45
On the market days of the four villages of the commune, the small street of the county town was lined with carrying poles and big baskets. There were sweet potatoes, dried red dates, chestnuts, pine kindling, fresh mushrooms, unwashed lotus roots, fine white rice noodles, bundles of tobacco leaves, strips of dried bamboo shoots, live fish and shrimp, pairs of hemp shoes all strung together, bamboo chairs, and ladles. And there were women, children, young men and old men, all shouting and calling out to one another, and bargaining. Do you want it or not? No! There was haggling, joking, quarreling. When the small mountain town was not making revolution, life was bearable.
He ran into Secretary Lu, who had been transferred from the provincial capital to work at the grass roots. Lu was with his entourage of commune cadres, some clearing the way and others following behind, it was as if he were a leader on a tour of inspection. However, this old revolutionary, a former local guerrilla fighter whom villagers called Secretary Lu, had not done well in the bureaucracy. Demoted, a grade at a time, during successive political movements in the provincial capital, he had ended up back in his home village. Nevertheless, this still counted as a cadre being transferred to work at the grass roots, so the local village tyrants revered him as some sort of deity. And, of course, he didn't have to do manual labor.
"Secretary Lu," he reverently addressed this mountain-village big boss.
"Are you the person from Beijing?" Secretary Lu obviously knew about him.
"Yes, I've been here a year or so," he said, nodding.
"Are you getting used to being here?" Secretary Lu asked as he came to a stop. He was tall and thin, and had a slight stoop.
"Yes, I was born in the South. The scenery is pleasant, and there is an abundance of produce." He was on the point of praising it as a paradise but stopped himself.
"Generally, people don't starve to death here," Secretary Lu said.
He detected another meaning behind these words and thought Lu must be unhappy about having been transferred to the countryside.
"I can't bear to leave, Secretary Lu, so I would appreciate your taking care of me!"
He seemed to be saying that he was entrusting himself to Secretary Lu, and he really needed someone's protection. He respectfully nodded again and had just started to walk away when, unexpectedly, this Secretary Lu started taking care of him right away. Lu said, "Come for a walk with me!"
So, he followed behind. Lu held back to walk alongside him and continued to talk with him, ignoring the chatter of the commune cadres. He was obviously being especially kind to him. He walked to the end of the little street with Lu and from the shops and houses all the way they were greeted with friendly smiles. He knew he had won the favor of Secretary Lu, and that his status had instantly changed with the townspeople.
"Let's have a look at where you live!"
This wasn't an order, but Lu taking care of him even more. Lu motioned the cadres, to send them away.
He led the way along the raised path between the paddy fields, and they entered his house on the edge of the village. Lu sat down at the desk. He had just made tea, when children started arriving. He went to close the door, but Lu motioned to him, saying, "There's no need, there's no need."
The news quickly spread through the village, and, before long, villagers and village cadres began arriving at his door so that there was an endless stream of hello Secretary Lu, hello Secretary Lu. Lu responded with something of a nod, then, holding his cup, blew on the leaves floating in his tea and started drinking.
There were, in fact, good people in the world. Or, maybe, people were basically good. Or, maybe, Secretary Lu had seen the outside world and had a good understanding of people. Or, maybe Lu also had been born at the wrong time, and was being kind to him because he needed someone he could talk with to alleviate his loneliness.
Lu did not touch the Marx and Lenin books on his desk, he knew they were a camouflage, and, when he got up to leave, he said, "If there are any problems, come and see me."
He escorted Lu to the path between the paddy fields, then his eyes followed his thin, slightly stooped back. This man had strength in his stride, and he was not like an elderly person. It was in this way that he came to be taken care of by this mountain big boss. But, at the time, he didn't understand why Lu had wanted to visit his house.
One night, he was at his desk, completely engrossed in writing, when suddenly someone shouting outside the door gave him a start. He got up right away, quickly stuffed the paper inside his straw mattress, and opened the door.
"You're not in bed yet, are you? Secretary Lu wants you to do some drinking at the Revolutionary Committee Office!"
The man was a worker from the commune, and, having delivered the message, promptly left. At this, he relaxed.
The commune's Revolutionary Committee Office was located on the stone embankment by the river. It was the former residence of a powerful landlord, and had a veranda and a large cobblestone courtyard. The owner was shot during the period when landlords were denounced and their land divided up. The village government took over the building, and, afterward, it became the site of the people's commune. The newly established Revolutionary Committee also carried out its business here. The courtyard and main hall were crowded with people, and indoors there was a strong smell of tobacco and sweat; he had not imagined that it would be so lively at night.
In a room right inside, Director Liu, the new appointee to the Revolutionary Committee, and Old Tao, who was in charge of arming the militias, were drinking with Secretary Lu behind closed doors. Lu got him to sit with them. On the table were peanuts spread out on a newspaper wrapping, a bowl of fried anchovies, and a plate of dried bean curd, presumably brought from the homes of the commune cadres. Some of the men merely put the liquor to their lips, then put it back down on the table; it was for show, and they were not actually drinking. A village youth with a rifle pushed open the door, poked in his head, bowed to those present, then stood his rifle by the door.
"Who told you to bring a rifle?" Old Tao asked crossly.
"Wasn't an emergency assembly called?"
"An emergency assembly is an emergency assembly. Nothing was said about it being an armed action!"
The youth, who couldn't see the difference, explained, "Then what do you want me to do? All the militia brigades have brought their rifles along…"
"Don't go swaggering everywhere with your rifles! Put them all in the weapons department office and wait in the courtyard for the order!"
At that point, it dawned on him that the militias of the entire county would engage in a concerted action at midnight. From the county town to each of the villages, there were "large-scale monitoring and large-scale searching" assaults as soon as the county Revolutionary Committee gave the emergency assembly order. People from the Five Black Categories-landlord, rich, counterrevolutionary, bad element, rightist-were the main targets monitored. If unusual activities were discovered, there were immediate searches. When it was almost midnight, Director Liu and Old Tao went into the courtyard. They spoke about directions in the class struggle, then assigned missions. As the militia brigades set off, the courtyard grew quiet. The dogs nearby started barking first, and dogs in the distance gradually joined in.
Shoes off and sitting legs-crossed on the plank bed, Lu started asking him about his family. He simply said his father was also doing labor in the countryside, but didn't say anything about the unsuccessful suicide attempt. He said he had a maternal uncle who had been a guerrilla fighter, but, at the time, he didn't know that this old revolutionary elder had been admitted to the military hospital with influenza and was dead within hours of receiving an injection. Of course, he also said that as he was not familiar with the people and the locality, he greatly appreciated Secretary Lu's taking care of him.