11
WHEN THE BELL RANG FOR LUNCH, HULAN AND THE other women filed out into the courtyard. Except for one fifteen-minute break, Hulan had stood in exactly the same spot for six hours, so she was grateful to have the opportunity to stretch her legs. And, hot as it was under the sun, it was far cooler outside than on the factory floor. She was thankful as well for Peanut's take-charge attitude. Smiling, Peanut had linked arms with Hulan and Siang, pulling them along. Through the crowd Hulan caught a glimpse of Mayli and Jingren, but they were in the company of their own teams. In fact, all of the groups seemed to be made up of people who worked together. After standing or sitting in such close proximity to the same people day after day, week after week, how could they not be friends, how could they not know each other's most intimate secrets?
For a moment Peanut broke into an old harvest song. Her voice sounded sweet, and a few of the women around them joined in for a verse or two. Then someone spotted the foreigners, and word quickly passed that Old Man Knight himself was in the courtyard. Hulan rose up on tiptoes to see the foreigners. Dressed in suits and ties, they looked wilted and suprisingly indistinguishable as individuals. Then she spotted David. She looked right at him, but he didn't see her. Around her, the women dared each other to go up and talk to the Americans.
"Suchan, tell that young one over there you are burning hot for him."
"Um, no, I like the old one. Who wants a hard jiji when you can have hard currency?"
The women laughed appreciatively at this tart rejoinder. Then another voice called out.
"In this hot place I am parched. I long for clouds and rain." The time-honored euphemism for the sexual act made the women laugh louder.
Looking at the men's faces, Hulan knew they had no understanding of the words being hurled their way. None, that is, except Aaron Rodgers. Even from a distance Hulan could see that his ears had gone bright red. She wasn't the only one to notice his discomfort.
"Hey! Look at Manager Red Face! I think we're making him hot!"
"Choose me! I will let you feel my love button!"
"No! Pick me! I will be so carried away I will forget to count the thrusts!"
"Forget your dreams, sister. He has found his new conquest. Where is that new girl? Who is she anyway?"
Hulan peered sideways and saw Siang in much the same condition as Aaron. Her eyes were cast down and she was blushing from embarrassment, but the smile on her face showed her pleasure.
Peanut, keeping her voice low, said, "Don't listen to them, Siang. They're just having fun."
"Do you think so?" Siang asked.
Peanut grinned conspiratorially. "Tell us. What did the manager say to you?"
"That I was doing good work. He said I was learning faster than anyone he had ever seen."
They entered the cafeteria building, picked up trays, and joined the line to receive a bowl of rice with some stewed meat on top. Peanut and Siang went to find a table, while Hulan got herself a mug of weak tea. By the time she reached her co-workers, they were deep in conversation, their heads together.
"Are you going to meet him?" Peanut asked Siang as Hulan sat down.
"Do you think I should?"
"Of course. I would if he asked me," Peanut answered.
Obviously a lot had happened in the few minutes Hulan had gotten her tea.
"But where?" Hulan asked. "I thought there were no places to be alone."
Peanut and Siang exchanged glances.
"The people who run this place think we have no needs, but we do," Peanut said delicately. "So we have found places to meet here inside the compound and ways to get out when we can."
"How?" Hulan asked. She picked up a piece of the meat, noticed that the hair was still attached to the skin, set it against the side of her bowl, and looked for another, more appetizing morsel.
"When you're here longer, you'll find out," Peanut answered.
"But Siang already knows, and we've been here the same amount of time."
"But she's different. The manager told her himself."
Hulan put down her chopsticks. "I don't think this is fair." The words seemed tame enough, but in China they were the first step toward public criticism.
Peanut sighed. "Okay, but if you get caught, don't tell them I told you. There are actually several ways to meet," she went on, trying to sound more worldly than her fourteen years. "Staying in the compound is the least dangerous, but it's hard to avoid their eyes."
"Last night Madame Leung caught me when I went outside," Hulan said.
"That's because you left after lights out," Peanut explained. "You have to be gone much earlier than that." Peanut looked around to make sure that none of the officials were nearby, then leaned forward and continued in a low voice, "Did you notice that when we came in here that we didn't have to check in? Well, the same goes for breakfast and dinner." "So?"
"So they only check us when we go in and out of the factory. Otherwise they don't pay much attention."
"People sneak out during lunch?" Hulan asked dubiously. "Lunch. Dinner." Peanut's eyes scanned the room. "I can tell you not everyone is having lunch right now." "But where do they go?" "Oh, the warehouse, the shipping area, the Administration Building, even here." Seeing Hulan's shocked look, Peanut laughed. "They aren't doing it in here right now! That's only at night after lights out and the men have supposedly gone home. Outside, you put a man and a woman together, how long does it take? Not so long and then the man goes to sleep. But"-Peanut's eyes gleamed-"if you stay in the compound-if you're in here perhaps-you do your thing and then you have all night to talk, because these floors are too hard for much sleeping. Believe me, I know!"
"Still, won't you get caught?"
"Depends where you go," Peanut said, "depends who with."
"What if I wanted to leave the compound?" Hulan asked.
"Do you have a special man too?" Peanut wanted to know.
"Maybe," Hulan said. "Maybe I just don't believe you. What about the gate? What about the guard?"
"Oh, leaving is easy!" Peanut bragged. "We're dismissed at seven and so are the men. You take off your smock, give it to a friend, join the men-walking in the middle of the group-and go right out through the gate. In the morning, you just reverse the process. And if you really want out, you can always pay the guard. He's very greedy."
Hulan remembered back to the first time she entered the compound and how the guard had paled when he'd seen her identification. He must have thought he was on his way to a labor camp.
"You've done this yourself?" Hulan asked. "Paid the guard?"
"Me? No. I'm here to make money, not spend it." Peanut turned her attention back to Siang. "So, where did the manager want to meet you?"
Siang studied her empty bowl. "He said to come to his office. He said we would have dinner there and we could talk about my promotion."
"Um." Peanut nodded sagely. "He wants to talk." Then she burst out in raucous laughter, stood, and called out across the room in a shrill voice, "Manager Red Face wants to talk!" The laughter that followed was accompanied by a few more comments on Aaron Rodgers's prowess.