Three Sisters (12 page)

Yumi did not reply immediately; but after a moment, she said, "I want you to find me a man." Wang Lianfang just sat there; sensing what had happened with Peng Guoliang, he chose not to say anything. Instead, he took seven or eight drags on his cigarette, the tip of which flared up as it burned down, creating a long ash that hung from the end. Yumi tilted her head up and said, "I don't care what he's like. I have only one condition: He must be a man who wields power. Otherwise I'll stay single."

The meeting phase of Yumi's courtship proceeded in total secrecy and had a number of new twists—scheduled to take place in the county movie theater, it would be unique from start to finish. The commune speedboat came for her at sunset, a magnificent scene witnessed by many villagers from their vantage point on the stone pier. The speedboat sent waves rushing madly to the banks, fearlessly provocative as they tossed the pitiful farmers' skiffs. Yumi stepped grandly into the speedboat, but no one who saw her knew why she was leaving. All anyone in Wang Family Village knew was that Yumi was "on her way to the county town."

Yumi arrived in town for the meeting. The man she was to meet did not work there, but at the commune. Guo Jiaxing, deputy director of the revolutionary committee, was a ranking official in charge of the People's Militia. Aboard the speedboat Yumi had silently congratulated herself for making that vow to her father in absolute terms, a break from traditions that would have denied her such an opportunity. She was going to be a second wife, so she did not expect Guo Jiaxing to be a young man, and for that she was well-prepared. As the saying goes: "A knife is not sharp on both edges; sugarcane is not sweet at both ends."

On a personal level this made no difference to Yumi, for whom power was the key to living well. So long as the man she married possessed that power, a new beginning was assured for her family, and once that happened, no one in Wang Family Village would ever again send their stench her way. On this point she was more determined than even her father, who, she assumed, had been concerned about the difference in age, for he'd hemmed and hawed, obviously reluctant to tell her. She stopped him before he could speak, since she already knew what he wanted to say, and she didn't give a damn.

Night had fallen when Yumi entered the county town for the first time, and thanks to the blazing lamps along both sides of the street, the town appeared quite prosperous. Like a headless housefly, she was emotionally disoriented as she walked down the street. Despite the fact that her confidence was in tatters, she was driven to fight for what she wanted, to win what she'd come for, and to spare no effort to reach her goal. No longer the Yumi of the past, she had narrowed her aspirations, but was more determined, more stubborn than ever. She paused in front of a shop where fruit was suspended in the air. She had to stop for a long moment before she figured out that she was seeing a reflection in a mirror. Then she saw her own reflection and was struck by the contrast between her homely attire and the finer clothes of the shop clerk.
I should have worn Liu Fenxiang's costume.
Thinking she wanted a piece of fruit, the boat skipper insisted on buying it for her. She reached out and pulled him back.

"Our young commune member has a strong arm," he said with a laugh.

Yet another moment of truth had arrived when Yumi found herself in front of the New China Cinema, where a red banner stretched across a high wall proclaimed:
FERVENT CONGRATULATIONS ON THE SUCCESSFUL OPENING OF THE COUNTY PEOPLE'S MILITIA
WORKING CONFERENCE!

Yumi now understood that Guo was attending a conference in town. The skipper handed her a cinema ticket.

"I'll wait for you out here," he said.

You definitely know how to toady up to your superiors,
Yumi thought.
Who asked you to wait? I'm not married yet.
But then she had a change of heart.
Go ahead, wait, if that's what you want. I'll put in a good word for you if I get the chance.

The movie had already begun when Yumi parted the curtain. The theater was pitch-black in front of an enormous color screen on which a policeman was smoking a cigarette, his nostrils, it seemed to her, as big as open wells. She had trouble believing what she saw. How was it possible to make someone as big or as small as you wanted? Gripping her ticket tightly, she looked around and started to feel nervous, unsure of what to do next. Fortunately, an usher with a flashlight walked up and showed her to her seat.

Yumi's heart raced. Happily, this was not the first time she was to meet a prospective mate, a thought that had the desired effect. Calmly she sat down between a man in his fifties to her left and one in his sixties to her right. Both seemed absorbed in the movie. Not knowing which of the two she'd come to meet, she sat stiffly without sneaking a look in either direction. The man, whichever one it was, obviously carried himself in a way that you would expect from a commune official, keeping his composure in the presence of a woman. If her father had been able to do that, they wouldn't be in the state they were in now. Yumi told herself that Guo Jiaxing must have his reasons for not speaking to her in public, so she'd be wise to keep her eyes trained straight ahead.

For Yumi, the movie was an excruciating experience, since she got so little out of it. But it was dark inside, so eventually she felt bold enough to observe her neighbors out of the corner of her eye. From what she could see, the fifty-year-old looked a little better, and if she'd had a voice in the matter, he'd be her choice. But there was no movement from that side. If only he'd brush his foot against hers, she'd know that she was right. As she watched the action on the screen, she began to worry that the meeting might not take place at all. She was tense and growing anxious.
Can't you touch my foot? What's wrong with that?

Still, even if it was the sixty-year-old, Yumi was prepared to accept the match. As they say, "After this village there will be no more inns." There were few bachelors among the official ranks, though she would still have preferred a man in his fifties. Like a raffle player looking for a bit of luck, she sat through the movie, so fatigued at the end that she was nearly gasping for breath. She had no idea what the film had been about, although the ending was pretty predictable: The man who looked to be the bad guy turned out to be just that and was taken into custody by a member of the Public Security Bureau.

The lights came on; the movie was over. The man in his fifties got up and walked off to the left, the one in his sixties walked off to the right, both leaving Yumi sitting where she was. What a surprise that was. Neither one had said a word. Yumi wondered why. But then the truth hit her: Whoever it was, he must not have liked what he saw while she sat there foolishly trying to pick him out in the dark. She was mortified. No wonder the skipper said he'd wait outside. He knew what was going to happen all along.

Yumi walked out of the theater, her confidence shredded. The skipper was waiting by one of the posts, and she could not bear to look him in the eye.

"We're ready," he said. Yumi was so spent all she wanted was to lie down somewhere.

"I guess you can take me home now," she said, despite her embarrassment.

"I do what Director Guo tells me to do," he said with no observable expression.

When she was settled into Room 315 of the People's Guesthouse, her mind was in a fog, and she quickly fell asleep, although it didn't feel much like sleep to her. Maybe she was dreaming. At around ten o'clock there was a knock at the door.

"Are you in there?" a voice asked. "It's me, Guo."

Yumi wondered if she was hallucinating. Another knock at the door. Knowing how unwise it would be to hesitate, she flipped on the light and opened the door a crack. A man she'd never seen before pushed open the door and walked in, his face cold, devoid of expression. Fortunately for Yumi, she spotted the conference ID badge pinned to his lapel with his name: Guo Jiaxing. Overjoyed, she felt as if she'd been rescued from a desperate situation and been given a new lease on life. He hadn't gone to the cinema after all.

Yumi lowered her head, only to recall that she wasn't fully dressed. She glanced up at Guo Jiaxing, thinking she'd get dressed, but she did not like what she saw. This was not a man who had come to meet a prospective mate; he seemed more like a passerby. Yumi's heart was in her throat.

"I'd like some water," Guo said as he sat down in one of the chairs. Yumi didn't know what else to do, and for that reason, she did as he said. He took the water from Yumi, who stood there feeling foolish; by then she'd forgotten all about getting dressed. Guo neither looked at Yumi nor averted his eyes as he sat there, teacup in hand. He had brown eyes, she saw, which were focused on a spot directly ahead, but with a look of indifference. He drank his water slowly, one sip after another, until the cup was empty.

"Some more?" she asked. He responded only by setting the cup on the table—his way of saying no, apparently. Unable to think of anything more to say, Yumi just stood there, not sure if she should get dressed or not.

How could anybody be that calm, that unruffled? He says nothing, he does nothing, his face has all the expressiveness of a conference hall.
Her anxieties increased.
Well, that's it,
she said to herself.
He doesn't like what he sees. But wait, he may not seem thrilled, but he doesn't look dissatisfied. Maybe he's already decided it's a workable match.

Officials are expected to act like this. As long as they think something's okay, then it's okay, and there's no need to say any more. But this was different; Yumi was, after all, a young woman, not a block of wood. Besides, they were alone, so he had no reason not to do something. She stood there feeling foolish until she too grew increasingly calm.

How strange,
she said to herself.
All of a sudden I'm as calm as if I were attending the conference.
But that did nothing to lessen her fear of Guo Jiaxing.

"Time to rest," Guo said.

He stood up and began taking off his clothes, as if he were in his own home with members of his own family. "Time to rest," he said a second time. She knew what he had in mind, since he was now sitting on the bed. While that unnerved Yumi, it also shifted her brain into high gear. Whatever may or may not have been settled, this was inappropriate. Guo had undressed slowly, but then how long can it take to remove a few articles of clothing? Now naked, he lay back on the bed where Yumi had been sleeping only moments before.

She still hadn't moved.

"Time to rest," Guo said for the third time. There was no outward change in tone, but she could tell he was getting impatient.

Yumi didn't know what to do. She actually wished he'd rip her clothes off her body; rape would be better than this. She was still a virgin, and it would be unseemly for her to get naked and climb into bed just so she could marry the man. How was she supposed to do something like that?

Guo Jiaxing never took his eyes off Yumi, who, in the end, got naked, climbed into bed, and slipped under the covers. To her, what she'd stripped off wasn't clothes, it was her skin. But she did what she had to do. Liu Fenxiang had once said that a woman can be proud but mustn't be arrogant. Yumi was naked; so was Guo Jiaxing. A subtle smell of alcohol clung to his body, a hospital smell. As Yumi lay on her side under the covers, Guo motioned with his chin for her to roll over onto her back. She did, and the lovemaking began. Too tense to move, she let him do all the work. It hurt at first—a little, not much—and it was not long before it began to feel natural. If she was reading the signs right, he was satisfied with her. He'd muttered "good" during the lovemaking, and after it was over, he said it again. Yumi could breathe easier now.

But there was a hitch. Guo checked the sheets and didn't see any discoloration. "So you're not," he said.

Such a hurtful comment! She was still a virgin since the lack of a spot on the sheets was a result of her own hand, not the actions of a man. She wondered briefly if this was just a technicality. Since she had done with her hand what she wouldn't let her pilot do, perhaps it was all the same. But she knew it wasn't. She needed to clear things up. But how? Treating it lightly wasn't the answer, but neither was overdoing it. She must be careful not to ruin everything, and all she could think to do was sit and get dressed, which accomplished virtually nothing except to make her feel better. She was empty inside and nearly in tears. But crying, she knew, would be a mistake. Guo Jiaxing lay in bed with his eyes closed. "That's not what I meant."

Yumi undressed again and climbed back into bed and lay beside Guo, blinking rapidly. Convinced that things had worked out this time, she'd have been perfectly content if she hadn't suddenly thought of Peng Guoliang. She could have willingly given in to him, but had saved herself until now, saved herself for this. An overpowering sense of self-pity filled her heart. But she forced herself to bear up under it, for she had achieved what she sought, and that was all that counted. Guo smoked a couple of cigarettes before climbing back on top of Yumi.

This time the movements were much slower, more relaxed, as he slid back and forth like a drawer in his desk. Saying as he did so, "Stick around for a few more days."

She knew what that meant, and her confidence rose. As she lay there, her head pressed against the pillow, she turned to the side and bit her lip. She nodded. "Someone I know is in the hospital," he said, more words at one time than she'd heard so far.

"Who?" she asked in order to keep him talking.

"My wife."

Yumi jerked her head around and looked wide-eyed at Guo.

"This has nothing to do with you," he said. "She's in the last stages. A few months at best. You'll move in when she's gone."

The smell of alcohol washed over Yumi. She felt as if
she
were the "last stages" wife, pinned beneath Guo Jiaxing. She was terrified. Guo covered her mouth with his hand before she could scream. Her body was rocking wildly under the blanket.