Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Xu Yulan asked Xu Sanguan, “So who did you borrow the money from?”

As she spoke, Xu Yulan reached out her hand and pressed her fingers to the tip of Xu Sanguan’s nose, rocking it back and forth until it started to ache. Xu Sanguan pulled her hand away, but she simply replaced it with the other hand.

“You’ve paid Blacksmith Fang back,” she continued, “but now we’re in debt to someone else. That’s just taking bricks from the east wall to repair the west wall. What are you going to do about the holes in the east wall? Who’s going to lend you more money to pay back the debt?”

Xu Sanguan rolled up his sleeve to show her the puncture mark on his arm. “See that? See the red spot? The spot where it looks like I got bitten by a fly? That’s from the thickest needle they’ve got at the hospital.” Then Xu Sanguan rolled his sleeve back down. “I sold blood! I sold my own blood to pay back He Xiaoyong’s debt. I sold my own blood so I could keep on being a cuckold.”

When Xu Yulan understood what he was saying, she erupted, “Aiya! You sold your blood and didn’t even ask me about it first? Why didn’t you say something? We’re through, we’re finished. This family is ruined! What will people think if they find out that someone in the family’s been selling blood? They’ll say that Xu Sanguan’s been selling blood, Xu Sanguan’s all washed up, Xu Sanguan’s gone and sold his own blood.”

Xu Sanguan said, “Can you be a little quieter? If you didn’t shout like that, no one would ever know.”

Xu Yulan continued every bit as loudly as before. “My dad used to tell me when I was little that your blood is passed down from your ancestors. You can sell fried dough, sell a house, sell off your land, but you can never ever sell your blood. Better to sell your body than sell your blood! At least your body belongs to you. But selling your blood is like selling your ancestors. Xu Sanguan, you’ve sold your ancestors!”

Xu Sanguan said, “Keep quiet. What are you trying to say anyway?”

A tear rolled down Xu Yulan’s face. “I would never have imagined you’d sell your blood. You can sell anything you like, as long as it isn’t blood. Sell the bed, sell the house, sell whatever you like. But why did you have to go and sell your blood?”

Xu Sanguan said, “Keep quiet. Why did I sell my blood? I sold my blood so I could keep on playing the cuckold.”

Xu Yulan sobbed. “I heard what you just said. I know what you mean. I know you’re mocking me. I know deep down you really hate me. Why else would you say something like that?” She weepingly made her way to the door.

Xu Sanguan growled from behind her, “Come back here, you bitch. You’re going to the doorstep again. You’re gonna start screaming and yelling and making a scene again.”

But instead of sitting down on the doorstep, Xu Yulan walked right past the threshold, turned, and made her way down the lane and onto the street. She walked all the way down to the end of the street, veered down another lane, and arrived at He Xiaoyong’s doorstep.

Standing in front of He Xiaoyong’s open front door, she patted down her clothes, combed out her hair with her fingers, and raised her voice loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

“You’re all neighbors of He Xiaoyong. All of you know He Xiaoyong. You all know that he’s a rotten, black-hearted son of a bitch. You all know that he won’t take in his only son. You all know that because I sinned in my past life, He Xiaoyong screwed me over in this one. You’ve heard the story already, so I don’t have to tell it to you again today. I came today to tell you about something else. What you don’t know and what I just found out today is that I must have burned a lot of incense in my past life too. That’s why I got to marry Xu Sanguan. What you don’t know is just how good a man Xu Sanguan really is. I could talk for days on end about how good Xu Sanguan is, but I won’t. What I will tell you is that Xu Sanguan sold his own blood. He did it for Yile, for our family. He went to the hospital today to sell his own blood. Think about it. You can die from selling blood. And even if you don’t die, you’ll still get dizzy, your vision will blur, and you’ll feel weak from head to toe. But Xu Sanguan didn’t care about all of that. He risked his life for me, for Yile, for our whole family.”

He Xiaoyong’s skinny wife appeared at the door and sneered, “If Xu Sanguan’s so great, how come you want to steal my man?”

When Xu Yulan saw He Xiaoyong’s woman, she sneered, “Now here’s a woman who must have done a lot of bad things in her last life. She’s being paid back for it in this life, let me tell you, and the punishment is that she can’t bear any sons, only daughters. Once her daughters are grown up, they’ll belong to other people’s families, and her own family line will be broken.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman strode out from the door and slapped her thighs for emphasis as she railed at her nemesis, “And here’s a woman who’s so shameless that she’ll even boast about stealing someone else’s seed!”

Xu Yulan countered, “Of course I do! Any woman who’s had three sons in a row has a right to brag!”

He Xiaoyong’s woman shouted, “Three sons by two different dads! Do you want to brag about that too?”

“Whether your daughters really have the same dad remains to be seen.”

“Only someone like you! Only a slut like you could have had so many men.”

“So you’re not a slut? You know what’s inside your pants? A department store, that’s what! Anybody can go inside!”

“If I’ve got a department store in my pants, you have a public toilet!”

SOMEONE CAME to Xu Sanguan and said, “Xu Sanguan, quick! Go bring your woman home. She’s arguing with He Xiaoyong’s woman, and the more they argue, the raunchier it gets. You better go quick, or you’ll have no face left at all by the time they’re through.”

Another person rushed in the door. “Xu Sanguan! Your woman’s fighting with He Xiaoyong’s woman. They’re pulling each other’s hair and spitting and even biting.”

The last person to come through the door was Blacksmith Fang. Blacksmith Fang said, “Xu Sanguan, I was just walking by He Xiaoyong’s place. There’s a big crowd there, thirty people at the very least, and they’re all laughing at your woman. Your woman and He Xiaoyong’s woman are screaming and cursing and fighting, and believe me it’s not pretty. Everyone’s laughing and enjoying the show, and I even heard some of them saying that Xu Sanguan’s been selling blood just so he can keep getting cuckolded.”

Xu Sanguan said, “Do I care? Let her do what she wants.”

As he spoke, he sat down on the stool by the table, then glanced up toward Blacksmith Fang standing at the threshold.

“She’s like a broken pot that’s not afraid of shattering, and I’m a dead pig who no longer minds that the water’s coming to a boil.”