Big Breasts and Wide Hips (62 page)

The students stopped crying and gaped at her. To my ears, what she said was so simple, yet held profound significance. She seemed somehow reserved as she asked in a sort of confused manner, “What am I supposed to say? There's no need to talk about the past.” She turned as if to leave, but was stopped by the director of the Sandy Ridge Women's League, Gao Hongying, who ran up to her and said, “Old aunty, you agreed to address us, didn't you? You can't back out now.” Gao was visibly upset. The district head said genially, “Old aunty, just tell them how the members of the Landlord Restitution Corps buried people alive. We need to educate our youngsters that the past cannot be forgotten. As Comrade Lenin said, ‘To forget the past is a form of betrayal.'“

“Well, since even Comrade Lenin wants me to talk, that's what I'll do.” Mrs. Guo sighed. “There was a full moon that night, so bright I could have embroidered in its light. There aren't many nights like that. When I was a girl, an old-timer told me he recalled a white moon like that way back during the Taiping Rebellion. I couldn't sleep, worrying that something bad was about to happen, so I got up to go borrow a shoe pattern from the mother of Fusheng in West Lane and, while I was at it, talk to Fusheng about finding a wife, since I had a niece who had reached marrying age. As I was walking out the door, I spotted Little Lion, carrying a big, shiny sword, with Jincai's mother and wife and his two kids, the older one only seven or eight years old, and the younger one, a girl, barely two. The older kid was walking with his grandmother, scared and crying. Jincai's wife was carrying the little girl, who was also scared and crying. Jincai himself had a sword cut, a big, gaping, bloody wound on his slumping shoulder that scared me half to death. Three mean-looking fellows I thought I knew were walking behind Little Lion, also with swords, and I tried to hide so they wouldn't see me, but it was too late, and that bastard Little Lion spotted me. Now Little Lion's mother and I are some sort of cousins, so he said, ‘Isn't that my aunt over there?' ‘Little Lion,' I. said, ‘when did you get back?' He said, ‘Last night.' ‘What are you doing?' I asked him. ‘Nothing,' he said. ‘Just looking for a place for this family to sleep.' That didn't sound good, so I said, ‘They're our neighbors, Lion, no matter how bad things get.' He said, ‘There are no bad feelings, not even between them and my dad. In fact, my dad and his dad are sworn brothers. But he hung my dad up from a tree and demanded money from him.' Jincai's mother said, ‘He didn't know what he was doing, so forgive him for the sake of the older generation. I'll get down on my knees and kowtow to you.' ‘Mother,' Jincai said, ‘don't beg.' Little Lion said, ‘Jincai, you're starting to sound like a man, so no wonder they made you head of the militia.' ‘You won't last more than a few days,' Jincai said. ‘You're right,' Little Lion said, ‘I imagine I'll last ten days or a couple of weeks. But tonight's all the time I'll need to take care of you and your family' I tried to take advantage of my age by saying, ‘Let them go, Little Lion. If you don't you're no nephew of mine.' He just glared at me and said, ‘Who the hell is your nephew? Don't pull any of that relation stuff on me! The time I accidentally squashed one of your little chicks that year, you split my head open with a club.' ‘Lion, what kind of human being are you?' He turned and asked the men with him, ‘Boys, how many have we killed today?' One of them said, ‘Counting this family, exactly ninety-nine.' ‘You old woman, you're such a distant aunt that you'll have to sacrifice yourself so I can make it an even number.' That made my hair stand on edge. That bastard was talking about killing me! I ran into the house, but could I really get away from them? Family meant nothing to Little Lion. When he thought his wife was having an affair, he buried a live grenade in the stove ashes, but his mother got up early to clean out the stove and she was the one who dug out the grenade. I'd forgotten that incident, and now I was going to suffer, all because of my big mouth. They dragged Jincai and his family, plus me, over to Sandy Ridge Village, where one of them starting digging a big pit. It didn't take him long in that sandy ground. The moon was so bright we could see everything on the ground — blades of grass, flowers, ants, slugs — clear as day. Little Lion walked up to the edge of the pit to take a look. ‘Make it a little deeper, men,' he said. ‘Jincai's as big as a fucking mule.' So the man continued, and wet sand flew. Little Lion asked Jincai, ‘Got anything to say?' ‘Lion,' Jincai said, ‘I'm not going to beg. I killed your dad, but if I hadn't done it, somebody else would have.' ‘My dad was a frugal man who sold seafood along with your dad. He saved up a little money and bought a few acres of land. Unfortunately for your dad, somebody stole his money. You tell me, what was my dad's crime?' ‘He bought land, that was his crime!' ‘Jincai, tell me the truth, who wouldn't like to buy some land? How about your dad, for instance? And you yourself.' ‘Don't ask me,' Jincai said. ‘I can't answer that question. Is the pit deep enough?' The man said it was. Without another word, Jincai jumped into it. Only his head showed above the ground. ‘Lion,' he said, ‘I want to shout something.' ‘Go ahead,' Lion said. ‘We've been friends since we were bare-assed naked kids, so you deserve special treatment. Go ahead, shout whatever you want.' Jincai thought for a moment, then raised his good arm and shouted at the top of his lungs, ‘Long live the Communist Party! Long live the Communist Party! Long long live the Communist Party!' Just three shouts. ‘That's it?' Little Lion said. ‘That's it.' ‘Come on,' Lion said, ‘let's hear some more. That's some voice you've got.' ‘No,' Jincai said, ‘that's it. Three times is enough.' Little Lion nudged Jincai's mother. ‘All right,' he said. ‘Now you, aunty' Jincai's mother fell to her knees and banged her head on the ground, but Little Lion merely took the shovel out of the other man's hands and used it to push her into the sandy pit. The other men pushed Jincai's wife and kids in. The kids were bawling. So was their mother. ‘Stop that!' Jincai demanded. ‘Shut your mouths and spare me the shame.' His wife and kids stopped crying. Then one of the men pointed to me and said, ‘What about this one, Chief? Toss her down there too?' Before Little Lion could answer, Jincai shouted, ‘Little Lion, you said this pit was for my family. I don't want any outsiders down here.' ‘Don't worry, Jincai,' Little Lion said, ‘I understand you perfectly. For this old woman, we'll —' He turned to the others. ‘Men, I know you're tired, but dig another pit to bury this one.'

“The men split into two groups, one to dig a pit for me, the other to fill in the pit with Jincai's family. Jincai's daughter began to cry. ‘Mommy, the sand's getting in my eyes.' So Jincai's wife wrapped her wide sleeves around the girl's head. Jincai's son struggled to climb out of the pit, but was knocked back down by one of the shovels. The boy began to bawl. Jincai's mother, on the other hand, sat down, and was quickly buried in sand. She was gasping for air. ‘Communist Party, ah, the Communist Party!' she grumbled. ‘We women are dying by your hand!' ‘So you finally got it, now that you're about to die!' Little Lion said. ‘Jincai, all you have to do is shout “Down with the Communist Party” three times, and ITI spare a member of your family. That way there'll be someone to tend your grave in the future.' Jincai's mother and wife both pleaded with him, ‘Go ahead, Jincai, do it, and hurry!' His face nearly covered with sand, Jincai glared fiercely. ‘No, I won't do it!' ‘Okay, you've got backbone,' Little Lion said admiringly as he took the shovel from one of his men, scooped up sand, and flung it into the pit. Jincai's mother wasn't moving. The sand covered his wife up to her neck; it had already buried his daughter and all but the head of his son, who reached up with his hands to keep struggling to get out. Black blood was seeping out of his wife's nose and ears, while the words ‘Agony, oh, such agony' poured out of the black hole that was her mouth. Little Lion paused in his work and said to Jincai, ‘Well, what do you say now?' Panting like an ox, Jincai, whose head had swelled up like a basket, said, ‘No problem, Little Lion.' ‘Because we were childhood friends,' Little Lion said, ‘I'll give you one more chance. All you have to do is shout “Long live the Nationalist Party,” and I'll dig you out.' With wide, staring eyes, Jincai stammered, ‘Long live the Communist Party…' Infuriated, Little Lion recommenced flinging sand into the pit. Jincai's wife and kids were quickly buried, but there was still some movement just below the surface, which showed they weren't all dead yet. All of a sudden, we were shocked to see Jincai's swollen head stick up in a terrifying manner. He could no longer speak, and blood was seeping from his nose and his eyes. The veins on his forehead were as big as silkworms. So Little Lion started jumping up and down to pack down the sand. Then he squatted down in front of Jincai's head. ‘Well, what do you say now?' he asked; Jincai could no longer answer. Little Lion tapped him on the head with his finger and said, ‘Say, men, want to try some human brains?' ‘Who'd want to eat that stuff?' they said. ‘It'd make me puke.' ‘Some people have eaten it,' Little Lion said. ‘Detachment Leader Chen, for one. Add some soy sauce and strips of ginger, he said, and it tastes like jellied bean curd.' The man who was digging the other pit climbed out and said, ‘It's ready, sir!' Little Lion walked over to take a look. ‘Come over here, my distant aunty, and tell me what you think of this crypt I made for you.' ‘Lion,' I said, ‘Lion, show a little mercy and spare this old life.' ‘What does someone as old as you have to live for? If I let you go, I'll just have to find someone to take your place, since I need an even hundred.' So I said to him, ‘Then finish me off with your sword. Being buried alive is just too horrible!' All that turtle-spawn son of a bitch said was, ‘Life is nothing but suffering. But when you die, you go straight to Heaven,' before he kicked me down into the pit. That's when a bunch of people came shouting their way out of Sandy Ridge Village, with Sima Ku, the junior steward of Felicity Manor. I'd taken care of his third wife in the past, and all I could think was, my savior has arrived, swaggering up to us in riding boots. He'd aged a lot in the years since I'd last seen him. ‘Who are you?' he asked. ‘Me? I'm Little Lion!' ‘What are you up to?' ‘Burying people.' ‘Burying who?' ‘The head of the Sandy Ridge militia, Jincai, and his family' Sima Ku walked up to where I was. ‘Who's that down there?' ‘Second Master, save me!' I shouted. ‘I took care of your third wife. I'm the wife of Guo Luoguo.' ‘Ah, it's you,' he said. ‘How did you fall into his hands?' ‘I talked when I shouldn't have. Show me some mercy, Second Master.' Sima Ku turned to Little Lion. ‘Let her go,' he said. ‘If I do that, Team Leader, I won't get an even hundred.' ‘Forget the number. Just kill those who deserve to be killed.' One of his men reached down with his shovel, so I could climb out of the pit. You can say what you want, but Sima Ku is a reasonable man, and if not for him, that bastard Little Lion would have buried me alive.”

The officials dragged and pushed old woman Guo out of the room.

Ashen-faced Teacher Cai picked up her pointer and returned to the spot where she had collapsed and recommenced her descriptions of torture. Even though tears filled her eyes as she droned on in a desolate tone of voice, the students were no longer crying. My gaze swept the faces of all those people who had been pounding their chests and stomping their feet, now showing the effects of exhaustion and impatience. All those drawings, reeking of blood, had turned insipid, sort of like flatcakes that have soaked in liquid for days then laid out to dry. Compared to what we'd heard from old woman Guo, whose personal experience had given her the voice of authority, the drawings and explanations had lost their appeal to our emotions.

They dragged me out of school.

A crowd had gathered on the street, clearly waiting for me. A pair of grimy-faced militiamen walked over and tied me up with a length of rope that was long enough to wrap around me more than a dozen times and still have enough for one of the armed guards to hold on to as he dragged me along. The other man followed, nudging me along with the muzzle of his rifle. Everyone along the way gawped at me as I passed by. Then, from the far end of the street another group of bound individuals came staggering toward me. It was my mother, my first sister, Sima Liang, and Sha Zaohua. Shangguan Yunii and Lu Shengli, who weren't tied, kept rushing up to Mother, only to be pushed aside by one of the burly militiamen. We met at the district headquarters — Felicity Manor — where we exchanged looks. There was nothing I could say, and I'm sure they felt the same way.

Escorted by the militiamen, we passed through several courtyards, all the way to the far end, where they crowded us into the southernmost room. The window on the southern wall was one big hole, its latticework and paper covering smashed and torn, as if to open up the activities inside to public scrutiny. I spotted Sima Ting, cowering in a corner, his face black and blue, front teeth missing. He gazed sadly at us. The furthermost little garden was just beyond the window, ringed by a high wall, one section of which had been broken through, as if to make a special gate. Guards patrolled the area, their uniforms billowing in the southern winds coming from the fields beyond.

That night, the district official hung four gas lamps in the room, and had a table and six chairs moved in. He also brought along some leather whips, clubs, rattan switches, steel wire, ropes, a bucket, and a broom. In addition to these, he installed a bloodstained slaughter rack for hogs, a butcher knife, a short flaying knife, iron meat hooks, and a bucket for catching blood. Everything you needed for a slaughterhouse.