Ha Jin - Under the Red Flag

Oddly enough, Tang remembered that once a boy in the neighborhood had struck Da Long in the head with a stone. He picked up his son and ran to the village’s barefoot doctor. The sight of his son’s bleeding hurt him so much that he couldn’t suppress his own tears and held him tight against himself. At that time Da Long had been small and helpless, but now he was big and strong, ready to eat up his father’s fortune like a wild dragon.

Tang lay down on the cool grass of the riverbank, watching stars flickering behind a misty curtain. It was quiet; now and then a frog jumped into the stream and a dog barked from the village. They say there are men on some of those stars, he thought. Why so many men? Men are beasts, have to stamp each other, bully each other, kill each other, eat each other. All the village leaders suck our marrow and drink our blood, don’t they? The share of fortune is basically the same for everyone. Some people are better off because they’ve stolen others’ shares. That was why we killed those landlords in the Land Reform. To get our shares back. Someday we’ll have another movement like that and wipe out all the village leaders. We’ll begin with Director Hu, that egg of a turtle. This morning he raised his forefinger the moment I begged him to have Da Long’s name changed in the brigade’s registration book. Damn his mother, a hundred yuan is half a year’s income. Even if I had the money I wouldn’t give him any. Someday we’ll have him beheaded, after chopping off that crooked finger first.

Tang sighed and exhaled smoke. A wolf was howling on the other side of the river. He continued to think, I should’ve changed Da Long’s name ten years ago. Too late. I can’t keep him down now. I’m old, and can’t even subdue my son. How can I command an army of men and horses? Too old to be a general, and don’t have the strength to fight thousands of enemy anymore…. Then let him flourish? Let him grow into a big man? Are you going to give up? I’m too old to be his match. Maybe I should let him grow. Hope he’ll treat me respectfully when he becomes a big man. It’s unlikely, such a heartless boy.

The heavy dew made mosquitoes unable to fly, so that the air felt cooler and fresher. In the moonlight Tang lay by the stream flowing with tiny sparks until all noises faded away. He became rather calm after being alone for hours and decided to put the matter aside for the moment. He would consult Blind Bea again and see if there was an alternative.

Two days later Tang again went to the quarry to haul back rocks via Dismount Fort. On his way there, he stopped at the locksmith’s and had his fortune re-examined. To his dismay, Blind Bea told him bluntly that there was no alternative. All he could do was have Da Long’s name changed. Bea blinked his red eyes meaningfully and said, “You know what you should do when a bad son becomes incorrigible. What’s the good of such a son, anyway?”

After leaving Bea, Tang tried not to think of his fate and his son’s fortune, but Bea’s voice kept ringing in his ears and enticing him to imagine the wealth, rank, splendor of his future. For over thirty years he had worked in the fields, watering the soil with his sweat, and he could eat white steamed-bread only three or four times a year on holidays. Life was unfair. Why did he have to drudge like a beast? He was not born a slave. Why didn’t he deserve a change?

On his way back, as the cart was jolting down Blacksmith Road, Tang saw some children and adults hurrying to the headquarters of the Garrison Division. He felt strange, because usually civilians were not allowed to enter the barracks. He urged the horses on.

At the front entrance of the headquarters the iron gate was wide open. On the two concrete pillars were posted Chairman Mao’s instruction in fresh ink: “The Army and the People Unite like One Man; Under Heaven Who Dares to Be Our Match!” Several teenage boys were hastening through the entrance, but the two armed sentries just let them pass as though the youngsters had been officers’ family members. Inside the barracks a large crowd of both civilians and army men surrounded the basketball court before the four-story building. Tang realized a game was going on, but why were the civilians allowed to watch?

He stopped the cart at the roadside and tied the front horses to a thick aspen. “What’s up there, son?” he asked a boy running by.

“The Provincial Team is playing the Military Region. Hurry, we all can go in and watch.”

Following others, Tang went into the barracks, but unlike others, this was his first time. There were so many things he had never seen before: the well-kept ilex hedges, a pair of huge searchlights flashing in the sun, the tall aerials, the dark targets of human forms, the instruments for physical training. What impressed him most were a line of six howitzers pointing to the southern sky and five dark limousines parked along the red building. A dozen guards strolled around, toting submachine guns.

Tang elbowed his way through the crowd to the front where everyone had to sit down. On the opposite side, the scoreboard announced “76 : 72,” in favor of the army. To Tang’s surprise, on his right a small man in woolen uniform and a fat official in a blue Mao suit were sitting in rattan chairs by a long table covered with white cloth. On the table were glasses and plates of fruits and candies. The crowd was kept ten feet away from the two men. A young woman in full uniform was pouring tea for them.

“That’s General Wang,” someone whispered in the crowd.

Tang’s eyes were riveted on the small man’s shoulders that each carried three gold stars. A real general. But he was so thin and so small, in no way like those ancient generals radiating a tiger’s spirit. Any man on the street could look more like a general than this one. Tang’s eyes turned and fell on those young women soldiers and officers. He had never seen women wear army skirts, which gave fine lines to their bodies. These women were pretty and sturdy, every one of them. Look, that one stood up and handed a wet towel to the general. Tang was stunned, having never imagined a general had so many young wives. And every one of them was as good-looking as an actress in the movies. God knew how many husky, handsome sons they had given and would give that small man.

A woman in steel-rimmed glasses went over and whispered in the general’s ear, while he was nodding his gray head and wiping his sunken mouth with the towel. After she left, the general took a cigarette out of a gold case, and another young woman struck a match for him immediately. How could such a scarecrow command the entire military region? Impossible. Even too old to satisfy his women. He was useless and should have been dismissed long ago.

The enchanted cart driver moved forward to take a better look at the general’s face. Absentminded, he put his leg into the court. “Ouch!” he cried out, and almost jumped up.

A young officer had kicked Tang’s leg, which withdrew from the court instantly. Tang turned to glare at the young man, his big eyes so ferocious that the officer was taken aback. “I will remember you, son of a bitch,” Tang cursed under his breath.

The officer turned around to watch the game. From behind, Tang fixed his eyes on the man’s cupped ears and then measured his height—five feet nine. One stripe with two stars. You wait, young cock, he thought. I’ll have you raise pigs when I become a general. I’ll remember you and will nab you. You have eyes, but they don’t see your lord. I’ll have one of them plucked out. I swear in the honor of my ancestors, who have the same name as the great dynasty, I will—

The ending whistle cut off Tang’s thought. He turned his eyes to the general, who stood up and shook hands with the fat official. Then the young women moved with him toward the limousines. The woman carrying a medical box even held his arm to support him. Not many days left. He could hardly walk. It was time for a new general to take over.