Ha Jin - Under the Red Flag

“That boy is your grandpa,” Lilian shouted. Hong and Mingming kept pedaling quietly.

The banquet would start at two-thirty in the afternoon, because many guests came from villages over fifteen kilometers away; they would have to leave early, relinquishing the most delightful part of the wedding—busting the bridechamber, which would take place at night. The wedding ceremony was presided over by Secretary Liu, who wore a red paper flower in the buttonhole of his breast pocket, as though he were the bridegroom. He delivered a short speech, wishing the young couple longevity, a lifelong happy union, and a houseful of children and grandchildren.

Then together the bride and the groom sang two songs, “The East Is Red, the Sun Is Rising” and “Happy, We Must Not Forget the Communist Party.” A few firecrackers exploded as candies and roasted peanuts were thrown in the air for the children, who rushed around and pushed each other like a flock of chickens pecking at grain. Some people wanted the couple to eat an apple, which would be held in the air by a thread so that the bride and the groom had to press their lips together to take a bite. But Director Ma told them, “Let’s skip that part for the moment, and they’ll do it after the feast.” He also reminded them that there would be a lot of performance in the evening. The guests from distant villages were rather disappointed, but they were consoled by the fragrance of the dishes being cooked at the two brick ranges constructed specially for the wedding. They couldn’t help turning their eyes to the four cooks in white hats. Two headless pigs, skinned and gutted, hung upside down beyond the kitchen shed.

Hong shuddered at the thought of chamber-busting. These boors could do anything, and she would be exhausted to death, having to control her temper and please these uncles and cousins. She remembered reading in a newspaper that at a village wedding three men had been killed by a chamber wall that had been busted as well and fallen on them. She told of her fear to Lilian, who assured her that she would keep her company at night and fight any man who dared to touch Hong.

Fried carps and whole chickens had been placed on the square tables. The first course, tenderloin sautéed with bamboo shoots, was being carried out in platters which resembled small barges. The guests were eager to see what wine and liquor they were going to drink. “See those large vats over there?” a young peasant said. “Screw his mother, I thought they had beer inside. Only vinegar and soy sauce were in them. Almost choked me just now.”

Another man chuckled. “Serves you right. Who told you to steal a bowl of that?”

“They must’ve spent thousands for the feast, tut-tut-tut,” an old man said. “Every part is so big.”

Suddenly the back gate opened and the barrel of a rifle emerged, then a band of militia. “Don’t move!” the tall commander ordered through a megaphone, his other hand raising a Mauser pistol. “This banquet is banned.”

A whole company of militia rushed in, every man fully armed, even carrying four grenades and a filled canteen on the hips. Pang Hai went over to argue, but the commander ordered his guards, “Hold the groom in custody. Don’t let him go.” Then he announced to the stunned guests, “Now you are free to leave.”

Nobody moved. Some of them had sent a gift to the Pangs or the Chens before the wedding, and many had saved their appetite for this feast by cutting both breakfast and lunch, so they all stayed. They saw a broad red flag flitting beyond the brick wall toward the back gate. Some children were singing the song “Destroy the Old and Set Up the New.”

Before the song was finished, schoolchildren poured in. There were about three hundred of them and every one wore a red armband. The militia commander spoke through the megaphone again. “Comrades Small Red Guards, your task today is to wipe out the food. You must eat up this old feudal custom. Start now!”

Promptly the children split into fifty groups around the tables and began attacking the dishes. They didn’t bother to pick up chopsticks, using their hands instead. Their cheeks swelled up as their jaws were crunching. Every bite they took was a sting in Pang Hai’s heart. Suddenly Hai sprang away and rushed into the kitchen shed. Four militiamen followed him, shouting, “Halt, halt!”

Hai picked up a large shovel used for stir-frying and plunged toward a nearby table. He wanted to chop down a few of these little wolves. But before he could reach them, the militiamen seized him, pinned him to the ground, and removed the shovel. “I borrowed the money, I borrowed the money!” Hai groaned.

Women were crying inside and outside the house. Hong sat on the ground for a few minutes; then she got up and hid away in the haystack. Mr. Pang didn’t lose his head and begged his leaders to intervene. Secretary Liu and Director Ma went up to the militia commander and talked with him. Five minutes later they returned, shaking their heads. “Feng Ping sent them here,” Liu told Mr. Pang. Ma chimed in, “He’s too high-handed.” They dared not say more, because Feng was their superior now.

Meanwhile, realizing the banquet was gone altogether, the guests began leaving. However, some of them were so hungry they didn’t leave without doing something. They smashed the soy-sauce and vinegar vats. Broken cups, plates, bowls were scattered everywhere in the yard.

“Feng Ping, I screw your ancestors one by one!” Hai yelled again and again, his mouth pointing to the sky.

Though cursing Feng Ping too, Lilian didn’t lose her senses, and unlike Mingming, who had fled, she still remembered her duty as a bridesmaid. She had noticed Hong slipping to the haystack and tried keeping an eye on her. But when she went to fetch the bride half an hour later, Hong was no longer there! “Hong, where are you?” Lilian cried. Her voice reminded others of the delicate bride. No girl could stand such a blow. Mrs. Chen was mad, crying and plunging in vain at the militia commander. She wanted to take him to the Commune Administration to seek justice, but the man merely gave her a contemptuous look, his guards holding her back.

Meanwhile Hong was running toward the well on Old Folk Road. Tears were streaming out of her eyes, and she was too ashamed to face her mother and the in-laws now. It was she who had brought such a disaster on Hai and herself. The Pangs had spent four thousand yuan on the banquet alone and couldn’t receive a fen in return. All the food was eaten up by the pupils. Oh, Hai and she would never be able to clear the debt. Such a miserable life was worse than death. Without thinking twice, she jumped into the dark well. To her surprise, it was not so deep as she had thought. The water barely reached her chest, but it was ice cold. She touched her thighs, her hips, her stomach, her breasts, her neck, and found every part of her body all right. She began trembling as she realized she had been merely a step away from the jaws of death. If she had plunged herself headlong, she would have killed herself easily by hitting the rocks. She groped around and felt the slippery wall covered with moss. It was impossible to climb out.

A moment later a metal bucket came down, hitting the rocky wall with a clank. Hong realized it was time to cook dinner and the well would be busy soon. She stuck her body to the wall and avoided standing in the way of the bucket, which floated on the surface of the water for a second, plunged in, came out full, and rose to the mouth of the well. Then another bucket descended and carried up a full load too. Hong raised her head to see who was up there, but she saw only the drawer’s blue sleeves.

It occurred to her that this well was used by the people on three streets for drinking water. On Bath Street there was a well whose water had been sweeter than this one. Two years ago, the daughter of the Tangs on Blacksmith Road had drowned herself and her baby girl in that well because her husband and parents-in-law had scolded her for being unable to bear them a boy. People who had used the well for drinking water never stopped cursing the young woman. There were a lot of ways to kill herself, why did she choose this well? Because of the drowned bodies, no one would go there to fetch drinking water. Only a few families used the well for washing now. A pain seized Hong’s heart. If she had died in here, she would have been a restless ghost, because everybody up there would have cursed her. Then she remembered her mother. How unfilial she was. When he was dying, her father had asked her to take good care of her mother, but she had forgotten everything and acted so foolishly. She burst into tears and blew her nose over the water. Another bucket was coming down. Hong held her breath.