Naked Earth (6 page)

Chang Li came, saying, “Let’s give it a Shock Attack. I’ll help you copy, we’ll get it done tonight so we can send this off early in the morning. Let’s see how far you’ve got.”

He bent down to look, standing behind her, fanning himself with his cap, half for her benefit. The flame of the candle jumped in the breeze. It jumped again and again with each stroke of his cap. Su Nan kept her eyes fixed on the sheet of paper in front of her but the shifting of light and shadow across it made her feel a bit dizzy. Trying not to show her annoyance, she put down her pen, gave him half of the rough draft and pushed the candle-stick a little toward the other side of the table. But instead of going over to sit on the other side, Chang remained leaning against a corner of the table. He stood the sheets of manuscript on the table and tapped them to make them a tidy stack.

“I’ve been watching you, Comrade Su. You’re doing fine. And at today’s meeting what you said shows a high degree of Thought Element. You carry on,” he said smiling, patting her on the shoulder. “When we go back to Peking I’ll Reflect it Upward. It ought to pave the way to your admittance into the Party.”

His hand rested on her shoulder. Su Nan went on copying as if not noticing it, but she swivelled around a little as she was turning over a sheet of paper and his hand came off. “I’m willing to learn,” she said smiling, “But I don’t think I have in any way given an outstanding demonstration.”

“To ask to be outstanding is still a petit-bourgeois way of looking at it.” As he spoke he had already taken her left hand which was resting on the paper. But she wriggled out of his grasp. The shadows of her lowered eyelashes fell in long thin spidery lines over the deepening crimson of her cheeks.

“You’ve grown thin, hey? How is it that you happen to be quartered in a Destitute Farmer’s house?” Chang bent down to look into her half averted face. His mouth was close to the candle so that the flame was now trembling with every word he breathed. “How about moving you to a Midding Farmer’s house? You need a change.”

“There’s really no need for that. When we volunteered to come down here, we didn’t expect to have a good time.”

“Youth is always stubborn.” He laughed, blowing the thin orange flame away from him. “Never mind. The Organization will take care of this. The Organization always feels concerned about workers who show promise.”

“But really, Comrade Chang, what we’ve gone through is nothing, as hardships go.”

“You should go step by step when learning to stand hardships. No sense in ruining your health. After all, ‘Your body is your capital in the Revolution,’” he quoted. His hand was again on hers, fondling her wrist, sliding up her forearm. “You have gone thin,” he said.

This time she pulled away abruptly and stood up. “I’ll go and get some people to help copy this. It’ll be much faster,” she said to the door as she hurried toward it, flushed and unsmiling.

“Tell the school janitor to go and get them.” He came after her, shouting on the dark porch, “Lao Han! Lao Han!”

There was no answer. Empty rooms reverberated with the echoing “Han
!...
Han!” She got really frightened at the sound.

“No, I’ll go myself. I’ve got to go anyhow—haven’t had my supper yet.” She almost ran out of the pitch-dark courtyard.

At the village she rounded up several co-workers and sent them to the temple while she stayed for supper. The others had almost finished copying by the time she came back to the temple with another girl she had recruited. Chang was as affable and jovial as ever. When the work was done they lit lanterns and returned to the village together.

But the next day at noon when they were having Struggle Rice, Chang strolled toward Su Nan, his ricebowl in hand. “Comrade Su, this kind of
tso-feng
is not so good. Mind the effect on people.”

Su Nan was speechless with surprise, thinking that he was referring to what happened between them the evening before. Surely he wouldn’t have the guts—or the face—to tell everybody about it?

“Fish the fly out and be done with it. But no, you’re throwing away the whole bowl of rice gruel.” Chang pointed with his chopsticks at the rice bowl she had abandoned on the table. “Wasting the People’s Blood and Sweat. I seem to remember you were the first to object to eating Struggle Rice, on the ground that it’s a waste. Now that’s a very good example of the most typical fault of the intelligentsia—“
Hao kao, wu yüan
, Fond of the Lofty, Aim at the Remote.”

“Comrade Chang, you’re being too Unscientific,” Su Nan said furiously. “Flies carry germs—even primary school students ought to know that.”

“The fly has been cooked; it’s dead; the germs are all killed. This is not hygiene you’re talking of—just the petit-bourgeois obsession with cleanliness.”

“But I saw it fall into the gruel. Look, its legs are still moving.” She snatched up her bowl and held the fly up with her chopsticks to show him.

“So what? The farmers would have eaten up everything just the same. What makes you think your life is more valuable than a farmer’s?”

All the
kan-pu
and militiamen stood around watching curiously. Chang began to feel that it was unwise as well as unseemly to prolong the argument. He was not used to dealing with women and must have been more hurt and upset than he had realized.

“We’re all comrades together,” he dropped his voice and said smiling. “If anybody gives you his opinion, he means well, he’s helping you to make Progress. Your way of taking criticism is not so good, Comrade Su. We ought to bring it up for discussion in the unit meeting.”

Liu was very angry at the injustice, but he was just the least bit surprised at the way Su Nan had quickly lost her temper and had immediately started to shout back at Chang.

She also regretted it. She ought to have known better. Even if she had exposed him, telling about his attitude toward her the previous evening, she wouldn’t get any support from the Organization. All she’d have done would be to ruin her own future.

During the unit meeting that day, everybody had to take turns commenting on her behavior. A few co-workers, Liu among them, tried to shield her with mild criticism. But they were cried down and accused of Small Circle-ism. The young men and girls of the Corps had learned a lot since they came down to the country. They had their own futures to think of and could not afford to pass by this opportunity to win distinction and get a good fitness report out of Chang. They attacked Su Nan with gusto, calling her “feudal,” “capitalistic,” “
hsiao-chieh
, young lady,” “poisoned by Western Imperialistic Thought.” The onslaught ended only when Su Nan had finally castigated herself to everybody’s satisfaction, outdoing all of them in name-calling. But the subject was brought up again the next day when somebody pointed out at a meeting, “Comrade Su Nan has been seen going out alone into the fields, where she cried for half an hour. So it would seem that she’s only pretending to accept criticism. At heart she still resents it.”

After some pause Su Nan said in a halting voice, “Yes, I did cry. Because I felt so moved. Everybody was so concerned about me, so enthusiastic in helping me to make Progress.” Tears stood in her eyes.

The matter was finally dropped.

The members of the Corps sat in at the daily meeting of the
kan-pu
at the co-operative store. The purpose of these “secret” meetings was Brewing Objects for the Struggle. One day there was a sudden shout during the meeting. “Spies! There’re spies!”

“It’s Han T’ing-pang, the landlord!”

“Sure, it’s him! I saw him peeking at the door!” Several
kan-pu
rushed out and came back with Han T’ing-pang, his arms pinned behind him. The militiaman posted outside the co-operative was scolded for allowing him to snoop around.

Han was sallow and lanky. His slightly grizzled hair was parted in the middle and hung over his steel-rimmed glasses. He wore blue canvas shoes under his long gown of wrinkled white glass cloth.

“What are you doing here, Han T’ing-pang?” Pao thundered at him.

“I came to see the department heads. But when I saw that you comrades were having a meeting, I didn’t dare come in. Didn’t dare come in.” Han kept nodding and smiling, making innumerable little bows as he spoke.

“What have you got to say?” Chang Li asked.

“I want to give land to the government.” Han tried to reach for his pocket. A
kan-pu
took a small cloth package from him and presented it to Chang Li.

Chang chuckled as he opened the package. “It’s been said that the landlords have three tricks when they give away land: ‘Give what’s bad; give what’s farthest from the village; give very little.’”

Go Forward Pao leaned over to look at the land deeds. “Sure, he’s trying to cheat with that rocky patch he has way over on the other side of the woods. And this piece of ‘watery land’ has been absolutely useless ever since the creek changed its course.”

“Anyhow, it’s against our principles to take it. This land will have to be returned to his tenants. He has no right to give away what doesn’t belong to him.” Chang wrapped the papers in the piece of white cloth and tossed it to the ground at Han’s feet.

“Now get out! Get out!” Pao said. “He’s just here to eavesdrop. I know these people—they’d give anything to find out what’s going on.”

Still protesting with little bows and smiles, Han was hustled out of the room and the meeting continued. Chang wanted to know Han’s background and past history. It seemed that he had inherited about forty acres of land and had gone to high school in town. Relatives had helped him to find clerical jobs in Peking and Chinan but he never could keep them because he didn’t know how to get on with people. Every now and then he would go up to Peking for a short visit with his father-in-law. After one or two months of fruitless job-hunting he would be back again in the country. He had been scared by the talk of Land Reform and had made an attempt to escape to Peking, leaving his wife and children behind. That was half a month ago, when the village gate was already being watched. He had been stopped by the sentry and brought to the Village Public Office. After some questioning he had been released but from then on several watchmen were assigned to guard his front and back doors.

Go Forward Pao asked at the meeting if it would be against the rules to arrest him at once. Further delay might give him another opportunity to escape. There was also the danger that he might hide or destroy his land deeds. The decision was made that his tenants should go and settle their accounts with him and ask him for the land deeds that ought to be theirs.

Han had five tenants altogether. The Farmers’ Association summoned them and taught them a fiery little speech which they were to deliver when they demanded the deeds. They were all ready to go, but by that time one of them had disappeared. Another went to find him. One by one they all slipped away. The
kan-pu
waited and waited. Finally Chang, Pao and Sun had to go themselves to look for them. The men were all working in the fields.

“What you doing here? What’s happened to all of you?” Sun yelled at one of the men, jumping high with exasperation. “You’re to go to Han T’ing-pang! Denounce him and get the land deeds back!”

The man felt the top and back of his shaved skull and smiled at him conciliatorily. “Yes, Comrade Sun—but it’s very embarrassing. After all, old tenant, old landlord. My family has been renting land from his family for generations back.”

Pao and Sun swore, “These blockheads!
Ssu lo-hou
, dead set on being backward. You can’t do a thing with them. ‘You can’t help slush to climb walls.’”

“Don’t be so impatient,” Chang said. “In this work there’re bound to be times when you bump your head against a nail.”

The tenants were again summoned to the co-operative. After a lot more explanations and coaching, they finally went to Han T’ing-pang’s house. They obtained the land deeds from him with the greatest ease, without having to go through the process of dramatic accusations and settling of accounts, tracing Exploitations three generations back. The Farmers’ Association was highly dissatisfied with the performance. In the next
kan-pu
meeting Sun Fu-kuei spoke up with his customary bluntness. “I’ve always said it’s no use. Never will get them to kick up a row. We don’t even have one Big Landlord, while the Poor Farmers and hired men come up to a hundred and sixty odd families. How much land can each expect to get? What have they got to fight for?”

Go Forward Pao also said, “Each family won’t get as much as one acre of land. And right in front of their eyes they see the Rich Farmers and Middling Farmers with their ten or twenty acres, absolutely untouched. If we’re going to divide the land, let’s take it all and divide it—if you ask me. Guess nobody will mind getting two acres of land to play around with. See if The People don’t rise at that. You just watch!”

After an uneasy silence there were some whisperings among the Land Reform Workers. Then Liu said aloud, “This is against The Policy.”

Somebody added in a more moderate tone, “Perhaps it’s not advisable to have too many Objects for the Struggle.”

“We ought to limit the Area of Attack,” Su Nan said.

Chang made a quick decision. It appeared to Liu that this might not be the first time that he had heard of the proposal. “We can’t just hug the regulations tight and close our eyes to all other factors,” he said. “In different localities there’s a great deal of difference in the proportion of population to the amount of arable land. So it’s impossible to go by set rules in classifying people according to the amount of land they own. The classifications made in the past could have been incorrect. If there are any such cases, let’s bring them up for rediscussion.”

Most of the
kan-pu
didn’t quite get it but after he had it explained to them, they grew lively, with everybody talking at once, naming many people who could be classified as landlords.

Even Hsia Feng-ch’un, the shy and inarticulate Propaganda Officer of the Party Branch Office, spoke up excitedly, “There’s Han Ch’ang-so. As the old saying goes, ‘One able-bodied young man; three acres of good watery land’—amounts to a lot, you know. He even got himself a wife last year.” Hsia himself could not afford to get married though it was more than a year since he became a
kan-pu
. He never got much out of it. Being rather slow-witted he was always kept out of things by Pao and Sun.