Jia Pingwa - Ruined City

He removed his hand and said, “I just checked out of a hotel. Here is some leftover fish for your cat.”

“You’re wonderful. You remembered my cat. He hasn’t had any fish for two days. Leftovers are fine. Can you give it to him now?”

Zhuang opened the bag, but he couldn’t find a plate for the fish; then he recalled the newspaper in his pocket, so he took it out and spread it on the floor. The cat meowed with delight when he put out the fish.

He chatted with her for a while, but the old lady and the maid were still not home. When he got up to leave, she couldn’t walk him out, so she held the cat in her arms and said, “You must remember him.” The cat meowed, as if it understood what she’d said. “Walk him out for me, would you?” she said. The cat jumped out of her arms and walked toward the stairs. Zhuang picked it up and said, “No need to walk me out. Stay here and keep your mistress company.” With his eyes on her, he gave the cat a loud kiss on the head.

He was exhausted when he got home. Niu Yueqing gave him a royal welcome and told him to take a nap, while she read the report in the paper. She came in while he was in bed. “Bai Yuzhu called for the second time a while ago, saying we can’t put it off any longer. You must go see Sima Gong by tonight at the latest. So get a good nap and go over later this evening.”

Zhuang lay in bed, but he couldn’t sleep; he kept thinking about Wang’s wife and her desolate life. He felt sorry for her. Nothing had happened between the two of them, and yet he felt an emotional attachment to her; they even had boils at about the same time and in nearly the same spot. What kind of karmic connection was it? Feeling keyed up by the thought, he dressed and got out of bed. He asked his wife what she thought about the report and told Liu Yue to boil some water so he could invite Meng Yunfang and Zhao Jingwu over for tea. Then he took out a box. “Take a look at this. Do you know what kind of tea it is? It’s Maojian from Junshan, a gift from the mayor.” He made a cup for himself first and let Niu Yueqing take a look. Half the leaves floated to the top, each the thin, slender, pointed tip of a curled leaf, standing straight as a miniature forest. When the leaves sank to the bottom, layers of light green mist rose up, permeating the room with a subtle and pleasing aroma.

“I’ve never seen tea this fine,” Niu Yueqing said.

“Call Meng Yunfang, Zhao Jingwu, and Zhou Min and his wife so we can all have a taste.”

“I read once about Huo Qubing, who was at a battlefield near the Hexi Corridor when the emperor rewarded him with a vat of liquor,” Liu Yue said. “He poured the liquor into a spring so every man in his army could have a drink. The spot was later named Qiuquan, ‘Liquor Spring.’ Now the mayor has given you this packet of tea, and you invite friends to share it. You might as well put the leaves in the water tower so the whole city can appreciate a special favor from the mayor.”

“Are you mocking me for overreacting to the special favor? Don’t be jealous. The mayor gave me the package, not you.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Liu Yue said.

“It’s all right if you want your friends to share the tea,” Niu Yueqing said, “but there’s no need to get Tang Wan’er involved. She’s a woman and can’t tell the difference. Like me. I enjoy the smell of fine leaves, but they all taste puckery and bitter to me.”

“You’re typical of the Guanzhong people, who drink tea only when you’re thirsty. Or it could be that the water in Guanzhong is strong in alkaline and tea leaves are added to mask it. The water in the south is good, which is why people there are particular about their tea. Tang Wan’er is from Tongguan, but her family was originally from southern Shaanxi, so she knows how to appreciate tea. The last time I visited Ah-can at her house, she offered me tea from the Yangxian Tea Farm in Jiangsu. It was fine tea, and I swallowed it, leaves and all. I even grabbed a handful to chew without water. The fragrance lingered for days.”

“Eating the leaves in the tea?” Liu Yue said. “You sound like a farm boy.”

“You’re from northern Shaanxi and even less qualified in tea appreciation. You may be well read, but do you know why they always say ‘eat tea’ in ancient books? That’s because ancient Chinese ground up the tea and added water to make a tea paste to eat. Or they sprinkled the powder on their rice. But you gulp it down like a cow drinking water.”

“Well, we’re cows, and only high-class people like you eat tea. But I’m wondering why a tea connoisseur like Ah-can would do what she did,” Liu Yue said.

“You know Ah-can? What has she done?” Zhuang asked.

“She came here yesterday afternoon. I’m worried what people in the compound would think of us if they knew it was her.”

“She was here yesterday? What did she say?” Zhuang asked.

“Liu Yue doesn’t know when to shut up,” Niu Yueqing said, “just like Meng Yunfang, saying things without thinking. Ah-can was here. You’ve been telling me how pretty she was, but she had dark circles under her eyes! She said her sister had gone crazy; the hospital said she was incurable and recommended sending her to a psychiatric hospital. She asked you to go see her sister before the girl was sent to the hospital today.”

“What else did she say?”

“What else could she say? She told me what happened between her and Director Wang,” Niu Yueqing continued. “Would you believe that she had a chunk of the man’s tongue wrapped in paper? It was shriveled up and smelled bad. She said she’d gotten a divorce—”

“Divorced?” Zhuang yelled out. “What was she thinking? And why didn’t you go see her sister? What did you say to make her feel better? Why didn’t you ask her to stay awhile?”

“I got rid of her.”

“What do you mean, you got rid of her?”

“Now everyone knows there’s a woman in Xijing who bit off a man’s tongue. Director Wang is a sex fiend, but if his tongue was bitten off, that can only mean that they kissed. Who knows what else they did? I’ve heard a different story. The sisters were fighting over Director Wang. The younger one lost and went crazy. Her older sister was sleeping with Wang and blackmailed him, asking for money. He wouldn’t give in, so she bit off his tongue. She’s the kind of woman who disgusted her own husband so much that he divorced her. She wants you to visit her sister, and you’re actually thinking of going? We have guests here all the time. It would ruin our reputation if you let her stick around. What if some gossip ran into her here and spread rumors about us?”

His face a steely gray and his chest heaving, Zhuang said, “That’s enough. You’re famous for your compassion, and this time you did just great. You got rid of her. Did you shoo her out with a broom? Why didn’t you use a cleaver? She’s a loose woman, so how can you show people you’re honorable if you don’t just kill her?”

Niu Yueqing was stung by Zhuang’s unjust insinuation. “You’re mad at me because I got rid of her? I’m not honorable? What have I done to disgrace you? You know who I did it for? You think I’m a mean woman, don’t you? All these years, when beggars have come to our door, have I ever not given them something to eat or drink? When we don’t have anything in the house, I go out and buy food for them. But I can’t tolerate unsavory women, and I will not allow someone like that to soil our floor.”

With a sarcastic laugh, Zhuang got up and went into the study to pick up the scroll with Gong Jingyuan’s calligraphy. When he came out, he made a point of coughing and spitting on the floor. “Now it’s soiled. Everything is dirty, everything but you. You’re clean and you can stay clean forever.” He opened the door and walked out without bothering to close it behind him.