Old Town

by Lin Zhe

  The day before Ninth Brother left this small market town in central China, his host slaughtered a laying hen to give his guest from afar a send-off dinner. Grandpa unobtrusively stuffed a few silver dollars in the kang of the house. Ten dollars was an enormous sum for a peasant only able to earn a few fen a day. The oaf was simply terrified by this amount of money. Could this southerner with his Sun Yat-sen suit perhaps be a secret agent sent from Taiwan? He rushed to report this to the commune office, taking the money with him.

  The long-distance bus station was in the county town, a walk of almost ten miles. Grandpa had gotten almost halfway there, when a horse cart stopped beside him and out jumped several men. They seized him and brought him to the commune’s armed force department for questioning. Fortunately, he had with him the travel document issued by his street committee in Old Town. In those days, no one in China had any concept yet of traveling for its own sake. Someone aimlessly wandering about would have been considered not quite right in the head. The commune’s armed force department released this skinny, not-quite-right-in-the-head southerner.

  The doctor and the many officers and men were incorporated into another unit. Hu, the division commander of this unit, was a man who had come up in the world by banditry. Young Li had heard more than a few stories about him. Just last night, some bumpkin’s dog next door had disturbed this Hu fellow with its barking. Hu jumped up stark naked from under the covers and, taking his pistol with him, rushed out the door and shot the dog dead. He had also killed two adjutants in the same rash way—afterward they were accused of having been deserters. The first time the doctor saw Division Commander Hu was at a pep talk. This big, dark-skinned fellow, his ferocious face covered with lumps and swellings, stood there, one hand on his hip, the other gesticulating vehemently. On average, for each minute he talked, he would come out with at least three curses and swearwords so filthy you could hardly bear to listen to him. The doctor buried himself out of sight within the rank and file. He couldn’t help deeply missing Division Commander Zhang and the brotherly affection they had shared in those days. Division Commander Zhang had once told him: If there comes a day when I can no longer protect you, just light out fast for home and take Young Li with you. The doctor now really did want to go home. And it was during Division Commander Hu’s wild and incoherent pep talk that the thought of doing so first sprang into his head, though he immediately squelched it. Desertion would be shameful when there was such danger to the nation hanging over everyone.

  Division Commander Hu’s hometown was only a little more than thirty miles away from this garrison, so his three wives all moved in and became his camp family, each occupying a different civilian residence in the neighborhood. These were the days when there was no smell of gunpowder, no wounded soldiers, and when there were so few visitors at the medical station you could net sparrows at the door. But the doctor wasn’t really just taking it easy. Day and night, night and day, the commander’s three old ladies had all sorts of minor ailments, and would send someone to call the doctor to come and treat them. This was especially so with Third Wife. Whenever the commander didn’t spend the night at her place, she would come down with something.

  Third Wife would always wait, all powdered and rouged, at the warm end of the kang with tea prepared. She wanted the doctor to sit down, chat with her, and keep her company. But the doctor wouldn’t buy this and always kept a few feet away from her, staring blankly ahead. He never uttered a word or responded on any matter that wasn’t connected to medical treatment. Even so, Third Wife still said a lot. She was a southerner, from Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province, the child of a family that had produced scholars for generations. Because her father had died young, to help her mother raise her younger brothers and sisters, Third Wife had no choice but to seek a livelihood in Shanghai. A married man with children tricked her into going up north, and in Loyang she met Commander Hu. Her eyes glistening with tears, she would often ask the doctor, “You’re a southerner too. Don’t you ever think of home?” And every time she asked him this, he would feel all broken-up inside, but he just gritted his teeth. He would have none of that line of talk.

  On one cold and breezy night, Third Wife again called for someone to get the doctor. The doctor put on his uniform, but after pacing back and forth in his room for some time, decided against playing this pointless game. He gave his emergency treatment kit to Young Li, and told him to take her temperature and do a diagnosis. If Third Wife really had something wrong with her, there’d be time soon enough to treat her. When Third Wife heard that the doctor was unwilling to come to her, she flew into a rage and smashed the pot of tea. Later, Young Li returned, chuckling and scuffling in with his soaking wet sandals, to make his report to the doctor. By fixing a problem that had vexed many hours of his time, without hurting someone’s feelings, the doctor supposed that his approach had been a smart one.

  Unexpectedly, the very next morning, Commander Hu suddenly appeared at the aid station, pistol in hand. He knocked over the table standing between him and the doctor. Thrusting his pistol against the side of the doctor’s head, he snarled. “You’ve got nerve to treat my woman like that!” The doctor thought he was a dead duck and would end up just like the barking dog who fell before this gun. He closed his eyes and silently prayed, Lord, I’ll be meeting you now. If your child has committed any sin, please be merciful and forgive him. And I entrust Second Sister and the children into your hands. Commander Hu was puzzled, seeing that not only was the doctor not scared but that he looked positively radiant. From the time he was twenty years old and had straggled into a local bandit gang, he had killed men beyond number. In most cases, he never sneaked up to attack from behind. Toying with the person he was about to kill was what he liked best. He again bashed his pistol barrel against the doctor’s temple and roared, “You know you’re about to die!” “I know it,” said the doctor. “And you’re not afraid of that?” The doctor looked straight at Commander Hu and thought: O Lord, is even this brutal man one of your lost sheep that you would never forsake? Commander Hu yelled at him, “Oh, so you’re looking at me now?” The doctor answered him calmly, “Commander, don’t be angry. Nobody can choose when he dies. Today, I’ll die at your gun. That was set long before I entered this world, wouldn’t you agree? I am just sorry to have made you kill one more person.” Commander Hu was like someone who had been tickled on the sole of his foot. In spite of himself, he just burst out laughing so violently that spit went flying out in all directions. He put away his gun and said, “Now that’s a good one. I’ve never met anyone less scared to die. You dainty little prig, though…how come you’re not scared of dying? OK, I won’t kill you, then!”

  Just then, Young Li returned from performing some job. His eyes widened in amazement when he saw the overturned table and the commander in a good mood. He just couldn’t imagine what had happened. If he had returned one minute earlier, he would have fallen on his knees and begged for the doctor’s life. He might even have said something he shouldn’t have, and bullets from the barrel of the commander’s gun would have gone straight through the doctor’s head for sure. Actually, Young Li shouldn’t have gone out on this day at all, but having done so, shouldn’t have dillydallied for such a long time. Just now, he had been next door. When a mess worker had been drawing water, the rope broke, and Young Li had been busy helping the fellow retrieve the bucket.

  Just what force arranges all the small things in life?

  The thought of going back home now flared up enticingly in the doctor’s mind once again. And the reality that surrounded him only added fuel to the flames and reinforced the idea of deserting this army. Over the past few months, the infirmary had been unable to get the medical supplies it had requisitioned. There was no alcohol or surgical cotton and the doctor had to buy distilled grain spirits and boil bed sheets to prepare for the urgent needs of a battle situation. Payroll was months late. Everyone, enlisted men as well the officers, knew that Commander Hu was embezzling their silver dollars
, and though all of them were angry they didn’t dare say anything. Every day there were incidents of desertion and anyone caught on the road was brought back and shot. This was clearly a bandit lair and a slaughterhouse, so why not just go home? The doctor asked himself this question day after day.

  He had heard the news that Old Town had been bombed. He didn’t know whether his family was dead or alive, but he continued to send letters to Second Sister. Even if only one out of a hundred letters reached her, it would be worth the effort. Day in and day out, he sat in the lonely medical aid station writing letters, telling his beloved Second Sister of his indecision about leaving. Maybe God has not bestowed upon me the grace to “govern the state and bring peace to the earth.” I ought to pay attention to my own moral growth, guard my own home, and just be a good husband and father. Occasionally he would insert a cartoon in his letter, a sketch of Old Town and the three children that he missed so much. He would draw a scene of his return to the old Lin residence: Baoqing, raising his little head and gazing at his returning father with unknowing eyes, “Uncle, who are you?”20 The Baoqing in this cartoon was how he remembered the child from three years ago.

  Commander Hu then took a fourth wife and threw a big wedding banquet. Theatrical troupes performed for three whole days and three nights. Young Li came running over, excitedly called the doctor to watch the performances, but the doctor burst out in a fury and slammed the table, shouting, “And you still feel like seeing plays!” Young Li had never seen the doctor so angry, and just stood there, afraid to move. He felt so unfairly treated he wanted to cry. The doctor came forward, sat him down, and apologized. “Young Li, you know our Old Town has been bombed. Even Old Town is no longer peaceful and tranquil. With the world war as grim as it is, to hold a wedding banquet for a concubine is a real sin! And if we joined in all the revelry, that would be a sin too. Lately, all I’ve been thinking about is whether or not to go home.” Young Li’s eyes brightened, and he said, “Then let’s go home! I’ll go with you! I know the road leading to Anhui. And it would be easiest for us to get away during these two days.” The doctor rested his head in his hands and muttered, “Let me think about this.”

  Young Li knew that when confronting such a heavy decision, the doctor needed to calm his heart and pray, so he quietly withdrew from the room. He had just reached the street corner when he saw the town’s mute carrying a blood-soaked body on his shoulders. The fellow rushed toward him, crying for Dr. Lin in his strange yi-yi ya-ya voice. In the few villages near division headquarters everyone knew that the doctor surnamed Lin was a Living Buddha, someone who worked miraculous cures and would always help anyone in need. Young Li turned right around and rushed back to the medical aid station to assist Dr. Lin with the bloody person the mute had picked up on the road. It was a young woman who was hemorrhaging from a miscarriage. When he had finished treating her, the doctor recognized her as Second Wife’s serving maid, a girl only sixteen years old. It was all too obvious. This was surely the evil doings of Commander Hu. Second Wife had taken a red-hot steel needle, stabbed the girl in the stomach to kill the fetus, and then had driven her out of the house. Because of the shortage of medicine, in the end the doctor could not save her.

  What more reason was needed for going? With finality, the doctor addressed Jesus: Oh Lord, if you agree with my going, then open the road for me. If not, then let the sentries shoot me dead.

  That evening, with lustrous stars filling the whole sky, the doctor and Young Li walked out of the camp, their hearts at ease. Along their way, they passed any number of sentries, but not one of those fellows blocked their path.

  2.

  DURING THE WAR of Resistance, China was a cake cut into pieces. Some of these had fallen into Japanese hands. Others were the “red bases” of the Communist Party and areas still under the Nationalist government. Still others were the roosts of collaborationist “Han traitors” and local bandits. The doctor’s road home would pass through all the pieces of this cake. He had to become like a chameleon, so that only by constantly shifting his protective coloring would he not recklessly court death. But the doctor had barely the slightest inkling of the dangers that might possibly befall him. During these years in the army, he had been cut off from the larger events of the world. If anything, he now sought all the more refuge in his books.

  The pair of deserters made good time on foot for about ten miles. It would now soon be daybreak. Off in the distance in the rays of the pale morning light could be seen a little town still deep in slumber. Young Li joyfully stripped off his uniform and flung the pieces high in the air. “So long, Commander Hu!” he shouted.

  The doctor sat down right where he was, his thoughts flying back to Old Town. Now should be the season when litchis were brought to the markets. He squinted and faintly caught the clean scent of this fruit. He saw Ah Shui bringing his fresh litchis. Second Sister was loading the fruit into a wooden bucket, and the children were jostling each other as they picked out the biggest ones, peeling them, and plopping them into their daddy’s mouth. Oh, can such beautiful times have only been a dream?

  Young Li pushed and shoved the doctor. But the doctor didn’t want to open his eyes. “Right now I’m eating litchis! My little girl has peeled a big, sweet one. It tastes so nice!”

  Young Li had no mind for dwelling on the litchis of home with the doctor. “We’ve got to think of a way to get hold of two sets of ordinary folks’ clothing. Otherwise, if people see we are deserters, we’ll get caught and turned in.”

  Although they had thrown away their barracks caps and rank insignia along the way, all it would take was one look to tell they were soldiers.

  They followed little paths between the fields and entered a tiny village where twenty dwellings clustered, each one poorer than the last. In the whole village, there wasn’t one extra set of clothing. Two brothers sharing one pair of trousers was nothing remarkable here. The doctor almost forgot the reason they had entered this hamlet. It was as if he were an envoy dispatched to help the needy and the distressed here. He gave a little money to each of the families so that the old people and the children who were sick could see a doctor. After staying for two days, Young Li borrowed some tattered rags and went into the market town and bought two sets of old clothes.

  They discarded everything that people might associate with the army. Among these was the leather bag that Division Commander Zhang had left behind. When Young Li turned the bag upside down and gave it a few good smacks, the lining came loose and out fell several pieces of gold bullion the size of rubber erasers that schoolchildren used. The two men just gaped.

  Division Commander Zhang had said he had a few gold pieces, but the doctor hadn’t taken this seriously and when they left that war-ravaged town, he gave the little widow an amount of money, the equivalent of two months’ pay. Had he discovered this gold at the time, he would have given the entire lot to her. Now they were sitting on the brick kang of some yokel’s home. The gleam of the gold pieces lying on the grimy cotton batten was very captivating to the eye. Young Li said, “Mr. Lin, Division Commander Zhang was very fond of you, so these should go to you.” The doctor shook his head, “They should go to the little widow. Division Commander Zhang certainly had this in mind at that time.”

  “Let’s just take them now and when the war ends, we’ll both come back up north to find her,” said Young Li, and he bound the gold pieces into his waistband.

  One of the locals wordlessly led them out of the village. In his hand was a vegetable leaf of some kind and when they arrived at the road, he said to the doctor, “Sir, you’re so fair and clean looking, it’s going to make people suspicious. Women in the cities and towns rub the juice of this leaf on their faces to avoid bad things happening to them.”

  Young Li said, “Quite right, and if anyone asks, just say you’re my older brother, and I am taking you to a doctor.”

  The doctor lowered his head in submission and let the fellow apply this makeup on his face.

 
Half a month later, they had meandered to Wuhu.21 They didn’t go into the city, for on the way there they had flagged down a long-distance bus headed for Nanjing.22 Exhausted by the journey and unshaven for days, the doctor really did look like a person at death’s door from some terrible sickness. On the Wuhu-Nanjing road, the bus encountered three different bandit gangs, but they lost only the bit of money specially prepared for such occurrences. Each time, Young Li wept and wailed that this was the money he needed to save his brother’s life. Afterward, all in all, he couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased at such a brilliant performance.

  When they saw Nanjing’s ash-gray city walls, the most difficult and dangerous part of the journey had been completed. Now that they were in Nanjing, Shanghai wasn’t too far away. And from Shanghai’s Sixteen Wharf Landing they would board a ship, and that would be about the same as putting one foot on the threshold of the Old Town gate. Then, going home to eat litchis would no longer be just a dream! The doctor, much affected by these thoughts, gripped Young Li’s hand. Young Li felt the doctor’s hand trembling and softy asked him, “Sir, are you really sick?” The doctor’s eyes reddened, and in a choking voice, he replied, “We’re almost home.”

  Young Li absentmindedly looked out the bus window. Under the city gate, the scene was all in tumult, like a farmers’ market. He could faintly make out women’s high-pitched cries and shouts, and from all sides speeding vehicles were getting bogged down and jammed up along the side of the road. Their bus also slowed down. He had a presentiment of something bad about to happen, but he didn’t dare tell the doctor.