’re on the slow side. Well, they’re wrong. You ambushed me! Then she turned deadly serious. You youngsters need to obey the Party, walk the Party line, and not veer from the straight and narrow. Family planning is national policy, and is of paramount importance. With Party secretaries in command, all Party members must get to work, leading the way as exemplars to strengthen scientific research, improve techniques and implement procedures. They must mobilise the masses and never let up. One child per couple is set in stone for the next fifty years. China is lost if she does not control her population. You’re a Party member, Xiaopao, a revolutionary soldier, so you must set an example.

Just give me the drug on the sly, Gugu, and I’ll take it right away. No one will ever know, Renmei said.

Child, I’m afraid that you might be as slow as they say, after all. I repeat, there is no such drug, and even if there were, I wouldn’t dare give it to you. Gugu is a member of the Communist Party, a member of the Consultative Conference standing committee, and deputy head of the family-planning group. How could you expect me to be the first to break the law? I want you all to know that even though I suffered unjust treatment, my heart is as red as ever, and will never change. Alive I’m a Party member, dead I’ll be a Party ghost. I go where the Party sends me. Xiaopao, your wife’s thinking is a problem. She can’t tell which is hot, the ashes or the fire. You need to be clear on matters and not get any crazy ideas. People have begun calling me the ‘Living Queen of Hell’, and I couldn’t be prouder. I’ll take a bath and burn incense before delivering babies for those who follow family-planning policy, but I’ll deal mercilessly with those who go beyond one pregnancy — every last one of them! She made a chopping gesture.

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the day the kitchen god is sent off, my daughter was born. Cousin Wuguan brought us home from the commune health centre on his tractor. Before we left, Gugu said to me: I inserted an IUD in your wife. Wang Renmei ripped the scarf off her head and confronted her: How could you do that without my permission? Gugu put the scarf back. Keep that on, so you won’t catch cold. Inserting IUDs right after birth has been ordered by the family-planning group. No exceptions. If you had married a farmer and your first child was a girl, you could remove the IUD eight years later and have a second child. But you married my nephew, an army officer, for whom the rules are more stringent. A second child means immediate dismissal and a return to the farm. So don’t ever think about a second child. There’s a price to be paid for the opportunity to marry an army officer.

Renmei sobbed like a baby.

With our infant wrapped tightly in my overcoat, I climbed onto the tractor. Let’s go, I said to Wuguan.

We chugged down the pitted country road, black smoke puffing from the exhaust pipe. Renmei lay in the cab, covered by a quilt, her sobs punctuated by each bump in the road. Who said she could insert an IUD… no permission… how come I can’t have more than one… who says so…

Stop crying, I said. She was trying my patience. It’s national policy. That only made her cry harder. She stuck her head out from under the quilt; her face was pale, her lips blue, and there were flecks of straw in her hair. Who says? It’s something your aunt dreamed up. They’re not this strict in Jiao County. Your aunt is just looking for commendations and a promotion. No wonder people rage against her.

Shut up, I said. If you’ve got something to say, wait till we get home. If you cry and carry on the whole way, people will laugh at us.

She threw off the quilt and sat up. Glaring at me, she snarled: Who will laugh at me? I’d like to see who has the guts to laugh at me.

Bicycles kept passing us. We were pummelled by a cold north wind, with frost on the ground as a red sun climbed into the sky. Steam from the riders’ mouths frosted their eyebrows. The sight of Renmei, with her dry, chapped lips, dishevelled hair, and staring eyes was nearly unbearable, and I had to say something kind. No one’s going to laugh at you, now lie back and cover up. Getting sick during the first month is no laughing matter.

That doesn’t scare me. I’m like a pine tree atop Mount Tai, fighting the bitter cold and warding off the wind and snow. I have a morning sun in my chest.