Calls Across the Pacific (19 page)

Many young people didn't get a chance for higher education during the past ten years. All of them took the exams at the same time! You can imagine how keen the competition was!

Tang and I have decided to get married on June 17. We'll have a simple wedding ceremony. A couple of relatives and close friends will come over for happy candy. I assume you can join us.

I have also heard some news through the grapevine. It seems that wronged cases during the Cultural Revolution may get corrected. Hopefully, this means your father's name will be cleared.

I'm awaiting good news from you and Roger.

Enclosed is a letter from the Number Five Military Farm. It arrived here last month. I hope I didn't delay it for too long.

Love,

Your mother

Nina opened the second enclosed letter and smoothed it out before reading.

Jan. 28, 1978

Dear Nina,

How was your trip back to Canada? I should've written to you earlier. In fact, I started a letter before but didn't finish it.

You might be interested to know a little more about the American spy incident during your recent visit.

After you and Huguo left, we cleaned the garage. The brigade leader with his militia arrived shortly afterward. They asked where the American spy was. We told them we didn't even see one hair belonging to any American, but we had a visitor from Guangzhou who had come to Kunming for an important meeting with the municipal government. Then we explained that our visitor had just left for the meeting.

The leader asked, “Why did she ride on the tractor without her own car and driver if she is that important?'

Our answer was, “She didn't intend to show off. Remember, Chairman Mao rode a horse in Yan'an. Dare you think he isn't important?”

The leader hesitated. He might have remembered seeing Mao on a horse in a movie. But he still asked, “Why did people say she was from America?”

We said, “Rumours always make things intriguing and mysterious. You're very knowledgeable and have a wonderful memory. Do you remember Chairman Mao shaking hands with the American President Nixon?”

At this moment, Kali's hubby — you may still remember that local peasant — knelt down. He said, “My wife's friend is gone. Could you let my wife go? I swear I heard them sing the songs of Mao's quotations yesterday. If my wife leaves me because of you, my children will have to call your wife, ‘Grandma,' and they'll go live with you.”

The leader then looked at him, dismissed his group, and they went away. It was a miracle.

Since Mao's death, earth-shaking changes have taken place. The Gang of Four was arrested. Many of us sent-down youths had a chance to take the entrance exams last December. Huguo got accepted to a college in Kunming. I'll try next year.

By the way, we've heard that Wang lives in Hong Kong now. It is said he's been doing foreign trade business in Shek O. He may become a millionaire. That'll be our pride.

I'm sending the letter to your mother's address. Hopefully, you'll read it someday.

Yours truly,

Dongfang and Huguo

That evening, Nina and Roger sat in the living room. She interpreted the letters for him, and he listened with interest. He commented on the story from the letter. “It's interesting about his kids calling the leader's wife, ‘Grandma.' Is that a kind of curse to make a woman older?”

Nina smiled. “In rural areas, a grandmother has a duty to take care of motherless kids. The leader didn't want his wife to take on the responsibility of raising the offspring of that peasant.

“A very smart guy,” Roger nodded. “And what does ‘happy candy' mean?”

“It's some nicely wrapped candy that people use to treat guests at a wedding. Offering it means to tie the knot.”

Roger remembered reading something about Chinese wedding traditions, so he asked, “As a bride, will your mother sit in a palanquin?”

“No, that's an old tradition. Mao and his Party abolished that custom.”

“Will she hold a wedding reception?”

“No.”

Roger grinned. “Well, then, I guess your mother is having a hippie wedding, simple and informal.”

“Maybe,” Nina smirked. “I'm thinking about going back to China for my mother's wedding. Also, I can do some more research for my book.”

“China is at an important historical turning point,” said Roger. “It is probably an exciting time to go. If I understood and spoke Chinese, I'd go with you.”

Nina sensed Roger's concern. “I'll be okay.”

“Is your book going to be a memoir?” he asked

“No, not really. I want to write about my generation's ups and downs more than about myself. Many of those who lived in Mao's society are still not free enough to write about their lives during that regime. Still today, people are not allowed to complain about the Cultural Revolution or the Communist Party. But I have the opportunity to do so and these human stories must be told.” Nina softened her voice. “I'm sure someday you will see China in person.”

“Maybe it's not too late for a thirty-three-year-old man to learn the language.”

“Where there's a will there's a way,” Nina said. “I can teach you if you're interested.”

“Don't expect me to write in Chinese.” He chuckled. “I'd be thrilled if I could understand some basic Chinese. In case…” He paused and looked at her.

“In case what?”

“So, I won't be in the dark when you speak Chinese to your child.”

“What child? Where?” Puzzled, she looked into his face.

“Will you marry me?” Roger asked, getting down on one knee. “In other words, shall we give out our own happy candy?”

“Oh, Roger, of course I will marry you,” Nina said, throwing her arms around his neck. “But I need to go back to China first,” she said, holding both his hands. “I would like to collect the firsthand information I need for my book. I hope that's okay with you.”

“Well, I don't want there to be any chance of me losing you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “You know, just in case you meet a male hippie during your trip. At least you will travel as my fiancée.” With a smile, he lifted her in his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

19.
BROKEN-DOWN SHOE AND FRACTURED LEG

N
INA ARRIVED IN
Guangzhou two days before her mother's wedding, but the following day, Dr. Tang and her mother would still go to work. There were some changes in her mother's apartment. The walls had been repainted limestone white; two new wicker chairs flanked a small rosewood table; a framed photograph of the couple lay on the dressing table.

Nina's present to the newlyweds was a microwave, which she had brought with her. When her mother returned from work, Nina helped pack the happy candy in small plastic bags, which the couple would pass along to their colleagues when they returned to work after a three-day wedding leave.

On Saturday evening of the wedding day, Nina's mother invited her nephew, Rei with his wife, and Rei's grandmother — her only relatives in the city — to join them. The other guests were Dr. Tang's two children, his sister, and her husband. Both Nina's mother and Tang did not intend to make a fuss over their wedding, so they had each invited only two friends. It would be a simple celebration with family and close friends.

At the end of the ceremony, the new couple stood and held hands. The bridegroom had a wide smile on his face that smoothed away his wrinkles. The bride wore a pink silk flower clipped to her short hair, and her eyes beamed. Together, they sang a song from 1950s, which Nina remembered hearing as a child:

The revolutionary man is forever young

Like a pine tree green all year around

No fear for the thunder that shakes the ground

He stands straight even if rocks rebound…

The couple smiled at their audience. The song had spoken of the fullness in their hearts, which had survived ten years of hardship and depression, and were now filled with joy. Nina thought the ceremony had been simple and beautiful, almost revolutionary-style.
Was it also hippie-style like Roger suggested?
Nina wondered.

After the gathering, Nina went to stay at Rei's grandmother's home. The newlyweds had only three days for their honeymoon, and Nina did not want to disturb them.

The next evening, she visited Liya, but she was not home. Liya's parents told Nina that their daughter had become a student in the Department of Chinese Literature at Pearl River University and was currently living in a dorm room on the campus.

The two friends met on the university campus and held each other's hands as they swirled about on the lawn. Liya showed Nina around her university and explained everything that had happened since they had last seen each other. In the reading room of the university library, Liya turned to a page of the
Sheep City Evening News.
“This article may interest you,” Liya said, looking at her watch. “Hang around here and read this over. I must go to a student meeting now. I'll be back in an hour.”

The headline was “Student Suspended.” The author started the story with questions: “How was Fangren Li (pseudonym) caught red-handed? Why did she steal the forbidden fruit?

“Li was a student from the Department of Chinese Language at a local university. According to her classmates, the quiet Li has always kept her distance from others. She had no close friends. Often, her bed was unoccupied. Her roommates merely assumed that she frequently went back to her parents' home in town.

“One afternoon, a woman in her late twenties trudged into the main office in the university's administration building. In a dark blue, floral-print blouse and baggy pants, she carried a piece of baggage and a wicker basket in each hand. When the woman visitor inquired about Lutou Chu's address at the front desk, the office worker asked her, ‘Who are you?'

“‘I'm his wife,' answered the visitor.

“‘What are you talking about?' Flabbergasted, the clerk said, ‘He is single.'

“‘He's married. I'm his wife.' Gasping, the young woman's round face was long and red. She raised her voice, ‘I have a child with him, too.'

“‘Okay.' The worker gave her a pen and a sheet of paper. ‘Please write down his name. In case I mistook your words.'

“The unknown wife jotted down her husband's name and said her husband worked in the admissions office.

“The clerk examined the name written down by the visitor, then she copied down his address on a slip of paper. A contented look on her face, the woman loaded the heavy canvas pack on her shoulder and grasped the woven basket with her hand. She trekked across the campus looking for the address the clerk had given her. An hour later, she located the three-storey building. Despite the tiring journey, the wife became excited when she reached her husband's apartment — also her home. Two steps at a time, she mounted the stairs to the top floor without stopping though her shoulder ached from the pressure of the fully loaded pack, and her legs were sore from the long walk.

“She knocked on the door, knowing how surprised her husband would be to see her there. Just thinking about being in his arms thrilled her from head to toe. But no one answered the door. After she laid her pack and basket on the floor, she sat down to wait. Light radio music wafted through the air; as she listened, she became convinced that the music was coming from inside her husband's apartment.
Is he sick and can't get up?
she thought and got worried. She stood and pressed the side of her head against the door. What did she hear? The giggling of a woman and the voice of a man — it was her husband talking from the inside.

“
She immediately thought something was wrong
and so she banged on the door with her fists. ‘Open the door! Lutou Chu!' she hollered.

“The door of the next apartment opened. A woman's head came out. She asked, ‘What're you doing?'

“The mad wife ignored the question. She started to kick the door. Then the door opened a crack. Chu stretched his head out. ‘Who is it?'

“The woman picked up her pack and basket and pushed her way in. ‘It's me, your wife,' she said loudly.

“Chu collapsed on the floor.

“The wife saw a younger woman sitting on the edge of the bed trying to fasten the top button on her blouse. Rage turned the wife's face a livid purple. She threw the bag at her husband and grabbed an egg from the wicker bin she'd just placed on the floor. She hurled the egg at her rival and the younger woman ducked. It cracked against the bed's headboard and the splashed yolk dripped onto the bed's sheets. Meanwhile, the angry wife slapped the young woman's ashen face. ‘You broken-down shoe! How dare you sleep with my husband?' She thrust her head into her rival's breasts, like a bull with horns pushing against its opponent. She hated to imagine her husband's hands on the broken-down shoe's breasts instead of hers.

“The girl was caught red-handed. She pushed the wife away, crying out, ‘I don't believe he's married to such a barbarian.'

“The woman picked up a bra on the floor and used it to whip the captive. ‘Sell your giant ass to other men!' roared the enraged wife.

“Chu pulled himself up from the floor and grabbed his wife's arm. ‘Let her go. It's my fault,' he begged.

“The defeated young woman darted out of the room, her face hidden under her uncombed hair. She pushed through the onlookers and hastened away.

“An elderly neighbour recognized her and spat with disgust. ‘A student! A broken-down shoe! An unmarried girl lives with a cheating husband. Despicable!'

“Like a skeleton in Chu's closet, Li was exposed in public. But this isn't the end of the story. As an author, I am warning any daredevils who challenge the law and commit bigamy. For a violation of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, Chu was sentenced to two years in prison. The adulterous student was suspended from school forever based on the rule that no student is allowed to have a love affair nor is any student permitted to cohabit with another. In addition, the premarital relationship was immoral.”

The author, it seemed to Nina, thought every female student should learn a big lesson from this story. It was a moralizing “tale” to reinforce the value of marriage and came off as salacious rather than news worthy.

Nina felt some empathy for Li but wondered why the author focused more on the moral lesson and not on the unfairness to the suspended student, She thought about the punished young woman, and sighed. She knew an unmarried woman in a sexual relationship was considered a “broken-down shoe.” That label might stick with Li and affect her forever.

By this logic, Nina herself was a broken-down shoe. Goosebumps appeared on her arms.

Nina wanted to interview this young woman for her book. The subsequent morning, with Liya's help, Nina met the disgraced woman, Fangren Li, whose real name was Qing, in a dim sum restaurant.

Nina ordered a few dishes from the waitress. “Help yourself,” she said to Qing. “It's my treat.”

Qing was in her mid-twenties and had short hair. Her bloodshot eyes stuck out in her pale face. Her fair skin made it hard for Nina to believe she had survived the hot and harsh winds of the rubberwood for five years.

“What else do you want to know about me? The newspaper story has told everyone everything,” said Qing, picking up her chopsticks to eat. “You're from America where there's sexual freedom. There both men and women have the right to choose their lovers, right? He doesn't love his wife. He chose me.”

“You should defend yourself, not him. You do have the right to choose, but Chu doesn't because he's married.” Eyes locking on Qing's, Nina continued. “I'm concerned about you. Do you wish to go back to the university?”

“Yes, but how?”

“Do you think the suspension is fair to you?”

Qing did not answer. With a blank look on her face, she bit into a shrimp dumpling. “That tastes good.” Then she looked at Nina. “Do American students have the right to love whomever they want and get married?”

“Yes, they do.”

“I broke an unfair rule. But I shouldn't be completely suspended from the university. I didn't commit a crime.”

Nina nodded. She told Qing that Liya and some other students disagreed with the university's rule. They wanted to support her. However, Qing needed to speak to the Student Association. They could help her deal with the university authorities, and this unfair regulation could perhaps be changed.

Nina asked, “Can you tell me about yourself? I promise that if I write anything about you, I will use a pseudonym.”

“What am I afraid of? Everybody who's read the paper already knows my reputation.” Her rising brow suggested she did not care about her reputation. “I'll tell you what I went through in the past. It is now an old scar.”

When Nina listened to her story, she remembered bits of her own life from eight years earlier.

At the age of sixteen, in 1970, Qing was sent to a farm in Hainan Province. Like other girls, she had experienced many hardships: poor nutrition and an unsanitary environment, labour-intensive chores such as planting rice and carrying heavy manure loads with a shoulder pole, not to mention illness and lack of food and sleep.

One evening, Fang, the new leader, asked her to meet him in his office to discuss her new assignment with a performance group to spread Maoism. Pleased to be chosen for this easy job instead of cutting the barks of rubber trees to collect latex or labouring in the field, she put on her best outfit: a short-sleeved green blouse and a pair of grey pants — the only garments she had with no patches.

Lighthearted, she walked into the office. Middle-aged Fang sized her up, his heavy-lidded eyes half open. “You have a nice figure. I'll teach you how to use it.” He blew out the oil lamp and pulled her into him. Before she screamed, he warned her, “If you don't go along, I'll tell my superiors that you seduced me.” He pushed her down onto the floor and raped her. After it was over, she sat on the floor, weeping silently in the dark. Fang patted her on the back. “I'm sure you can dance well. Come join the team tomorrow morning.”

Fang had raped several girls using the promise of participating in the performance group, but nobody dared to report him. Once a week, he asked Qing to meet him in his bed. In return, he arranged light workloads for her or assigned her to indoor work. After all, he told her, he liked her best. To evade the more labour intensive work, she had agreed to sleep with him. Later, the boyfriend of another abused girl reported the crime to the higher authorities. Fang was sent away so that Qing and other victims were freed from his control. But even after he was gone, her fellow workers avoided her. She had earned the name, “broken-down shoe.”

“Then some men came to the farm to meet me, thinking that I would be an easy conquest. Well, I guess I needed a man too. After I was accepted into the university and arrived on campus, I met Lutou, and we kind of liked each other right away. I could tell he had affection for me, and he was much better than other men. He doesn't love his wife, he loves me,” said Qing. She took a sip of tea.

“If Lutou's marriage was unhappy, he should have divorced his wife before he started a relationship with you. A married man living with another woman is treated as a bigamist. It's against the law, but this is his problem. Remember? Your purpose is to return to the university.”