aren’t you going down to the field to work?”
I walked fast, and within half an hour I arrived in town—it had been over a year since I’d been there. As I entered the town I felt a
kind of emptiness inside. I was afraid I’d bump into an old acquaintance. Who
knew what they would say seeing me wearing these raggedy clothes? I was most afraid of seeing my father-in-law. I didn’t dare walk down the street the rice shop was on—I preferred to take a detour through some side alleys to avoid running into him. There was only a handful of doctors in town, and I
knew every one of them. I also knew which doctors were straightlaced and which made their money by questionable means. I thought for a while and figured it was probably best to get Dr. Lin, who had set up shop next to the silk store. This old man was a friend of my father-in-law’s. To save Jiazhen a little face he would probably give me a discount.
As I passed the estate of the county magistrate, I saw a child in silk tiptoeing to the door, trying to grab hold of the copper door-knocker. The child was about the same age as Fengxia, and I suspected he was the magistrate’s son. I walked up to him and said, “I’ll help you
knock.”
The child nodded happily, and I grabbed hold of the knocker, banging it a couple of times. Someone inside responded, “Come in.”
It was then that the small child said, “Let’s run!”
It still didn’t hit me what had happened. The child managed to stay out of sight by
keeping close to the wall before slipping away. As soon as the door opened a man dressed in servant’s clothes appeared. Taking one look at the clothes I was wearing, he just pushed me away without saying a word. I never expected he would do that, and with that one shove I lost my balance and fell down the steps. I picked myself up, and while initially I just wanted to forget it and be on my way, the servant followed me down the stairs to kick me, adding, “You dare come begging without taking a good look at what
kind of place this is!”
All at once my temper flared, and I cursed him. “I’d rather gnaw at the rotten bones in your ancestors’ graves than beg from you!”
He jumped on me and began hitting me. I took a blow to the head, but not without
kicking him. There we were wrestling in the middle of the street. This guy was sly, and seeing that he couldn’t beat me he tried
kicking me in the groin. Me, I kicked him in the butt a few times. Neither one of us really
knew how to fight, so we just wrestled around for a while until a voice from behind yelled, “What a pathetic sight! Two animals grappling about—it’s pathetic as all hell!”
We stopped fighting and turned around to see a brigade of Nationalist troops in yellow uniforms standing behind us. There were about ten cannons the size of doors being pulled by horses. The man who had just yelled had a pistol on his belt; he was an official. The servant really
knew how to kiss up. As soon as he saw the official he immediately nodded and bowed. “Senior officer, greetings senior officer.”
The official waved his hands at us, saying, “Two stupid mules that don’t even
know how to fight. Come on and pull this cannon for me.”
As soon as I heard this, the hair on my head stood on end—he was going to conscript us. The servant was also nervous. He walked forward and said, “Senior officer, I’m from the house of the county magistrate.”
The official said, “The son of the county magistrate should be even more willing to serve his country.”
“No, no.” The servant was so scared he began to stutter. “I’m not the magistrate’s son. Beat me to death and I still wouldn’t dare claim to be his son. Platoon leader, I’m the county magistrate’s servant.”
“Fuck you!” the official cursed. “I’m the company commander!”
“Yes, yes, company commander, I’m the county magistrate’s servant.”
No matter what the servant said it was not only no use, but
I walked fast, and within half an hour I arrived in town—it had been over a year since I’d been there. As I entered the town I felt a
kind of emptiness inside. I was afraid I’d bump into an old acquaintance. Who
knew what they would say seeing me wearing these raggedy clothes? I was most afraid of seeing my father-in-law. I didn’t dare walk down the street the rice shop was on—I preferred to take a detour through some side alleys to avoid running into him. There was only a handful of doctors in town, and I
knew every one of them. I also knew which doctors were straightlaced and which made their money by questionable means. I thought for a while and figured it was probably best to get Dr. Lin, who had set up shop next to the silk store. This old man was a friend of my father-in-law’s. To save Jiazhen a little face he would probably give me a discount.
As I passed the estate of the county magistrate, I saw a child in silk tiptoeing to the door, trying to grab hold of the copper door-knocker. The child was about the same age as Fengxia, and I suspected he was the magistrate’s son. I walked up to him and said, “I’ll help you
knock.”
The child nodded happily, and I grabbed hold of the knocker, banging it a couple of times. Someone inside responded, “Come in.”
It was then that the small child said, “Let’s run!”
It still didn’t hit me what had happened. The child managed to stay out of sight by
keeping close to the wall before slipping away. As soon as the door opened a man dressed in servant’s clothes appeared. Taking one look at the clothes I was wearing, he just pushed me away without saying a word. I never expected he would do that, and with that one shove I lost my balance and fell down the steps. I picked myself up, and while initially I just wanted to forget it and be on my way, the servant followed me down the stairs to kick me, adding, “You dare come begging without taking a good look at what
kind of place this is!”
All at once my temper flared, and I cursed him. “I’d rather gnaw at the rotten bones in your ancestors’ graves than beg from you!”
He jumped on me and began hitting me. I took a blow to the head, but not without
kicking him. There we were wrestling in the middle of the street. This guy was sly, and seeing that he couldn’t beat me he tried
kicking me in the groin. Me, I kicked him in the butt a few times. Neither one of us really
knew how to fight, so we just wrestled around for a while until a voice from behind yelled, “What a pathetic sight! Two animals grappling about—it’s pathetic as all hell!”
We stopped fighting and turned around to see a brigade of Nationalist troops in yellow uniforms standing behind us. There were about ten cannons the size of doors being pulled by horses. The man who had just yelled had a pistol on his belt; he was an official. The servant really
knew how to kiss up. As soon as he saw the official he immediately nodded and bowed. “Senior officer, greetings senior officer.”
The official waved his hands at us, saying, “Two stupid mules that don’t even
know how to fight. Come on and pull this cannon for me.”
As soon as I heard this, the hair on my head stood on end—he was going to conscript us. The servant was also nervous. He walked forward and said, “Senior officer, I’m from the house of the county magistrate.”
The official said, “The son of the county magistrate should be even more willing to serve his country.”
“No, no.” The servant was so scared he began to stutter. “I’m not the magistrate’s son. Beat me to death and I still wouldn’t dare claim to be his son. Platoon leader, I’m the county magistrate’s servant.”
“Fuck you!” the official cursed. “I’m the company commander!”
“Yes, yes, company commander, I’m the county magistrate’s servant.”
No matter what the servant said it was not only no use, but
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