Read Online Gold Mountain Blues by Ling Zhang - Free Book Online Page A

course, Ah-Fat did not dare to laugh; he just kept shrinking backward, until he had gone as stiff as a turtle. The man put his snowy-white head right in the middle of Ah-Fat’s chest. His hair was very sparse and he had a pink bald patch on the crown of his head with a black mole in the middle of it, like a woman’s nipple. Ah-Fat tried so hard not to laugh that he began to quiver violently all over.
    When Shorty had finished tapping his belly, he turned Ah-Fat around, made him stand against the wall and undid Ah-Fat’s trouser string. Ah-Fat did not resist and his trousers slipped down onto the deck, revealing bare legs as skinny as sticks. Shorty pulled his buttocks apart and peered between them, and then he loosely pulled the trousers up and gave them back. Before Ah-Fat could tighten his belt, the man turned him around to face him and, reaching inside, fished out the wrinkly thing which hung between his legs. He laid it in the palm of his hand and turned it this way and that, inspecting it. The skin of Shorty’s hand was silky smooth and Ah-Fat felt his thing gradually swell like a toad, until it hardened into an iron cudgel. Ah-Fat had never seen it grow so big; he felt everyone’s eyes riveted on him until his whole body seemed to burn painfully. He was so mortified he felt close to tears.
    Finally it was over, but Shorty did not tell Ah-Fat he could get dressed; he simply nodded towards a tall man at the stern of the ship. The tall man picked up a long snakelike thing from the deck and came over to Ah-Fat. Before Ah-Fat could get out of the way, a jet of icy-cold water hit him rightin the middle of his torso, numbing him to the core. Ah-Fat had seen water in rivers, ponds and wells but he had certainly never seen a snake that could hold so much water in its belly. He was so astonished it did not occur to him to be afraid. Then Red Hair shouted over to him: “It’s disinfectant, to kill the bugs on you!” Ah-Fat picked up his clothes, damp as they were, and put them back on. He must remember to ask Red Hair what “disinfectant” actually meant.
    A wave of passengers flowed ashore and, led by those who had come to meet them, gradually dispersed into the nearby streets and alleyways. The onlookers dispersed too. Only a few children were left, and these followed behind the new arrivals, keeping a cautious distance, with shouts of “Chink, chink, China monkey.” Ah-Fat did not understand the foreign words, but he guessed that they were rude. He staggered along at Red Hair’s heels, baskets balanced on his shoulder pole, concentrating on the road and looking straight ahead. After months at sea, he felt like he was still on the ocean waves, and he was unable to walk steadily.
    The sun gradually sank and clouds like splotches of blood flecked the sky. The evening wind got up and there were hints of a chill in the air. Ah-Fat crouched down and bound the cuffs of his trousers tightly. The wind back home was not like this. The wind back home was rounded and soft, brushing gently and leaving no trace. The Gold Mountain wind had edges and corners, and if you were not careful it would take a layer of skin off as it passed.
    Suddenly, a bell clanged. Ah-Fat looked up, to see a horse-drawn carriage coming towards them. The horse was a great big animal with gleaming jet-black coat and big, sturdy hooves clopping along the road. Its saddle was dark red and embroidered with gold flowers. An old man wearing a black suit with a black top hat on his head drove the carriage, and two young women sat inside. Their gowns—one was red, the other, blue— were tight-fitting and pinched in at their slender waists; the skirts were so long and wide they looked like two half-opened umbrellas. The women wore hats, with a few feathers stuck into the brims of each. Ah-Fat could not help turning back to stare after the carriage. The plumes looked like pheasants’ tail feathers, he thought to