by Yu Hua
He Xiaoyong’s friends said among themselves, “He Xiaoyong’s blood pressure is shooting up and down every day. It climbs up in the morning and falls back down in the evening. He might survive three or four days of that, but we’re afraid that if this goes on any longer, there will come a time when it refuses to go back up again.”
They said to He Xiaoyong’s woman, “We don’t think there’s anything the doctor can do. All they do every day is stand next to his bed for an hour or two, discussing what they might do. But when all is said and done, He Xiaoyong’s still lying there with an oxygen tube up his nose and a blood-transfusion bottle hanging next to his arm. They’re giving him the same medicine they gave him last week, and he isn’t getting any better.”
They concluded, “We think you ought to go see Mr. Chen over on the west side of town.”
Mr. Chen on the west side of town was an old Chinese herbalist, an oracle, and a fortune-teller.
Mr. Chen said to He Xiaoyong’s woman, “I’ve already prepared a prescription for him. But no matter how much effect the medicine has on his body, it still won’t be strong enough to save his soul. If his soul escapes, there’s no medicine on earth that can stop it from taking flight. When people’s souls take flight, they almost always exit through the chimney. Here’s what you have to do. Tell your son to go up on the roof, sit directly on top of the chimney, and call as loud as he can toward the Western Heaven, ‘Dad, don’t go! Dad, come back!’ That’s all he needs to say. No more and no less; just those two sentences. If he shouts for half an hour or so and He Xiaoyong’s soul heeds the call, he’ll turn around and come back, even if he’s already taken flight. And if he hasn’t yet taken flight, he’ll stay right where he is.”
He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son. All he has is two daughters.”
Mr. Chen said, “Daughters don’t count. As soon as you marry them off to another family, they’re water under the bridge. If you sent one of your daughters up on the roof, her father’s soul wouldn’t be able to hear her, no matter how loud she shouted or how far the sound carried.”
He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son. I haven’t given him a son. All I’ve given him is two daughters. I don’t know what crime I committed in my last life, or what he did in his last life, but we don’t have a son in this life. If He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son, does it mean there’s nothing we can do to save his life?”
He Xiaoyong’s friends said, “Who says He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son? Isn’t Xu Sanguan’s Yile actually his son?”
AND SO IT WAS that He Xiaoyong’s woman arrived at Xu Sanguan’s door. As soon as the skinny woman caught sight of Xu Yulan, she began to cry. First she stood at the doorstep, wiping her eyes, which were already red from weeping, with a handkerchief. Then she sat down on the doorstep and began to sob in earnest.
Xu Yulan was alone, and when she saw He Xiaoyong’s woman, she wondered what she could possibly be doing by her door. After the woman sat down on her doorstep and began to sob and wail, Xu Yulan began, “And who might this be? Who could be quite so shameless as all that? Rather than crying in the privacy of her own home, she cries on someone else’s doorstep. And she doesn’t just cry. She wails like a cat in heat.”
He Xiaoyong’s woman stopped sobbing long enough to say, “My fate is bitter. My husband, He Xiaoyong, was walking down the street minding his own business, not looking for any trouble, and for no reason at all, he got hit by a truck. He’s been in a coma for seven days, and the doctors at the hospital can’t do anything to save him. Mr. Chen on the west side says that only Yile can save his life, so I’ve come to beg you for a favor.”
Xu Yulan picked up where the other woman had left off. “My fate is sweet. My husband, Xu Sanguan, has never been admitted to the hospital. He’s over forty, and he’s never known what it’s like to sleep in a hospital bed. He’s so strong, he can carry a hundred-pound sack of rice. The rice shop’s almost a mile away, and he doesn’t even need to stop for a break on the way home.”
He Xiaoyong’s woman broke once more into loud wails. “My fate is bitter. He Xiaoyong’s lying in the hospital on the brink of death, and the doctors can’t do anything to help him. Mr. Chen over on the west side can’t help either. Only Yile can save him. If only Yile would climb up on our roof and call his soul back from the brink, he might live. If Yile doesn’t call back his soul, he’ll die for sure. And I’ll be left a widow.”
Xu Yulan said, “My fate is sweet. Everyone says Xu Sanguan will live for a very long time. They say you can see from his face that he’ll be blessed with longevity. If you look at his hands, you’ll see that my Xu Sanguan’s life line runs long and deep. What does that mean? It means that even when he’s over eighty, the King of Hell won’t be able to pull him down to the netherworld, no matter how hard he tries. I’m going to live to a ripe old age as well, but I won’t live as long as Xu Sanguan. He’ll be around to see me off to the netherworld. What’s the worst thing that can happen to a woman? To be widowed, that’s what. How can you get through your days after you’ve been widowed? You have a lot less money than before, that’s for sure. But there’s worse yet. The kids don’t have a father anymore, and there’s no one around to protect them when they get into trouble. And when there’s a big storm and you’re scared of the lightning and the thunder, you won’t have a shoulder to lean on anymore.”
He Xiaoyong’s woman’s sobs grew increasingly jagged. She said to Xu Yulan, “My fate is bitter. I’m begging you to show me some mercy. Let Yile call for He Xiaoyong’s soul. If not for me, do it for Yile’s sake. He is He Xiaoyong’s son, after all.”
Xu Yulan grinned. “Oh! If you had said that from the beginning, I might have let Yile go with you. But you never admitted it until now. And now it’s just too late. Xu Sanguan would never agree now. Think about it. When I came to your house that first time, you yelled and screamed and cursed. He Xiaoyong even hit me. The two of you were riding high then, weren’t you? You never imagined a day like today would come, did you? Xu Sanguan’s right. You have bad karma, and you’re getting exactly what you deserve. Our family has good karma. If you do right, good things will come to you. Look at us. We’re doing better and better. Take a look at my blouse. This is raw silk. I sewed it for myself just last week.”
He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “We’re getting what we deserve. We wouldn’t take Yile because we wanted to save a little money. And we were wrong! He Xiaoyong did wrong, and I’ve suffered along with him. But that’s not important anymore. I’m begging you to take pity on me. Please let Yile save his life. I hate him too, but I can’t help that he’s still my husband, for better or worse. My eyes are so swollen from crying that they hurt. What am I supposed to do if he dies?”
Xu Yulan said, “What will you do? You’ll be a widow, of course.”
XU YULAN said to Xu Sanguan, “He Xiaoyong’s woman came by for a visit. Her eyes were so swollen from crying, they looked like lightbulbs.”
Xu Sanguan asked, “What did she want?”
Xu Yulan said, “She was always very thin, but ever since He Xiaoyong’s accident, she’s wasted away to nearly nothing. She’s as skinny as a pole. You could use her to hang your laundry out to dry.”
Xu Sanguan asked, “What did she want?”
Xu Yulan said, “She hasn’t combed her hair in days, and two of the buttons on her shirt were missing. One of her shoes was clean, but the other one was covered with mud. I wonder what she stepped in.”
Xu Sanguan said, “I’m asking you a question. What did she want from us?”
“It’s like this,” Xu Yulan began. “He Xiaoyong’s in the hospital, and he’s about to die. The doctors can’t do anything more, so she went to see Mr. Chen over on the west side. Mr. Chen couldn’t do anything to save He Xiaoyong’s life either. Mr. Chen said the only person who can save him is Yile. He said Yile has to climb up on their roof and call for He Xiaoyong’s soul to come home. So she came by to look for Yile.”
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Xu Sanguan said, “Why doesn’t she climb up on the roof herself? Why doesn’t she have her two daughters climb up on the roof and call for his soul?”
“It’s like this,” Xu Yulan continued. “If she goes up there herself and calls for him, He Xiaoyong’s soul won’t be able to hear her voice. If his daughters go up there, he won’t be able to hear them either. He’ll only hear the call if it’s his own son who’s calling for him to come back. That’s what Mr. Chen said, and that’s why she came by to look for Yile.”
“She’s got to be kidding,” Xu Sanguan said. “Dream on. When I wanted to give them back their son, the son I had raised on their behalf for over nine years, they wouldn’t have any of it. Now that I’ve taken care of him for four more years, they’re coming to ask for him back? Forget it. He Xiaoyong can go to hell for all I care. He doesn’t do anyone any good anyway. Just let him die. Damn! So they want Yile to call back his soul? Even if Yile could bring him back, He Xiaoyong would still be a bastard.”
Xu Yulan said, “Still, you have to feel bad for He Xiaoyong’s woman. It’s just about the worst thing that can happen to a woman. What do you do after the man of the house is gone? How can you go on living? What if something like that happened to me?”
“Shit,” Xu Sanguan said. “I’m as healthy as they come. I’ve got more energy than I know what to do with. Look at these muscles. When I walk down the street, my muscles practically ripple under my shirt.”
“That’s not what I meant. What I’m saying is that sometimes you have to put yourself in other people’s shoes. He Xiaoyong’s woman came to our doorstep, sobbing and begging for mercy. It just wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t try to help her out. Forget what they did to us in the past. Because no matter what you think, his life is still in our hands, and it just isn’t right to help someone into the grave.”
Xu Sanguan said, “That’s exactly what we should do. Help He Xiaoyong into the grave. We’d be ridding society of a pest. That truck driver did us all a favor.”
Xu Yulan said, “You always say that those who do good get good in return. If you do something good, people stand up and take notice. If you let Yile call back his soul, everyone will say Xu Sanguan is a good man. They’ll say: Even after everything He Xiaoyong’s done to him, Xu Sanguan was still kind enough to save his life.”
Xu Sanguan said, “They’ll say that Xu Sanguan’s a real idiot, a moron, a prize fool, a stupid fucking cuckold. They’ll say Xu Sanguan’s getting used to being a cuckold. They’ll say he’s liking it better and better.”
Xu Yulan said, “No matter what you say, He Xiaoyong is still Yile’s father.”
Xu Sanguan jabbed a finger toward her face: “If you say that one more time, I’ll bash your face in. I’ve raised that boy for thirteen years. If he’s not my son, what is he? If I’m not his dad, who is?” Finally, he added, “Let me tell you something. Yile will call for that man’s soul over my dead body. He Xiaoyong’s soul won’t be coming back as long as I’m here to stop it.”
XU SANGUAN called Yile to come to him and said, “Yile, you’re already thirteen years old now. When I was as big as you are now, my dad had already died and my mom had run off with another man. I couldn’t live all by myself in town, so I walked a whole day to find my grandpa in the countryside. It wasn’t actually that far—it should only have taken half a day to get there, but I got lost in the middle, and if I hadn’t run into my fourth uncle, I don’t know where I would have ended up. My fourth uncle didn’t recognize me, but it was getting dark, and I was still a little kid, so he asked me where I was going. I said my dad had died and my mom had left with another man and I was looking for my grandpa. When my uncle realized that I was his brother’s son, he knelt down and stroked my hair and began to cry. By then I could hardly walk anymore, so Fourth Uncle carried me home on his back.
“Yile, do you understand now why I care so much for my fourth uncle? It’s because he picked me up and carried me to my grandpa’s house that night. People have to keep to their conscience. Fourth Uncle’s been gone for a few years now, but whenever I think of him, I feel like crying. You have to keep to your conscience. I’ve raised you for thirteen years now, and in those thirteen years there have been times when I’ve hit you or yelled at you. But you can’t take those things to heart, because I did them for your sake. I don’t know how many times I’ve been worried because of you. Because all else aside, I’m not your real dad. You know that. Now your real dad’s in the hospital, and he’s about to die because the doctors can’t do anything to help him. Now Mr. Chen over on the west side—the Mr. Chen who’s a fortune-teller and an herbalist—says you’re the only person who can save He Xiaoyong. He Xiaoyong’s soul has already left his body, but Mr. Chen says that if you climbed up on He Xiaoyong’s roof, you might be able to call his soul back home.
“Yile, the way He Xiaoyong treated us was unforgivable, but people have to let bygones be bygones. Let’s forget about the past for now. Right now his life is in danger, and we’ve got to help save it. He’s a human being after all, and if someone’s about to die, you have to do what you can, no matter what you think about him. And he is your real dad. Do it because he’s your dad. Climb up on the roof and call for his soul.
“Yile, He Xiaoyong will recognize you as his own son now. And even if he didn’t, I could never be your real dad.
“Yile, remember what I’ve told you today. You need to have a conscience. I’m not saying you need to pay me back for everything I’ve done for you. That’s not what I mean at all. All I ask is that you come to see me as I saw my fourth uncle. That would be enough. After I get old and sick and die, if you would remember from time to time how it was that I raised you, and if you feel sad for a moment, maybe even shed a tear or two for me, that would be enough for me. That would make me very happy.
“Yile, follow your mom. Yile, listen to me. Go and call He Xiaoyong’s soul back home. Yile, go on now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
That day it seemed that everybody in town had heard that Xu Sanguan’s Yile was going to climb up onto He Xiaoyong’s roof, sit on top of the chimney, and call for He Xiaoyong’s errant soul to come home. They crowded in front of He Xiaoyong’s front door, standing and watching as Xu Yulan escorted Yile into the house to be greeted by He Xiaoyong’s woman, who talked with them for a long time before pulling Yile by the hand behind her skinny frame toward a ladder leaning against the side of the house.
A friend of He Xiaoyong’s was already on the roof, and another friend stood below, holding the ladder steady. Yile climbed up the ladder to the roof, and the man took his hand, leading him diagonally across the tiles to the chimney, where he helped him sit down squarely atop it. After Yile had taken up his high perch, he kept his hands on his legs and watched the man who had brought him there move back down toward the ladder. He grasped the edges of the roof tiles with the palms of his hands before finding a foothold on the top rung of the ladder. Finally, like a man disappearing under water, he sank below Yile’s line of sight.
Yile sat on the chimney and looked at the dank light reflected from the roofs surrounding him. A swallow let out a few piercing cries, circled above his head, and flew away. Seconds later a whole school of smaller swallows chirped out a much softer response. Their cries emerged from the eaves of the house just across from where Yile was sitting. Yile gazed out toward the mountains that rose and fell across the horizon. They were so distant that they resembled nothing so much as clouds or shadows, gray and blurry and insubstantial.
The people standing below craned their necks in anticipation of the moment when Yile would begin to call for He Xiaoyong’s soul. They were looking up at him with their mouths all agape, waiting for a sound, for a cry, but no sound came. One by one they lowered their heads, rested their necks, and wondered what exactly was happening on the roof above. From Yile’s perch, their anxious voices sounded like the twittering of magpies.
He Xiaoyong’s woman shouted toward Yile, “Yile, start c
rying now. That’s what Mr. Chen said you should do. Once you start crying, your dad’s soul will hear you.”
Yile looked down at the crowd of people below and saw them pointing and waving their fingers at him. He turned his head away from them and discovered that he was all alone on the roof. There wasn’t anyone on any of the roofs around him. All the roof tiles in every direction were covered with green weeds that swayed back and forth in the wind.
He Xiaoyong’s woman called out once again, “Yile, quick! Start crying. Why aren’t you crying? Go on and cry.”
Before Yile began crying, He Xiaoyong’s woman herself started to cry. “Why isn’t the kid crying? I thought we’d explained everything to him very clearly. What’s wrong with him?” She called out once more, “Yile, cry. I’m begging you. Start crying.”
Yile finally asked, “Why do you want me to cry?”
He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “Your dad’s in the hospital, and he’s about to die. His soul has already flown away from his body, and it’s getting farther and farther away. If you don’t hurry up and cry, he’ll be too far away to hear you. Quick, start crying.”
Yile said, “My dad’s not in the hospital. My dad’s working at the silk factory. My dad’s not going to die. He’s pushing the cocoon cart at the factory. My dad’s soul is safe inside his body. Who says my dad’s soul has flown away?”
He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “Xu Sanguan from the silk factory isn’t your dad. Your dad’s in the hospital. Your dad’s He Xiaoyong.”
Yile said, “Nonsense.”
He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “It’s the truth. Xu Sanguan really isn’t your dad. He Xiaoyong’s really your dad.”
