Baldy Li exhaled and shook his head. "I, Director Li, want to have a bowl of house-special noodles."
Song Gangs eyes lit up, and he waved his hand. "Yes, lets eat house-special noodles. Lets celebrate."
Song Gang looked disdainfully at the food on the table, patted Baldy Li on the shoulder, then walked out of the room with him and locked the door. He proceeded a few steps, paused, and asked Baldy Li how much a bowl of house-special noodles cost. Baldy Li replied thirty-five cents a bowl. Song Gang nodded and walked back to the door, then leaned against it as he unfastened his pants and reached into his underwear. After fumbling about for a while, he pulled out seventy cents and placed it in his pocket, then spiritedly continued forward. As they walked Song Gang explained to Baldy Li, "You are now a factory director, making me a factory directors brother. I can't continue reaching into my pants for money in public, making you lose face."
The two brothers paraded like heroes down the main street in Liu Town. Baldy Li continued to grasp the promotion letter in his hand, and Song Gang stopped twice and asked to see the letter again. Song Gang stood in the middle of the street reading the letter aloud as if he were reciting poetry, and when he finished he turned to Baldy Li and said sincerely, "I am truly happy."
The two brothers walked into the Peoples Restaurant, and as soon as Song Gang stepped in the door, he shouted to the woman at the counter, "Two bowls of house-special noodles!"
Song Gang then walked up to the cashier and pulled exactly seventy cents out of his pocket. Slapping the money down on the counter, he startled the female cashier, who muttered, "Only seventy cents — you'd think it was ten yuan, with all that ruckus."
The two brothers finished their house-special noodles and returned home with their faces covered in sweat. On the way home, Baldy Li opened up his appointment letter three more times to read it to various acquaintances, and Song Gong stopped twice more to recite it. Once they returned home, Song Gang offered to keep the letter, afraid that Baldy Li would lose it. Upon hearing Song Gang's suggestion, Baldy Li mimicked Bureau Director Tao, explaining, "You really don't understand how things are done. This appointment letter must be taken to the Organization Bureau to be put on file, because now I am a national cadre."
Baldy Li's comment made Song Gang even more elated, and he felt that this little brother of his was truly extraordinary. Song Gang then grasped the appointment letter in his hand and read it one more time, as if he were trying to devour every word. It occurred to him that he would never see this appointment letter again, and the thought filled him with regret. But then he had an inspiration. He immediately fetched a sheet of paper and used black ink to neatly copy the letter, then used red ink to carefully draw the seal mark that appeared on top. Baldy Li expressed his approval, saying that Song Gang's seal was even more realistic than the original. After drawing it, Song Gang laughed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, and handed the letter back to Baldy Li. Taking up his own copy, he said proudly, "In the future, we can look at this one."
Song Gang kept track of both of their salaries, and every time he wanted to spend money, he made a point of consulting with Baldy Li and securing his permission. After Baldy Li formally assumed his position as factory director, Song Gang offered to go buy him a pair of black leather shoes, arguing that as factory director he couldn't keep wearing his tattered old sneakers. Baldy Li was very pleased to see his new shoes, and counting on his fingers all the important people in the county — from the county's party secretary, governor, and bureau chief on down to the various factory directors — he concluded that all of them wore black leather shoes. He added, "Now I'm an important person, too."
Baldy Li's sweater was also in tatters. Furthermore, it had been knitted from various different colored spools of yarn, patched together long ago by Li Lan from the remains of several other sweaters. Song Gang bought a pound and a half of beige yarn, and after work he started knitting Baldy Li a new sweater, periodically holding it up to Baldy Li's body to size it. A month later the sweater was finished, and it fit perfectly. On Baldy Li's chest there was the embroidered outline of a wave, on top of which was a boat, its sails unfurled. Song Gang explained that the sailboat symbolized Baldy Li's bright future. Baldy Li happily exclaimed, "Song Gang, you are truly extraordinary. You can even do women's work."
Since he had begun wearing the black leather shoes, Baldy Li had only left the house wearing his dark blue Mao suit, buttoned all the way up. But once he started wearing the beige sweater Song Gang knitted for him, Baldy Li let his Mao tunic hang open as he walked around in order to give people a clear view of the waves and the sailboat on his chest. With his hands in his pockets, the flaps of his tunic tucked behind his elbows, he stuck out his chest as he walked, grinning to everyone he encountered.
The women in Liu Town had never seen a sweater with a sailboat embroidered on the front, and therefore when they saw Baldy Li's they immediately crowded around him to examine how it had been made. They crowed their approval, exclaiming, "There is even a sail on top!"
Baldy Li lifted his head and allowed them to appreciate his sweater, listening as they complimented the sailboat. They asked him whose extraordinary skill had produced it. Baldy Li responded proudly, "Song Gang. Aside from bearing children, Song Gang can do anything."
After the women of Liu finished admiring the handiwork on the boat and the sail, they turned their attention to what kind of boat it was. They asked Baldy Li, "Is this a fishing boat?"
"A fishing boat?" Baldy Li replied. "This is called a Great Prospects Ship."
Their rude and ignorant questions infuriated Baldy Li. He pushed away their hands, feeling that allowing them to admire his tall mast sailing into the future was like serenading cows with violins. As he stalked off he turned and angrily spat out his parting words: "What are you women good for besides having children?"
CHAPTER 30
AFTER BALDY LI was appointed factory director, he would often attend meetings with the county's other factory directors, all of whom similarly wore Mao suits and black leather shoes. Baldy Li would smile and shake their hands, and within a few months he was accepted as one of their "brothers." From that point on, Baldy Li became a bona fide member of Liu Town s high society, whereupon he assumed a haughty demeanor, always holding his head high when speaking.
One day he unexpectedly ran into Lin Hong on the bridge and was immediately struck dumb. While the Lin Hong that Baldy Li had peeped at was a very pretty seventeen-year-old, she was now twenty-three and the embodiment of womanly charm. Lin Hong walked across the bridge staring straight ahead, but when she passed Baldy Li someone happened to call out her name. She spun around, and her long braid barely missed hitting him in the face. Baldy Li watched her in a state of infatuation, repeating dreamily, "Beautiful, so beautiful …"