Song Fanping forgot that there were no chopsticks in the house and got up to fetch some before remembering. He stood there for a while, his powerful back motionless as the dim light threw a shadow of his head as big as their washbasin onto the wall. Eventually he turned back toward the boys with an enigmatic smile and asked them mysteriously, "Have you ever seen the kind of chopsticks the ancients used?"
Baldy Li and Song Gang shook their heads and asked curiously, "What kind of chopsticks did they use?"
Song Fanping smiled as he walked to the door. "Just wait awhile, I'll show you."
Baldy Li and Song Gang saw him tiptoe outside and carefully close the door behind him, as if he were about to enter the land of the lost. After he left, the boys looked at each other. They had no idea how Song Fanping was going to retrieve chopsticks from the ancients, but they nevertheless felt that their father was truly amazing. After a while the door opened and Song Fanping returned, smiling, his hands behind his back.
The children asked him, "So you managed to get the ancients’ chopsticks?"
Song Fanping nodded. He walked over to the table and sat down, then thrust out his hands and gave Baldy Li and Song Gang each a pair of chopsticks. The boys took up the chopsticks of the ancients and examined them. They were about the same length as regular chopsticks, though they were of different thicknesses, were slightly curved, and had some knots on them. Baldy Li was the first to exclaim, "But these are twigs!"
Song Gang asked Song Fanping, "Why are the ancients’ chopsticks like twigs?"
"The ancients’ chopsticks were twigs," Song Fanping explained. "Because in ancient times there were no chopsticks, so the ancients used twigs."
The boys finally understood: In ancient times people used twigs to scoop up rice. Baldy Li and Song Gang started to dig into their meal with the freshly cut twigs, and when they ate, there was a bitter green taste to their food. Using their ancients’ chopsticks, they ate ravenously until their faces were covered in sweat. Only after they had eaten their fill and belched loudly did they notice that it was dark outside, and only then did they remember they had been planning to go to the seaside. There hadn't been any strong winds or rainstorms, and the sun had been so bright you couldn't even open your eyes, but they couldn't go. The boys immediately fell into a funk. Song Fanping asked if they liked their ancients’ chopsticks, and they nodded.
Song Gang then explained mournfully, "We won't make it to the seaside today."
Song Fanping smiled. "Who said we won't?"
Baldy Li said, "The sun has already gone down."
Song Fanping replied, "The sun's gone, but there's still the moon."
They had been ready to go to the seaside when the sun was high in the sky, but they didn't set off on their way until the moon was shining brightly. The children grasped Song Fanping's hands, one on each side, and walked for a very long time along the moonlit road. When they arrived at the seaside, it was high tide. They walked along the beach, where there wasn't a soul in sight, just the cool wind and the roar of the waves. The waves rushed in, creating a long line of white froth along the endless sea. At times this whiteness would turn to gray, and sometimes it would be even darker. From a distance they could glimpse both light and dark, and the moon would appear and disappear behind the clouds. This was the first time the boys had seen the ocean in the moonlight, mysterious and protean. They started screaming ecstatically, but this time Song Fanping didn't cover their mouths. Instead, his large hands caressed the tops of their heads as he let them shout to their hearts’ content. He himself seemed lost in thought, staring out at the dark sea.
After they sat down on the shore, the children started feeling terrified by the night sea. There was only the sound of the wind and waves; the moonlight appeared and disappeared; and the darkness of the sea seemed to expand and contract. Baldy Li and Song Gang held Song Fanping tightly, and he hugged them close. They sat at the sea for a long, long time, until the boys fell asleep. With one on his shoulders and the other in his arms, Song Fanping made his way home.
CHAPTER 11
STRUGGLE SESSIONS became increasingly common in Liu Town, and the middle-school yard bustled like a temple festival from daybreak to nightfall. Song Fanping had to carry that placard with him when he left home every morning and hang it from his neck once he reached the school gate. He stood at the gate, head bowed, and only after all the people coming to the struggle sessions had entered did he remove the placard and start sweeping the street in front of the school. When each struggle session ended, he would walk back to the entrance, put on his placard, and stand there with his head bowed. People poured out, kicking, abusing, and spitting at him, and though he was jostled from side to side he didn't utter a word. Then another struggle session would begin. Song Fanping had to wait until darkness fell — and make certain that there was no one left in the schoolyard — before he could take his placard and broom and head home.
Baldy Li and Song Gang would hear the sound of his heavy steps as Song Fanping walked into the house, his face lined with fatigue. He would always sit silently on his stool for a while, then he would get up, splash his face with well water, and use a rag to wipe down the dust, footprints, and children's spittle off his placard. Throughout all this, Baldy Li and Song Gang didn't dare say a word. They waited patiently, knowing that once Song Fanping washed his face and wiped the placard clean, he would become cheerful again and talk to them about many cheerful things.
Baldy Li and Song Gang didn't recognize the characters on the placard, but they knew these were the words that had brought Song Fanping all his misfortune. Before they appeared, Song Fanping was exultantly waving a red flag atop the bridge; but after they appeared, even little children spat and pissed on him. One day the boys finally had to ask him, "What do these characters mean?"
Song Fanping had just finished wiping clean his placard. Taken aback, he paused for a while. Then he smiled and said to them, "Next fall you'll start school, so I'll teach you how to read, starting with these characters."
This was Baldy Li and Song Gang's first lesson. Song Fanping taught them to sit with their backs straight and their hands in front of them. Then he hung the placard on the wall and brought over one of the chopsticks of the ancients. He prepared for almost half an hour before beginning the lesson, filling them with anxious anticipation.
Finally he stood in front of the big wooden placard and coughed solemnly to clear his throat. "Now we'll begin our lesson. First let me announce two rules. First, no squirming about. Second, raise your hand if you wish to speak."
He raised an ancient's chopstick and pointed at the first character on the placard. "This character is pronounced di. Think, what does di mean? Which of you wants to guess?"
Song Fanping first pointed at the ground, then stomped his foot, all the while winking at th e boys. Baldy Li beat Song Gang to it, pointing downward and shouting, "I know!"
"Hold on," Song Fanping interrupted. "If you wish to speak, you must raise your hand."
With his hand raised, Baldy Li blurted, "Di means land,’ which is what is below us, what we're standing on."
"That's correct," Song Fanping said. "You're very clever."
Then Song Fanping pointed at the second character in landlord. He said, "This character is even harder. It's pronounced ‘zhu.’ Think: Where have you heard this word before?"
Baldy Li shot his hand up before Song Gang again. This time Song Fanping didn't let him answer. He said, "You answered last time; now it's Song Gang's turn. Song Gang, think, where have you heard this character zhu used before?"