Chinese Stories in English
Stories Magazine (Page 11)
Selections from Stories Magazine Compilation #145 《故事会合订本145》上海文化出版社
Plus Bonus Selections from Ordinary People《百姓人家》(2023), 秦俑/赵建宁选编
Page citation and links to online Chinese text noted after each story.
1. Kindness Leaves a Lifeline 3. Ah-P’s Pen 6. A Bouquet of Carnations
2. Changing a Fishing Spot 4. Beat at Her Own Game 7. White Pigeons Flying Far
5. Taking His Place
1. Kindness Leaves a Lifeline (善念留一线)
He Xiaopi (贺小皮)
Wonderful Mo, CEO of the Source of Wealth Company, had a business rival named River Huang. The two had been fighting both openly and behind closed doors for years, but River had recently lost out. His sources of capital had dried up, and the banks were harassing him every day. He’d be at risk of bankruptcy if Wonderful kept up the pressure.
One day, after discussing a takeover of the River Huang Company at a shareholder meeting, Wonderful drove back to the countryside with his wife and children to celebrate his father Old Mo's birthday. He didn’t usually talk about company matters with his family, but this time, perhaps because he was too excited, he let slip some information about the meeting to Old Mo. Old Mo was silent for a moment, then asked, "Son, do you feel a sense of accomplishment because you defeated your opponent?"
Wonderful nodded proudly. Old Mo sighed and said, "As the saying goes, everything should be done in moderation. It’s better to leave a way out for others and not push them to the brink of death." When he noticed Wonderful's disapproval, he shook his head helplessly and said, "Don't be in a hurry to disagree, Son. Let me tell you a story!
“It happened in the late 1960s. There’d been a severe drought for two consecutive years, and the village had also been hit by a plague of locusts. People ate up all their surplus food and started eating tree bark from the mountains and grass from ditches. Their eyes would glow with greed whenever they saw something green growing on the ground or some animal scurrying along.
“One day a villager named Two Roots went out early with a pickaxe and a basket on his back. His family hadn’t had enough to eat for three days, and his young children would starve to death if he couldn’t find food. He walked until his legs were numb and looked until his eyes were sore, but didn’t find anything. He was overwhelmed with grief and burst into tears.
“Just then a huge squealing field mouse jumped past him, probably frightened by his movement. Two Roots immediately stopped crying and chased after it with glowing eyes. No grass or bushes remained on the slope due to the drought, so Two Roots could see the mouse's whereabouts clearly. Just as he was about to catch up to the creature, it squeaked and dived into a bowl-sized mouse hole.
“Two Roots calmed down. He found another mouse hole and blocked it with stones, then looked around carefully to make sure the mouse had no other exit. He used a pickaxe to dig into the entry hole. He dug for about ten minutes before he saw dozens of mice of different sizes scrambling to escape from the hole. Ecstatic, he was about to chase them when he noticed a pile of colorful grains under his pickaxe. It seemed he’d dug up their granary.
“He knelt down at once and gently pushed dirt clods away from the grain. He began to scoop up the grain and eventually filled his basket but it wasn’t big enough to hold it all. He was about to take off his shirt to wrap around the remainder when he saw a big field mouse lying not far away, staring at him. It had a menacing look in its eyes and its whiskers trembled as if it was ready to fight to the death.
“This startled Two Roots. ‘That’s right,’ he thought, ‘I didn't care about anything except my own family's life. Field mice aren’t beneficial, but they’re still living beings, after all. Not to mention that their work has saved the lives of my family.’ He stopped what he was doing right away, sighed, and filled in the mouse hole again.
“Two Roots told his family about his day’s adventure when he got home. His children were quick to spread the news that food could be found by digging up mouse holes. For a time, the village men, women and children all formed a mouse-hunting army. Every field, ridge and ditch around the village bustled with people every day, until the horrible scars of digging could be seen everywhere....”
Wonderful interrupted his father’s story. "This Two Roots did a good thing! He saved the lives of a whole village!"
Old Mo rolled his eyes. "You call him Two Roots? It was me, your father! Two Roots was my nickname!" He sighed and continued, "He did a good thing, you say? It was a disaster. Those people didn't think like your father did. They dug up all the food and didn't leave any for the field mice...."
Wonderful said, "That was really good, wasn't it? The field mice weren’t around to destroy crops in the fields anymore."
"Pssh! You went to college but you don't even know the basics of the food chain. Once the field mice are gone, how will the owls, snakes and other animals that feed on them live? Destruction of the food chain is a disaster for humans! Without the mice, an infectious disease broke out in the village the following year. The people, and animals, too, suffered from hemorrhagic diseases. Many people died!"
Wonderful could think of nothing to say for a moment, but he was still unconvinced. "What does your story have to do with my business, Dad?"
Old Mo coughed twice. "How could it not be relevant? If the villagers had been like me and left the field mice a chance to live, the food chain wouldn’t have been broken, and those things that happened later wouldn’t have happened. I might not have your business acumen, but leaving people some hope of survival will always pay dividends. Leaving others a lifeline is good for them, and good for you, too, Son, no matter what!"
Wonderful didn’t argue with his father. He just nodded thoughtfully.
Ten years later, two local conglomerates went public at the same time. The news attracted the attention of various media. Even more intriguing, both companies held a press conference at the Haitian International Building. Further, according to well-informed sources, the CEOs of the two companies, Wonderful and River, had once been sworn enemies. Some speculated that the two must have quarreled again, which would make for an interesting press conference. But they were surprised when the host announced the start of the conference. Wonderful and River actually walked onto the stage hand in hand, and both were smiling.
What exactly were the two of them up to? River noted everyone's puzzled eyes and spoke first. "Everyone must be very curious. How could former mortal enemies come onstage together?... I’m here to thank Mr. Mo for showing mercy back when I was about to go over the edge. He pulled back just in time and left me a chance to keep going, as well as allowing my company to survive. I came to understand one thing, that we should help each other in everything we do. We should do more to build each other up and less to tear each other down. Cooperation beats competition, and that’s what has brought our enterprises to this day."
Wonderful smiled and added, "Ten years ago, my father told me a story about the food chain, which taught me the truth of leaving a lifeline in everything we do. I learned a lot from that story, and ultimately achieved success for myself and others!" As he spoke, he indicated with a smiling look that the "others" he referred to was River.
The two men’s dialog won applause from the audience. The loudest and happiest applause came from a handsome man and a beautiful woman.
Someone familiar with the matter privately said that they were the future successors of the Mo Group and the Huang Group. They were in love and in the future might join together in marriage. But that’s a story for later. Today, the dialog between their fathers might inspire the young couple’s future undertakings.
Chinese text from 故事会合订本#145, p. 3-029. Also available here.
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2. Changing a Fishing Spot (换钓位)
Zhao Gongqiang (赵功强)
Old Li, an avid fisherman, sat by a river one day, smoking a cigarette, holding a fishing rod and waiting for the fish to bite. A man with fishing gear came along and sat down not far to the left of Old Li.
Old Li was an expert and knew that the location the man chose wasn’t a good spot for fishing. A whirlpool in the river made it difficult for fish to swim there, so the guy had little chance of catching anything. Sure enough, he sat there a long time without catching a single fish. He did look like he was enjoying himself, though. He squinted his eyes and sniffed the air from time to time, as if he were intoxicated by the fresh air in the suburbs.
After a while, Old Li caught a fish and put it into the bucket at his feet. When he looked up, he saw no movement on his left, so he turned his head and found that the man had gone. He turned his head and saw that the guy had moved to a spot less than three meters to his right where the water was calm. It wasn’t a good place to sit, though, because the bank was sloped. The guy sat crookedly on his small stool, with his buttocks pushed back, and struggled to maintain his balance. Old Li watched surreptitiously and noticed that the man didn't seem discomfited at all. He still sniffed the air from time to time, squinted his eyes, and looked intoxicated.
Old Li felt distracted by having such a strange fellow around him. He began to pack up his gear, planning to move to another spot away from the man. He stowed his fishing rod and picked up his stool, but when he was about to leave, the guy turned toward him. Out of the blue, the guy begged him, "Don't leave, Bro. Fish for a while longer!"
Puzzled, Old Li replied "I’m leaving. You just took my spot, so it’s rather uncomfortable sitting here."
The man seemed embarrassed and shook his head. "The fishing spot isn’t important to me. I just ... want to fish next to you….”
"Why?"
The man sighed. "There’s something you don't know, Bro. My wife made me quit smoking a few days ago. She even threatened to divorce me. Fishing near you, I found a place downwind where I could satisfy my craving for a cigarette by smelling your smoke....”
Chinese text from 故事会合订本#145, p. 3-050. Also available here.
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3. Ah-P’s Pen (阿P修钢笔)
Guo Xi (郭西)
Ah-P likes to read the evening newspaper, but he doesn’t think subscribing would be worth it. When he wants to read the paper, he goes to his neighbor's house to borrow the previous day’s edition and reads it for free.
The evening paper has published a special section called "Nostalgia Gossip" for a couple of years. Ah-P likes the supplement because it includes articles which use the local dialect to report about goings-on in the area: a coal stove in an alley early in the morning; the three main items in snack bars (sesame cakes, fried dough sticks and soy milk); a bamboo bed set up on the roadside to listen to stories in the cool air of a summer night -- Ah-P has personally experienced these things and feels relaxed and happy when he reads about them. He’s read so many of them that he got rather motivated to prepare and submit articles of his own. He can't type on the computer, though, so he had to write them by hand. When he finished, he stuffed them in an envelope, affixed a stamp and mailed them to the evening paper.
He submitted several manuscripts before one of them finally got published. It made him as happy as a scholar in olden days passing the imperial examination. He bragged to his wife, Blue, "You see, your husband really has potential as a writer!"
Blue was excited, too. She bought a Hero brand fountain pen for him and told him, "Ah-P, I'm giving you a Hero Gold fountain pen. You’d better use it well. Who knows, you might really become our family’s hero."
Ah-P became even more motivated when he held that pen in his hand and he put it to paper every night. Getting published isn’t easy, however, so his dream of becoming a writer was left hanging.
He became more inspired as he wrote, and after a few months his chances of getting his articles accepted began to rise. He often got one article accepted for every three he submitted, but he ran into a problem just as he started feeling complacent.
What problem? His fountain pen broke! Ink would occasionally seep out from where he grasped the pen, blackening his hand as he wrote. What could he do? He could use a ballpoint pen instead, but the bottle of ink he’d just bought was still half full. Besides, he loved writing with the fountain pen. And his wife had given it to him, which made him treasure it even more. Then he remembered that there used to be places that repaired pens, so he decided to go look for one.
He rode his bicycle around the streets and alleys the next day, but he couldn't find a stall that repaired pens. Ah-P was very smart. He thought that a place where they sold pens might know where to get them fixed. Eventually he walked into a stationery store, found the counter where they sold pens, and asked the boy at the counter, "Do you know where I can get a pen repaired?"
The young man had to laugh. "Repair a fountain pen? What year is it, sir? If your pen's broken, just buy a new one. Fountain pens aren't expensive!"
Ah-P shook his head, "It's not the money. This pen of mine is quite special. It’s a 'Hero Gold Pen', young man, and a gift from my wife. And I’m using it to realize my dream of becoming a writer, so I can't part with it!"
The young man smiled. "A regular model Hero pen is only a little over twenty yuan, sir. Just buy a new one and think of it as a gift from your wife."
Ah-P shook his head. He really didn’t want to spend the money, even if it was just a little more than twenty yuan. He could keep using his pen if he could get it repaired.
As Ah-P was about to leave, the young man said, "I just thought of something, sir. You can go to their factory and see if they’ll repair it. I heard they have a repair department."
That made Ah-P happy. Right away he asked, "What’s the Hero Pen Factory’s address?"
"Hold on a minute. I'll check the Hero Fountain Pen shipping container for you. Their address must be on it." He walked into the back room and, after a while, he came out and told Ah-P the address. Now he was even happier. He got on his bike and went straight to the factory.
He sweated profusely all the way there. When he finally arrived, he asked around and learned they did indeed have a repair shop. He went there, showed the repairman his pen and asked to have it fixed. After the man took the pen and looked at it, two words popped out of his mouth. "No way!"
"You won’t fix it? Why not?" Ah-P was upset.
"This pen of yours is a fake. We didn’t make it, so we can’t repair it."
What? A fake? Ah-P didn't believe it: "My wife wouldn't buy me a fake."
The repairman picked up a genuine Hero Gold pen from the table and compared it to Ah-P’s pen. Ah-P was at a loss for words. He hadn't expected that after riding his bicycle for a whole day to get his pen repaired, it would turn out to be a fake that they wouldn't fix!
"You should just buy a new one,” the repairman advised. “This model isn’t expensive. Only twenty yuan."
Ah-P shook his head. “I rode my bike all this way to get it repaired,” he thought. “If I wanted a new one, I could’ve bought it at my doorstep! Besides, if I buy a new pen, Blue has got to pay the twenty yuan.”
When he got home, Ah-P immediately demanded, "Why’d you buy me a fake gold pen, Blue?"
She refused to admit it at first: "Who told you that? This pen I bought is an authentic Hero Gold pen!"
"Don't say it's authentic. I've been to the Hero Pen Factory and the repairman there said it’s a fake!"
Blue put her hands on her waist and glared at Ah-P. Her voice got louder "What's wrong with a fake? I’ll tell you something. It is indeed a fake that I bought from a vender on the street. It was only five yuan, a real bargain! This fountain pen, it's good enough for you to write with. Do you really think you're such a great writer? I'm telling you, this five yuan fountain pen is plenty good enough for you to write with!"
After such a scolding, AH-P had no choice but to return to his desk. He felt dejected and so sorry for himself. All that hard work down the drain!
But then his eyes lit up. “No, this day's hard work was worth it! Like they say, ‘Life is the source of creativity!’ Well, I’ll write about this experience of getting a pen repaired and send it to the evening paper. Maybe I can get some royalties! Doesn’t this get me one step closer to realizing my dream?"
Just then the postman brought Ah-P a letter. He looked at the envelope and saw it was from the evening paper. He opened it at once and found a printed note which read: "Dear Mr. Ah-P, From now on this paper will no longer accept handwritten manuscripts. Please use electronic manuscripts for future submissions to us…."
Ah-P felt dizzy. “Good lord, why do I have such rotten luck! I was just getting some satisfaction from writing, but now the paper won't accept handwritten manuscripts anymore. Do I have to buy a computer and learn how to type? Forget it! I'd rather give up my dream of becoming a writer!”
All of a sudden, he thought of the repairman. “The guy wanted me to buy a new pen, but I wouldn’t do it. Ha, ha! I really am prescient. If I’d bought one, I would’ve lost all that money!” The thought made Ah-P whistle with self-satisfaction....
Chinese text from 故事会合订本#145, p. 3-081. Also available here.
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4. Beat at Her Own Game (将计就计)
Corn (玉米)
Strong Zhang, one of the top students in his senior high school class, would probably get admitted to a key university. Everyone thought so. But not long ago, a beautiful girl moved into the house across the street from his home. He was completely enamored with her and lost interest in his studies. His mother got very worried when his grades plummeted and wondered what was going on.
In the following days, Mom cut off the internet every night and also confiscated his cell phone and comic books. She’d be darned if he could keep playing around. But Strong just went to bed early, leaving Mom stamping her feet in anger.
It took Mom a few days to realize that the girl across the street was the problem. She came up with an idea. "I actually know that girl, Son,” she told Strong. She's my colleague’s daughter. If you get into a key university after the college entrance exam, I’ll use my connections to introduce her to you. What do you think?"
Her words seemed to have a miraculous effect. Strong burned the midnight oil every night. It was like he was a different person. His hard work paid off, and he tested into a key university.
Guests at the celebration banquet toasted him. He was so happy that his mother couldn't stop him from drinking a little too much. When he sat down to rest, Mom admitted with some guilt, "Son, I lied to you when I said I’d introduce you to that girl. I don't know her at all, and she’s not my colleague's daughter. I said that to encourage you and make you study hard…."
To her surprise, he waved his hand and drunkenly told her, "I... I knew a long time ago that you were fibbing....’
"Then why were you willing to stay up late every night studying?" she asked, even more surprised.
He grimaced and told her, "She was working the night shift at the time and didn't get off until midnight every day. I stayed up late studying just so I could see her when she came home!"
Chinese text from 故事会合订本#145, p. 3-087. Also available here.
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5. Taking His Place (接班人)
One Taste Cool (一味凉)
Jake was a forest firefighter. He loved his job and hoped his son would take his place when he retired. To his dismay, however, when his son was seven years old, he decided to become a pilot. A bit disappointed, Jake decided to have another child.
His youngest son was born a year later. He was happy and told his good friend, Lucas, "Now I have a successor!" But he was disappointed again because, when his youngest son grew up, he only wanted to be a chef.
Jake had retired by then. Lucas was afraid his friend couldn’t take the disappointment, so he hurried over to see him. Jake sighed helplessly and lamented, "Maybe this is God's will." Lucas figured Jake had come to terms with it, so he stopped worrying and left.
Lucas unexpectedly received a call from Jake a year later. Jake announced happily, "My job has been filled!"
“Is it your eldest son or your youngest?” Lucas asked in surprise. "Have they changed their minds?"
Jake, intentionally mysterious, replied "You’ll never guess."
"Is it someone I don’t know? Oh my God, your wife died, didn’t she? Did you have a third child with a secret girlfriend? That’s too crazy, even if you only did it to have a successor!" He hung up the phone and rushed to Jake's house, only to see him driving a group of goats up the mountain.
"What’re you raising goats for?” he asked. “Do you need the money because you’re broke from having a third child?"
Jake couldn’t think what to say for a moment, then he laughed, "I didn't have a third kid. These goats are taking my place!"
"Goats? Firefighters?"
Jake nodded and handed his friend a newspaper. Lucas opened it and saw the headline on the front page. "Wildfires continue to spread in the West. Goats join the firefighters’ suicide squad."
Jake explained: "I couldn't rely on my two sons, so I raised these goats to take over for me. They’re so good at eating grass that they even eat the roots clean. Think about it. When a wildfire starts to spread, the places cleared by the goats are fire lanes, aren’t they?"
Translator’s note: See https://www.wodff.org/firefighting-goats/
Chinese text from 故事会合订本#145, p. 3-088. Also available here.
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6. A Bouquet of Carnations (送你一束康乃馨)
Yu Bo (于博)
Only one more month before she’d retire. Poplar Qiu immediately felt empty inside as soon as the thought crossed her mind. It seemed like something had yanked her insides out. The empty feeling made her want to have a good cry.
Truth is, Poplar had often hoped to retire early. Once she even complained that she couldn't contract an illness serious enough to force her to quit work. But when the day was really upon her, she couldn’t say how she felt. The nameless emotion suffocated her, like a rope wrapped around her body getting tighter and tighter. And something else added to this feeling -- Poplar's mother had a birthday this month, and her birthday happened to be a day when Poplar would be away on a trip.
Poplar was a train conductor. She’d worked on the railway line for twenty-nine years, starting as an attendant, then an announcer, then a salesperson and finally a conductor. Back in the day she’d been tall and slender, with long hair and big eyes that showed more black than white. On her first day at work, the young men and women in her crew all gave her a second look.
She made up her mind to cut her hair when she got into sales. She said that short hair just reaching her ears was neat and tidy and made her look more energetic. She derived endless happiness and satisfaction from her work over the years, but there were also many sorrows and regrets. Her biggest regret was the time spent away from her family.
The long separations obviously hit her husband and children hard, but Poplar felt most guilty about her mother. As she put it, she’d have plenty of opportunities to make up for lost time with her husband and children after she retired, but not so with her mother. First, her mother was old, and second, her father had died of illness when he was just forty, leaving her mother the difficult task of raising a child alone. A daughter naturally has to give back. Besides, people would criticize her to no end if she didn’t serve as her aging mother’s “cotton-padded jacket”. Poplar’s nose twitched and her throat hurt at the thought, as if she had something in her eye.
“Hey, mom, I owe my life to you.” Just talking about her mother’s birthday piqued her conscience.
One year Poplar was working away from home on her mother's birthday. Her husband had agreed to handle the party and the restaurant had been booked. But that morning, Poplar got a phone call from her husband. He hesitated for a few seconds before saying "I'm sorry".
“What happened, Strong?” Poplar guessed he must’ve been called in to work and wouldn’t be able to celebrate her mother's birthday that evening, but she still hoped that he had another reason to apologize. Maybe their child had failed an exam. Or maybe he forgot to turn off a faucet and flooded their home as well as the newlywed’s condo downstairs that had just been redecorated, and they’d have to pay for the damage.
As she’d feared, though, Strong had been ordered to arrest a criminal suspect in a city thousands of miles away. “Who told me to be a cop?” he sighed. “I could take leave if I had another job.” Poplar was about to ask where he was going, but immediately swallowed the words. She told him to be careful and hung up.
That night, Poplar called her mother from the train while standing in the area between cars. “Happy birthday, Mom. I'm sorry we couldn’t be there to celebrate with you. You have to forgive us for not being good children.”
"Silly child,” her mother replied cheerfully. “You’re building your future. I’d have spent this birthday feeling depressed if you were all at home with me. It's good you have something to do. You all work hard and are getting ahead. I’m happier than anyone."
Poplar tried to control herself, but her body trembled a bit as the car swayed. Her tears flowed silently, but at the same time she laughed out loud.
Poplar could count on her fingers the number of times she and her mother had celebrated a birthday together during all those years of working. At first, she had no way to stay in touch while she was away, so she could only send birthday wishes silently in her heart. Later she had a pager and could send a message. Still later she had a cell phone, which alleviated her guilt somewhat. She was happiest if she happened to be on vacation, because nothing could compare with wishing her mother a happy birthday in person. She wanted to put all the delicious foods in the world on the table and watch her mother's happy face. The happiest time was once when she got home from a trip to Beijing on her mother's birthday, and she brought her a roast duck from Quanjude Restaurant. Poplar had only encountered such a wonderful coincidence twice in her life, though.
As for the current situation, I mentioned at the beginning of this article that Poplar would retire in a month. She was scheduled to be away on a trip and would get home on her mother’s birthday, but too late to attend the party. A friend suggested, “You can take a leave of absence. You’ve been a diligent and conscientious employee all your life. Your boss will surely approve the time off and your colleagues will understand.”
Poplar waved her hand. She’d never ditched work for personal matters in her life and felt compelled to maintain her honor and finish this hundred-meter dash with no regrets. But she racked her brains for a way to give her mother a meaningful birthday. Choosing a menu was no longer important, and she didn’t lack choices for what to wear. After thinking about it for a long time, she started to chuckle.
Poplar decided to put in an online order for a bouquet of carnations for her mother. She knew that carnations are a symbol of a mother's selfless love and strong family affection. How romantic it’d be to have a bouquet of red carnations delivered to her mother on her birthday, wishing her a long and healthy life!
The time for her to finish work finally came and Poplar went home filled with excitement. As soon as she entered the condo, she saw her mother dressed up as though she were going out. She wished her a happy birthday, then hurried to ask, "Why are you going out? And where’s the bouquet of carnations I sent you? Enlighten me, how’d you feel when you got them?"
Her mother smiled. “What did I feel? I felt you were a bit wasteful. A bunch of fresh flowers like that must’ve cost a pretty penny, right?”
Poplar took her mother's hand. “It’ll be better from now on, Mom. I’ll be able to celebrate your birthday with you every year. Oh, yes, let me see the flowers. Are they still fresh?”
Her mother replied without emotion. “I gave them away. As soon as I got them, I sent them on to someone.”
Poplar was stunned. “Why?”
Mom led Poplar toward the door. "Can't you see I'm dressed to go out? I've been waiting for you to get home. Let's go to the hospital. Strong is in the hospital. It's nothing, though. He was injured when he was out on assignment. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you’d be worried. I gave the flowers to him.”
As soon as they opened the door, Poplar and her mother were met with a bunch of bright red carnations. Strong poked his head out from behind the flowers and smiled. "I'm giving these back to you," he said.
Chinese text at《百姓人家》p. 296. Also available here.
Published in Ordinary People 《百姓人家》(2023), 秦俑/赵建宁选编
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7. White Pigeons Flying Far (远翔的白鸽)
Xie Songliang (谢松良)
The pigeons had been locked up for a long time and were particularly happy to get out of their cage. They wandered around on the sparkling green lawn. Old Man Wu lit a cigarette, took a couple of puffs and whistled softly. The flock gathered around him right away. He took a handful of corn kernels from his pocket and scattered them evenly. He felt a sense of satisfaction watching the pigeons snatch up food from the ground.
I worked with Old Man Wu and the others on a construction project when I was nineteen. I became just like them after the project fizzled out: I used the construction site as a base and did odd jobs around the outskirts of town or worked as a laborer at the riverside dock. The wooden boats loaded with sand, coal and red bricks depended on us to carry their cargo ashore.
Old Man Wu looked back at me after he finished scattering the corn, surprising me. I stuffed the short knife that I’d felt compelled to fiddle with up my sleeve as fast as I could. He chewed me out. "Throw away the knife!” he commanded. “We can't do anything reckless even if we don't get paid."
Old Man Wu already knew the secret I had buried in my heart anyway, so I stopped hiding it. I answered him with venom in my voice, "I won't give up, though. I’ll make him pay in blood someday."
"Kid, maybe the boss really is in a tough spot. Let's just wait here. He can run away but he can’t hide. You’ll get in a heap of trouble with the law someday if you go to extremes, and it won’t be worth it." Old Man Wu brought me to my senses.
I wiped my tears away and told him I needed the money right now. I was going back to school to repeat some classes before taking the college entrance exam. I couldn't stay in a place like that forever. Old Man Wu shook his head, sighed softly and whistled a signal. The pigeons spread their wings when they heard him, ran a few steps on the grass and took off into the sky.
I felt like someone had jabbed a needle into my heart while I watched the pigeons fly away. After I came to my senses, I threw my knife far away into the weeds.
"That's right!" Old Man Wu said as he turned around. He picked up the empty pigeon cage and threw it to me, then walked slowly home humming a little tune.
I got along fairly well with Old Man Wu and Aunt Fatty, who used to cook for the workers. We lived on the third floor of an unfinished building to the east. Aunt Fatty worked as a dishwasher at a food stall near the dock, and she would sometimes bring home customers’ leftovers to improve our meals.
No candlelight came from Aunt Fatty's room when we got home. Old Man Wu called out as usual, "Sichuan woman, are you asleep?" No one answered.
"It's so late. Do you know where the Sichuan woman is?" Old Man Wu asked me.
I got angry, "So now you know how to care about others. Aunt Fatty has suggested moving in with you several times, but you always refused. I’ve seen her crying about it many times."
"Why don’t you go to bed early?" Old Man Wu changed the subject and turned away. Looking at his back, I thought, “Old Man Wu, you and Aunt Fatty are both miserable. Wouldn't it be better if the two of you lived together?”
He walked into his room and lit a candle. A few pigeons that’d flown back earlier gathered around him. They hadn’t eaten enough, so they stretched their heads and stared at him to ask for food. He’d started feeding them less than two months before, and they were often half starved. Every time they begged, he’d sigh and open the wooden barrel containing corn. The pigeons would turn their eyes to the barrel, and he’d get out some corn so they wouldn’t be disappointed.
The pigeons coo-coos woke me up late one night and I heard Aunt Fatty talking next door. "This Old Man Wu, he can't even support himself but still keeps pigeons, making them suffer. Sinful, isn't it?”
A strange man answered. "Come with me and leave this poverty-stricken place, Aunt Fatty."
"But I couldn't bear to leave here."
"You can't bear to part with Old Man Wu, right?"
“Oh, you! You brought the corn?”
I heard a door open and the sound of happy pigeons eating. The night returned to silence before long.
The next day, me and some other guys waited on the sand boat by the river for Old Man Wu to come and fill the baskets, but he was doing something else. He’d taken the pigeons to a grassy area and talked to them for a long time. In a gravely sincere voice, he gave them warnings and hints about how to make a living. Finally, he kissed each pigeon and blew a long, sad whistle. The pigeons flew up and away into the sky.
That evening I came home from work for dinner and found Old Man Wu in the pigeon coop. He was squatting on the ground, staring at the empty cages and muttering to himself. I threw him a packed lunch box and he dumped it all on the ground. He said it was for the pigeons, but there was no sign of them.
The pigeons were gone, and all of a sudden the unfinished building looked particularly empty. As the familiar smell of pigeon droppings and birds gradually faded away, so did Auntie Fatty -- she married a retired doctor in the town.
Six months later, the boss surprised us by driving up to the construction site in a Mercedes-Benz. He apologized and paid us our long-overdue wages, then announced that he’d found new funding and the project would continue.
A group of workers found a rusty short knife while clearing weeds at the construction site. They presented it to the boss as a "treasure". Old Man Wu and I looked at each other and smiled, and I secretly felt relieved.
Just then a group of pigeons flew up to the site from somewhere far away. They landed near us, surrounded Old Man Wu and cooed. The old man cried and chased them away....
It wasn’t long before Old Man Wu quietly handed me a train ticket. With tears in his eyes, he said, "You should go too, boy. You’re still young and should fly high and far, like the pigeons.
Chinese text at《百姓人家》p. 304. Also available here.