Brothers

by Yu Hua

  After Baldy Li finished his phone calls, he pushed open the bathroom door, and, announcing loudly that he was hungry, he reached in and pulled Lin Hong out into the office. Lin Hong confusedly followed Baldy Li into the Mercedes—both having completely forgotten about the unveiling ceremony—and they proceeded to a private room of a restaurant owned by Baldy Li's company. For the first time in her life Lin Hong ate abalone and shark fin. She had heard of these delicacies but knew that her annual salary at the knitting factory was enough for only a couple of servings, and therefore she had never tasted them.

  Lin Hong assumed that after dinner she would be allowed to return home. What she didn't realize was that the evening had just begun. After eating, Baldy Li remained excited and proceeded to take her to a nightclub also owned by his company. She sat bewildered in a private karaoke room as Baldy Li sang her three love songs. He then asked Lin Hong to also sing a song, but she said she didn't know how. Baldy Li then pushed her down onto the couch and started to remove her pants. She struggled to pull them back up and cried out, "Don't! Don't do that!"

  Baldy Li repeatedly nodded his head and said, "Just take off your trousers," then proceeded to remove them. This time she didn't cry out Song Gang's name. She lay on the couch, hugging Baldy Li while he jerked up and down on her body as though he were being shocked, continuing in this way for an hour. Lin Hong felt another orgasm coming on. This time she didn't have three in a row but only one. Then, with weak knees, she followed Baldy Li out of the nightclub and confusedly went home with him.

  The two lay in bed and watched a Hong Kong movie. By this point it was three in the morning, and Lin Hong, who was accustomed to going to bed early, was so tired that she could barely keep her eyes open. When Baldy Li rolled over and again began making love to her, she no longer struggled to push him away but quietly acceded. This time she didn't have an orgasm, but she still got excited, though toward the end her vagina started to hurt. Baldy Li finally finished an hour later, whereupon Lin Hong fell sound asleep.

  She had slept for only two hours when Baldy Li woke her up. It had occurred to him that they had never unveiled his portrait, so she had to get up and follow him unsteadily to his office. By the time they got there she had managed to wake up somewhat and noticed how dignified the office was. She walked over to the enormous portrait so big that it covered virtually the entire wall. Pulling away the satin drape that was covering it, she saw that the figure of Baldy Li was so immense that he resembled Atlas, wearing fancy dress clothes and smiling. Lin Hong looked at the image, then back at Baldy Li, and was about to remark that the portrait really looked like him when Baldy Li abruptly pushed her down and took her again on the red velvet cloth lying on the floor. This was the fourth time in ten hours that they had made love. This time, however, Lin Hong didn't feel anything other than excruciating pain, as though he were whipping her genitals. As she gritted her teeth Baldy Li thought that her cries of pain were moans of ecstasy. More than an hour later, when it seemed as if he had no intention of stopping, Lin Hong couldn't help but sigh. When Baldy Li asked why she was sighing, she confessed that she was in agony. He immediately stopped and, inspecting her genitals, discovered that they were red and swollen. He chastised her for not saying something sooner, saying that if he had known she was in pain, he would certainly not have continued. Even if he had been about to establish a Guinness World Record, he would still not have continued. Then he wrapped himself and Lin Hong in the red satin cloth, saying that they would stop and sleep for a while. They slept there on the floor until noon, when Deputy Liu came knocking on the door.

  Baldy Li cried out, "Who is it? What do you want?"

  Terrified, Deputy Liu said he didn't want anything in particular, just that he was worried because he hadn't seen Boss Li all morning. Baldy Li grunted and said, "I'm fine. I'm still sleeping with Lin Hong."

  When Lin Hong finally emerged from Baldy Li's office soon after, Baldy Li wanted her to go home in his white BMW. Lin Hong, however, declined, afraid that would attract more attention and make her a laughingstock in the community. She said that she would walk home instead. She slowly trudged home, her genitals throbbing with every step. Lin Hong finally believed the rumors that Baldy Li was a beast of a man and that every woman left his bed more dead than alive.

  When she finally got home, several neighbors looked at her curiously, but she pretended not to notice as she proceeded into the house and shut the door. She lay in bed fully clothed; by evening she still had not gotten up. Her thoughts in a jumble, she spent a long time thinking back over the events of the night before, with every detail appearing clearly in her mind s eye. She also recalled her twenty years living with Song Gang, as well as Song Gangs departure more than a year earlier. After he left she felt that their shared experiences became more and more distant, whereas her memories of her night with Baldy Li were indelibly printed on her brain. At the thought of Song Gang, Lin Hong began to cry, but she understood that, after having spent the night with Baldy Li, she was now entangled with him, regardless of how guilty and humiliated she felt.

  News of the scandal involving Baldy Li and Lin Hong circulated throughout the town. From Baldy Li's appearance in court, followed by the Virgin Beauty Competition, the Russian painters arrival, and Lin Hongs unveiling of the portrait, Baldy Li had provided the townspeople with four consecutive surprises, making every day seem as fresh as the morning sun. Even in their wildest dreams, the people of Liu had never imagined that the host of Baldy Li's portrait unveiling ceremony would be not the secretary-general of the United Nations, but, rather, Liu Town's own homegrown beauty, Lin Hong. Everyone was shocked—this was truly an unexpected development. Then they remembered how Baldy Li, in a fit of anger, had gone to the hospital and had a vasectomy thereby cutting off the possibility of having descendants—and hadn't that been done for the sake of this very same Lin Hong? What did it matter that the portrait unveiling ceremony hadn't turned out as expected? The truth is, Baldy Li had gotten what he had wanted from the very start: He had succeeded in bedding her. His lightning-fast seduction of Lin Hong was just as he always said: One should get up right from wherever one has fallen down—that is the only way to succeed. When everyone thought of it this way, the entire situation began to make perfect sense. They concluded, "This was unexpected yet perfectly understandable."

  CHAPTER 70

  BALDY LI let Lin Hong rest for four days, but by the third night her body had become excited again. She tossed and turned, yearning for Baldy Li to come and press his body down on hers. Her desire had lain dormant for the entire two decades of her marriage to Song Gang, and now that it had suddenly been roused by Baldy Li at the age of forty, it started to surge. For the first time in her life, she discovered her body and the fact that she had a strong libido. On the fourth night, when Baldy Li's black Mercedes drove up to her door, her entire body started to tremble as soon as she heard the honking of the horn. She walked out the front door with quivering legs and climbed into the car.

  In the days that followed, Baldy Li's Mercedes and BMW shuttled Lin Hong back and forth every day. Sometimes the BMW would come in the middle of the day, and sometimes it would be the Mercedes in the middle of the night. Baldy Li had countless affairs to attend to and therefore didn't always have free time. When he was free, however, he would sleep with Lin Hong. She was no longer bashful, and whenever she hugged Baldy Li, it seemed as if she wanted to suffocate him. She would even undress him. Baldy Li had never expected that Lin Hong would be so passionate, and he remarked in surprise, "Fuck, you're even hornier than I am."

  Lin Hong had learned her lesson that first night and knew that she couldn't endure Baldy Li's lovemaking three or four times in a row. Therefore, she made a pact with him that they would not have sex more than twice in any twenty-four-hour period—and ideally no more than once. Lin Hong then said something that made Baldy Li burst out laughing: "Let me live a few more years."

  For the next three months Lin Hong made love to Baldy
Li virtually every day—in his bed, on the couch in his office, in the private room of the restaurant, and in the private room of the nightclub. In the Mercedes one night Baldy Li suddenly became aroused and wanted neither to go home and do it in bed nor to go to his office and do it on the couch but, rather, to do it right there in the car. He asked the driver to go to the restroom and stay there for an hour and a half, regardless of whether or not he needed to piss or shit. Then Baldy Li and Lin Hong intertwined their limbs in the back of the car and moaned and cried as they got it on for more than an hour.

  After Baldy Li had had crazy sex with Lin Hong for three months, he suddenly felt that the sex had become stale. They had done it on the bed, on the couch, on the floor, in the bath, in the car; they had done it standing, sitting, kneeling, missionary and doggy style, sideways and up and down. In short, they had tried every position imaginable, and Lin Hong had cried out every imaginable sound. After the lovemaking lost its freshness for Baldy Li, he began to reminisce and remarked that it would have been perfect if only they had been able to make love twenty years earlier. Baldy Li told her that back then, as soon as it got dark, he would always fantasize about those three parts of her body as he masturbated. He asked her, "Do you know how many days a year I masturbated to you?"

  Lin Hong shook her head. "No."

  "Three hundred sixty-five days a year. I didn't even take time off for New Years or other holidays."

  Then Baldy Li's eyes grew bright as he cried out, "And to think that at the time you were still a virgin!"

  After he had repeated this three times, he decided to send Lin Hong to a hospital in Shanghai to have hymen-recon surgery. Once she became a virgin again, he would make love to her once more and pretend that it was taking place twenty years earlier. After that they would never do it again. "With that, I'll return you to Song Gang!"

  Realizing that their time together was about to be up, Lin Hong became very depressed. She had fully indulged her own craziness, and during this period her heart and body had become increasingly separated from each other, as if countless mountains and rivers had come between them. Her heart longed every day for Song Gang, but her body lusted for Baldy Li. She didn't know how, without the powerful Baldy Li, she would ever make it through the interminable nights. Her desire was like a forest fire, and once it started burning, it was almost impossible to extinguish. She realized sadly that she could never return to her former state of abstinence. She hated herself for this, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  At this point, Lin Hong began to sense that Song Gang was about to return home to Liu. Wandering Zhou, who had led him away in the first place, had suddenly reappeared in Missy Sus snack shop a month earlier. Lin Hong had heard about this and also seen him with her own eyes. At that moment she had felt a jolt of surprise and wanted to rush over to him and ask about Song Gang, but just then Baldy Li's white BMW had driven up, and she lost her courage. Afterward she sent Deputy Liu to ask Wandering Zhou on her behalf, and she learned that Song Gang was temporarily unable to return. Wandering Zhou told Deputy Liu that Song Gang was still selling health products in Hainan, where he had already made a considerable profit, and therefore had no interest in coming home.

  Lin Hong was still uneasy and worried every day that Song Gang might suddenly show up. This anxiety gradually began to take its toll on her libido. Whenever she thought of Song Gang, she would burst into tears and feel that she was committing a crime. As a result, her frenzied desire for Baldy Li began to ebb. She felt that for her and Baldy Li to have had these three months was more than enough; this way, when Song Gang returned home, she would be able to love and cherish him with renewed intensity. She understood Song Gang and knew that he was the kindest man in the world, and that no matter what she might do to betray him, he would continue to love her as before. Therefore, she hoped to break off her relationship with Baldy Li before Song Gang returned and agreed to travel to Shanghai for the hymen-recon surgery.

  The next day Baldy Li and Lin Hong took the white BMW to Shanghai. Baldy Li needed to go to Beijing and the northeast to do business and would be gone for half a month. He knew that the hymen-recon surgery would take less than an hour. Therefore, he asked Lin Hong to wait for him in Shanghai. He would leave the BMW and a driver for her and told her to use her time in Shanghai to wine, dine, and shop.

  When Wandering Zhou reappeared in Liu Town in October, he looked just as he had the first time he arrived—carrying two large cardboard boxes. This time, however, the boxes were not filled with artificial hymens but, rather, with children's toys. And this time, instead of walking over from the bus depot, Wandering Zhou hailed a pedicab and returned in glory. Seeing the men and women along the road, he remarked regretfully to the driver, "Not much has changed. It's still the same people as before."

  After the pedicab delivered him to Missy Sus snack shop, Wandering Zhou paid the driver three yuan and asked him to carry his two cardboard boxes for him. Zhou then strutted into the snack shop, and when he saw Missy Su sitting at the cashiers counter, he acted as though he hadn't disappeared without a word for an entire year but, rather, had merely gone on a short business trip. He said warmly, "My dear, I'm home."

  Missy Su looked as though she had seen a ghost. Her entire body began to tremble, and she immediately scurried off into the kitchen. Wandering Zhou smiled as he looked around. Noticing some people eating steamed buns staring at him, he asked them, as if he were the restaurant's proprietor, "Taste good, don't they?"

  Then he noticed Mama Su sitting there flabbergasted, holding a four- or five-month-old infant. Zhou smiled at her and said sweetly, "Ma, I'm back."

  Mama Su didn't know how to respond and, like her daughter, started trembling from head to toe. Wandering Zhou took the infant from her and kissed it repeatedly, saying affectionately, "Daughter, did you miss your daddy?"

  Zhou asked the pedicab driver to open the two boxes, and then he put all the toys on the table. He placed his daughter in the middle of the toys, and started playing with her as if no one else were around. The soft-spoken Mama Su stared in astonishment at how easily Wandering Zhou was bantering with everyone, as if he had never left. The other customers finally came to their senses and realized that he was the one who had gotten Missy Su knocked up. Everyone began to laugh and chatter all at once, pointing at the infant playing with the toys on the table and asking Zhou, "Is this your daughter?"

  "Of course," Wandering Zhou answered without hesitation.

  Everyone looked around and asked again, "Are you and Missy Su married?"

  "Of course," Wandering Zhou answered again without equivocation.

  "When?" they asked, trying to get to the bottom of things.

  "Earlier," Wandering Zhou replied simply.

  "Earlier?" Everyone was confused. "How is it that we didn't know?"

  "Why would you have known?" Wandering Zhou also looked confused.

  This charlatan played happily with his daughter while exchanging nonsensical remarks with the customers, making them more and more confused until in the end some actually believed him and told each other, "They are really married."

  Mama Su shook her head repeatedly thinking that he was a bald-faced liar. Missy Su, meanwhile, never reemerged after having fled into the kitchen. Even after the sun had gone down, she could still hear Wandering Zhou chatting with the customers, but she was simply too embarrassed to come out and face everyone. Eventually she ended up sneaking out the side door. At eleven o'clock the snack shop closed for the night, and Wandering Zhou picked up the sleeping infant and calmly followed Mama Su home. He chatted warmly with Mama Su the entire way home, but she merely bowed her head and refused to answer. She tried several times to take her granddaughter away from him, but each time he politely declined, saying, "Ma, I'll hold her."

  When they reached home, she didn't immediately close the door but stood looking at Wandering Zhou. She hesitated a moment but in the end couldn't bring herself to send him away. He slept on the couch in t
he living room for three days, and during that time, whenever he was in the house, Missy Su would lock herself in her room and refuse to come out. Wandering Zhou, however, acted as though nothing was out of the ordinary. He happily went to the snack shop with Mama Su every morning and every night happily followed her home. During those three days, Missy Su didn't go to the snack shop at all but instead stayed home with her daughter. Wandering Zhou was very tactful: Although he wasn't able to see his daughter during the days and every night when he returned home she was in Missy Sus room, he'd nevertheless go to sleep on the couch without saying a word. On the fourth evening, however, Mama Su went into her daughter's room and sat on her bed for about half an hour, softly repeating one thing over and over: "No matter how much he may have done wrong, at the very least your man knew to come back."

  Missy Su lay on the bed sobbing. Her mother sighed, picked up the sleeping infant, and walked out of the room. She took the baby to Wandering Zhou, who was sleeping soundly on the couch. Zhou immediately sprang up, wanting to take the infant from her, but Mama Su shook her head and pointed toward Missy Sus room. Wandering Zhou saw that her door was ajar, so he kissed his daughter on the forehead and marched into the bedroom. After shutting the door, he walked toward the bed as if he slept in this room every night, then climbed under the covers and turned off the light. Missy Su was lying with her back to him, and he casually leaned over and hugged her. She struggled briefly but then let him. After hugging her, he didn't take the next step but simply said, "I don't intend to go away on any more business trips."

  CHAPTER 71

  THAT AUTUMN Song Gang continued wandering throughHainan, carrying with him the remaining vials of Boobs cream. Without Wandering Zhou by his side, he didn't know what to do. He didn't have the courage to unbutton his shirt and flaunt his fake breasts and therefore simply stood on street corners with a dull look in his eyes, as silent as a bump on a log, with his vials of bust-enhancing cream arranged neatly in the cardboard box. The people walking by stared at him curiously, seeing that big-breasted man standing there motionless, hour after hour. A few women leaned over and looked at the vials of bust-enhancing cream, then took them out to inspect them more carefully. Noticing Song Gang's huge breasts under his shirt, they would cover their mouths and chortle. Initially too embarrassed to ask about them, the women would look down at the cream in their hands, then up at Song Gang's breasts, struggling to understand the relationship between the two. Finally, lifting the bust-enhancing cream, they would point first at the cream, then at his breasts, and ask Song Gang, "Did you use this to make those so big?"