Brothers

by Yu Hua

His five former business partners had resigned themselves to their bad fortune and given up hope of having their loans repaid. They never imagined that after Baldy Li started earning money through his scrap business, he would come back and repay them.

  One afternoon Popsicle Wang walked past Baldy Li's shed, and Baldy Li, wearing only a pair of shorts and naked from the waist up, rushed out of his shed and excitedly called out to him. Wang, his ice chest still on his back, turned around slowly and saw Baldy Li waving at him, saying, "Come, come over here."

  Popsicle Wang stood there without moving, uncertain what Baldy Li wanted from him. When Baldy Li said he wanted to return his money, Wang thought that he had misunderstood and even turned around to see if Baldy Li was speaking to someone else. Baldy Li pointed impatiently at him and said, "I'm talking to you, about the debt that I owe you."

  Popsicle Wang walked over, hardly able to believe his ears, and sat down with Baldy Li inside the shed, in the middle of a huge pile of scrap. Baldy Li flipped through his little notebook, calculating the original loan and the accrued interest. Meanwhile, Popsicle Wang curiously looked around at Baldy Li's shed, seeing that it had everything one might need to eat and drink, as well as an electric fan blowing directly on Baldy Li. Wang said enviously, "You even have an electric fan!"

  Baldy Li grunted in response and reached over to press the swivel button. The fan now swiveled to include Popsicle Wang, who exclaimed, "What a cool breeze…"

  Baldy Li calculated Popsicle Wangs loan and interest and said with embarrassment, "I don't have much money at the moment, and therefore I'll have to repay you in installments. I'll pay you a portion every month, and within a year I will have paid it all back."

  Baldy Li opened his wallet, took out some money, and counted it carefully. He returned the majority of the bills to his wallet and stuffed the remainder into Wang's hand. Popsicle Wang's hand trembled as he accepted the money, and his lips trembled as he registered his surprise. He said that he never thought Baldy Li would have recorded the loan and claimed that he himself had forgotten about it. As he spoke Wang's eyes grew red, and he said that never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he would ever recover his five hundred yuan. Then, referring to the interest, he added, "And now I find that the money has even given birth to a new son."

  Popsicle Wang carefully placed the money in his pocket, then leaned over to remove a popsicle from his ice chest. Explaining that he didn't have anything else to give, he handed Baldy Li the popsicle. Baldy Li, however, shook his head and said, "I won't take a single needle or thread from the masses."

  Popsicle Wang responded that this wasn't a needle and thread from the masses but, rather, simply a token of his appreciation. Baldy Li responded that, then, he should definitely not eat it, given that it was a token of appreciation. He asked Wang to put the popsicle away, adding, "Could you instead please do something for me? Please notify Blacksmith Tong, Tailor Zhang, Little Scissors Guan, and Yanker Yu that I will begin repaying my debt to each of them as well."

  That evening, Tong, Zhang, Guan, and Yu, as well as Popsicle Wang himself, dropped by Baldy Li's shed to pay him a visit. They stood in front of the shed and called out affectionately, "Director Li, Director Li …"

  Baldy Li walked over, shirtless, and waved at them, saying, "I'm not Director Li anymore. Now, I'm Scraps Li."

  The former partners burst out laughing. Blacksmith Tong glanced at the others, and they glanced back, and he realized that it was again incumbent on him to speak first. Therefore, still chuckling, he said, "I hear that you plan to return our money?"

  "Its not a question of returning your money but of repaying my debt," Baldy Li corrected him.

  "Isn't that the same thing?" Blacksmith Tong continued, nodding vigorously. "I also hear something about there being interest?"

  "Of course there will be interest," Baldy Li said. "I am like a People s Bank, and you are my depositors."

  The five of them nodded in agreement. Baldy Li then turned and looked at his shed, remarking that it was too small to accommodate six people and therefore they would have to settle their accounts outside. Baldy Li plopped down on the ground and opened his little notebook, muttering to himself as he made the requisite calculations. His shorts were dirtier than a rag. Four of the former partners hesitated, not certain whether they were expected to sit down with him. Each had made a point of bathing and putting on clean clothes before coming to visit. Therefore, they all watched Blacksmith Tong to see what he would do. Tong decided that, for the sake of money, he was not only willing to sit on the ground but would even sit in cow dung if necessary. After Blacksmith Tong plopped himself down, the other four quickly followed suit. Then, with all six of them sitting in a circle, Baldy Li made calculations and gave each of them money. Blacksmith Tong then apologized solemnly to Baldy Li on their collective behalf, saying that they shouldn't have tried to press the money out of him so hard that he was left with a swollen face and a black eye. Baldy Li listened attentively and then pedantically corrected him: "My swollen face and black eye were not the result of your pressing me for money but, rather, were the result of your beating me."

  The five former partners laughed in embarrassment, and Blacksmith Tong, again speaking on behalf of everyone, said, "From now on, whenever you want to beat us, you are welcome to do so, and we promise we won't fight back. This promise is good for a year."

  The other four repeated, "It's good for a year."

  Irritated, Baldy Li retorted, "You are using your own mean ways to judge a gentleman's heart."

  The news that Baldy Li had begun repaying his debts quickly spread throughout town, generating great excitement and discussion. Everyone agreed that Baldy Li was simply extraordinary and remarked that if he was able to make himself rich simply by collecting scrap, imagine how rich he could become if he were trading gold. When Baldy Li heard this, he demurred: "The masses are speaking too highly of me. What I'm running here is a nickel-and-dime business—just earning a few bucks to feed myself."

  After this expression of modesty Baldy Li couldn't help going on to reflect upon all the ironic reversals of the recent past. When he quit his job at the factory and soared away to try to start a clothing factory, he pretty much lost everything but the shirt on his back. When he decided to return to the Good Works Factory, he was turned away, leaving him no choice but to stage a sit-in protest. When he started collecting scrap simply to feed himself, who knew that it would turn into his stock-in-trade? He then summarized what he had learned, telling the people of Liu, "In business, if you deliberately plant a flower, it might not bloom, but sometimes when you accidentally seed a willow, it ends up providing you with shade."

  CHAPTER 48

  BALDY LI'S business grew rapidly until finally the county's political leaders found themselves at their wits’ end. With his pile of scrap looming like a mountain over the government building, the leaders reckoned that he had been squatting there for almost four years and had been running his scrap and recycling business for three. At first he had piled his scrap next to the entranceway but now he had four mountains of it on either side and had even hired ten part-timers, who worked the same hours as the government office itself. At first people would see trucks come in only to haul the scrap away, but eventually they also started seeing trucks hauling scrap in—Baldy Li had become a scrap wholesaler with a national network. Everyone stared in astonishment, asking whether Baldy Li was vying for the position of chief of a national Beggars’ Gang. Baldy Li shook his head and said bluntly that he was a businessman and had absolutely no interest in power. He had already helped Liu Town develop into one of the most important scrap and recycling centers in East China, and he explained, "This is only the first step in a Long March. The next step will be all of China, and then the entire world. The day is not far off when Liu Town will become the scrap center of the world. Just think, Liu Town is just what Chairman Mao described when he said, ‘All the beautiful scenery is concentrated here.'"

  The county'
s political leaders had all been poor and therefore did not mind filth or the smell of scrap wafting into their offices. They were worried that higher leaders would come down to observe them and would blanch at the sight of four enormous piles of scrap right outside the government building. The higher leaders would be very angry and say that this didn't at all resemble a government institution but, rather, a trash center. There was nothing the county leaders feared more than not being promoted. If the higher leaders were displeased, it could have a very significant effect on the county leaders’ career paths. Several county leaders were so anxious that they held an emergency meeting to discuss the problem, hoping to preemptively deal with the situation before Baldy Li turned Liu Town into a global trash center. Otherwise, things would become that much more difficult to resolve.

  The county leaders agreed to treat cleaning up the mountains of trash as one of the county's public-image projects. They considered two plans. The first was to mobilize the military and civil police to forcibly clean up Baldy Li's mountains. This approach was quickly rejected. As soon as Baldy Li had started earning money from his scrap business, the first thing he had done was to start repaying his debts, thereby increasing his prestige among the masses to the point that it already exceeded that of the county governor himself. The county leaders were afraid that the masses would take advantage of the situation to stir up trouble and vent their pent-up anger. Recognizing that it was dangerous to incur the wrath of the masses, the leaders decided that it was not so hard to deal with a single Baldy Li. Therefore, they turned to their second approach, which was to grant his request to return to the Good Works Factory as director. In this way, they not only would redeem a comrade but furthermore would rid themselves of the those mountains of junk.

  Tao Qing, the director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, received the secretary county governor's instructions and went to speak to Baldy Li. Tao Qing had fired Baldy Li four years earlier but now found himself trying to hire him back, a turn of events that greatly vexed Tao Qing. He told himself that he knew what Baldy Li was made of—if you gave him an inch, he'd take a mile. Therefore, Tao decided that it would be important to put Baldy Li firmly in his place before offering him his old job back.

  Tao Qing walked over to the foot of the four mountains of scrap, where Baldy Li was busy directing his ten part-time workers. Tao stood behind Baldy Li for a while without his noticing, until finally Tao Qing had no choice but to clear his throat to get Baldy Li's attention. Baldy Li turned and saw his former leader and immediately cried out warmly, "Bureau Director Tao, you've come to visit me!"

  With the proper tone of majestic condescension befitting his position, Tao Qing waved and said, "I happened to be in the area and thought I'd drop by."

  "Dropping by to see someone still counts as coming to see them," Baldy Li replied happily. Then he called out to the ten part-time workers, "My former leader and superior, Bureau Director Tao, has come to see us. Everyone please give him a warm welcome."

  The ten part-time workers put down what they were working on and started up a scattered round of applause. Tao Qing frowned and nodded briefly to them. Baldy Li was dissatisfied and urged under his breath, "Director Tao, won't you say something to them, like ‘Comrades, you are working hard'?"

  Tao Qing shook his head and said, "No, I won't say anything."

  "Okay, then." Baldy Li nodded, then said to the workers, "You can get back to work. I'm going to take Director Tao to my office."

  Baldy Li solicitously invited Tao Qing into his shed, asking him to sit in the only chair while he himself sat on the bed. Surrounded by trash, Tao looked around and saw that the shed had everything anyone might need. As the saying goes, despite its tiny size, a sparrow still has all five organs. Tao Qing also noticed the electric fan and remarked, "You even use an electric fan!"

  "I've used it for two summers now," Baldy Li replied proudly. "Next year I won't need it anymore, since I plan to install central air."

  Tao Qing felt that Baldy Li was deliberately taunting him and therefore, gesturing to the shed, replied evenly, "An air conditioner wouldn't work well here, would it?"

  "Why not?" Baldy Li asked.

  "This shed is too drafty" Tao Qing explained. "An air conditioner would waste too much electricity."

  "Then I'll just pay a slightly higher electric bill," Baldy Li replied. "With air-conditioning, in summer this shed will become an elite hotel."

  Cursing Baldy Li under his breath, Tao Qing stood up and walked out. Baldy Li hurried after him and asked solicitously, "Director Tao, won't you sit a little longer?"

  "No, thanks." Tao Qing shook his head. "I have a meeting to attend."

  Baldy Li quickly turned to his ten part-time workers and prompted, "Director Tao is leaving. Everyone please applaud."

  The workers let out another scattered round of applause, and Tao Qing again simply nodded in acknowledgment. Baldy Li said ingratiatingly, "Director Li, I'll walk you out."

  Tao Qing waved him away. He took a few steps and then, pretending he had just remembered something, abruptly stopped and said to Baldy Li, "Come over here."

  Baldy Li ran over, and Tao Qing patted his shoulder and said, "You should write a self-criticism."

  "What do you mean, a self-criticism? Why should I write a self-criticism?"

  "Regarding what happened four years ago," Tao Qing said. "Write a self-criticism, acknowledge your mistake, and I can arrange for you to return to your position as director of the Good Works Factory."

  Baldy Li finally understood. He chuckled disdainfully. "I lost interest in that factory director position long ago."

  Cursing Baldy Li again under his breath, Tao Qing said seriously, "Please consider it. This is a good opportunity."

  "A good opportunity?" Baldy Li pointed to his four mountains of trash and said grandly, "These are my opportunities."

  His face dark, Tao Qing continued, "I urge you to reconsider."

  "I don't need to reconsider," Baldy Li replied firmly. "Why would I want to give up all this business in order to be a director of some charity factory? That's like telling me to trade in my watermelon for a sesame seed…"

  The county governor was very angry that Tao Qing had failed to convince Baldy Li to return to the factory. He said Tao Qing should never have fired Baldy Li in the first place: "Firing him was like releasing a tiger into the wilds—and now you have brought disaster to the entire county."

  Tao Qing subserviently endured the governor's reprimands, then returned to the Civil Affairs Bureau to find two section chiefs to chew out. The two section chiefs were bewildered at why they were being reprimanded, having no idea what they had done wrong. His anger vented, Tao Qing vowed to pay no more attention to Baldy Li's scrap business. Another month passed and Baldy Li not only had not left but, furthermore, had redoubled his efforts and started on a fifth mountain of scrap. The governor knew that he couldn't count on Tao Qing to resolve the problem, so instead he sent his own right-hand man, the county government office manager, to deal with Baldy Li.

  Baldy Li owed Tao Qing a debt of gratitude from way back, so naturally he was respectful to Tao when he came. As for that office manager, Baldy Li owed him nothing. When the office manager arrived, Baldy Li was in the process of sorting his scrap. With a warm smile and warm voice, the office manager stood behind him and spoke as he trailed Baldy Li back and forth, but Baldy Li only occasionally tossed off a curt reply while continuing to work on his scrap. The office manager, noticing that the hour was ticking by but that Baldy Li was not warming up to him, decided that he had no alternative but to play his final card. He told Baldy Li, "The governor asks that you go see him in his office."

  Baldy Li shook his head and said, "I don't have time right now."

  The office manager patted Baldy Li on the shoulder and shared with him the good news that the county's party secretary and deputy party secretary had both looked into the matter and agreed to allow him to resume his position as the director of the Good Works Facto
ry. The office manager therefore urged him to see the governor without delay. "Go quickly. This is an opportunity you shouldn't pass up."

  Baldy Li was not at all impressed, and without even bothering to look up he retorted, "Haven't you noticed that I am sorting through thousands of opportunities every day?"

  The office manager returned dejectedly and repeated to the county governor what Baldy Li had said. The governor, now extremely irked, threw down the document he was holding and said, "What does he mean by saying he has thousands of opportunities every day? I'm the only one with thousands of opportunities every day."

  After his tantrum, the county governor determined to go see Baldy Li himself. A few days later the deputy provincial governor was coming to visit, and the five mountains of scrap had to be cleaned up before he arrived. Although the county governor was furious, he was all smiles when he greeted Baldy Li: "Baldy Li, are you still sorting through your thousands of opportunities every day?"

  Seeing that the governor himself had come, Baldy Li set aside what he was working on and straightened up to speak with him. He was much more humble than he had been with the office manager, saying, "What is this about my having thousands of opportunities every day? You are the only one with thousands of opportunities every day."

  The governor didn't want to stand in front of Baldy Li's mountain of trash for too long—he feared that it would give the masses the wrong impression if he were seen—so he went straight to the point and told Baldy Li that the county had accepted his petition to return as director of the Good Works Factory. The only condition was that he had to clean up these five mountains of scrap within the next forty-eight hours. After hearing the governor's proposal, Baldy Li didn't respond but instead lowered his head and continued sorting his scrap. The governor stood to one side waiting for Baldy Li to answer, growing increasingly angry and resentful that Baldy Li wouldn't even acknowledge what a great kindness had been bestowed upon him. After sorting scrap for a while, Baldy Li found a mineral water bottle with some water left in it, so he unscrewed the cap and took a swig. Then, wiping his mouth, he asked the governor what his monthly salary would be if he returned to the factory.