Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

That day it seemed that everybody in town had heard that Xu Sanguan’s Yile was going to climb up onto He Xiaoyong’s roof, sit on top of the chimney, and call for He Xiaoyong’s errant soul to come home. They crowded in front of He Xiaoyong’s front door, standing and watching as Xu Yulan escorted Yile into the house to be greeted by He Xiaoyong’s woman, who talked with them for a long time before pulling Yile by the hand behind her skinny frame toward a ladder leaning against the side of the house.

A friend of He Xiaoyong’s was already on the roof, and another friend stood below, holding the ladder steady. Yile climbed up the ladder to the roof, and the man took his hand, leading him diagonally across the tiles to the chimney, where he helped him sit down squarely atop it. After Yile had taken up his high perch, he kept his hands on his legs and watched the man who had brought him there move back down toward the ladder. He grasped the edges of the roof tiles with the palms of his hands before finding a foothold on the top rung of the ladder. Finally, like a man disappearing under water, he sank below Yile’s line of sight.

Yile sat on the chimney and looked at the dank light reflected from the roofs surrounding him. A swallow let out a few piercing cries, circled above his head, and flew away. Seconds later a whole school of smaller swallows chirped out a much softer response. Their cries emerged from the eaves of the house just across from where Yile was sitting. Yile gazed out toward the mountains that rose and fell across the horizon. They were so distant that they resembled nothing so much as clouds or shadows, gray and blurry and insubstantial.

The people standing below craned their necks in anticipation of the moment when Yile would begin to call for He Xiaoyong’s soul. They were looking up at him with their mouths all agape, waiting for a sound, for a cry, but no sound came. One by one they lowered their heads, rested their necks, and wondered what exactly was happening on the roof above. From Yile’s perch, their anxious voices sounded like the twittering of magpies.

He Xiaoyong’s woman shouted toward Yile, “Yile, start crying now. That’s what Mr. Chen said you should do. Once you start crying, your dad’s soul will hear you.”

Yile looked down at the crowd of people below and saw them pointing and waving their fingers at him. He turned his head away from them and discovered that he was all alone on the roof. There wasn’t anyone on any of the roofs around him. All the roof tiles in every direction were covered with green weeds that swayed back and forth in the wind.

He Xiaoyong’s woman called out once again, “Yile, quick! Start crying. Why aren’t you crying? Go on and cry.”

Before Yile began crying, He Xiaoyong’s woman herself started to cry. “Why isn’t the kid crying? I thought we’d explained everything to him very clearly. What’s wrong with him?” She called out once more, “Yile, cry. I’m begging you. Start crying.”

Yile finally asked, “Why do you want me to cry?”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “Your dad’s in the hospital, and he’s about to die. His soul has already flown away from his body, and it’s getting farther and farther away. If you don’t hurry up and cry, he’ll be too far away to hear you. Quick, start crying.”

Yile said, “My dad’s not in the hospital. My dad’s working at the silk factory. My dad’s not going to die. He’s pushing the cocoon cart at the factory. My dad’s soul is safe inside his body. Who says my dad’s soul has flown away?”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “Xu Sanguan from the silk factory isn’t your dad. Your dad’s in the hospital. Your dad’s He Xiaoyong.”

Yile said, “Nonsense.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “It’s the truth. Xu Sanguan really isn’t your dad. He Xiaoyong’s really your dad.”

Yile said, “Nonsense.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman swung around toward Xu Yulan. “All I can do now is beg. You’re his mom after all. Say something to him. Make him cry. Make him call for He Xiaoyong’s soul to come home.”

Xu Yulan stood motionless for a moment before replying, “There are so many people watching. What exactly do you want me to say? I’ve already lost any face I might ever have had in their eyes. They’re all laughing at me inside. What am I supposed to say to him? I’m not going up there.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman sank to the ground and began to frantically bow and scrape in Xu Yulan’s direction. “I’m down on my knees in front of you. I’ve lost just as much face as you. And if they’re laughing, it’s me they’re laughing at first and foremost. I’m on my knees. I’m begging you. Please go talk with Yile.” Tears poured from her eyes as she pleaded with Xu Yulan.

Xu Yulan said, “Stand up. When you bow like that, I’m the one who loses face, not you. Stand up. I’ll go talk to him.” Xu Yulan stepped forward, raised her face to the roof, and called out, “Yile! Yile, turn this way. It’s me, your mom. Please just cry a little bit, shout a few times. That’s all you’ve got to do to bring He Xiaoyong’s soul home. When he’s back, I’ll take you home. Come on now.”

Yile said, “Ma, I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to shout.”

Xu Yulan said, “Yile, you’ve got to cry now. You have to shout. More and more people are coming to watch us, and I’m losing face. If any more people show up, I’ll never be able to show my face again in this town. Go on and shout for his soul. After all, He Xiaoyong’s your real dad.”

Yile said, “Ma, how could you? How could you say he’s my real dad? Don’t you have any shame?”

“What did I do in my last life to deserve this?” Xu Yulan cried and wheeled around to face He Xiaoyong’s woman. “Now even my son’s saying I’m shameless. It’s all because of what He Xiaoyong did to us. If he’s going to die, let him. I don’t care anymore. I really can’t be bothered.”

Since Xu Yulan refused to help, He Xiaoyong’s friends said to his woman, “We’d better go get Xu Sanguan. Maybe if Xu Sanguan shows up, Yile will cry for him.”

Xu Sanguan was at the silk factory pushing his cart when two of He Xiaoyong’s friends came running up to him. “Yile refuses to cry or to shout for the soul. All he’ll do is sit up on the roof and say that He Xiaoyong isn’t his real dad, that you’re the only dad he’s ever had. When Xu Yulan tried to make him cry or call out, he told her that she was shameless. Xu Sanguan, would you come and see what you can do? This is a life-or-death situation.”

Xu Sanguan listened to their description of the situation and set his silkworm cart to one side. “That’s my boy.”

When Xu Sanguan arrived at He Xiaoyong’s house, he looked up at the roof and said, “You’re a good son, Yile. You really are a very good son to me. I’ve raised you these thirteen years, and all my efforts have paid off. After what you said today, I’ll be happy to take care of you for another thirteen years.”

When Yile saw that Xu Sanguan had come, he said, “Dad, I’ve been up here long enough. Come get me down. I’m too scared to get down on my own. Dad, come up and get me down.”

Xu Sanguan said, “Yile, I can’t come up and get you just yet. You haven’t cried and you haven’t called out, so He Xiaoyong’s soul hasn’t come back yet.”

Yile said, “Dad, I’m not going to cry. I won’t shout either. I want to come down.”

Xu Sanguan said, “Yile, listen to me. Just cry a little and call for him a couple times. That’s all you have to do. I’ve already given my word that I’d help out, and when you promise something, you have to follow through. You have to keep your word. And after all, He Xiaoyong really is your dad.”

Yile began to cry. “Everyone says you’re not my real dad. Mom said you aren’t my real dad either. Now you’re saying the same thing too. That means I don’t have a dad. I don’t have a mom either. I don’t have a family. All I have is me. I’m coming down on my own.”

Yile stood and took a couple of strides across the roof until, frightened by the steepness of the incline, he stopped, sat back down on the tiles, and burst into noisy tears.

He Xiaoyong’s woman shouted up toward the roof, “That’s it, Yile, good job! You’ve finally started to cry. Now you can shout!”

“You shut up!” Xu Sanguan roared at He Xiaoyong’s woman. “Yile’s not crying for that bastard husband of yours. He’s crying for me.”

Xu Sanguan lifted his head up to look at Yile. “Yile, you’re a good son. Once you’ve shouted, I’ll come up and get you. Then I’m going to take you to the Victory Restaurant to eat fried pork livers.”

Yile sobbed, “Dad, come up and get me.”

Xu Sanguan said, “Yile, all you have to do is shout a few times. Once you shout, I’m going to be your real dad. Just shout a few times, and when you’re done, that bastard He Xiaoyong will never be your real dad again. From now on I’m your real dad.”

When Yile heard what Xu Sanguan said, he lifted his face to the sky and shouted, “Dad, don’t go. Dad, come back.”

When he was finished, he looked back down toward Xu Sanguan. “Dad, come up and get me.”

He Xiaoyong’s wife said, “Yile, shout it a couple more times.”

Yile glanced down toward Xu Sanguan, who said to him, “Just two more times, Yile.”

Yile shouted, “Dad, don’t go. Dad, come back. Dad, don’t go. Dad, come back.”

Yile said to Xu Sanguan, “Dad, come up and get me.”

He Xiaoyong’s woman said, “Yile, you have to keep on shouting. Mr. Chen said you had to shout for half an hour. Yile, shout!”

“Enough already!” Xu Sanguan barked to He Xiaoyong’s woman. “That Mr. Chen’s a real bastard too. Yile’s done his part. Now it’s up to He Xiaoyong. If he lives, fine, and if he dies, he dies.”

Then he said to Yile, “Yile, hang on. I’m coming up to get you.”

Xu Sanguan climbed the ladder and clambered onto the roof, told Yile to hold on to his neck, and then carried him on his back down the ladder.

When they reached safety, Xu Sanguan lowered Yile to the ground and said to him, “Yile, stay right here and don’t move.”

Xu Sanguan proceeded to walk straight into He Xiaoyong’s house. He emerged seconds later with a vegetable knife in hand. Standing by the door of He Xiaoyong’s house, he lifted the blade to his face and sliced his own cheek. Then he stuck out his hand, rubbed it with the blood running from the gash, and announced to the crowd, “You saw what I just did, right? I cut my own face with this knife. From now on, if any of you”—he paused to point toward He Xiaoyong’s woman—“and I mean you too. If any of you ever dares to say that Yile is not my real son, I’ll do the same to you.”

When he was finished speaking, he tossed the knife to one side and took Yile by the hand. “Let’s go home.”