by Yan Lianke
Someone exclaimed, “Aijun, you speak so well! Where did you learn to speak like this?”
I said, “I’m constantly studying and reading newspapers, after which I go out and put what I’ve learned into practice.”
Another person said, “Do you really dare to overthrow your own father-in-law?”
I said, “I’m not the one who wants to overthrow him; it’s the revolution that wants to overthrow him.”
The other person said, “Your father-in-law has not yet assigned our family a housing plot. If you assume power, will you sort out our housing-plot problem?”
I said, “Every plot of land should be controlled by a member of the proletariat. In assigning housing plots, we should first assign them to revolutionaries.”
The other person said, “I’m a revolutionary, and you are welcome to send me to die for the revolution.” Then he asked, “Would I really get work points for participating in the revolution?”
I replied, “Revolutionaries may endure hardship, but they won’t have participated in the revolution in vain. Work points, grain rations, and housing bases—once we seize power, will these even be things we think about?”
He said, “Now, you must remember this.”
I replied, “Don’t worry. I have thirty men and won’t lose any of them.”
He said, “Aijun, you speak very well. In the future, you should organize us to read the paper and have study sessions, for which we should also get work points.”
I said, “Of course I will. We’ll read the newspapers, we’ll study Chairman Mao’s quotations, and we’ll memorize Chairman Mao’s texts. The revolution requires that you endure hardship, yet it also won’t permit you to endure hardship. In the future, if any of you want to place work points ahead of the revolution, you should make sure that the revolution won’t come raining down on your own head.”
Everyone dispersed.
The moon emerged from behind Cheng Temple and silently slid up to the front of the town. The light was as clear as water, and the scenery was endless. The village streets were extraordinarily quiet, and the sound of everyone walking away was like a stone skipping over the surface of a pond. The footsteps ebbed farther and farther away, until there was the noise of doors opening and closing, followed by silence.
I escorted out the last few youths who were still asking questions and watched as they walked into an alley and disappeared into the shadows. Then I looked around at Chenggang’s peaceful, moonlit scenery. Immersed in the delight that the revolution—which had not yet begun—would eventually succeed, my heart started pounding. I stood like the protagonist of a revolutionary movie standing on the deck of a boat in a raging storm and about to reach a wharf, and I wished my hair and clothing were being similarly buffeted by the wind, but unfortunately at that moment there was only a light evening breeze. If only there were wind and an ocean! If only I were standing there with long hair flying in the wind! It was not without regret that I placed my hand on my head, debating whether or not I should grow out my hair for the revolution. At that moment, just as I was about to head inside, someone emerged from the shadows behind our courtyard wall.
The storm had, in fact, arrived.
It arrived in a shocking fashion.
I asked, “Who is it?!”
She didn’t answer and instead continued walking toward me.
I repeated, “Who is it?”
She walked up to me.
I said, “Why are you only arriving now? The meeting has already concluded.”
She leaned against me, her entire body trembling. She placed her hands around my neck and pressed her icy-hot lips against mine. As though closing a door, she cut off my questions and complaints. I didn’t know what had just happened. I didn’t know why she would suddenly rush over, like a hero without enemies. Half embracing her and half pulling her away from the center of the street, I managed to move her to the shadowy area in front of my courtyard gate. Then I pushed her away and asked why she hadn’t attended the meeting. She gazed at my face in the moonlight, then with both hands grasped the hand with which I had tried to push her away. “What makes you think I didn’t come? Given that this was our first revolutionary mobilization meeting, how could I not attend?” She continued, “I was afraid someone might unexpectedly interrupt the meeting, so after lunch, I used the hot weather as an excuse to go up to the temple to take my father-in-law a fan. Seeing that he was sitting there quietly, I then went to your father-in-law’s house to give him a medicine bottle he had left at my house. Upon finding your father-in-law at home listening to someone recounting an anecdote from Zhuge Liang’s Three Kingdoms military campaign, I left. I passed in front of the houses of the Party branch secretary and the production team leader, then walked through the crowds in front of the village where people had gathered to enjoy the cool. Seeing that everything was normal, I came to wait outside this gate, listening to you mobilize the masses and enjoying the scenery.”
She said, “Aren’t you afraid that word of our activities will get out?”
I didn’t reply and instead simply stared at her as if we were two revolutionaries in love, who had been separated but then happened to meet again on a small path under a moonlit sky. I wanted to hug her tight but found that I couldn’t. I discovered with surprise that she was not only a warm, beautiful young woman from the city but furthermore a capable, enlightened, and experienced rural revolutionary. I placed one hand on her hip and ran the other through her hair. I stared at her for a while and finally began feverishly kissing her forehead, eyebrows, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. But when I pressed my lips against hers a second time, she again asked me the same question: “Aren’t you afraid that word of our activities might get out?”
I replied, “I’m not afraid, because whatever I might have overlooked, I know that you have already thought about it.”
I spoke so well that my words were able to melt her heart!
She said, “Brother Aijun, you speak so well. You are clearly made of revolutionary material. If only you had returned a year earlier, our Chenggang production team’s revolution would have already succeeded.”
I said, “The strong pass of the enemy is like a wall of iron, yet with firm strides we are conquering its summit. If we apply the whip to the horses, we can definitely have Chenggang’s revolutionary carriage drive nonstop night and day and press forward at high speed. In another two days and three nights, after Chenggang’s revolution has already succeeded, and we have stabilized our position, we will revolutionize the Chenggang town government. When the time comes, I can become the town’s Party committee secretary and you can become mayor.”
She exclaimed, “My god … I’m not even a Party member yet!”
I replied, “You may not be in the Party, but your heart is already in the Party. After we overthrow my father-in-law, our first task will be to expand the Chenggang Party branch so that you can become a cadre.”
She was very moved by what I said and was struck by the revolutionary gift I had brought her. Like a starving person who suddenly receives a snow-white steamed bun, she stared at that lovely gift, at a loss for words. The village was extraordinarily quiet, and the moonlight lingered over half of her body like water on a bed of sand. Her face was positioned in the shadow cast by the doorway, and at that moment I couldn’t tell whether her face was faintly ruddy or fiery gold. I could only hear her heart pounding like a clock and her breathing as coarse as a roof beam. Needless to say, revolution had united our love canals and our affection was surging down them. She said, “Aijun, I feel faint.” Then she placed my hand on her chest and collapsed into my embrace. I let my hand rest in hers like a fish swimming in water.
Perhaps I wasn’t a very noble person. Perhaps, at that time, I wasn’t yet a completely pure revolutionary. Perhaps I was simply confirming the dictum: The revolution is where the revolutionaries are, because everything they do is necessarily for the revolution. Like a snake, my hand extended toward her crotch, which was covere
d by a large wet spot, as though we had just had a heavy rain. My hand paused on the edge of that field. I remembered how I had missed the opportunity to fully watch and enjoy her when we met on the edge of town. I assumed that Hongmei must be completely different from Guizhi. Everything about her was attractive, and every part of her body exuded an intoxicating fragrance, including her hair, skin, the arch of her nose, the corners of her mouth, and her breasts. She even had a snakelike mark around her waist where she had been wearing her belt too tight. I wanted to examine her private parts, and after I was satisfied, I would finally do that thing. But I knew that that night I wouldn’t be able to appreciate her as I had done that day outside of town. Instead, I could only extend my hand into that forest and grassland and savor her, as though wading barefoot in shallow water and picking flowers from among the water plants—not only in order to pick flowers but also to appreciate the water beneath the plants. I saw myself hunched over and walking through the water, and saw myself roll up my pants and carefully step through the stream, and saw my bare feet slowly slipping through the mud beneath the green water plants like a frightened fish about to burrow into the mud. Needless to say, wading slowly through that shallow water was much better than hurriedly diving in. When you abruptly enter, you are unable to enjoy the scenery, see the tiny fish swimming amidst the water plants or glimpse the sun peaking down through the gaps in the leaves. When the sunlight shines down on the water, it is as though a gold coin has fallen down onto the muddy bottom, and the golden light illuminates all the underwater roots of grasses, flowers, and trees, the nests of fish and shrimp.
I’ll never forget the sight of her bare, sunlit upper body that day outside of town, and my hand seemed to pause in its exploration of the wet area between her legs. In the moonlight, I used my hand to sample the taste of those water plants, as if trying to count how many plants and flowers might be growing in that pool. After my index and middle fingers entered the water, they selected a plant stem and tugged at it. The moon shifted to the southeast, and as the shadow was passing over my body, it produced a faint whistling sound.
I said, “Hongmei, you won’t call me a hooligan, will you?”
She said, “Aijun, I know you’re only doing this because you love me.”
Upon hearing this, my heart melted, like sugar dissolving in warm water, and I felt as though I were about to float away. But at that moment came the sound of footsteps from Center Cheng Street, together with the sound of someone talking. Hongmei and I both heard Guizhi leading the children back from her mother’s house, and we both shuddered and froze.
Damn that Cheng Guizhi!
I said, “Let’s go to the hillock behind the temple.”
She replied, “Be patient. Tomorrow morning this stone archway will be destroyed, and after the revolution has succeeded, we can go to the bank of Thirteen Li River next to the village and live out the remainder of our days without having to see a single soul.”
Upon saying this, she got up and walked away, departing in the opposite direction from that in which Guizhi and the children were approaching—like a backstage worker in a film ducking into an alleyway in order to avoid being seen. She left me all alone, as Guizhi’s footsteps approached.
Damn that Guizhi!
3. The Battle of the Memorial Arch
I never expected what happened. Indeed, who could have? Our first Chenggang revolution ultimately ended in failure.
Having said that, we should have seen this coming.
At dawn, after the cock crowed three times, I quietly got out of bed without waking up anyone else, then grabbed an eight-pound hammer I had left outside the door. Finally, after checking again on Guizhi and the children, who were all still sound asleep, I went out.
Our meeting was held in the third production team’s wheat field, and by the time I arrived, five or six hot-blooded youths had already gathered there. They were holding hammers and iron rods, together with shovels, hoes, and other tools. Someone asked, “Will they really give us work points for coming?” I replied, “Didn’t I say so yesterday?” Reassured, the other person walked away. Next, Cheng Qinglin, Cheng Qingsen, Cheng Xianzhu, Cheng Xianfen, Cheng Qing’an, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Ren Qizhu, Zhang Xiaoshu, and Shi Ergou arrived one after the other. Naturally, Hongmei also came, arriving a little after I did. I asked her to take out the list of names we had prepared and, using a flashlight, record the names, weapons, and work points of everyone in attendance. Then I arranged for everyone to stand in formation like soldiers, with the tall ones in front and the shorter ones at the back, men in front and women behind. Then, leading them in marching and singing revolutionary songs, I eliminated the disorder from the regiment. By the time light began to appear in the eastern sky, I had already led the thirty-six-person regiment from Rear Cheng Street to the village’s southern entrance on Front Cheng Street.
Although our steps were not perfectly coordinated, our voices nevertheless gradually became strong and synchronized. On the way from the marketplace to the area in front of the temple, the sound of our footsteps resembled popcorn popping on a summer day. But once I began chanting one, two, one, two, everyone’s steps fell into a set rhythm. Then, everyone followed Hongmei’s lead and started singing the lyrics to “Sailing the Seas under the Helmsman’s Command,” their footsteps becoming completely synchronized. This wasn’t surprising, given that the procession was made up of students, youth, and demobilized soldiers. The song dispelled everyone’s drowsiness and silenced their idle banter.
Hongmei addressed the troops, saying, “I want everyone who refuses to sing and prefers to speak to step forward. Are you not afraid of being docked work points?”
Then, the entire regiment fell silent.
Hongmei shouted, “Everyone sing. Do you know that today is double work-points day? If you aren’t going to sing, then you should at least shout.”
Their voices resonated in front of the temple, as everyone sang until their throats were on fire. In the predawn haze, our troops proceeded east, heading in the direction of the eastern mountains, where the sun would rise. We marched from Rear Cheng Street to Center Cheng Street and then from Center Cheng Street to Front Cheng Street. We were careless and allowed ourselves to become blinded by the revolution and by the victory that surely awaited us. We noticed that people who had just woken up were opening their courtyard gates and staring at us. Rubbing his eyes, one of them saw us and asked, “What are you doing?” One of the troops proudly responded, “We’re joining the revolution.” The first person said, “But the sun isn’t even up yet. What revolution are you joining?” The other person replied, “Before the sun rises, we are going to tear down the Cheng Brothers memorial arch.” The first person stopped rubbing his eyes, and his face turned green upon realizing that Chenggang was going to be turned upside down. We noticed his surprise, and although we saw the people standing in their entranceways staring at us, we didn’t notice that there were many more open doors than there had been before we left to greet the third production team in the marketplace, nor did we realize that many people had woken up even earlier than we had. In fact, we didn’t even notice that the red double doors to the temple, which normally stayed closed until some time after the sun comes up, were already open.
As we proceeded west from Front Cheng Street, the eastern sky became completely illuminated. I don’t know when the sun—which was the color of a pool of blood—reached the top of the mountain, but it was now illuminating the entire land. It lit up all the surrounding villages and towns, together with all the ravines and gullies. It left a bright layer of light over the memorial arch. We saw a group of people standing under the arch. There must have been more than a hundred of them, and they seemed to include representatives from every family. They were all carrying poles, pitchforks, cleavers, axes, scythes, and clubs, and looking at us as if we were the enemy. More importantly, in that crowd of a hundred-plus people, there were no youngsters, and instead most of the people were either adult laborers or old
men, their white beards gleaming in the sunlight like fire. They were the fathers or grandfathers of the younger members of our own contingent. This crowd also included some women, who were the mothers of some of those who didn’t have fathers. I was astounded by how many people were there, and was also surprised to find my own father-in-law standing on a stone hitching post beneath the archway. He had his hands on his hips and was staring furiously at our contingent, our footsteps, and our singing.
We came to a stop, as our steps and singing were wiped out by his gaze. In the ensuing silence, everyone crowded together, then everyone turned and looked at me. I saw that Hongmei appeared somewhat confused. There was a layer of perspiration on her forehead, and beads of sweat were glistening like pearls in the sun.
I solemnly walked over to the regiment and then, with my hands on my hips, I shouted to my father-in-law, “Comrade Mao instructed, ‘We are faced with two types of social contradiction: namely, contradictions between the enemy and the self, and contradictions within the people themselves. These are two qualitatively different types of contradictions. Who is our enemy? Who is our friend? These are the key questions that revolution must answer.’ Cheng Tianqing …”
I walked forward again and came to a halt about ten paces from my father-in-law. I addressed him in an even louder voice: “Cheng Tianqing, today the revolutionary youth of the Chenggang production team have come to destroy the stone memorial arch left behind by the feudal dynasty. You have brought a deluded crowd to stand in our way … I just want to ask you one question: Are you a member of the Communist Party, or are you an agent of the feudal-bourgeois class?”
