Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (12 page)

Xu Sanguan stopped cursing Yile. His voice suddenly grew gentle. “That’s right.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

One day two years later, as He Xiaoyong was walking down the street, he was hit by a truck from Shanghai. He was thrown so hard against a neighboring house that the closed front door was knocked open by the impact, and he came to a stop only on the floor inside.

When the news that He Xiaoyong had been hit by a truck spread through town, Xu Sanguan gloated for a day. It was a hot summer night, and Xu Sanguan, clad in shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt, made the rounds of his neighbors’ houses, saying as he went, “This is what is meant by karma. You get what you deserve. You do something bad and try to pretend that you didn’t do it, but Old Man Heaven always knows exactly what’s going on. And if Old Man Heaven wants to punish you for what you’ve done, don’t think you’ll get away. You might be hit by a truck. You could be walking down the street minding your own business one day when a roof tile falls on your head. Or say you’re crossing the bridge: the bridge might suddenly collapse into the water. Old Man Heaven will find a way. Look at me, for instance. I’m strong, I’m energetic, and my color is good. I’ve lived the life of a poor man and I’ve been through hard times, but I’m healthy. And health is the most important thing of all. Looks like Old Man Heaven’s rewarding me for being good.”

As he spoke, he flexed his arms and legs to show his neighbors his muscles. Then he continued.

“And sure, I’ve been a cuckold for thirteen years, but look at Yile. He and I are very close, even closer than Erle and Sanle. If there’s something good to eat, he always asks me, ‘Dad, do you want some?’ When those brats Erle and Sanle get something good to eat, they never offer me any. You know why Yile is so good to me? It’s because Old Man Heaven’s rewarding me for being good.”

Xu Sanguan concluded, “So people ought to try their best to do good and stay away from doing bad. If you do something bad and don’t change your ways, you’ll end up like He Xiaoyong and be punished by Old Man Heaven. And let me tell you, when Old Man Heaven punishes somebody, he shows no mercy. He’ll take your very life if he feels like it. Look at He Xiaoyong. He’s laid up in the hospital right now, and no one knows if he’ll live or die.

“People like me, who always do good, well, Old Man Heaven remembers us, and every once in a while he’ll throw something nice our way. Take my blood selling, for instance. You all know that I sell blood. Most people in town think selling blood is something to be ashamed of, but in my grandpa’s village they believe that the men who sell blood are stronger than the ones who don’t. Now look at me. I’ve sold blood. Am I the weaker for it? No, of course not. And why not? Because Old Man Heaven’s rewarding me. I’d continue to survive even if I sold blood every day. Blood for me is like a money tree. All I’ve got to do is give myself a little shake, and Old Man Heaven’s bounty rains down on me.”

Xu Yulan was not as happy as her husband to hear that He Xiaoyong had been hit by a truck. She merely acted as if nothing had happened. When it was time to fry dough, she went to fry dough. When it was time to go home and cook dinner, she went home to cook dinner. When it was time to do the laundry, she piled Xu Sanguan and the children’s dirty clothes in a wooden basin and went down to the river. When she heard what had happened to He Xiaoyong, her eyes went wide and her chin gaped open with surprise, but she didn’t smile.

Xu Sanguan was annoyed by her reaction, so she explained, “What’s in it for us if He Xiaoyong gets hit by a truck? If we got a stack of money every time he got hit by a truck, there might be some reason to feel good about it. But we haven’t gotten a single thing. What’s the point of gloating?”

And as Xu Yulan watched Xu Sanguan dart in and out of the neighbors’ places in his sleeveless T-shirt, dispensing his karmic platitudes, she grew annoyed. “If you have something to say about him, go on and say it. But don’t go on and on about it. You were saying the same things yesterday, and you’re repeating them again today, and I suppose you’ll be going on and on about it again tomorrow too. But no matter how bad He Xiaoyong may be, he’s still lying half dead in a hospital bed right now. If you keep going on like this, Old Man Heaven’s going to punish you too.”

This last sentence was a splash of cold water. She was right. If he spent his days taking delight in someone else’s misfortune, Old Man Heaven just might take offense. Xu Sanguan furled in his sails, and from that day on was never again to be seen darting in and out of doors to chat with the neighbors.

HE XIAOYONG was laid up in the hospital for a total of seven days. He was unconscious for the first three days. On the fourth day he opened his eyes, looked around for a moment, and then suddenly lapsed into a coma that lasted for another three days.

The truck had broken his right leg and his left arm. The doctor said the broken bones were the least of his worries. Worse was that he had no way to stem the tide of He Xiaoyong’s internal bleeding. Every day He Xiaoyong’s blood pressure slid up and down the dial. In the morning, after a transfusion, his blood pressure would shoot up to normal. But by evening he would lose more blood, and the mercury would once again plummet down toward the bottom of the dial.

He Xiaoyong’s friends said among themselves, “He Xiaoyong’s blood pressure is shooting up and down every day. It climbs up in the morning and falls back down in the evening. He might survive three or four days of that, but we’re afraid that if this goes on any longer, there will come a time when it refuses to go back up again.”

They said to He Xiaoyong’s woman, “We don’t think there’s anything the doctor can do. All they do every day is stand next to his bed for an hour or two, discussing what they might do. But when all is said and done, He Xiaoyong’s still lying there with an oxygen tube up his nose and a blood-transfusion bottle hanging next to his arm. They’re giving him the same medicine they gave him last week, and he isn’t getting any better.”

They concluded, “We think you ought to go see Mr. Chen over on the west side of town.”

Mr. Chen on the west side of town was an old Chinese herbalist, an oracle, and a fortune-teller.

Mr. Chen said to He Xiaoyong’s woman, “I’ve already prepared a prescription for him. But no matter how much effect the medicine has on his body, it still won’t be strong enough to save his soul. If his soul escapes, there’s no medicine on earth that can stop it from taking flight. When people’s souls take flight, they almost always exit through the chimney. Here’s what you have to do. Tell your son to go up on the roof, sit directly on top of the chimney, and call as loud as he can toward the Western Heaven, ‘Dad, don’t go! Dad, come back!’ That’s all he needs to say. No more and no less; just those two sentences. If he shouts for half an hour or so and He Xiaoyong’s soul heeds the call, he’ll turn around and come back, even if he’s already taken flight. And if he hasn’t yet taken flight, he’ll stay right where he is.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son. All he has is two daughters.”

Mr. Chen said, “Daughters don’t count. As soon as you marry them off to another family, they’re water under the bridge. If you sent one of your daughters up on the roof, her father’s soul wouldn’t be able to hear her, no matter how loud she shouted or how far the sound carried.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son. I haven’t given him a son. All I’ve given him is two daughters. I don’t know what crime I committed in my last life, or what he did in his last life, but we don’t have a son in this life. If He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son, does it mean there’s nothing we can do to save his life?”

He Xiaoyong’s friends said, “Who says He Xiaoyong doesn’t have a son? Isn’t Xu Sanguan’s Yile actually his son?”

AND SO IT WAS that He Xiaoyong’s woman arrived at Xu Sanguan’s door. As soon as the skinny woman caught sight of Xu Yulan, she began to cry. First she stood at the doorstep, wiping her eyes, which were already red from weeping, with a handkerchief. Then she sat down on the doorstep and began to sob in earnest.

Xu Yulan was alone, and when she saw He Xiaoyong’s woman, she wondered what she could possibly be doing by her door. After the woman sat down on her doorstep and began to sob and wail, Xu Yulan began, “And who might this be? Who could be quite so shameless as all that? Rather than crying in the privacy of her own home, she cries on someone else’s doorstep. And she doesn’t just cry. She wails like a cat in heat.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman stopped sobbing long enough to say, “My fate is bitter. My husband, He Xiaoyong, was walking down the street minding his own business, not looking for any trouble, and for no reason at all, he got hit by a truck. He’s been in a coma for seven days, and the doctors at the hospital can’t do anything to save him. Mr. Chen on the west side says that only Yile can save his life, so I’ve come to beg you for a favor.”

Xu Yulan picked up where the other woman had left off. “My fate is sweet. My husband, Xu Sanguan, has never been admitted to the hospital. He’s over forty, and he’s never known what it’s like to sleep in a hospital bed. He’s so strong, he can carry a hundred-pound sack of rice. The rice shop’s almost a mile away, and he doesn’t even need to stop for a break on the way home.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman broke once more into loud wails. “My fate is bitter. He Xiaoyong’s lying in the hospital on the brink of death, and the doctors can’t do anything to help him. Mr. Chen over on the west side can’t help either. Only Yile can save him. If only Yile would climb up on our roof and call his soul back from the brink, he might live. If Yile doesn’t call back his soul, he’ll die for sure. And I’ll be left a widow.”

Xu Yulan said, “My fate is sweet. Everyone says Xu Sanguan will live for a very long time. They say you can see from his face that he’ll be blessed with longevity. If you look at his hands, you’ll see that my Xu Sanguan’s life line runs long and deep. What does that mean? It means that even when he’s over eighty, the King of Hell won’t be able to pull him down to the netherworld, no matter how hard he tries. I’m going to live to a ripe old age as well, but I won’t live as long as Xu Sanguan. He’ll be around to see me off to the netherworld. What’s the worst thing that can happen to a woman? To be widowed, that’s what. How can you get through your days after you’ve been widowed? You have a lot less money than before, that’s for sure. But there’s worse yet. The kids don’t have a father anymore, and there’s no one around to protect them when they get into trouble. And when there’s a big storm and you’re scared of the lightning and the thunder, you won’t have a shoulder to lean on anymore.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman’s sobs grew increasingly jagged. She said to Xu Yulan, “My fate is bitter. I’m begging you to show me some mercy. Let Yile call for He Xiaoyong’s soul. If not for me, do it for Yile’s sake. He is He Xiaoyong’s son, after all.”

Xu Yulan grinned. “Oh! If you had said that from the beginning, I might have let Yile go with you. But you never admitted it until now. And now it’s just too late. Xu Sanguan would never agree now. Think about it. When I came to your house that first time, you yelled and screamed and cursed. He Xiaoyong even hit me. The two of you were riding high then, weren’t you? You never imagined a day like today would come, did you? Xu Sanguan’s right. You have bad karma, and you’re getting exactly what you deserve. Our family has good karma. If you do right, good things will come to you. Look at us. We’re doing better and better. Take a look at my blouse. This is raw silk. I sewed it for myself just last week.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “We’re getting what we deserve. We wouldn’t take Yile because we wanted to save a little money. And we were wrong! He Xiaoyong did wrong, and I’ve suffered along with him. But that’s not important anymore. I’m begging you to take pity on me. Please let Yile save his life. I hate him too, but I can’t help that he’s still my husband, for better or worse. My eyes are so swollen from crying that they hurt. What am I supposed to do if he dies?”

Xu Yulan said, “What will you do? You’ll be a widow, of course.”

XU YULAN said to Xu Sanguan, “He Xiaoyong’s woman came by for a visit. Her eyes were so swollen from crying, they looked like lightbulbs.”

Xu Sanguan asked, “What did she want?”

Xu Yulan said, “She was always very thin, but ever since He Xiaoyong’s accident, she’s wasted away to nearly nothing. She’s as skinny as a pole. You could use her to hang your laundry out to dry.”

Xu Sanguan asked, “What did she want?”

Xu Yulan said, “She hasn’t combed her hair in days, and two of the buttons on her shirt were missing. One of her shoes was clean, but the other one was covered with mud. I wonder what she stepped in.”

Xu Sanguan said, “I’m asking you a question. What did she want from us?”

“It’s like this,” Xu Yulan began. “He Xiaoyong’s in the hospital, and he’s about to die. The doctors can’t do anything more, so she went to see Mr. Chen over on the west side. Mr. Chen couldn’t do anything to save He Xiaoyong’s life either. Mr. Chen said the only person who can save him is Yile. He said Yile has to climb up on their roof and call for He Xiaoyong’s soul to come home. So she came by to look for Yile.”

Xu Sanguan said, “Why doesn’t she climb up on the roof herself? Why doesn’t she have her two daughters climb up on the roof and call for his soul?”

“It’s like this,” Xu Yulan continued. “If she goes up there herself and calls for him, He Xiaoyong’s soul won’t be able to hear her voice. If his daughters go up there, he won’t be able to hear them either. He’ll only hear the call if it’s his own son who’s calling for him to come back. That’s what Mr. Chen said, and that’s why she came by to look for Yile.”

“She’s got to be kidding,” Xu Sanguan said. “Dream on. When I wanted to give them back their son, the son I had raised on their behalf for over nine years, they wouldn’t have any of it. Now that I’ve taken care of him for four more years, they’re coming to ask for him back? Forget it. He Xiaoyong can go to hell for all I care. He doesn’t do anyone any good anyway. Just let him die. Damn! So they want Yile to call back his soul? Even if Yile
could
bring him back, He Xiaoyong would still be a bastard.”