As Song Gang walked along the moonlit street, the autumn leaves drifting by, he couldn't stop laughing. He had kept things bottled up for a long time and only now could finally express his happiness. He drank in the cool breeze as he strolled toward Lin Hong's house. On his way, he felt that the Liu Town evening was so beautiful, with the sky full of stars, the autumn breeze blowing, and the tree shadows waving back and forth. The lights from the streetlamps and the moon were intertwined, like Lin Hong's braids. A few pedestrians appeared in the peaceful street, and as they walked beneath the streetlamps it looked as though they were glowing, making Song Gang stare in surprise. When he walked over the bridge, he was even more astounded, seeing the river full of stars and moonlight.
CHAPTER 35
ALL NIGHT Lin Hongs parents felt as if they were riding an emotional roller coaster. First Song Gang walked into Lin Hongs room and broke her heart. Then Baldy Li came and made her scream in horror. Lin Hongs parents spent the entire evening sobbing and sighing, and they had just gone to bed when they heard someone knocking at the door again. They looked at each other, unable to imagine who might be visiting at that hour. They got dressed and were headed for the door when the knocking abruptly stopped, making them suspect that perhaps they'd been hearing things. They were about to head back to bed when the knocking started up again. Lin Hongs mother leaned toward the door and asked, "Who is it?"
"Its me," Song Gang replied from outside.
"Who are you?" Lin Hongs father asked.
"I am Song Gang."
When Lin Hongs parents heard that it was Song Gang, they grew angry. After exchanging glances, they opened the door and were about to start reprimanding him when he happily announced, "I've returned."
"You've returned?" Lin Hong's mother said. "But this isn't your home."
"Bizarre," Lin Hong's father muttered.
The happiness instantly vanished from Song Gang's face. He looked at them uneasily, sensing that they had a point. Lin Hong's mother was about to launch into a scolding but changed her mind. Instead she coldly told him, "We've already gone to bed." Then she closed the door. As the parents returned to bed, Lin Hong's father became enraged as he recalled all that had happened to his daughter. He cursed Song Gang: "What a cretin."
"A complete cretin," spat his wife.
It seemed to Lin Hong's mother that Song Gang had a bloody welt on his neck, and she asked her husband if he had noticed it. He thought for a moment and nodded. Then they turned out the light and went to sleep.
Song Gang stood at the door to Lin Hongs house for a long time, completely at a loss. The night was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Two cats climbed onto the roof of the house, meowing as they chased each other around, and their shrill cries caused Song Gangs heart to shudder. Only then did he realized that it was the dead of night. He started to regret that he had come knocking on Lin Hongs door so late, and therefore he left her courtyard and went back out to the street.
After walking around for a while, Song Gang gradually began to cheer up. He experimented with having his heel strike the ground first, as if he were training for a speed-walking race, and in this way he walked back and forth down the main street of Liu Town. After he had made five round-trips, he felt that he still had pent-up energy. Shortly before dawn he approached the gate to Lin Hongs house for the seventh time that night. He decided to halt his march and set up camp in front of the house, waiting there for the sun to come up.
Song Gang squatted against a buzzing electrical pole and laughed quietly. He didn't realize, however, how the sound of his laughter would resonate in the still night. One of Lin Hongs neighbors happened to be heading home from a night shift and, hearing the sound of laughter emanating from the electrical pole, wondered in alarm if this cackling electrical pole was perhaps a sign of an impending earthquake. Upon closer inspection, however, he realized that the laughter was coming from a dark form at the base of the pole. He had no idea what kind of animal this could be and was so spooked that he threw open the door to his house and rushed in.
Lin Hongs mother got up at the crack of dawn. While she was taking out the chamber pot, she saw Song Gang standing there, covered in dew. She jumped in surprise and looked up at the sun that had just risen. She thought to herself that it hadn't rained, then realized that he must have gotten covered in dew from standing there all night. He smiled broadly at her, like a big wet dog. She felt that he was smiling rather strangely and therefore put down the chamber pot, went back inside, and told her husband that Song Gang looked as if he had been standing outside all night long. She speculated, "Perhaps he has gone insane?"
Lin Hong's father's jaw dropped in surprise, and he hurried outside as if to glimpse a rare panda. When he saw Song Gang standing there grinning, he asked him curiously, "Have you been standing here all night?"
Song Gang nodded happily, and Lin Hongs father asked himself how someone could be so happy after having stood outside all night. He walked back into the house and told Lin Hongs mother, "I agree that he doesn't seem quite right."
When Lin Hong woke up that morning, she found that her fever had gone down and she felt somewhat better. When she sat up, however, she realized she was still quite weak, so she lay back down. It was at this point that she learned that Song Gang had been standing outside all night. She first reacted with surprise; then, remembering the previous nights events, she bit her lip, and tears of shame flooded her eyes. She covered her head with her blanket and sobbed. After she had cried for a while, she wiped her tears with the handkerchief Song Gang had returned to her and then told her father, "Make him go away. I don't want to see him."
Lin Hong's father walked out and said to Song Gang, who was still standing there grinning, "You should go. My daughter won't see you."
Song Gang wiped the smile from his face and stared at Lin Hong's father, at a loss as to what to do. When the father saw that Song Gang was making no move to leave, he began shooing him away as one would a flock of ducks. After he had shooed Song Gang a dozen yards away, Lin Hong's father paused and pointed at him, saying, "Move along. I don't want to see you here again."
Lin Hong's father walked back into the house and reported that he had shooed the idiot away. He reported that it had been quite difficult, because after every step that idiot would turn back around and stand there without moving as if he were a pile of dirt. The father concluded by citing Chairman Mao's aphorism that if one doesn't make use of a broom, dirt wont disappear on its own, then he spat out seven "idiots" in succession. When Lin Hong heard the seventh "idiot," she began to feel uneasy. She muttered to herself, "He isn't an idiot. He is just loyal."
Lin Hong's father winked at his wife and laughed to himself as he headed back into the courtyard. Another neighbor coming home after having bought some fried dough sticks for breakfast then remarked to Lin Hong's father, "The fellow you shooed away is still standing there."
"Really?" Lin Hong's father replied. He went back inside and walked up to the window. He rolled up the blinds and peeked out, and sure enough he saw Song Gang. Smiling, he told Lin Hong's mother to take a look as well, and she too saw Song Gang standing there with his head bowed, looking utterly despondent. She couldn't help but laugh and told her daughter, "Song Gang has returned."
Lin Hong saw her parents’ knowing smiles and realized what they were thinking. She turned and faced the wall so they wouldn't be able to see her face. She recalled the events of the previous night, and again grew angry, saying, "Ignore him."