Frontier

by Can Xue

  “Our son came here from the south. He died many years later, and it’s said that he was very happy in this place. We didn’t believe it until we came down here.”

  “I can understand that,” Liujin nodded in agreement.

  They were old and feeble, but you could see their excitement. They walked for a while and then stopped for a while. Remembering something, Liujin caught up with them and asked, “Was his name Lee?”

  The old man looked at her in surprise, and said, “No. His name was Zhou Dashu. He had colon cancer. But is that important? His mother and I think this place makes people happy. All you have to do is look at these fish in the stream, and you know.”

  Leaning on her husband’s arm, the old woman looked infatuated.

  “I see,” Liujin said. “I hope you’ll be happy here.”

  Uncle Qiming hailed her from the bosk, and she ran toward him.

  Lying on the lawn reading a newspaper was a middle-aged man with a waxen face.

  “This is Zhou Dashu,” Uncle Qiming said. “He’s been weak all along, but he doesn’t want to die. He asked me to write a letter to his parents saying that he was dead. But look: he’s still very much alive.”

  With an apologetic glance at Liujin, the man resumed reading his newspaper.

  “I even set up a fake tomb for him in the cemetery, and his elderly parents went there to pay their respects,” Uncle Qiming said.

  Liujin stood for a while, but she couldn’t think of anything to say and so she left. As she walked, she thought about today’s events. First, she had suggested that she and Uncle Qiming take a walk. She said she wanted to go to the riverside because she thought the river would help her remember the past. Uncle Qiming had smiled and asked, “Really?” She wanted to remember things that she and this old uncle had done when she was a child. Later, looking at the river, Uncle Qiming had become emotional, too. Liujin hoped he would speak of the past, but he said nothing; his thoughts were somewhere else.

  What was up with Zhou Dashu? Liujin gave this a lot of thought, and then decided to try to clarify it.

  When she returned to the bosk, Uncle Qiming had left. Zhou Dashu was lying alone on the ground, reading the newspaper. He kept swatting his left hand, as if to drive away mosquitoes, but Liujin saw no mosquitoes on the lawn.

  Liujin also noticed a colorful lacquer box between his feet. He kept moving it with great agility—just like an acrobat. Several snow leopards were painted on the lacquer box.

  Zhou Dashu rested the newspaper on his chest and said to Liujin with a smile, “This is the box for my ashes. I intend to be cremated. What about you?”

  “Me? I have no idea. Probably cremated.” Liujin added hastily, “I haven’t given it much thought yet.”

  “Of course not. You have time. Qiming and I are roommates in the free hostel. I saw you the other day, but you didn’t see me because I was in a dark corner.”

  He thumped the newspaper on his chest and went on, “I care about current events. I don’t want to die uninformed. I want to understand what kind of planet I’m living on. You see how ordinary I am. There are mosquitoes and flies everywhere, even in a place like Pebble Town.”

  Then he stood up. He seemed quite weak. Liujin was afraid he would fall, but he didn’t. After vomiting a little blood, he leaned against the poplar trunk, turned, and said, “Ordinarily, you can’t see me. I’m always in dark places. What is painted on this box?”

  “They’re—” Liujin had intended to say they were snow leopards, but they weren’t snow leopards. They were opera masks.

  “You don’t know, do you? Haha. You can’t know!”

  Liujin grew uneasy: several people were exploring the area of sandthorn trees on the lawn in front of them. She told Zhou Dashu she had to go home.

  “Bye,” he said. “My friends are coming. They don’t usually see other people. Like me, they always stay in dark corners. They’re shy young guys. You’re leaving now. Take it easy, okay?”

  Liujin was shocked: she stopped in her tracks. After giving it some thought, she walked into the grove of small trees and hid among them. She saw two young people on the lawn, busy with a rope. Zhou Dashu had toppled over: Had he died? The two people knotted the rope around his neck. As they talked, they dragged him away. After a while, they reached the road, where a lorry waited. They threw him on top as if he were a bundle of firewood.

  Liujin went home, still feeling nauseated. She asked herself: Had she taken all of this philosophically or not?

  Suddenly, her parrot shouted, “You slut!”

  She looked at the parrot, smiled slightly, and all at once recovered her energy. She shouted, “I did take it philosophically.” And with that, she went to the kitchen to start cooking.

  As she cooked, she murmured, “Uncle Qiming, Uncle Qiming . . .” She found she had completely regained her composure. Was Zhou Dashu an employee of the Design Institute? Ever since her parents left, Liujin had felt she, too, had made a complete break with the institute. And yet, she still felt a vague connection with it. For example, hadn’t Uncle Qiming also retired from the Design Institute? She resolved that she would ask him that the next time. She made herself a pumpkin biscuit.

  Liujin sat down to eat. She listened closely, thinking to herself that it was the wind—the wind in the courtyard was so jubilant! The frogs must still be there. They had very likely reproduced and formed a chorus. Back then, Sherman had been so farsighted! Her little courtyard and her house were seething with excitement: it was such delightful weather. A couple of days ago, Amy had blurted out, “Your home is also a Peculiar Hostel.” Those words made Liujin’s mind run wild. She couldn’t help it. At this moment, she was hoping that Uncle Qiming would show up. Then they could eat together. What had he been doing? Loafing around in the city?

  After tidying up the kitchen, she rested next to the hole in the wall. For quite some time she had sensed the same thing that her father used to sense: namely, that a lot of small things ran out of the house at twilight. She held her hand out toward the hole: she seemed to touch their bodies lightly. She sensed feathers, or something like feathers.

  It was completely dark, and Liujin hadn’t yet turned on the light. She hung the parrot’s cage at the main entrance so that it could smell the flowers in the courtyard. A slender woman wearing a nurse’s uniform walked over in the dark. She was carrying an exquisite lamp that shone with the patina of age. As she approached, Liujin smelled the slight scent of disinfectant.

  “I could hear the noise in your courtyard from the road and walked in here without thinking. How’s your mother, Liujin? Here in your home, time can run backward.”

  She placed the lamp on the ground and concealed herself in the dark. Liujin heard her laugh softly, and a bird pecked at the grapes in the arbor and let them fall to the ground—one after another.

  “I work in the hospital that you haven’t once visited for decades. I’m old now, much older than your mama. Back then, the city didn’t yet exist. The hospital came first. I was the charge nurse.”

  Liujin thought the charge nurse had a young voice. She said she was just passing through, and now she had to return to work. She also said there were so many patients that even the basement was full.

  It wasn’t until she left that Liujin realized that the only parts of the charge nurse she’d seen clearly were her feet. They were such pretty feet, encased in white shoes . . . She had actually been able to hear the noise in Liujin’s courtyard from the road. But in fact, tonight her courtyard had been really quiet. What kind of ears did she have? The charge nurse’s words had once again proved one thing that many people had attested to. At this point, Liujin sensed an upsurge of intense emotion. Many small lattices appeared in her mind. And each lattice held rare items.

  “She can do intravenous injections,” the parrot said in an old voice.

  “We have everything here!” Liujin said to the bird.

  “Everything? That’s good.”

  Liujin slept in the heart
of Mother Earth: it was dark and firm. Sleeping next to her was Uncle Qiming. He was talking; it sounded like non-stop buzzing. Liujin could catch only one or two words—very good ones, the kind that make people’s minds feel radiant. Liujin thought, This kind of sleep is so soothing.

  Chapter 14

  LIUJIN AND YING

  It was in Song Feiyuan’s small shop that Liujin ran into Ying. Song Feiyuan had left home, and his son was managing this shop. Liujin had finished eating some shish kebabs when she saw Ying enter. She blinked and took another look. Yes, it was definitely Ying—who else could it be?—though he looked older and a little humpbacked. He sat next to her and said softly, “Ah, it’s you. Are you okay living here alone?”

  Liujin didn’t say she was okay and didn’t say she wasn’t okay, but asked, “Are you still living in the office building? I’d like to visit you. Is that all right?”

  “Sure, but only after dark. I moved to the slope in the open country.”

  Liujin said “Oh,” and then fell silent. Ying ate his mutton fastidiously, not making a sound. His face still looked young, unmarred by the scars of time. What had he been doing the last few years?

  “I live behind the third office building. Will you come?”

  Liujin nodded her head. Only when he left did she notice that he walked unsteadily, his movements like a puppet’s.

  She took the last bus out there. She planned to walk back. When she got off the bus, it was dark and there was no street lamp, so she couldn’t see her surroundings very well. She knew instinctively that this place hadn’t changed much. Walking with the aid of a flashlight, she soon found the third office building. Liujin wasn’t a coward, but she felt a little uneasy because it was dark and quiet all around. She stood on a path in front of the building, not knowing whether to continue. These buildings were much lower than the ones she remembered. No light was on in this building, and it seemed no one was there. She wondered if people worked here even in the daytime.

  Someone was shining a flashlight on the hill: it must be Ying! She turned and walked up a hill that had no path. She took one step after another on barren land. Once, she startled a bird in the weeds, but it flew off without a sound. How strange. The sky must be heavy with clouds, for not a glimmer of light appeared. She guessed it was about eight o’clock in the evening.

  Ying was sitting on a large rock.

  “This rock didn’t exist when you were here last time. It emerged after the earthquake.”

  His voice was as soft and pleasant as before.

  “You must want to ask about the earthquake. Each part of Pebble Town is like an airtight cabin. You couldn’t have felt the earthquake that struck here.”

  The rock was warm. Sitting on it felt good. Liujin pressed her face against the rock next to it. After a while, she found that the rock gave off faint rays of light, much like the light from a luminous watch in the dark. In the middle of the rock was a concave surface. She touched it and got an electric shock.

  “Isn’t anyone in those buildings?” she blurted out.

  “Liujin, it’s been a long time since you last visited here. We’ve had an earthquake. Look: Song Feiyuan! He’s been working here all along.”

  Liujin saw the shadow scurrying past. As he ran, he seemed to be bending down to pick something up. He quickly disappeared. In a place as dark as this, one couldn’t see very far.

  “Uncle Ying, why don’t you tell me about the big change here?”

  “It’s hard to talk about. I’ll just tell you about this rock. This rock didn’t appear suddenly; it emerged slowly. Do you know how large it is? It borders on the neighboring county of Muye! Your mother and I walked in this wilderness a long time ago. At the time, I wanted to go back to my home—Africa. Later, I changed my mind and came to love this marvelous land. You may not know that it was the former institute director’s father who brought me here.”

  As Ying talked, it grew so dark that Liujin couldn’t see him well. She was momentarily taken aback because Ying fell silent and she thought she was all alone in this wilderness. Fortunately, he made another noise. He struck the rock with a little hammer and said he was communicating with his compatriots. He talked with them for a while every night. Liujin bent over the rock and placed her ear on it, but heard no other sounds.

  “Year after year, as soon as it grows light, the scrap collectors show up. Now, the bare contours are all that remain of these buildings. They’ve even knocked out the windows and doors and carried them off. Even so, everything is fine at night: it’s such a beautiful scene. Someone once told me that the scenery on the ruins was the most beautiful, but I didn’t believe it. I’ve slowly discovered how beautiful this place is. Just think—I’ve been here for decades . . . Everything has appeared slowly. Liujin, I’ll go in first. You just sit here for a while.”

  Ying stood up and circled around to the back of the rock wall. Liujin heard a soft “kacha” sound, and Ying disappeared. She touched that wall for a long time. The electric current from inside the concave surface pushed her hands away time and again. The rocks smelled very good, not like the usual smell of rocks. They smelled like wildflowers. The hazy glimmer was also pleasant. Was this the home Ying had made for himself? If so, it was much different from hers. What other weird things might be here? Just as Liujin was about to sit down, she heard Ying say something from behind.

  “It’s a little oppressive tonight: the people of Muye County are riding up on war horses, clouding the air.”

  Ying handed Liujin a bunch of flowers: he said they were the sweet-scented osmanthus. Liujin had never seen them before. Actually, she couldn’t see these, either; she could only smell them. The same scent came from Ying’s body.

  “Uncle Ying, your home should be called ‘Rock Garden,’” said Liujin.

  “But the people of Muye County always make war.” His tone was a little distressed. “Do you want to go in and look around?”

  “Sure.”

  “It’s too late, Liujin. You don’t belong there. You’re a remarkable woman. It’s good enough that you’ve come to my home on such a night. Is it pretty here?”

  “Yes!”

  “Yesterday, I heard the drumbeat of my hometown again. How could I bear to leave here? What do you think? This stone home is the rock garden, as you called it. I’ve waited for decades for it to break through the ground. It came out just for me. When I sit here, I can talk with people living in my hometown whenever I wish. Hey, look! Song Feiyuan is passing by again. How anxious he looks! He stumbled onto my home.”

  Listening to Ying’s charming voice, Liujin thought admiringly that he was much like her mother, but she couldn’t say exactly how they were alike. Could it be that they both hung onto certain things that had never existed? His appeal had nothing to do with sex. It was something much more illusory, like the fluorescent rock that emitted a wildflower fragrance. So many years had passed, and yet he had become more and more charming. Was he the man she’d been longing for?

  Ying urged Liujin to place her hands on the concave surface of the rock. After she forced herself to do that, wave after wave of heat struck every pore of her body. She began to moan with pleasure. After a while, beads of water dripped onto the backs of her hands. It was bizarre: she felt that her hands were thirsty and longing for the beads of water. The sound of an infant’s chortling rose beside her. Ying leaned over to tell her: this infant was her daughter. Liujin thought: I’ve been single my entire life. Where would a daughter have come from? The chortling sound came from inside the rock. Every time Liujin moved a finger, the laughter would come out from inside, as though she were tickling the baby’s chin. Liujin was fully absorbed in this game—and so overjoyed that she forgot all about Ying, who was still beside her.

  It was a long time before Liujin heard Ying’s voice again.

  “I converted the office into a game room. The office is no longer an office; rather, it’s a den of monsters! Gah gah gah, gah gah gah. I dance with African lions there . . .”<
br />
  Ying was gesturing as he spoke; he was very agitated. Liujin sensed that he was a little worried: he seemed anxious to finish something. In the north, the clouds dispersed, revealing a little of the sky. Two large stars were gleaming. All of a sudden, the night had darkened. What past events was this man—this man with the seething heart—entangled in? Liujin couldn’t read his mind. But this place was truly inspiring!

  “Ah—” Liujin sighed deeply.

  She pulled her hands out of that “den of monsters” and smelled them. She smelled the heavy sweet scent of wildflowers.

  All of a sudden, a light was turned on in the attic of the office building in front of them on the right, but it was turned off just as quickly.

  “Song Feiyuan.” Ying said, “What an utterly evil character!”

  Liujin heard the admiration in his tone. And the astonishment, too. Liujin was also surprised: this neighbor’s energy had become enigmatic. Perhaps he was carrying out the plan he had once discussed with Sherman in the poplar grove. Liujin couldn’t help saying, “He is the intruder of life!”

  Ying applauded.

  “I need to go, Uncle Ying,” Liujin said uneasily. Actually, she didn’t want to leave.

  “Oh, yes, it’s time. It’s pleasant to walk at night. You didn’t bring a flashlight, did you? I could give you this flashlight, but I think you’ll enjoy it more if you walk in the dark. Bye!”

  He shone the flashlight to point out the path, and Liujin set out. She was soon engulfed in darkness. She actually had brought a flashlight, but she couldn’t remember where she left it. Behind her, Ying called loudly, “Great! Wonderful!”

  Liujin couldn’t see anything, not even the direction she was taking. But as she walked ahead blindly, a strange thing occurred: she wasn’t stepping on wasteland, but on a cobblestone path. Really. A road underfoot! She tried walking fast, walking at random, walking sideways—and she always stayed on that road. She sat down and touched the cobblestones. She could still faintly hear Ying’s voice: “Great . . .”