Old Town (68 page)

This was a real Restore Order. When I had seen enough of the excitement outside I returned home with a stomach that was rumbling with hunger. I happened upon Grandma dozing away in the parlor just as Grandpa was coming out of the kitchen with a plate of bright red crabs. I was so shocked! In a voice filled with affection, Grandpa called me Hong’er, their pet name for me. But it was like I had been struck by a typhoon and I stumbled in retreat to the back of the house. Then, deep in my heart spread a glowing sorrow and I started to cry, still without understanding what had happened.

For several years before this, Grandpa’s and my relationship had been extremely tense. I dearly loved Grandma and I often yelled at Grandpa, accusing him of faking deafness and dumbness and behaving perversely with Grandma in every way. I would say, “You may be the emperor of the Lin family, but I’m the rebel who braves the slicing death to unhorse the emperor.” Most of the time I stayed out of his sight and he stayed out of mine. Or we would turn a blind eye to each other. If our eyes couldn’t avoid a meeting, it would have come with gunpowder.

“Hong’er, come. Gramps wants to pick you a fat…”

The moment Grandpa opened his mouth, I was speechless. I turned away and wiped my tears. Then I walked over to the rocking chair to Grandma sitting the rocking chair.

“Ah Ma, time to eat.”

Grandpa said, “Your Ah Ma’s got a sleeping sickness. The proper name for it is “hypnopathia.” The last time she had this you weren’t yet born. She slept right through Liberation. But never mind, let her sleep. Come, let’s both eat.”

How many years had it been since I had sat at the same table to eat with my grandfather? Now, out of the blue we’re sitting across from each other, something I was really not used to. I bowed my head and tried hard to remember if he had ever loved me. A long-forgotten picture leapt into my mind—I am seated on Grandpa’s lap, drinking cow’s milk, and then many, many soft and warm pictures come tumbling in…the rice bowl pattered with the sound of my tears.

Grandpa shelled the four crabs and, picking out one of the fattest, put it on the plate and pushed it in front of me, and he also poured me a few drops of wine. “Today is a special day. Have a drink for Ah Ma, and see this as congratulating you on growing up.”

How I longed to say something to Grandpa, something that would move him, but I was afraid of setting off an unbearable storm of emotions. Eyes all misty, I laughed loudly and, pretending that no one takes offense at children’s words, rudely pointed at him. “Gramps, I guessed from the start that you were faking deafness! You fooled everybody. I was the only one who knew you could hear. You could hear everything!

“Everything you said when you scolded me I’ve kept in my heart.”

Grandpa smiled rather awkwardly but also in a way that showed he was a bit pleased with himself. His smile held both an innocence and a naughtiness not at all in keeping with his age.

2.

W
HEN
G
RANDMA
WOKE
up her eyes alighted on Wei’er. This child was the image of Baoqing when they fled during the War of Resistance, and unconsciously she called out “Baoqing!” She wanted to ask him, “Baoqing, what about your sister?” Grandma never fully got over my mother Baohua’s disappearance at that time and whenever she became confused she would look for Baohua. She glanced up and saw Baoqing, now middle-aged and holding his daughter, and was baffled, unable to tell whether or not she was still in some dream.

All the family members who had scattered around the country continued to return home. One by one they entered Grandma’s Happy Family portrait.

All three generations of Lins were in favor of going to the photo studio for a Happy Family portrait, but they felt there was plenty of time to do this, so everyone went happily about their busy lives. Finally, half a year later, the three generations finally managed to collect together at West Gate, and the studio photographer came with the equipment on his shoulder. But Grandma refused to have the picture taken. That was the day of my grandpa’s funeral.

As a doctor, the first time Grandpa received his body’s signal he clearly realized that the day of the Great Departing was near, and calmly and systematically he placed a period mark on his life. It was only during his final two weeks when he took to his bed for the last time that the Lin family members realized that a parting from life had silently descended upon them all, now gathered from the four points of the compass.

After it was all over, the rice shop boss-lady told us that during his last months she often saw the doctor walking along the crossroads all by himself during the darkest hours of the night. We couldn’t guess what had been on his mind.

Everyone says that Christians see death as a homecoming. When life’s final moment arrives, do they ever have an instinctive dread? Are they unable to bear leaving this home, this world? What do they feel, looking back over the years of their human existence?

What we saw was a hale and hearty old man. He was just getting started with preparations to travel northward once again and he was going to take Second Sister on this journey. This dust-covered intention of more than ten years again drew up its agenda. He had already contacted Mrs. Yang in Shanghai and Brother Yu in Hangzhou. These old friends who had gone through so many of life’s storms and changes were still alive. There was truly no greater blessing than that.

He tried to achieve the realization of this travel plan. Late at night he would stroll along the street crossing, arranging in his mind the little time that was left for him. But he just had to give it up.

It escaped everyone’s notice that he was planning his own posthumous affairs, for we all were taken in by his lively spirits. Also, during those several months our attention was centered on Grandma.

After Grandma recovered, she became ambitious about returning to public life. Just then the Residents Committee was holding an election for director. Grandma went out on her own initiative and tirelessly canvassed the voters. The people were all inclined toward the reinstallation of Director Guo; it was just that she
was
getting on in years. Thus she had to let the voters know that she was in better health than she had been ten years before. At home, though, there was general opposition. Baoqing shook his head. “Ma, can’t you just stay at home and enjoy a leisurely retired life?” Baosheng put it more bluntly. “Ma, you really don’t want to be lonely.” Only my grandfather cast a vote in favor. One vote decided the fate of heaven and earth. There were no further objections.

When my grandpa fell, my grandma was already tied up with her many official matters as the Resident Committee Director. She sat by the sickbed, dejected and weeping. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this?” she said reproachfully. Grandpa answered with a smile, “If you had known about it, would you have felt like running for election?”

Grandma could never forget a conversation she had with Ninth Brother on the eve of Winter Solstice. Every word he said was his last will and testament. But she actually hadn’t the slightest inkling of this and later she felt annoyed at how very obtuse she had been then.

One day, Grandma was in the sky well grinding rice for rice milk—people in Old Town eat glutinous rice dumplings at Winter Solstice—and Grandpa was sitting inside, writing. She thought he was writing a letter to Mrs. Yang in Shanghai.

“Oh, Ninth Brother…Don’t forget to ask Mrs. Yang what size she wears. There’s still a length of satin in the trunk. I am rushing to make her a silk jacket…”

Grandpa put down his pen and walked over. “Second Sister, your eyes and hands aren’t like they used to be. Don’t do any more sewing.”

“That’s what I do to show my regards.”

“Let’s see about that next year, all right? Haven’t you always wanted to have a Happy Family picture taken? One of these days we’ll go together to visit Fangzi and give her that jade bracelet…”

Her grinding slowed, and after a pause she heaved a sigh, lowered her gaze, and continued with her work.

Everywhere was calm and peaceful. Only the Lin family’s local wars continued, with the flames and gun smoke between Baohua and Baoqing’s families even tending to escalate. The snow in front of Baoqing’s gate had not been swept clean, so to speak, when he meddled in the frost on his big sister’s roof tiles. A few days before, Baohua’s two brothers made a special trip to P Town to give her their vocal support. This caused a falling-out with Big Zhang. The family members all kept a tight lid on this intelligence, and didn’t let Grandpa know.

“
Hai
! Just seeing them all come back safely would be good enough. Taking the Happy Family photograph isn’t all that important. And one bracelet won’t necessarily win Fangzi’s heart.”

“There’ve definitely been times we could have treated her more nicely. I believe in the old saying, ‘Complete sincerity can affect even metal and stone.’ I hope to see her returning in happy spirits.”

Grandma knew that in the Bible there was the line that went, “If a person strikes you on the left cheek, turn your right cheek for him to hit,” and said, with some effort, “All right, then. ‘God knows whose prayers are sincere.’ I’ll go with you to see her.”

“We ought to see Maomao also…let him know that he too is our grandson and we love him just like the others. I’d like to give him my wristwatch.”

“Give him the wristwatch and won’t he have it sold within three days?”

“What I intend is to give the watch to Big Zhang in front of Maomao and tell him that after he’s eighteen he can do with it as he likes.”

“Now why do you have to do all that?”

In those years, a watch was a fairly valuable possession. It wasn’t Maomao’s turn for this among the several grandsons and granddaughters of the family, so how could this be given to this bad boy that everyone disliked on sight?

When Big Zhang left prison he spared no effort looking for the vanished Maomao. This child, not yet ten years old, had already become a noted cat burglar in the world of hard knocks and quick wits. Back home again, his bad ways didn’t mend. He ransacked Baohua’s house and those of the neighbors. Again and again Big Zhang drove him out. Again and again he would come back crying to show that he had now changed, painfully and thoroughly. And each time Big Zhang’s hopes would be dashed. Maomao was the source of the discord between Baohua and her husband.

“Actually, we ought to bring him back to West Gate. We’ll use love to persuade him to change his ways. Too bad I have no more time now.”

Grandma heard “bring him back to West Gate” and her scalp tingled. But she knew nothing she could say would be of any use. She laughed and said in resignation, “You’re more Christian than ever. Jesus must really love you.”

“Jesus has loved me all along. And his greatest love for me was in giving me a good wife.”

Grandma’s mind was so preoccupied over Fangzi and Maomao that she didn’t detect from just what depths Grandpa said this.

He came over and helped her grind the rice for a while. “Second Sister, I want to put off the travel plans. I don’t know if it’ll work out. Maybe I’ve really let you down a bit in this…”

“You haven’t let me down. I’ve also wanted to discuss with you that postponing it would be the best thing to do. The election for Residents Committee is still not over and the children have all just returned. How about if we invite Mrs. Yang and Mr. Yu to come to Old Town?”

“Tomorrow let’s both go and visit Fangzi and after Winter Solstice we’ll visit Maomao.”

“Why so urgent?”

“‘Time is an arrow.’ I never thought our lives would go by this fast. This lifetime of being married to you hasn’t been enough. If there’s another one, I’d still want to be your husband.”

Grandma laughed awkwardly. “I’ve got to think about whether or not I want to be your wife in the next lifetime.”

The jade bracelet would be going to Fangzi tomorrow. She found this difficult to accept.
That was an heirloom passed down through the generations of the Lin family. It ought to be kept for Su’er’s future wife. We really wouldn’t have anything better than this to give her as a First Meeting gift
.

That night my grandma couldn’t sleep from thinking about the jade bracelet. As she lay in bed she couldn’t dispel the worry-ridden eyes of Baoqing that appeared before her. He was unhappy, even though he did his best to disguise it. She could still easily see that. It all came from the endless trials with Fangzi. She wouldn’t let him come to West Gate to see his father and mother and she was unwilling to let them have the living allowance. Arguing daily, monthly, arguing to exhaustion, arguing until thick calluses grew on Baoqing’s heart…He thought that Fangzi could no longer hurt him, but Fangzi always came up with some new way to do so.

Following Baoqing’s return to Old Town, he had been given a work position of some importance. From an ordinary section member he rose three levels to become a deputy department head. And word had it that the superiors were going to break all precedent and promote him to deputy bureau chief. But Fangzi had been demoted to work in the mailroom because she had been too prominent during the Cultural Revolution. The change in her husband’s position put her in a state of constant fear and trembling and home life became all the more contentious. Baoqing thought that the battle was limited to their home only and so didn’t let it get to him. He never expected Fangzi would actually write to all the various office heads that the suspicion about Baoqing’s father having been a secret agent had never been settled, and thus he shouldn’t receive such an important position. With this, Baoqing’s candidacy was eliminated.

How could a wife be so treacherous and underhanded toward her own husband?

Grandma tossed and turned to past midnight, when she finally decided to make Baoqing and Fangzi’s situation clearly known to Ninth Brother.

The light in the inner room was still on. Ninth Brother was writing something. Lately, day and night, he had been at it nonstop. She didn’t know what he was writing and didn’t waste any energy on guessing. Ninth Brother was an educated person. Educated people were always writing essays and composing lyric or heroic poems.

Grandma sat down next to the desk and after repeated sighing, tirelessly related all that had happened to Baoqing.

Grandpa heard it through and then stood up and paced back and forth across the little room. “We should have gone to see Fangzi earlier. If you think about it, all along she had been a big star, then suddenly she was a nobody. It was inevitable she would become unbalanced. And furthermore, did Baoqing have to place such importance on the bureau chief position?”

What my grandma had intended was to arouse my grandpa’s righteous indignation and thus put aside the idea of winning over Fangzi. She never expected this kind of a reaction from him. The way Fangzi went about doing things struck her as utterly bizarre. But the way Grandpa put it struck her as equally bizarre. She couldn’t contain her spleen and said sarcastically, “I see it now…Jesus saying to forsake the one we love and stretch out our arms to the stranger.”