When the boys woke up the next day, Song Fanping was standing at the foot of their bed. Still beaming, he stretched out his hands to the children, and they found two red Chairman Mao badges glowing in his palms. He said that these were for them and that they should wear them right over their hearts. Then he took another badge and pinned it to his own chest. Holding a copy of Chairman Mao's quotations, his face as red and bright as the badge, he stepped proudly outside. Baldy Li and Song Gang heard a neighbor ask him, "Will you be waving the red flag again today?"
Song Fanping answered, "Absolutely!"
Baldy Li and Song Gang put their ears to each others chests in order to make sure to pin their Mao badges right over each others beating hearts. Song Gangs badge had Mao perched atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace, while Baldy Li's Mao was standing on the surface of a giant ocean. After eating breakfast, the boys were greeted by the morning sun as they walked outside, and flags as large as sheets and as small as handkerchiefs again filled the streets.
Everyone who had been parading the previous day had happily returned, and the people who had been putting up big-character posters were again busy slapping glue onto the walls. Blacksmith Tong was again raising his hammer and shouting that he was going to smash the class enemy's beastly legs. Yanker Yu was again raising his tooth extractor and shouting that he was going to yank all the class enemy's good teeth. Popsicle Wang was again walking around with an icebox on his back, banging on it as he marched and shouting that he would sell popsicles only to class brothers and sisters. Tailor Zhang once again had his measuring tape around his neck and was shouting that he wanted to make the most tattered funeral clothes for the class enemy, then corrected himself and hastily changed it to a corpse shroud. Old Scissors Guan was again waving his scissors, snipping at the class enemy's imaginary dicks. Little Scissors Guan, who had pissed against the wall the previous day, was once again unfastening his pants. Of all the people who had previously spat, coughed, sneezed, farted, and argued, not a single one was missing this time around.
The middle-schoolers Sun Wei, Victory Zhao, and Success Liu also walked over. Looking at the Chairman Mao badges pinned to the brothers’ chests, they cackled like smarmy Japanese collaborators in a World War II movie, making Baldy Li's and Song Gang's hearts skip a beat. Long-haired Sun Wei pointed to an electrical pole and asked Baldy Li, "Hey, kid, where s your sex drive?"
Baldy Li knew they were up to no good. He pulled Song Gang over for cover and shook his head. "Nope, not right now."
Sun Wei grabbed him and pushed him toward the pole, giggling: "Show us some sex drive."
Baldy Li struggled and said, "But I have no sex drive now."
Victory Zhao and Success Liu laughed, grabbed hold of Song Gang, and pushed him toward the pole as well, saying, "You show us some sex drive, too."
With an innocent expression, Song Gang explained, "I don't have any sex drive. Really, I never have."
The three middle-schoolers pushed Baldy Li and Song Gang up to the pole and pinched the boys’ noses, ears, and cheeks as though they were steamed buns, until they squealed with pain. Finally, the middle-schoolers snatched off Baldy Li's and Song Gang's Chairman Mao badges and took off. Song Gang sobbed so hard that his mouth filled with tears and snot, which he swallowed then sobbed some more. He told everyone who walked by how his and Baldy Li's Mao badges had been stolen, and pointed in the direction of the students’ vanishing figures. Over and over, Song Gang described the Mao badges: "Chairman Mao's face is red, a red face perched atop Tiananmen Square. The other one is a red face floating over the ocean's waves…"
Baldy Li didn't cry but pointed in the direction the middle-schoolers had gone. With a look of righteous indignation, he complained to everyone who walked by, "I have no sex drive now, and they were forcing me to squeeze some out for them."
Everyone who walked by couldn't stop laughing. As Baldy Li watched Song Gang cry so hard that he shook, he became depressed as well. Wiping at his tears, he thought of how his Mao badge had been stolen by the three middle-schoolers. Song Gang pointed to his chest: "We only just put on the Mao badges this morning."
Baldy Li also pointed to his chest, saying, "My heart is still pounding inside, but there's no longer a Chairman Mao on the outside."
The boys were alone and helpless. They thought of Song Fanping, their tall, strong father, who could take down several men with a single sweep of his leg. They were convinced that Song Fanping would teach those middle-schoolers a lesson and retrieve their Mao badges, that he would grab the students by their collars and toss them into the air like little chicks, until they squawked with fear and their legs flailed about.
Song Gang said to Baldy Li, "Let's go, let's go find Papa."
By that time it was noon. The boys’ stomachs were empty as they walked hand in hand down the street. Whenever someone came between them, forcing them apart, they would immediately grab each others hands again. They went to look for the parading troops, to see if the man at the head of the line waving the red flag was Song Fanping. Then they went to the gathering place to see if the man standing in front giving a speech was Song Fanping. They walked to many, many places, asked many, many people, greeted many uncles and aunties, grandpas and grandmas, but still couldn't find Song Fanping. The boys came to the bridge where the day before Song Fanping had made the whole town holler in delight with his flag waving. Now there was no red flag, only a few people standing with their heads bowed. They were wearing tall dunce hats and big wooden placards. The boys knew that these were class enemies. They stood in front of these class enemies and spotted a few people wearing the rebels’ red armbands pacing back and forth on the bridge. Song Gang asked, "Have you seen my father?"
Someone with a red armband asked, "Who is your father?"
"My father is Song Fanping," Song Gang replied. "The Song Fanping who was waving the red flag here yesterday."
Baldy Li added, "He is a very famous man. When he goes to eat noodles, they serve them to him with meat broth."
Song Fanping's voice rose from behind the two children: "Sons, I'm here."
The boys turned around and saw Song Fanping. He was wearing a tall paper hat and had a wooden placard around his neck, on which was written The boys couldn't read what this said, but they certainly understood the red X’s scrawled across each word. Song Fanping's body blocked the sunlight like a wooden door. The two boys stood in his shade and looked up at him. His eyes were swollen from being punched, his lips bleeding from being slapped. He smiled as he looked at Baldy Li and Song Gang, though his smile appeared tight and frozen. The children couldn't understand what had happened: Yesterday he was standing on this bridge, an awesome figure, but today he had been reduced to this. Song Gang asked timidly, "Papa, why are you standing here?"
Song Fanping asked in a low voice, "Sons, are you hungry?"
Both boys nodded. Song Fanping found twenty cents in his pants pocket and gave it to them to buy something to eat. The man who was wearing the red armband yelled at him, "No talking! Lower your mutt-head."