Read Online Beijing Coma by Ma Jian - Free Book Online
Authors: Ma Jian
Tags: Literary, Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Fiction, History & Criticism, Asian, Criticism & Theory, Regional & Cultural
Ads: Link
age of fifteen.
His wife sat on the sofa that my brother and I had constructed a few days before. The bulge of her belly was as round as a terrestrial globe. She had the pure, unaffected beauty that only women from the countryside have. Her expression was honest but slow-witted. Dongsheng had aged a lot since I’d last seen him. He sat awkwardly at the end of my mother’s bed, his legs pressed together and his hands folded politely on his lap. At his feet lay a fake leather bag printed with the words LONG LIVE MAO ZEDONG THOUGHT . The salted carp and two balls of red wool that they’d brought for us were lying in the middle of the table. The room stank of fish, and the dusty, rancid smell of train stations.
My mother had fried some sunflower seeds and laid them out in teacups. When I couldn’t think of anything more to say to the couple, I turned on the television set I’d bought for my mother. Their eyes immediately moved to the screen.
‘Look, that foreign woman’s wearing a gold watch and a gold necklace,’ Dongsheng’s wife said.
The news programme was reporting on Deng Xiaoping’s meeting with Mrs Thatcher, and his proposal that Hong Kong should return to Chinese sovereignty. Dongsheng said, ‘If Hong Kong is returned to China, we’ll all be able to travel there soon.’
‘You can go there now, if you want,’ I said. ‘I’ve seen lots of Hong Kong people in Guangzhou. They look just like us.’
The expressions of surprise on their faces gave me a pleasant feeling of superiority. I’d bought my first ticket to Guangzhou with the money my mother had given me to buy a bicycle. I didn’t stay at a hotel while I was there. It was so hot, I was able to sleep on the streets. I wandered through the Western Lake night market every evening, and visited China Hotel’s duty-free shop to look at the imported watches, cigarette lighters, ballpoint pens and multicoloured bottles of perfume. On my last day in Guangzhou, I only had thirty yuan left in my pocket. I went to a street stall and bought four packs of playing cards with photographs of naked women printed on the back. I brought them to Beijing with me, and made a fortune selling them outside our local cinema.
‘How many children are Hong Kong people allowed to have?’ the wife asked.
‘As many as they like,’ I said. ‘Many pregnant women in Guangzhou escape across the border and give birth in Hong Kong, then return with the babies a few months later. And since the babies have Hong Kong citizenship, the families can travel back and forth whenever they want after that.’
‘That’s a good idea!’ the wife said enthusiastically.
My mother came in from the kitchen and said, ‘Don’t listen to him. He’s been to Guangzhou a couple of times, and suddenly he thinks he’s grown up. The only thing that’s changed is that he now goes around with that stupid cigarette filter in his mouth. He hasn’t even had his first shave yet!’
‘Yes I have, Mum.’ Although my voice had deepened, it was still prone to tapering off into undignified squeaks, so I had to keep it constantly under control.
My mother sat on the sofa and asked the couple what plans they had for the future. ‘When is the baby due?’ she said.
‘Middle of next month,’ Dongsheng replied. ‘Our county has been named a Family Planning Model County, so the birth-control officers are especially strict. If a woman becomes pregnant with a second child, they force her to have an abortion. My wife managed to keep her pregnancy secret. Before she left the house, she always tied a cloth around her tummy to hide the bump. Last month she vomited while walking down the street. We were sure someone would report us. That’s when we decided to run away.’ After he said this, he removed the cigarette from his plastic filter, held it between his fingers and sucked a last deep drag.
‘We didn’t dare catch a train from our local station,’ the wife continued. ‘We’d heard that
His wife sat on the sofa that my brother and I had constructed a few days before. The bulge of her belly was as round as a terrestrial globe. She had the pure, unaffected beauty that only women from the countryside have. Her expression was honest but slow-witted. Dongsheng had aged a lot since I’d last seen him. He sat awkwardly at the end of my mother’s bed, his legs pressed together and his hands folded politely on his lap. At his feet lay a fake leather bag printed with the words LONG LIVE MAO ZEDONG THOUGHT . The salted carp and two balls of red wool that they’d brought for us were lying in the middle of the table. The room stank of fish, and the dusty, rancid smell of train stations.
My mother had fried some sunflower seeds and laid them out in teacups. When I couldn’t think of anything more to say to the couple, I turned on the television set I’d bought for my mother. Their eyes immediately moved to the screen.
‘Look, that foreign woman’s wearing a gold watch and a gold necklace,’ Dongsheng’s wife said.
The news programme was reporting on Deng Xiaoping’s meeting with Mrs Thatcher, and his proposal that Hong Kong should return to Chinese sovereignty. Dongsheng said, ‘If Hong Kong is returned to China, we’ll all be able to travel there soon.’
‘You can go there now, if you want,’ I said. ‘I’ve seen lots of Hong Kong people in Guangzhou. They look just like us.’
The expressions of surprise on their faces gave me a pleasant feeling of superiority. I’d bought my first ticket to Guangzhou with the money my mother had given me to buy a bicycle. I didn’t stay at a hotel while I was there. It was so hot, I was able to sleep on the streets. I wandered through the Western Lake night market every evening, and visited China Hotel’s duty-free shop to look at the imported watches, cigarette lighters, ballpoint pens and multicoloured bottles of perfume. On my last day in Guangzhou, I only had thirty yuan left in my pocket. I went to a street stall and bought four packs of playing cards with photographs of naked women printed on the back. I brought them to Beijing with me, and made a fortune selling them outside our local cinema.
‘How many children are Hong Kong people allowed to have?’ the wife asked.
‘As many as they like,’ I said. ‘Many pregnant women in Guangzhou escape across the border and give birth in Hong Kong, then return with the babies a few months later. And since the babies have Hong Kong citizenship, the families can travel back and forth whenever they want after that.’
‘That’s a good idea!’ the wife said enthusiastically.
My mother came in from the kitchen and said, ‘Don’t listen to him. He’s been to Guangzhou a couple of times, and suddenly he thinks he’s grown up. The only thing that’s changed is that he now goes around with that stupid cigarette filter in his mouth. He hasn’t even had his first shave yet!’
‘Yes I have, Mum.’ Although my voice had deepened, it was still prone to tapering off into undignified squeaks, so I had to keep it constantly under control.
My mother sat on the sofa and asked the couple what plans they had for the future. ‘When is the baby due?’ she said.
‘Middle of next month,’ Dongsheng replied. ‘Our county has been named a Family Planning Model County, so the birth-control officers are especially strict. If a woman becomes pregnant with a second child, they force her to have an abortion. My wife managed to keep her pregnancy secret. Before she left the house, she always tied a cloth around her tummy to hide the bump. Last month she vomited while walking down the street. We were sure someone would report us. That’s when we decided to run away.’ After he said this, he removed the cigarette from his plastic filter, held it between his fingers and sucked a last deep drag.
‘We didn’t dare catch a train from our local station,’ the wife continued. ‘We’d heard that
Similar Books
