Song Fanpings corpse lay on the near side of the bed. The pillow on the far side had a few strands of Li Lan's hair, and a few more were dangling from Song Fanpings neck. Li Lan must have spent the night cradled on Song Fanpings chest. This was to be the last night she spent with Song Fanping. The bloodied clothes and sheets were soaking in the wooden tub under the bed, and floating on top of the water were a few flies that had wedged themselves in the crevices of his clothing.
All night Li Lan had wept. As she wiped down Song Fanpings body, she shuddered over his bruises and wounds. Several times she almost burst out into terrible wails, but each time she managed to swallow her sobs and would bravely rouse herself, though the effort almost made her faint. Her lips bled from biting down on them. No one could imagine how she survived that night, how she reined herself in and managed not to go insane. Afterward, she lay down on the bed and placed her head on Song Fanpings chest, falling into a state that was not so much sleep as a long, pitch-black unconsciousness. Only when the sun s rays pierced the room did she rouse herself once again from the terrible pit of her pain.
Li Lan, her eyes bloodshot and puffy, left the house to go to the coffin shop, bringing with her all the money that she had in the house. She wanted to buy her husband the best coffin, but she didn't have enough money. She was only able to afford an unvarnished one made of thin wood planks, and even then only the shortest of the four. She returned shortly before noon, followed by four men carrying the thin-plank coffin on their backs. They set the coffin down next to Baldy Li and Song Gangs bed. The boys looked with fear and horror at the coffin as the four sweat-drenched men wiped themselves with their towels and fanned themselves with their straw hats. Looking about, they asked loudly, "Where is the corpse? Where is it?"
Silently, Li Lan opened the door to the inside room. The men's leader walked into the room and spotted Song Fanping on the bed. He waved for his men to follow him in. They stood by the bed quietly discussing matters for a while, then abruptly grabbed Song Fanping by the arms and legs. The leader bellowed, "Lift him up!" and the four men lifted Song Fanping, their faces as red as pig's liver. They carried Song Fanping through the door and then attempted to place him in the coffin. When Song's torso was positioned in the coffin, his feet still dangled out. The men panted noisily, trying to catch their breath. They asked Li Lan, "How much did Song Fanping weigh when he was alive?"
Li Lan was leaning against the door frame as she replied in a low voice that her husband probably weighed 180 pounds or so. All the men had looks of "Aha!" The man in charge explained, "No wonder he was so heavy. When people die, they weigh twice as much. That was probably three hundred and sixty pounds right there. No wonder I almost sprained my back!"
The men from the coffin shop then began an animated discussion about how to wedge Song Fanpings feet into the coffin. The corpse was too long, and the coffin too short. The four of them struggled for more than an hour. Song Fanpings head was already squashed and crooked, but still they could not manage to squeeze his two feet in. They discussed placing him on his side, in a fetal position, saying that then they could manage to fit all of him in.
But Li Lan balked at this. She felt that the dead should be buried faceup, since they would want to look up at the living. "You can't lay him on his side. If he's on his side, he won't be able to see us."
The man in charge retorted, "With the coffin lid and all the dirt, he wouldn't be able to see even if he were lying faceup. Hugging his knees, he'd be in the same position as he was when he was born, and furthermore it would make coming back for the next go-round easier."
Li Lan shook her head. She still wanted to say something, but the four men had already bent over and, with much grunting and huffing, rolled Song Fanping onto his side. Then they discovered that the coffin was too narrow, and Song Fanpings body was too wide and too thick. Plus his legs were too long, so even in a fetal position they couldn't fit all of him in. The men shook their heads. Lifting their shirts to wipe the sweat that had flowed from their faces down onto their chests, they complained, "What kind of fucking coffin is this? A foot-washing basin is more like it."
Li Lan lowered her head in shame. The men rested for a while, then continued discussing their options. The man in charge said to Li Lan, "There's only one way: We have to smash his knees to fold his calves over. Then he'll fit."
Li Lan turned deathly pale and shook her head over and over again. Trembling, she said, "No, no…"
"Well, there's nothing else we can do."
The men got up and started collecting their levers and ropes, shrugging their shoulders and waving their hands. As they walked outside Li Lan followed them, pleading pitifully, "Is there nothing else you can do?"
They turned back, saying, "No — well, you can see for yourself."
The four men from the coffin shop carried their tools and walked into the alleyway. Li Lan trailed behind them, pleading pitifully, "Is there really no other way?"
They replied firmly, "No."
As the men walked out of the alley the man in charge paused and turned to Li Lan. "Just think. Who leaves a dead mans feet outside of the coffin? No matter what, it's still better than having his feet dangling out."
Li Lan lowered her head and said brokenheartedly "Whatever you say."
The four men returned to the house, and Li Lan pitifully trailed in after them. Silently, she shook her head, walked up to the coffin, and gazed for a while at Song Fanping inside. She then bent down, reaching both hands into the coffin, and carefully rolled up Song Fanpings pants legs. As she did so she once again saw all the bruises on his calves. Trembling all over, she rolled Song Fanpings pants above his knees. When she looked up, her eyes met those of Baldy Li and Song Gang, and she quickly looked away. She led the boys by the hand and walked into the inner room. She shut the door behind her, sat down on the bed, and closed her eyes. Baldy Li and Song Gang sat on either side of her, her arms hugging their shoulders tight.
From the outside room the man in charge yelled, "Lets start smashing!"
Li Lan s body jerked as if she were being electrocuted, and Baldy Li and Song Gangs bodies jolted in response. By this time a crowd had gathered outside the house, including neighbors and passersby as well as others attracted by the commotion. A mass of them crowded the door, and a few even tumbled into the house. They excitedly discussed how the men from the coffin shop were shattering Song Fanpings knees. Li Lan and the children hadn't realized how they were going to smash his knees, but now they heard them talking about bricks, which then shattered, and how they used the back of a cleaver. There was so much of a din outside that they couldn't make out clearly what everyone was saying. They could only hear people whooping and hollering, as well as the sounds of smashing, dull thuds, and occasional sharp snaps — that was the sound of bone crunching.
Baldy Li and Song Gang couldn't stop trembling. Their bodies shook until they sounded like branches being whipped in a thunderstorm. They were shocked by their own bodies — what would make them shake so hard? It was only later that they realized that it was Li Lan's arms that were shaking and her body that was vibrating like an engine.
The four men outside finally managed to shatter Song Fanpings kneecaps. The man in charge said, "Pick out those bits of brick from inside the coffin." After a while he added, "Roll down the pants legs, and stuff the calves in." Finally he knocked at their door and said to Li Lan, "Come take a last look. We're about to close the coffin."