“Where is this place?”
“I seem to recall Zhuang Laoshi mentioning it once, but I don’t know if it’s an office or someone’s house. I’ll go check it out.”
“I’ll go myself. This is an urgent matter that can’t be delayed even a moment. Just tell me where it is.”
She had no choice but to give her the address. Niu Yueqing got back on her bike and rode out.
On this day, Zhuang happened to be spending the noon hour with Tang at the House of Imperfection Seekers. She had more or less recovered but was still spotting, and they had agreed to meet there, as he wanted to hear details of the abortion, which brought hot tears to his face when she was finished. She wanted him to swear that he loved her. He did, adding that he wanted to marry her. She asked when that would happen. Someday in the future? Three years? Five years, eight or ten years? Everyone would think that Zhuang Zhidie had married a rare beauty who turned out to be an old hag, she said. Caught in a difficult state, he sighed in agony, while she smiled and, calling him a poor man, tickled his armpit to make him laugh. Seeing the frown on his face, she said, “Don’t be like that. It hurts me to see you suffer. I’ll wait for you no matter how long it takes. Even if you stop loving me, at least you will have loved me once. With your disposition, you’d eventually look for someone better than me even if the heavens helped us become husband and wife. When that happened, I wouldn’t hate you, nor would I stop you.”
“What would that make me then? Nothing you say or do can make me lose interest in you or allow me to be with anyone else.”
She laughed, saying she sometimes felt guilty about his wife, but then she was convinced that he should be hers. She told him she wasn’t sure if she was a good woman or a bad one, but she knew she was a woman. If he stopped loving her, she would become a loose woman and sleep with any man, including a madman, an idiot, even bandits and thieves. Taken by surprise, Zhuang responded with a stern face, “Stop the nonsense. Don’t say things like that.”
She started to cry, saying she would never say those things again, and asked if he was angry with her. He spanked her, saying he was upset.
“Women’s minds are confusing.”
She put her arms around him and kissed him, and before long they were fused together. ☐☐ ☐☐ ☐☐ [The author has deleted 38 words.] Afterward, they looked down; the red spot on the pillow under her body brought instantaneous remorse. The doctor had told her not to have sexual intercourse for a month. When Zhuang asked her how she felt, she said she was fine, but the pillow was soiled. She took out a red pen and turned the spot into a maple leaf. He laughed.
“That’s great! The frosted leaf is redder than flowers in February. Later, when we go down for lunch, we’ll buy a needle and thread for you to embroider the spot. No one could tell and might even comment on how a bed pillow can be turned into art.”
It was past lunchtime by the time they had spent more pleasurable moments in each other’s arms, so they got up to go out for something to eat. They met Niu Yueqing at the bottom of the stairs, which sent them into such a fright they turned pale.
“Wan’er, look who’s here,” Zhuang said to a panicky Tang.
“I’ve been looking all over for you, including into the rats’ nests. So here you are. You don’t look well, Wan’er.”
“She has every right not to. She asked me to find her a temporary job, so I thought I’d go see Mr. Yang, a section head at the Sanitation Board. When I took her there, he acted all high and mighty and had no interest in talking to us. We left. How dare he treat me like that!”
“How much can you earn with a temp job? Why don’t you just stay home and let Zhou Min write more essays? These days it’s easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with underlings. You should go straight to the head of the board.”
“That’s easier said than done. I’d go hungry if we had to live on what his articles bring in. If he were as talented as Zhuang Laoshi, I’d stay home and wait on him, not go out to work like you.”
“Then let’s do this,” Niu Yueqing said. “When Hong Jiang publishes more books, I’ll ask him to get Zhou Min to help out.”
“Don’t make that kind of offer yet. What would you say to Zhou Min if Hong refused?” Zhuang said. “You said you were looking all over for me. What’s it about?”
“An urgent matter.”
“I’m sorry I’ve delayed you. I’ll leave now,” Tang said and walked off.
“Gong Xiaoyi came to see me at work this morning,” Niu Yueqing said. “He started crying the moment he came in. I was stunned. What has happened to him? He looks more dead than alive. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he wanted to see you about his father. He was arrested for the same old problem and told Xiaoyi to find someone to smooth things over so he would only have to pay a fine. But Xiaoyi’s mother went to Tianjin to see her parents. Xiaoyi didn’t know who to see, and he had no money to pay a fine. So he came to see you.”
“Could he have made up the story to get opium money from us? I saw him a few days ago, and I heard nothing about his father.”
“That’s what I thought, too, and I told him to tell the truth. So he showed me a note from Gong Jingyuan. I know Old Gong’s handwriting. It was from him.”
“Old Gong has been arrested many times because of this problem. And each time he gets out by giving away calligraphy. He’ll be fine unless they chop off his hand.”
“That’s what I figured. But Xiaoyi said it was different this time. When someone from the Ministry of Public Security came to review job performances here, he received several letters of complaint about Old Gong’s gambling habit, and the fact that he’s been released after each arrest. That angered the man, who criticized the local police. Who could have guessed that the very next day, Old Gong and his friends would be gambling at the same hotel where the man was staying? So he was arrested and threatened with severe punishment.”
Finally sensing the gravity of the situation, Zhuang cursed Gong Jingyuan for being so careless.
“Old Gong does have his problems,” Niu Yueqing said, “but he’s an old friend. And now that his son has come to us, we can’t wash our hands of him. Think about who you know, and see if you can find someone to help him out. Even if it doesn’t work, our consciences will be clear knowing that we’ve done our best. No one could accuse us of being disloyal or unkind.”
Zhuang frowned and remained silent for a while before saying, “I haven’t eaten yet. Let’s go get some lunch first.”
They went to a diner for some hand-cut noodles, after which he told his wife to go home, while he went to see Zhao Jingwu about the problem.
“I do know a few people at the Public Security Bureau, but I’m afraid they won’t be much help,” Zhao said, looking uncomfortable. “Ai! Maybe it’s good for him to suffer a bit.”
“I thought it over and decided we have to help him this time no matter what,” said Zhuang. “Go see Xiaoyi and find out more about the situation. Tell him how bad it is this time, and that his father could get at least three years. Scare him a bit.”
“I’m sure he’s already scared witless. Why scare him more?”
“I have a plan. I’ll tell you after I see Meng Laoshi.”
Zhao hurried off when he heard Zhuang’s explanation.
Zhuang went to see Meng Yunfang and told him what he knew.
“Who should we see?” Meng asked. “You know the mayor, why don’t you go see him?”
“I can’t. The repercussions would be too much for him to deal with. Did you say you’ve met Knave Number Two several times at Huiming’s place?”