[Chapter 8]
1
After school, when returning home, Lai Chun saw Wen Yan moving out a small wooden desk by himself, studying and doing homework in the living room. Lai Chun walked over lightly and stood beside Wen Yan for quite a while.
Lai Chun asked kindly: “Wen Yan, on your first day going to school, did the teacher assign anything?”
Wen Yan repeated in full the teacher’s instructions from the homeroom teacher.
Lai Chun encouraged him: “If you don’t want to repeat a year, you must work hard yourself!”
Wen Yan said: “Many classmates bring dictionaries to class. I also want to buy one. Mom, is that okay?”
Lai Chun said: “Since it is needed for schoolwork, of course Mom will give you money to go to town and buy it.”
After taking a bath, Wen Yan took out “Three Hundred Tang Poems” and tried to read silently in the newly learned Mandarin in the living room. However, he seemed unable to read smoothly and repeatedly encountered characters he could not pronounce. He could not help but recall what Teacher Wang Wenbo once said: Tang poems should be recited in Hokkien pronunciation in order to express their musical beauty. But since Teacher Wang, Qingyun sister, Zhang Haiqing, and Teacher Chen Ruyu all left Lukou together a few months ago, there had been no news of them.
2
Whenever there was an important event in Lukou village, such as temple fairs, welcoming deities, or religious rituals, the village clerk would come out and beat a gong. At this moment, hearing the gong sound, Lai Chun, who was trimming tea bushes in the tea garden, put down her pruning shears and felt a bad premonition in her heart.
“Village Chief Liao has instructed that everyone must listen carefully. Some villagers from our village who were previously arrested by the authorities have already been executed. Their bodies are now at the foot of the mountain, and ox carts will soon transport them. Families with men taken away should hurry to Village Chief Liao’s house to identify them.”
Lai Chun said: “Mom, take a rest. A-Xi and I will go take a look.”
Lai Chun gestured twice toward A-Yuan, who immediately understood and put down his hoe to follow. Lai Chun and A-Xi ran in front, Uncle Mo followed behind, and they rushed toward Village Chief Liao’s house without looking back. The ox carts had just arrived at the gate. Five corpses lay flat on five ox carts. Each body was wrapped in white gauze like a spring roll, covered with two or three straw mats, and tied with a small cloth strip with names written on it.
Lai Chun and A-Xi searched anxiously. Unfortunately—Lame Lian Fu was indeed among them.
“Lian Fu! Lian Fu! How could it be you?” Lai Chun cried on the spot and fainted immediately after speaking.
“Chun! Chun! Stay strong!” A-Xi also burst into tears upon seeing this.
“A-Yuan! A-Yuan, quickly come help carry your sister-in-law up!” A-Xi gestured urgently while calling A-Yuan over.
Seeing his sister-in-law faint, A-Yuan immediately stepped forward to support her from behind, while A-Xi pulled Lai Chun up from the front.
“Come, I’ll hold her. You carry her up.” A-Xi quickly made a gesture of carrying someone on the back with both hands. A-Yuan understood and immediately squatted in front of Lai Chun. A-Xi moved behind Lai Chun and supported her. A-Yuan carried her up, muttering sounds in his mouth, asking whether his sister-in-law was alright and whether she needed to be sent to the hospital immediately.
A-Xi said: “Your sister-in-law is fine. She will regain consciousness later.”
Dozens of villagers formed a winding procession along the curved mountain road. The road rose and fell steeply, forming a long undulating human dragon. Low male voices mixed with high-pitched female cries, and wailing echoed along the road like a full choir performing a mixed chorus. Lai Chun was awakened by the mournful cries. A-Xi asked A-Yuan to put her down, and the two supported her on both sides as they followed the procession forward. Uniformed police led the way, while several unfamiliar plainclothes officers mixed among the crowd, monitoring the villagers’ movements.
The convoy passed the fork in front of Lian Fu’s home. The cart driver lifted Lian Fu’s body from the ox cart platform. Village Chief Liao Qingwen, who accompanied them, took out the death certificate.
“Lai Chun, please put your fingerprint on the document, and you can take your husband Fu Ge’s body home. Please accept my condolences.”
Lai Chun pressed her fingerprint on the document, and the village chief handed the body over to the family. Lian Fu’s body was carried into the main hall by four cart drivers and placed on a temporarily dismantled door panel, supported underneath by two benches.
Yu Wenyan witnessed the entire process of his father’s relocation with his own eyes. Deep scars were left in his young heart:
“Mother lay on top of Father’s already stiff and cold body. Her lower body knelt on the ground. Tears fell like rain, but she did not cry out loud. For more than ten days of anxiety, she seemed to have already prepared for the worst. Kneeling at Father’s feet, I looked up at Mother. She kept using her long sleeves to wipe away tears and mucus. The feet of a farmer had a layer of black, iron-like calluses on the soles, and within the skin one could clearly see several chaotic cracks. Father’s pair of lame feet, barefoot, had walked daily along ridges of weeds and gravel, through muddy mountain paths on rainy days. Now they lay silently on the door panel, like a pair of bamboo chopsticks left forgotten on a dining table, soles pointing toward the sky facing the hall door. I knew this was Father’s protest against the heavens.”
Zhou Tian, supported by her mute son A-Yuan, came from outside the door into the main hall. Seeing Lian Fu’s body, she collapsed onto the muddy floor and began crying loudly, calling Lian Fu’s name while saliva flowed from her mouth.
“Lian Fu! My unlucky life! You died so miserably! Lian Fu…”
Lai Chun came to her senses, stood up and walked into the kitchen. Shortly after, she brought out a basin of clean water, with a new towel floating in it. Lai Chun unbuttoned Lian Fu’s shirt and removed the shirt stained with a pool of blood. The bloodstain spread outward from a torn hole like a blooming purple rose. Lai Chun gently wiped Lian Fu’s body, from face, behind the ears, neck, to back, and finally chest.
On the left chest there was a mangled wound. The star-shaped injury had already been clotted with black blood, and several broken ribs protruded outward.
Lai Chun’s movements were slow. A-Xi, standing nearby, helped turn Lian Fu’s body over. Every movement was clearly imprinted in Wen Yan’s eyes. That purple rose-like wound was deeply engraved in his childhood memory, never withering. That night, Wen Yan knelt at his father’s feet. He did not know how long had passed, and it seemed he heard his grandmother’s crying, becoming hoarse like a starving old crow. In a daze, it seemed Uncle Mo A-Yuan carried him back to his room to sleep.
3
The ox cart moved along the mountain road. Wen Yan, A-Cai, A-Pao, Bao Feng, Yu Tang, Yu Hui, and Ai Yu, this group of children from Lukou village, crowded on the cart.
Wen Yan said: “A-Cai and A-Pao, the three of us have no fathers. We must always remember this. I have an idea. From now on, no matter where we are, when we hear the national anthem or slogans being shouted, we will not sing or shout along.”
A-Cai said: “Okay! Those bad people killed my father. I also don’t want to sing their national anthem.”
Wen Yan continued: “Not only that, when we encounter the national flag, we will never remove our hats or salute.”
A-Pao said: “Okay! Okay! Let’s settle it. Whoever breaks the promise is Pigsy and must treat everyone to candy.”
Yu Tang kindly reminded them: “You can’t do this at school. If teachers find out, you will be punished.”
Wen Yan said angrily: “Your father is still alive, so you can say that. You are not on our side. You don’t understand our pain.”
Yu Hui said: “My brother is just kindly reminding you. Whether you listen or not is up to you.”
Bao Feng said: “Actually, I also don’t want to sing the national anthem, but I don’t want to be punished by the teacher either, so I just follow along casually and sing a few lines.”
A-Pao asked: “Wen Yan, can you make the principal or teachers not notice whether we are singing the national anthem?”
Wen Yan said: “Then just open your mouth and pretend to sing. Just don’t make a sound.”
A-Pao asked again: “What if the principal or teacher asks why I am not making a sound?”
Wen Yan said: “You are really stupid. Can’t you just say you have a cold and your throat hurts, so you can’t make a sound?”
The ox cart arrived at the school, and the children jumped off one after another.
Wen Yan warned: “Yu Tang and Yu Hui, the agreement we made on the cart just now must not be told to others. If you betray us, we will no longer be friends with you.”
Yu Tang said: “I’m not that bored. Why would I tell others something like this?”
4
At the morning assembly flag-raising time, Wen Yan, A-Cai, and A-Pao insisted on not singing the national anthem. They only opened their mouths but made no sound. Teacher Liu Meiqi noticed something unusual and walked to their side, but the three still refused to make a sound.
Teacher Meiqi asked: “What are you three doing? Why is there no sound when you sing the national anthem?”
The three lowered their heads and remained silent.
Teacher Meiqi asked again: “What? Is it so difficult to sing the national anthem out loud?”
They still remained silent.
Teacher Meiqi said: “You three come to the office later.”
Teacher Meiqi walked away. A-Pao whispered: “We’re finished! The teacher found out.”
Wen Yan said: “What are you afraid of? Who says we must sing the national anthem?”
A-Cai said: “Don’t worry. At worst, we just get punished to stand.”
5
Wen Yan, A-Cai, and A-Pao came to the office.
Teacher Meiqi asked: “What is going on with you three? Why didn’t you sing the national anthem?”
Wen Yan said: “Not singing the national anthem won’t cause anything.”
A-Pao said: “The national anthem is hard to sing. We don’t know how.”
Teacher Meiqi said: “The national anthem is indeed not easy to sing, but that is not a reason for you not to sing. I feel that the three of you seem to have made an agreement. There must be a reason.”
The three looked at each other without speaking.
Teacher Meiqi asked: “What? You don’t want to say?”
Wen Yan said: “There is no reason.”
Unable to get any explanation, the teacher said: “Go stand in the corridor as punishment.”
The three stood in the corridor, and passing students mocked them with amusement.
Student A: “Those three are being punished to stand!”
Student B: “Maybe they were caught speaking Taiwanese.”
Student C: “Maybe they swore at someone, so they were punished.”
A-Pao stuck out his tongue and made faces at the onlookers.
Yu Tang, Yu Hui, Bao Feng, and Ai Yu walked over together.
Yu Tang said: “You got caught by the teacher, huh?”
Yu Hui asked: “Do you like being punished to stand so much?”
Wen Yan said: “Yes! We like standing. What’s it to you?”
A-Cai laughed foolishly: “The corridor has good air, and we can watch classmates play ball. I like being punished to stand.”
Bao Feng said: “Wen Yan, you’d better not make the teacher angry anymore!”
Ai Yu said: “Yes, being punished to stand is very embarrassing.”
6
Ai Yu and Wen Yan got off the ox cart together. At Wen Yan’s home entrance, they ran into Lai Chun and A-Xi.
Lai Chun asked: “Wen Yan, did you listen carefully in class today?”
Wen Yan said: “Yes, Mom.”
Ai Yu said: “Wen Yan, A-Cai, and A-Pao were called by the teacher to stand in the corridor as punishment.”
Wen Yan shot Ai Yu a fierce glare: “You are really nosy!”
Ai Yu did not want to invite trouble, so she turned around and left with her mother A-Xi.
Lai Chun angrily questioned: “Why were you punished to stand? Did you fight with classmates?”
Wen Yan said: “No. The three of us agreed that during flag-raising we would not sing the national anthem. When the teacher found out, she called us to the office for questioning. We did not want to explain the reason, so we were punished to stand.”
Lai Chun said helplessly: “If that’s the case, Mom can’t say anything to you.”
7
A-Cai and Bao Feng went home together and put down their schoolbags.
Bao Feng complained to her mother Ai Jiao: “Mom, I’m telling you, A-Cai didn’t sing the national anthem today, and he, Wen Yan, and A-Pao were called to stand in the corridor by the teacher.”
Ai Jiao stopped knitting and asked confusedly: “How can that be? Not singing the national anthem means you get punished to stand?”
Bao Feng said: “The three of them agreed not to sing the national anthem or salute the flag.”
Old Chen Huo Lu, who was making tea nearby, said excitedly: “A-Cai, you kids have spirit! Grandpa supports you! Bao Feng, from now on you also follow A-Cai. You are not allowed to sing the national anthem.”
Ai Jiao complained: “Dad, how can you teach the children like this?”
Huo Lu pulled A-Cai closer: “What’s wrong with what I’m teaching? Sing what national anthem? How did their fathers and uncles die? How can that grievance be forgotten?”
Sensing her father-in-law’s anger, Ai Jiao tactfully said: “Dad, whatever makes you happy is fine.”
8
Wen Yan, A-Cai, A-Pao, and Bao Feng were standing in the corridor as punishment when Ai Yu walked over.
Ai Yu said: “You should just sing the national anthem. Then you wouldn’t be punished to stand.”
Wen Yan said: “Ai Yu, you are not on our side.”
A-Pao said: “You should stand here with us!”
Ai Yu said: “Do you really like being punished to stand that much?”
Wen Yan said: “Isn’t your father also killed?”
Ai Yu lowered her head and silently stood beside the four of them. Class teacher Liu Meiqi walked over.
Liu Meiqi said: “Ai Yu, I didn’t ask you to stand here. Come, go back to class.”
Ai Yu: “Oh.”
Just as Ai Yu was about to leave, the three boys glared at her and made a warning sound: “Hm!”
Ai Yu said: “Teacher, I’d better stay here.”
Liu Meiqi said: “Forget it. If you want to stand, then stand.”
Teacher Meiqi ignored the five standing in the corridor and walked into the classroom to teach.
During break time, Meiqi went to the office.
Teacher Lin said: “Meiqi, why did you punish five students to stand at once?”
Liu Meiqi shook her head and smiled bitterly: “They are mischievous kids. If they like standing, let them stand.”
Liao Yu Tang entered the office holding a stack of notebooks.
“Reporting!” Yu Tang placed the exercise books on the teacher’s desk and turned to leave.
“Wait, Yu Tang, I have something to ask you,” Meiqi called him.
Yu Tang turned back: “Yes, teacher.”
“I know you are good friends with Wen Yan. Do you know why they don’t make any sound when singing the national anthem?”
“Because their fathers were arrested and executed. They are unhappy,” Yu Tang said.
Liu Meiqi asked in shock: “Executed? Why would that happen?”
Yu Tang asked: “Teacher, have you heard about what happened in Lukou Village?”
Liu Meiqi said: “Lukou Village? Oh, I saw it in the newspaper. So that’s what happened… Yu Tang, tell them they don’t need to stand anymore. Go back to class.”
Yu Tang returned to the corridor and faced the five students.
Yu Tang said: “Teacher says you don’t need to stand anymore.”
A-Cai asked confusedly: “Why? I actually like standing!”
Wen Yan asked: “What happened?”
Yu Tang said: “The teacher just asked me why you didn’t sing the national anthem. I told her what happened in our village.”
Wen Yan thought: “So from now on, not singing the national anthem shouldn’t lead to punishment anymore.”
A-Pao complained: “So quickly it’s over? Not fun at all.”
The group returned to class.
9
During recess, a group of children from other provinces surrounded them and insulted Wen Yan and the others in Mandarin.
Boy A pointed at Wen Yan and mocked: “Your father is a spy, your mother is a spy, you are little spies, your whole family are spies.”
Wen Yan angrily retorted: “You are the spy! You dead mainland pig!”
Boy B said: “Little spy runs fast, sitting on top is an old demon! Doesn’t bathe, ugly monster, isn’t that strange?”
The group laughed. A-Pao stepped forward and shouted: “You mainland pigs are the monsters!”
Boy C said: “This Taiwanese stray dog is calling us pigs! Does he deserve a beating?”
“Damn! Your mother’s fault!” A-Pao, enraged, rushed forward and punched the boy in the face. They began wrestling.
Boy B shouted: “The spies are attacking! Let’s get them!”
The surrounding children rushed in. The big A-Cai ran forward: “A-Pao, don’t be afraid, I’m here!”
Wen Yan also shouted: “Good! I’m in too!” and rushed in.
Yu Tang, Yu Hui, Bao Feng, and Ai Yu tried to stop the fight.
Bao Feng said: “Stop fighting!”
Yu Hui said: “I’ll go report the teacher!”
A-Pao shouted: “Yu Tang, you’re not helping us? That’s not loyal!”
Yu Tang rolled up his sleeves: “Fine! I’m in!”
At that moment, Discipline Director Gao arrived.
Gao pointed at the children and shouted: “What are you fighting for!”
Boy A said: “Director, we are fighting a group of spies!”
Gao shouted sternly: “All of you stop immediately!”
Gao rushed in and pulled both sides apart.
10
Wen Yan, A-Cai, A-Pao, and Yu Tang were holding buckets, squatting in the corridor of the discipline office when Teacher Liu Meiqi came over.
Liu Meiqi asked: “You four got into a fight again?”
A-Pao said: “Teacher, some mainland kids called us spies.”
Liu Meiqi said: “Even so, you shouldn’t fight!”
Wen Yan said: “They bullied us!”
Liu Meiqi asked: “Which grade and class were they from?”
Yu Tang said: “They seemed to be third or fourth graders.”
Liu Meiqi, frustrated, went into the discipline office to find Director Gao.
Liu Meiqi said: “Director Gao, why are only my students being punished?”
Gao said: “Because they were the ones who started it.”
Liu Meiqi said: “No. I just asked. The older students first bullied and insulted the younger ones.”
Gao said: “Whoever hits first is wrong. It doesn’t matter what grade.”
Liu Meiqi said: “Do you know why they fought?”
Gao said: “I don’t care what reason they have for fighting.”
Liu Meiqi said unhappily: “They called my students spies. That’s not right, is it?”
Gao thought for a moment, not wanting to escalate the situation, and said: “Fine, fine. Take your students back.”
11
During class time, Liu Meiqi spoke to the whole class.
Liu Meiqi said: “Students, when you are bullied by upper-grade or middle-grade students, you must never use violence. You must first report to the teacher. Do you understand?”
A-Pao said: “Reporting is useless. Fight first and talk later!”
Liu Meiqi glared at A-Pao, her voice stern: “Liao En Bao, what did you say?”
A-Pao said: “Reporting to the teacher, nothing!”
The class bell rang.
Liu Meiqi said: “Alright, break time. Class monitor, give the command.”
“Stand up. Attention. Salute.”
The whole class stood up: “Thank you, teacher.”
The students left the classroom one after another. Wen Yan was just about to walk out of the door when he was suddenly stopped by Meiqi.
Liu Meiqi said: “Yu Wenyan, come here for a moment.”
Wen Yan walked to Teacher Meiqi’s side.
Wen Yan asked: “Teacher, what is it?”
Liu Meiqi said: “Wen Yan, I know you are usually very well-behaved, but recently why are you always causing trouble with A-Pao?”
Wen Yan defended himself: “We weren’t causing trouble. The other side called us spies first.”
Liu Meiqi said: “I already know this. That’s why I want you to persuade A-Pao and A-Cai not to keep getting into trouble for me.”
Wen Yan hesitated: “Teacher, I…”
Liu Meiqi said: “Wen Yan, what else do you want to say?”
Wen Yan said: “I won’t say it.”
Liu Meiqi said: “Alright then, go and have your break. Your shirt pocket is torn—remember to sew it when you get home.”
“Thank you, teacher.” Wen Yan left the classroom.
12
Wen Yan returned home. Lai Chun saw that the chest pocket of Wen Yan’s clothes was torn.
Lai Chun asked: “Is your pocket torn because you fought with someone?”
Wen Yan kept his head down and did not speak.
Lai Chun raised her voice: “I’m asking you—can’t you speak?”
Lai Chun casually pulled out a thin bamboo strip from a bamboo broom: “You child are becoming more and more stubborn. I ask you and you don’t answer—are you trying to become a gangster?”
Lai Chun grabbed Wen Yan’s hand and hit him while scolding: “I send you to school to spend money so you can fight? What are you studying?”
Grandmother Zhou Tian rushed out and pulled Wen Yan behind her.
Zhou Tian said: “Our Yu family only has this grandson. Why are you hitting him?”
Lai Chun angrily said: “He fought at school and tore his clothes. Am I not allowed to teach him?”
Zhou Tian said: “If you speak to him nicely, he will listen. There is no need to hit him.”
Zhou Tian turned and asked Wen Yan: “Then why did you fight at school?”
Wen Yan said: “Those mainland kids called us spies!”
Zhou Tian praised him: “That’s right. You should fight them! We cannot accept that kind of humiliation!”
Lai Chun said: “Mother, how can you teach him like this?”
Zhou Tian said firmly: “That’s just how it is. When bullied, you must fight back!”
Lai Chun said: “Enough, enough. Take off your clothes, I’ll mend them later.”
13
On the weekend, Wen Yan and Ai Yu carried tea baskets on their backs and walked along the mountain road toward the tea fields, where they met Yu Tang and Yu Hui.
Yu Tang asked: “Wen Yan, we came to invite you all to go play in the river.”
Wen Yan said: “No, we have to help in the tea fields. You go by yourselves.”
Yu Hui said: “If you don’t go, I don’t want to go either. Wen Yan, I’ll go to the tea fields with you. Teach me how to pick tea leaves.”
Yu Tang asked: “Alright, then let’s go to the tea fields.”
The four of them went together to the tea fields.
14
At the tea fields, the four saw Zhou Tian, Lai Chun, and A-Xi picking tea leaves.
Lai Chun asked: “Wen Yan, why aren’t you staying home studying and doing homework?”
Wen Yan said: “Mom, I already finished all my schoolwork. The tea fields need help, so I brought my classmates here.”
Yu Tang and Yu Hui greeted Lai Chun and A-Xi: “Grandma, auntie, we are here to help pick tea leaves.”
Yu Tang quietly asked Wen Yan: “Did your mother beat you after you went home yesterday?”
Wen Yan rolled up his sleeve and showed the bruises on his arm to Yu Tang: “Of course.”
Yu Tang also showed his palm: “I was also beaten. I wonder if A-Pao and A-Cai were beaten too?”
Wen Yan said: “Tomorrow morning on the ox cart, just ask them and you’ll know.”
15
The next morning, on A-Yuan’s ox cart.
Yu Tang asked: “A-Cai and A-Pao, when you went home yesterday, were you beaten by the adults?”
A-Pao said: “I was beaten on the butt. I’ll show you.”
A-Pao happily took off his pants to show the marks.
Yu Hui scolded: “A-Pao, you are so shameless—taking your pants off in front of girls.”
A-Cai said proudly: “My grandfather said I fought well and even gave me one dollar.”
Wen Yan said: “A-Cai, your grandfather really dotes on you.”
A-Pao said: “A-Cai, since we all saw it, you have to treat us. Buy us ice buns.”
A-Cai said: “No problem.”
Ai Yu said: “You got beaten and you’re still so happy. You are really strange.”
A-Pao said unwillingly: “We don’t want to be bullied by those mainland kids, of course we have to fight them.”
