Lin Hong went home and cried over and over again, particularly distraught that there was no one she could talk to about her humiliation. Several times when Song Gang called, she considered telling him, but each time there were people around, and therefore she bit her tongue. After hanging up the phone and returning home, she would again cry all alone, thinking that even if she did tell Song Gang what was happening, what could he do about it?
While standing in her doorway in the evening, she would often see Baldy Li drive by in his sedan. One day, two months after Song Gang left, the sedan stopped in front of her house. Baldy Li emerged and, smiling, walked up to her. Lin Hong blushed and, as she was standing there unsure what to do, he peered around her into the house, muttering, "And where is Song Gang?"
When Baldy Li learned that Song Gang had gone away with someone else to do business, he became so furious he could barely stand straight. He cursed over and over again, "That bastard, that fucking bastard …"
After calling him a bastard five times in succession, Baldy Li told Lin Hong angrily, "That bastard has hurt me deeply. He is willing to do business with anyone but me."
"Its not like that," Lin Hong quickly explained. "Song Gang has always regarded you as the person closest to him in the world."
Baldy Li was already walking back toward the sedan. When he opened the door, he turned around and asked sympathetically, "How could you marry such a bastard?"
After Baldy Li's sedan drove away into the sunset, Lin Hong was filled with mixed emotions. She remembered how Song Gang and Baldy Li, when they were young, would walk together down the streets of Liu, one tall figure and one short one. Lin Hong had never imagined that, twenty years later, they would end up with such different fates. Even after Song Gang had been away from home for more than a year, Baldy Li kept his promise and every six months would deposit another hundred thousand yuan into Lin Hongs bank account. Lin Hong had spent more than twenty thousand yuan on Song Gangs medical expenses and left the remaining balance completely untouched. Although Song Gang insisted over the phone that his business was taking off, Lin Hong didn't dare touch the money in her account. That was money for Song Gang's medical treatment, to support him in his old age and possibly save his life. Lin Hong knew that Song Gang was not a businessman, and she was afraid that he would return empty-handed. With the chain-smoking Director Liu still eyeing her covetously, she knew that, sooner or later, she would have to leave the knitting factory and therefore would find herself unemployed. This realization made her even less willing to touch the money in her account. She would wander aimlessly through the clothing stores and see many outfits that would suit her, but wouldn't buy a single one.
Whenever Baldy Li saw Lin Hong standing in her doorway, he would roll down the window of his sedan and ask her whether or not Song Gang had returned. When she responded that he hadn't, he would invariably curse, "That bastard!" Once, after inquiring about Song Gang, Baldy Li suddenly expressed concern for Lin Hong herself, asking, "Are you doing okay?"
Lin Hong's heart skipped a beat. She was accustomed to Baldy Li's filthy mouth, so his gentle inquiry took her breath away. Tears welled up in her eyes.
That afternoon Director Liu had told Lin Hong that her name was on the next list of workers to be laid off, and that the list would be made public in a week's time. After the incident when Lin Hong had cried out and told him to keep his hands to himself, the director didn't return to Lin Hong's workshop for a full three months. This time, when he entered, he didn't seem like a ghost but, rather, marched right up to Lin Hong and quietly informed her that she would be unemployed within a week. Director Liu didn't make any advances this time but, rather, coldly reminded her that if she didn't want to be laid off, she should go to his office after work. Lin Hong bit her lip and didn't say anything. After work, she continued biting her lip as she rode her Eternity bicycle home. Once home, she stood woodenly in the doorway and when Baldy Li asked her how she was doing, she burst into tears at the mere thought of the humiliation she had endured from Director Liu.
When he saw Lin Hong crying, Baldy Li got out of the sedan and rushed over to her, asking, "Did something happen to Song Gang?"
Lin Hong shook her head and for the first time spoke of her humiliation at Director Liu's hands. She then wiped her tears and entreated Baldy Li, "Could you please say something to Director Liu?"
Baldy Li gave the heartbroken Lin Hong a confused look and asked, "Do you mean the chain-smoking Director Liu?"
Lin Hong nodded, and after a brief hesitation she told him the entire story of her humiliation, concluding, "Could you speak to him, and ask him to leave me alone?"
"That fucking bastard!" When Baldy Li finally understood, he gritted his teeth in anger and cursed. Then he told Lin Hong, "Give me three days, and then you will be able to rest easy."
Three days later someone came from the county government to announce that they were relieving Director Liu of his duties, on the ground that he had allowed productivity at the factory to fall three years in a row. Before he had a chance to announce the new list of layoffs he himself was fired. With a somber expression, Director Liu collected his belongings and trudged out the factory door with his tail between his legs. On the day he received the news, he went a full two hours without smoking a single cigarette and didn't even have one as he walked out the door. The workers at the knitting factory all laughed, remarking that if Director Liu had forgotten to smoke, he must indeed be at his wits end.
The first thing the new director did was to promote Lin Hong from her former position in the workshop to the factory office. When the new director saw Lin Hong, he greeted her with a smile, then added quietly that if she didn't like this new position, she could have her pick of any position in the factory.
Never having expected things to work out this way, Lin Hong was extremely grateful. A situation that had caused her such hardship had been resolved easily as soon as Baldy Li learned of it. By this point, she had nothing but goodwill for Baldy Li and felt that her previous hatred of him had been without merit. From then on, when Lin Hong stood in her doorway in the evening, she was no longer certain whether she was waiting for Song Gang's call or for Baldy Li to drive by.
When the famous Russian painter departed, everyone in Liu knew that Baldy Li's enormous portrait had been completed. It was said that he had hung it in his thousand-square-foot office and covered it with a red velvet drape, and that no one other than Baldy Li had even seen it. The people working in Baldy Li's company told everyone in town that Baldy Li wanted to invite a VIP to come and unveil his portrait, and everyone starting speculating as to who that might be. At first, they thought it might be County Governor Tao Qing. For a month Tao Qing didn't go anywhere but waited around every day for Baldy Li to call him up and invite him to host the ceremony. But the portrait still remained covered by the red velvet drape, and Baldy Li still hadn't organized an unveiling ceremony. Baldy Li's underlings reported that the ceremony had not been held yet because Baldy Li was waiting for his new car to be delivered, since he wanted to pick the host up in it. Therefore, everyone began to suspect that the host must be someone even more important than the county governor; otherwise, why would Baldy Li need a new car to pick him up?
From that point on, rumors spread like wildfire. First people speculated that it would be a national Party leader. Then someone suggested that Baldy Li would invite the secretary-general of the United Nations to host the ceremony. Some people started watching the news on television, listening to the radio, and reading the newspaper, and after a few days began to ask themselves, "Why is it that there isn't any news about the secretary-general coming to visit China?"