Jia Pingwa - Ruined City

“Stay out of men’s conversations,” Zhou said, making her so angry that she stormed into the bedroom. Lying in bed, she tried to hear what they were saying.

“I’m a lawyer myself. It’s not a full-time job for me, but I won all five cases I helped on. Your case is no big deal, so there’s no need to trouble the mayor. If Zhuang Zhidie doesn’t want to say in court that he and the woman have slept together, there’s another way to win the case.”

“How?”

“Didn’t Jing Xueyin claim that she was the woman in your article, while you argued that it wasn’t her? If another woman were to file a lawsuit saying she was the one, that would muddy the water and create a mess; the court would declare that no one could prove it was Jing, and the case would be thrown out.”

Tang Wan’er thought the solution sounded slightly crazy, but it was one way to end the suit. When Tiger left and Zhou came to bed, they talked about the suggestion.

“I could be that woman if that would help end the suit,” Tang said.

“Great. I was so worried about finding someone to do it, I didn’t even think about you.”

“I was just testing you,” she said. “Would you really want me to do it? You’d send me into his arms to serve your own interest?”

“It’d just be a ruse.”

“What if it were real?”

Smiling, Zhou couldn’t stop talking about what a great idea it was, but he dozed off as the effects of the alcohol took hold, and she regretted her offer. It would be for Zhuang’s sake, but she wasn’t sure he would agree to it. She had made the suggestion without talking it over with him first; what would he think of her if Zhou decided to carry out the ruse? After fretting about it the whole night, she waited for Zhuang’s visit to talk to him. Two days had gone by, and he hadn’t shown, while Zhou had her read the article to gain a better understanding of the case. He would carry out the plan if Zhuang’s visit to the mayor yielded unsatisfactory results. She couldn’t wait for him any longer, which was why she had sent the pigeon that morning.

. . .

To her surprise, it was Niu Yueqing who opened the door when she knocked softly. The smile froze on her face. Niu Yueqing looked away for a second before she said, “Ah, it’s you, Wan’er. I just got back. We made something delicious today, and I was saying to your Zhuang Laoshi that we ought to invite you over, since you haven’t been here for some time. And here you are.”

“What did you make? And you thought about me? You’re just saying that because I’m here, aren’t you? But I guess I’m lucky to have come in time for food.”

“You have a nice large mouth, and as they say, a large mouth gets to eat everywhere.”

“That’s for men. For a woman, a large mouth only eats chaff.”

“You won’t eat chaff. You’re more like the locust that eats crops in someone else’s field.”

That did not sound friendly to Tang Wan’er, who was about to ask whether Zhuang was home when he walked in with Liu Yue.

“Ah, you’re here,” he said.

“You haven’t been home?” Tang Wan’er asked.

“Old Meng invited me over for tea, and Liu Yue went to get me, saying they’d made something good for some guests. I was wondering who it might be. It turns out to be you.”

“So you haven’t been home all day.” She wondered why Liu Yue had said that Zhuang had sent her. Could Niu Yueqing have found the message on the pigeon? Sensing that something was wrong, she said to Niu Yueqing, who was in the kitchen, “Thank you so much, Shimu, for your kindness. You think I was born to eat good food, but in fact I’m only destined for tofu. Before Zhou Min went to work this morning, he said he was going to invite some people from the magazine for lunch, so I can’t wait for you to get the delicacies ready. I need to go home.”

“No deal,” Niu Yueqing said as she came out of the kitchen. “Now that Zhuang Laoshi is back, you two can talk. Lunch will be ready soon. You can’t leave today without eating, and I don’t care about Zhou Min.” She went over, locked the door, and put the key in her pocket.

“Stay for lunch,” Zhuang said. “She really means it.”

Knowing that it would not be a good idea to go into either the study or the bedroom, they sat on the sofa in the living room, where they carried on a conversation about nothing while exchanging puzzled looks. Eventually they smiled at each other silently, sharing the idea that they might be overreacting, for Shimu might really want her to stay. With that, they relaxed and talked more naturally. She signaled with her eyes all the worries on her mind, while he told her with his that everything was fine. They laughed silently when they thought it might have been a prank by Liu Yue. Finally at ease, she got animated, saying she’d had a dream about a snowfall. Was it good or bad to dream about snow on a hot summer day? She asked him to interpret the dream for her.

“For that you’d have to ask Meng Laoshi,” Zhuang said. “Give me a character, and I’ll give you a divination.”

Not knowing which character to pick, she saw a string of peppers hanging on a wire outside the window and said, “String.”

“String? By itself it’s just that, but it can be used with something else, like high-strung, strung-up.”

Her face paled, so he said, “I was just being silly. Dreaming about snow may simply mean that you’re worried about the lawsuit, since the ‘xue’ in Jing Xueyin’s name means snow. You curse her name in the daytime and dream about snow at night.”

Feeling better after hearing the new interpretation, Tang asked about his visit to the mayor, but before she had a chance to bring up Tiger’s suggestion, Niu Yueqing and Liu Yue were setting the table for lunch. Four small dishes filled with soy sauce were laid out on the table next to chopsticks. Niu Yueqing brought out a clay pot with steam sizzling out through the hole in its lid.

“Please take your seats,” she said, and they all sat down.

“The mistress did the cooking today! But is there only one dish?” Zhuang asked. “I’ll get something to drink.”

“If there are too many dishes, you won’t recall which one was the best. No need for liquor; that will only dilute the flavor,” Niu Yueqing said.

“What rare delicacy do we have here?” Zhuang reached out to take off the lid, but Niu Yueqing said, “I’ll do it.” She removed the lid to reveal a plucked pigeon roiling in the liquid. Zhuang and Tang Wan’er were so shocked they froze.

“What do you think? A rare delicacy, wouldn’t you say?” Niu Yueqing said. “I killed it myself. It was a smart bird that will make you smart after you eat it. It has very tender meat. Come, try it and see how I did.” She tore off the wings and placed them in Wan’er’s dish.

“The wings are for you, Wan’er. Eating them will help you fly to the highest branch,” Niu Yueqing said. Next she tore off the legs and placed them in Zhuang’s dish. “The legs are for you. See how nice and plump they are. Ah, what have I done? I forgot to take off the toe ring.” She followed that by giving the body of the pigeon to Liu Yue and put the head on her own plate. “There’s no meat in the head, but I’ve heard that eating a pigeon’s eyes will prevent myopia. I’ve been nearsighted for so long, I’ll give the eyes a try.” She reached over, plucked out the eyes, and put them in her mouth, saying as she chewed, “Delicious. So tasty.”

Zhuang and Tang Wan’er did not touch their chopsticks; their faces were bathed in sweat. “Why aren’t you eating?” asked Niu Yueqing. “Something wrong with it?”

Tang Wan’er forced herself to sip the soup, but it made her gag, so she stood up and said, with tears in her eyes, “Please, Shimu, open the door so I can throw up outside.” Niu Yueqing tossed the key to the floor. Tang Wan’er picked it up, opened the door, and raced down the stairs. Zhuang stood up wordlessly but paused for a moment before going into his study and locking himself inside.