Ma Jian - The Dark Road

‘“Question One: What is the name of the flag?…”’ Kongzi says, lowering his voice to an authoritative pitch. Although he only teaches three afternoons a week, he is delighted to have returned to his true calling. As soon as he wakes up, he puts on his dark grey suit and polishes his glasses, whether he’s working that day or not.

The Sunday broadcast booms through the town from distant loudspeakers: ‘As part of our ongoing campaign to improve the implementation of national population control policies, Director Jie Ailing, Deputy Chair of the Provincial Family Planning Association, will visit Heaven Township today to carry out a thorough investigation of…’

‘Did you hear that, Kongzi?’ Meili says, looking in the mirror attached to the front door as she applies her lipstick. ‘Does that mean we’ll have to lie low today?’ She’s wearing her favourite cream coat and a white maternity dress she paid a seamstress to copy from a photo in a fashion magazine.

‘No, don’t worry,’ Kongzi says. ‘Director Jie won’t have a chance to inspect anything. Heaven officials will whizz him around town on a quick sightseeing tour, then take him out to lunch and get him drunk.’

‘Dad, when the family planning has finished, will we be able to go home?’ Nannan asks.

‘The Family Planning Policy is a protracted war waged against women and children,’ Kongzi replies. ‘No one knows how long it will last. That’s why your little brother is still inside Mummy’s tummy. He’s too afraid to come out.’

‘Why didn’t I get family planned?’

‘You were our first child, so your birth was legal. When you’re older you’ll be able to apply for a residence permit and go to university.’

‘Mummy has a residence permit, so how come she was arrested when she went to that big city?’

‘Because she has a rural permit, not an urban one, and she didn’t have any money on her.’

‘Do we have money now?’

‘Some. Not much. When we have a bit more, we’ll be free. We’ll be able to go to whichever city we like.’

‘I don’t want to go to university. I want to make money for you and Mummy.’

‘Nannan, remember that saying I taught you: “Children who don’t read books don’t know what treasures they contain. If they knew how precious these treasures were, they’d stay up all night, reading by candlelight.” The meaning is simple: if you study hard, you’ll get rich.’

‘But, Dad, you studied hard, so why aren’t you rich?’

‘Because I’ve had to concentrate on making sure you have a little brother. Once he’s born, I’ll make lots of money for us, I promise.’

‘Why doesn’t Grandpa give you money?’

‘You mean my father? He doesn’t have much money now. But before the Communists came to power, his father — my grandfather that is — was very wealthy. He was a rich landowner and respected scholar. Everyone in the village looked up to him. In 1951, when Mao told peasants to attack counter-revolutionary forces, every landowner in Nuwa County was buried alive, but no one touched my grandfather. He was arrested ten years later, though, and died in prison.’

‘What happened to his wife?’

‘You’re too young to hear about all this, Nannan. All I can tell you is she died a few years later, in the Cultural Revolution.’

‘What about your mother’s parents — what happened to them?’ For the last week, Nannan has refused to eat breakfast. She hasn’t touched the fried eggs and soya bean milk Meili gave her, and is just nibbling on a coconut bun left over from yesterday.

‘They died years ago. Enough questions! Back to your work. Let’s have a look at Lesson Five. The title is “What a good idea!”’

Nannan turns to the page and starts reading: ‘“One day, when Chairman Mao was seven years old, he and his friends went into the mountains to let their cattle graze on fresh pastures. The question was: how could they keep an eye on the animals, collect firewood and pick wild fruit, all at the same time? Mao had a good idea. He divided his friends into three teams and told the first team to look after the cattle, the second team to chop wood, and the third team to pick fruit—”’

‘Fine, class over,’ Meili interrupts. ‘Nannan, you’re coming with me today.’ She ties a scarf around Nannan’s neck and heads off to work.

‘Don’t forget to kill the rat in the toilet, Dad,’ Nannan shouts to Kongzi as they walk out of the gate.

When they’ve left, Kongzi wonders again how much he’ll be able to get for his broken van. Three hundred yuan at the most, he thinks. The owner of the car-repair workshop is coming to buy it back this morning. Once it’s sold, Kongzi will open a new bank account. Since they arrived in Heaven, they’ve been stashing all their earnings under their bed, apart from the small sums they send back to their parents or spend on food and rent. They’ve saved sixteen thousand yuan already. If they bought shares with the money, they could make a fortune. Kongzi visited an underground gambling house the other day. It charges no entrance free, provides a free lunch at noon, and if your money runs out, it will lend you more. He spent all day there and lost eighty yuan. Today, he’ll try his luck again. If the gods look favourably on him, perhaps he’ll have a big win, and will be able to open his own Confucius school. The Confucius Temple would be an ideal location. When he’s saved enough money, he’ll discuss the matter with the local Education Department and request official authorisation. Yes, he’ll go gambling again today. Even if he loses a few hundred yuan, Meili will never find out. In preparation for Nannan’s birthday meal tonight, he inflates some red and pink balloons and hangs them outside the front door. Meili said she’d buy a cream-filled birthday cake on her way home this evening. Before he has time to finish his cup of tea, the owner of the car-repair shop pulls up outside the compound and honks his horn.

At noon, Kongzi arrives at the entrance of the underground gambling house with three hundred yuan in his pocket, but as soon as he steps inside, four men huddled around the card table jump onto their stools, pull guns from their pockets and shout: ‘Freeze!’ Kongzi and the other gamblers in the room are handcuffed, bundled into a van and driven to the local police station, where they’re dragged to the backyard, searched and cross-questioned one by one. The first three men to be dealt with only went to the gambling house for a free lunch, and have no money on them. After a fierce kicking, they’re released, and are left to crawl out onto the street, bruised and covered in dust.

Kongzi is the last to be seen. He fills out a form and empties his pockets. ‘I’d only just stepped through the door,’ he says angrily. ‘I didn’t go there to gamble. You had no right to arrest me!’

‘What were you doing with all this cash, then — looking for whores?’ a young officer says mockingly, picking up the wad of notes and counting them.

‘Give that money back to me, you fucking gangsters! I didn’t commit any crime.’

A bald man standing behind him kicks him in the shins. ‘You dare swear at us, in this place?’ he shouts. Kongzi falls to the ground, then quickly jumps up, but just as he’s about to swing his fist at the bald man’s face, another officer kicks him down again. The bald man pulls out an electric baton and smashes it onto Kongzi’s head. As Kongzi attempts to rise to his feet, the bald man grabs him by the hair and rams his knee into his jaw.

‘Come and hit me again, you motherfuckers, if you think you have the balls!’ Kongzi cries out after falling flat on his back.

‘Shut your mouth, you filthy vagrant!’ the young officer shouts, and kicks Kongzi’s mouth until it bleeds. Kongzi spews out another stream of abuse. The three officers crouch down, pin back his arms and legs, then the bald man leans over and shoves the electric baton into Kongzi’s mouth. ‘After this, you’ll never be able to swear at us again!’ he says, and flicks on the switch.