The question seemed a little absurd but, without hesitating, Bai Ling answered, ‘Wang Fei, of course.’
‘Ha! So you really have fallen for him!’ Mimi laughed. ‘Hmm, this student movement is getting very interesting…’ Bai Ling’s face turned deep red.
‘I spoke to a construction manager today, and he suggested that during our next campaign, we erect a vast tent covering the entire Square,’ Tian Yi said, emerging from behind the curtain.
‘You think there’ll be a next time?’ I said. ‘If the government launches a crackdown, we’ll all be spending the next twenty years in jail.’
‘Can you get us something to eat, Dai Wei?’ Mimi said, furrowing her brow. ‘The bread rolls in that box are mouldy.’
‘They look fine to me,’ I said, picking one up. Mimi was standing in front of the equipment. The borrowed aertex shirt she’d changed into was far too long for her.
When you’ve stared at the past for so long that time dissolves, you’ll be able to wake from your slumber.
Mou Sen was sitting with Nuwa beneath the English Department banner. He got up and strolled with me to the south side of the Square.
It was still early in the morning, and not many supporters had turned up yet. Professors from the Beijing Institute of Science and Technology were marching up from Qianmen brandishing brooms and holding banners that said SWEEP AWAY CORRUPTION! A student cycled past them waving a straw effigy of Li Peng.
‘There are only three thousand students left in the Square now,’ Mou Sen said despondently. ‘We must withdraw.’
‘I’m sure more people will turn up in the afternoon,’ I said.
‘The army has encircled the city. If we stay here any longer, we’ll be doomed.’
‘I’d like to leave too. I’m only staying because of Tian Yi.’
‘Last night, I told Bai Ling we should leave, but she accused me of being a coward. If she doesn’t decide to vacate the Square today, I’ll resign.’
Just at that moment, Bai Ling walked up to us with Mimi.
‘I didn’t make myself clear last night,’ Mou Sen said to her. ‘The Square’s in chaos. If we don’t withdraw soon, it will fall into anarchy.’
‘So you still think we should leave, then?’ Bai Ling said, putting on her sunglasses.
‘Yes. It’s our only option. If you don’t agree, I must resign from my post.’ He reached into his jacket and pulled out a resignation letter he’d written earlier.
‘I can’t betray the students,’ Bai Ling said. ‘History would never forgive me.’ She skimmed through the letter he handed her, signed her name at the bottom and walked off.
‘I bet you didn’t think that would happen,’ I said, tapping his shoulder. ‘You’re out of a job now, Mr Broadcast Station Director.’
‘I didn’t really want to resign,’ Mou Sen moaned. ‘What a mess…’
We turned round and went back to the broadcast station. As soon as we walked in, Mou Sen announced he’d resigned and was planning to return to his campus.
‘Let’s all resign, then,’ Xiao Li said. ‘I wouldn’t mind going home for a few days.’
‘Here we are at the critical moment, and as soon as he says he’s leaving, you bolt out of the door,’ Old Fu said angrily. ‘All right, go then! Both of you! The rest of us will cope well enough without you. But the tapes and documents must stay here. No one must touch them.’
‘This will mean you’ll finally be able to take charge of the broadcast station, Old Fu,’ said Xiao Li, rubbing some dirt off his trousers.
‘And what do you mean by that?’ Old Fu snapped. Everyone knew he resented being logistics officer and that he thought that, since he’d set up the first broadcast station in the Square, he should have been appointed director of the Voice of Democracy.
‘You keep to your logistics work,’ I said to him, ‘and let Wang Fei run the station.’
‘I’m the one who’s been holding the fort here!’ he shouted. ‘Without me, this station would have collapsed ages ago.’
The mood became so hostile that I felt obliged to resign as well, which angered Old Fu so much he hurled a cardboard box to the ground.
Nuwa came in and tried to persuade Mou Sen to stay. I told her that Bai Ling had approved his resignation.
Mou Sen picked up his denim rucksack and said, ‘I’m off now. I’m going to visit the political scientist Yan Jia to discuss an idea of mine. I plan to set up a Democracy University, right here in the Square. It will be open to everyone. We’ll invite guest speakers to give classes on politics and culture. Students will be free to jump up and challenge them whenever they want. I hope you’ll all get involved.’ He raised his hand triumphantly and left. Nuwa clapped her hands in excitement and followed him out of the tent.
In the western region of the Great Wastes, the headless corpse, Xia Geng, stands upright, holding an axe and a shield. It was the warrior Shang Tang who cut off his head.
‘You can send letters to anywhere in the world with it, without having to go to the post office? No, I won’t bother buying one. I’d have to register it at the police station… Last week, Haidian Department Store promised that any customer who spent more than a hundred yuan would be given a lottery ticket. I bought a pair of trainers that cost 120 yuan, but when I went to collect a lottery ticket, the woman behind the counter said the shoes were on discount, so I didn’t qualify for one. Those sharks! They completely swindled me!’
My mother is chatting to An Qi, who has brought along a woman called Gui Lan whose son was sentenced to eighteen years in prison for setting fire to an army tank during the crackdown. She’s brought a copy of the written judgement that was issued to her son. She keeps repeating she’ll be dead and buried by the time he’s released.
‘I bought a thermos flask in the market last week,’ Gui Lan says. ‘I filled it with boiling water, and after just two hours the water was lukewarm. I tried to return it, but the stallholder said he only gave refunds within three days of purchase. But the sticker on the thermos says it’s guaranteed for three months.’ I can tell from her accent that she was born in Shandong.
‘I bought a packet of frozen dumplings from a chain store today. There were stubs of ungrated ginger in the filling. I couldn’t eat them, but my husband wolfed them down quite happily.’
‘Have you seen all those new food stalls in the street outside? One of them sells deep-fried locusts.’
‘The district office doesn’t bother to send anyone to collect the rubbish. At night, there are so many rats in that street, I don’t dare walk down it.’
‘Sesame cakes cost two yuan each in the market now, and rice dumplings are three yuan a jin.’
‘It’s silly to waste money on expensive food. Whether you eat mung beans or lobster, it all looks the same when it comes out the other end!’
‘On the last anniversary of 4 June, the police bought me a train ticket to my parents’ village. They didn’t want me to be in Beijing in case I did something to commemorate the victims of the crackdown. They followed me all the way there and all the way back, so it was impossible to relax. Whatever they say this year, I’m not leaving my flat.’
‘The police took us to a guest house out in the countryside. They wouldn’t even tell us the name of the village. We spent the whole week in our room, watching television all day.’
‘Maybe they took us to the same guest house! They bought me a tomato and egg stir-fry one day. It was so salty, I spat it out.’
My mother takes a sip of tea, puts the cup back down on the radiator and says, ‘This flat is guarded like a prison. Sometimes I long to run away.’
‘What would happen to your son if you left?’ says Gui Lan. ‘You’re lucky to have him by your side… I’ll have to move home soon. Construction workers walked down our lane yesterday and painted the word “demolish” on every house. The government is planning to pull down the whole district.’