Baldy Li and Song Gang spotted Song Fanping the moment they stepped off the bridge. A bloody, mangled body lay across the empty lot in front of the bus depot. A few people stopped as they walked past, peering down and muttering to one another. The two children walked by him as well, not realizing who it was. He lay sprawled on the ground, one arm folded under his body and the other twisted on top; one of his legs stuck straight out and the other was curled up beneath him. Flies buzzed and swarmed all around him. His face, his limbs, his hands and feet — every bloodied bit of flesh was covered in flies. The two children were repulsed and terrified by the sight. Song Gang asked someone wearing a straw hat, "Who is this? Is he dead?"
The man shook his head, saying that he didn't know, and then walked over to a shady tree nearby and began to fan himself with his straw hat. Baldy Li and Song Gang walked up the steps of the station and into the main hall. Though they had stood outside for only a brief while, they felt that they had been parched dry by the fierce summer sun. Two large fans, whirling loudly, hung from the ceiling of the main hall, and everyone inside was gathered under them buzzing in conversation like so many flies. Baldy Li and Song Gang tried hovering at the edges of each group of people, but the breeze from the ceiling fans dissipated before reaching them. It turned out that every spot where a breeze could be felt had been occupied. So they walked up to the ticket window and stood on their tiptoes to peer in. They saw a ticket seller sitting inside, struck dumb and still reeling from the horrors of the morning. Jolted back suddenly by the sound of the boys’ conversation, she focused her eyes on them and screeched, "What are you looking at?"
Baldy Li and Song Gang quickly ducked down and crept away. They walked up to the ticket checker s counter. The metal gate of the ticket counter was ajar, so the boys looked inside. Not a single bus was there, only a ticket checker holding his jar of tea. Rushing toward them, he also roared, "What do you want?"
Baldy Li and Song Gang ran away from the ticket counter and listlessly circled the main hall a few times. At this point Popsicle Wang appeared at the main entrance, carrying a small stool in one hand and an icebox full of popsicles on his back. He set his stool down at the stations entranceway, sat down, and started to bang his icebox with a block of wood, shouting, "Popsicles! Popsicles! Popsicles for our working-class brothers and sisters…"
The two boys went up to him and stood there watching him and gulping down their saliva. He kept banging his wood block while keeping a wary eye on the boys. Baldy Li and Song Gang once again caught sight of the body outside, still lying in the same position. Song Gang pointed at him and asked Popsicle Wang, "Who is that?"
Popsicle Wang glanced sideways at the boys but didn't respond. Song Gang persisted, "Is he dead?"
Popsicle Wang snarled at them, "If you don't have any money, then scram. Stop standing here trying to swallow your saliva."
Startled, Baldy Li and Song Gang gripped each other's arms and ran down the station steps until they once again found themselves outside under the fierce summer sun. As they walked past Song Fanping's fly-covered body again, Song Gang suddenly stopped in his tracks and pointed at Song Fanping's beige-colored sandals. "He's wearing Papa's sandals."
Song Gang then noticed Song Fanping's red shirt. "He's wearing Papa's shirt."
The boys stood there, looking at each other. After a while Baldy Li spoke, suggesting that this wasn't Papa's shirt, because his had a row of yellow characters on it. Song Gang nodded, then shook his head, saying that the yellow characters were on the front. The children squatted down, waving away flies and tugging at Song Fanping's shirt. A few yellow characters emerged from their tugging. Song Gang stood up and burst into tears. Sobbing, he asked Baldy Li, "Is this Papa?"
Baldy Li couldn't help sobbing, too. "I don't know."
The two children stood there, weeping and looking about. No one came over. They squatted down again, shooing away the swarms of flies from Song Fanping's face, wanting to take a closer look. Was this Song Fanping? His face was smeared with blood and dirt, so they couldn't really tell. They felt that it looked a little bit like Song Fanping, but they couldn't be sure. Was it him? They got up from the ground and decided that they should ask someone.
First they walked to the spot under the tree where two men were smoking. They pointed at Song Fanping, asking, "Is that our father?"
The two men smoking under the tree froze, then shook their heads. "Don't you know your own father?"
The children walked up the station steps to Popsicle Wang. Wiping away his tears, Song Gang asked him, "Is that our father on the ground over there?"
Popsicle Wang slapped the wood block against his icebox, staring. "Scram!"
Baldy Li complained, "But we're not drooling anymore."
Popsicle Wang replied, "Scram anyway!"
Weeping, Baldy Li and Song Gang walked hand in hand into the main hall and asked the people clustered under the two ceiling fans, "Do any of you know? Is that our father lying on the ground outside?"
Their pathetic questions elicited a roar of laughter. People commented that they couldn't believe there could be such fools as these two, who didn't even know their own father and had to ask others. Grinning, one of the people waved the children over. "Hey, kids, come over here."
The boys walked up to the man, who looked down at them and asked, "Do you know who my father is?"
The children shook their heads, and the man asked again, "Then who would know who my father is?"
The children thought this over and replied, "You would."
"Go away, then." The man dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "Go identify your own father."
Weeping and still grasping each other's hands, the children walked out of the station and down the steps and approached Song Fanping's prone body. Song Gang sobbed, "We do know our own father. But this man's face is covered in blood, so we really can't make it out."
The boys went into the snack shop next to the station. Inside there was only Mama Su, wiping the tables. They were a little fearful and stood at the door, hesitating. Song Gang whispered, "We'd like to ask you something but don't want you to get angry."
Mama Su saw two weeping boys standing at her door, took a look at Baldy Li and Song Gang's clothes, and asked, "You're not beggars, are you?"
"No." Song Gang pointed at Song Fanping lying on the ground outside. "We'd just like to ask you, is that our father?"
Mama Su put down the rag she was holding. She now recognized Baldy Li. This was the little hoodlum who had been going around rubbing himself on all the wooden electrical poles, exclaiming that he was in heat. Mama Su gave Baldy Li a look and then asked Song Gang, "What is your father's name?"
Song Gang replied, "His name is Song Fanping."
The children then heard her gasp and wail, saying something like "Oh God," "Dear mother," or "My ancestors!" When she paused to catch her breath, she panted to Song Gang, "He's been lying there for more than half a day. I thought that everyone in his family was dead."
The two children didn't know what she was talking about. Song Gang persisted, "Is he our father?"
Mama Su wiped at the sweat on her forehead. "His name was Song Fanping."
Song Gang immediately started howling, turning to Baldy Li. "I just knew he was Papa. That's why I started crying the moment I saw him."
Baldy Li also burst into tears. "That's why I started crying, too."
The children began to screech and wail in the summer heat. They once again approached Song Fanping's body, their sharp wails scaring off even the swarms of flies. Song Gang knelt down to the ground, as did Baldy Li. They leaned in close to take a good look at Song Fanping. The sun had dried up the blood on his face. Song Gang peeled off the caked-up blood and finally saw his own father clearly. He turned and clutched Baldy Li's hand. "This is Papa."