Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (2 page)

They made their way toward the blood donation room at the hospital, moving as carefully as women in the final month of pregnancy, their faces tomato red with the effort of holding in the urine. Ah Fang and Genlong moved even more gingerly than Xu Sanguan, for they were still burdened by melon-laden carrying poles. Their hands were clasped around the cords from which the watermelons were strung so that the poles wouldn’t wobble back and forth with each step. But the hospital corridor was a narrow one, and a few of the people squeezing past could not help but jostle the poles. The water distending Ah Fang’s and Genlong’s bladders wobbled along with the watermelons, and their faces went crooked with pain. Each time they were jostled, they had to rest until the watermelons stopped swaying, then continue painstakingly down the hallway once the poles had steadied.

Blood Chief Li sat behind a desk in the blood donation room, feet propped atop an open desk drawer, and his legs splayed to reveal his crotch. All the buttons on his fly had fallen off, and a pair of flower-print underwear peeked through the gap between. There was no one else in the room besides Blood Chief Li. As soon as Xu Sanguan saw him, he thought to himself,
So
this
is
Blood Chief Li. Isn’t he the bald guy who comes by the factory to
sell fried silkworm chips?

When Blood Chief Li saw Ah Fang and Genlong shuffle in with their carrying poles, his feet slid back onto the ground, and he gave out an affable chuckle. “So it’s you two! You’re back again.” Then he glanced toward Xu Sanguan and gestured in his direction. “I think I’ve seen this one before.”

“He lives in town,” Ah Fang said.

“That must be it,” Blood Chief Li said.

Xu Sanguan added, “You’re the one who comes by our factory to sell silkworm chips, right?”

“You’re at the silk factory?” Blood Chief Li asked.

“That’s right.”

“Damn,” Blood Chief Li went on. “No wonder I’ve seen you around. Are you here to sell some blood too?”

Ah Fang said, “We’ve brought you some watermelons. Fresh picked this morning from the fields.”

Blood Chief Li raised his buttocks from the chair to lean across the desk and inspect the watermelons more closely. He chuckled. “They’re pretty damn big too. Just set them down in the corner.”

Ah Fang and Genlong bent over in an effort to extract the watermelons from their baskets and set them down in the corner. But no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to bend far enough, and after several abortive tries, their faces went a fiery red and the sound of their panting filled the room.

The smile faded from Blood Chief Li’s lips as he watched them struggle. “Just how much water did you drink this time?”

Ah Fang replied, “Just three bowls.”

Genlong, standing to one side, corrected him, “He had three. I drank four.”

“Bullshit.” Blood Chief Li’s eyes were fixed on them. “You think I don’t know how big your bladders are by now? I know damn well that when you two really get going, your stomachs swell up as big as a pregnant lady’s belly. Ten bowls, at the very least.”

Ah Fang and Genlong broke into sheepish grins, and Blood Chief Li, won over by their smiles, waved his hand as if to dismiss the matter. “Forget it. At least you two still have a conscience. At least you two still remember me from time to time. You can sell this time, but don’t do it again.” Then he shifted his attention toward Xu Sanguan. “Come here.”

Xu Sanguan moved over to the desk.

“Move your head a little closer.”

Xu Sanguan lowered his head, and Blood Chief Li reached out a hand, grabbed hold of the skin around Xu’s eyes, and forced them wide open.

“Let’s take a look at your eyes. Let’s see if there’s any jaundice. No . . . then stick out your tongue, let me see your innards. . . . Doesn’t look so bad. All right then, you can sell blood as well. And listen here. Usually the rule is that we’re supposed to take a sample first and check if you have any diseases. But you’re a friend of Ah Fang and Genlong, and I wouldn’t want them to lose any face—especially considering that this is our first meeting. In short, just consider this as my little gift to you.”

AFTER THE THREE MEN finished their transaction, they made their way, step by painstaking step, toward the hospital’s public lavatory. Xu Sanguan followed closely behind the other two. They kept their eyes to the floor, silent and grimacing with pain, wary of the one false move that might cause their bladders to burst.

They lined up in a row in front of the hospital urinal, and as they began to pee, a wave of intense pain rolled across the roots of their teeth. Their teeth began to chatter so resoundingly that the splatter of their urine on the wall was very nearly drowned out by the sound.

Not long afterward they arrived at the Victory Restaurant. The Victory Restaurant was nestled under an old bridge, and the peak of its roof barely reached the stone underside of the structure. A mass of weeds grew from in between the roof tiles, cascading over the eaves like eyebrows. The front door was almost indistinguishable from the tall windows, edged by wooden slats, that ran across the storefront. The three walked into the restaurant through one of these windows and took a table by another window that looked out over the creek that ran through the west end of town. A few discarded vegetable leaves floated past them on the current.

Ah Fang shouted to a waiter, “A plate of fried pork livers, and two shots of yellow rice wine, and make sure to warm up the wine for me.”

Genlong shouted in turn, “A plate of fried pork livers, two shots of yellow rice wine, and warm up my wine as well.”

Xu Sanguan had watched closely as they shouted out their orders and, impressed by the aplomb with which they had slapped the table for emphasis, followed suit with a shout, “A plate of fried pork livers and two shots of yellow rice wine. Oh, and warm mine up too.”

In a twinkling three plates of fried pork livers and three pots of rice wine were delivered to their table. Xu Sanguan lifted his chopsticks and was just about to spear a piece of the pork liver when he noticed that Ah Fang and Genlong had lifted their wine pots instead. Squinting with anticipation, they slowly took a sip, and then simultaneously emitted a long hissing sound, upon which their facial muscles visibly relaxed and they both broke into satisfied smiles.

“That’s the best part,” Ah Fang said with a sigh.

Xu Sanguan put down his chopsticks, lifted his wine pot, and took a sip. The wine flowed down his throat, warming his insides as it went, and he too unwittingly emitted a long hissing sound.

Ah Fang and Genlong grinned. “Now that you’ve sold blood, do you feel dizzy?” Ah Fang asked.

“I’m not dizzy, but I feel like I don’t have any energy left, and my feet and legs seem kind of rubbery when I walk.”

Ah Fang said, “You’ve sold your energy. That’s why you feel weak. What we sold just now is energy, understand? City people call it blood, but we country folks call it energy. There are two kinds of energy. One kind comes from the blood, and the other comes from muscle. But the kind that comes from the blood is worth a lot more money.”

Xu Sanguan asked, “What kind of energy comes from the blood? What kind comes from muscle?”

Ah Fang said, “When you climb into bed, or when you pick up a bowl of rice from the table, or when you walk from my house over to Genlong’s, you don’t use much energy at all. That’s the kind that comes from the muscle. But when you go into the fields and work, or you carry a hundred pounds of watermelon into town, when it comes to that kind of hard labor, you have to use the kind of energy that comes from the blood.”

Xu Sanguan nodded. “I think I understand now. The kind of energy you’re talking about is like money in your pocket. If you spend some, you have to go out and earn some more.”

Ah Fang nodded and turned to Genlong. “These city folks are really pretty bright.”

Xu Sanguan said, “You two work in the fields every day, but you still have enough extra energy to sell your blood to the hospital. You’re really a lot stronger than me.”

Genlong said, “We’re not necessarily stronger than you. It’s just that we country folks are more used to spending our energy. We depend on selling blood to make enough money to afford a wife, or build a new house. We make just enough in the fields to make sure we don’t starve.”

Ah Fang said, “Genlong’s right. I’m saving the money I made today for a new house. Another couple of times, and I’ll have enough to start construction. Genlong’s selling blood because he’s got his eye on a girl named Guihua in our village. Originally she was engaged to someone else, but then they broke it off, and Genlong ended up falling for her instead.”

Xu Sanguan said, “I’ve seen Guihua. Her behind is too big. Genlong, do you like big behinds?”

Genlong grinned while Ah Fang explained, “Women with big behinds are nice and solid. Being in bed with them is like being on a boat—nice and comfy.”

Xu Sanguan broke into a broad smile.

Ah Fang went on. “So, Xu Sanguan, have you thought it through? What you’re going to do with the money you earned from selling blood?”

“I don’t know yet,” Xu Sanguan said. “I’ve only just learned what it means to sell the kind of energy that comes from the blood. What I earn in the factory is just sweat money, but what I earned today is blood money. You can’t spend that kind of money on just anything. I have to find something important to spend it on.”

Genlong interrupted. “Hey, did you happen to notice those underpants Blood Chief Li had on?” Ah Fang smirked as Genlong continued. “Do you think they might have been that Ying Something-or-other’s panties?”

“Obviously. My guess is that they accidentally put on each other’s underwear when they got up this morning,” Ah Fang said.

“I would really like to see”—Genlong chuckled—“whether or not she’s wearing Blood Chief Li’s underwear.”

CHAPTER TWO

Xu Sanguan sat in the melon patch eating watermelons. His uncle, to whom the melon patch belonged, stood, stretched his arms behind his back, and brushed the dirt from his rear. A little cloud of dirt swirled around Xu Sanguan’s head and settled on the watermelon in his hands. He blew the dirt away as he continued to bite into the tender pink flesh. When his uncle was finished patting off his backside, he sat back down on the low bank of dirt at the edge of the plot.

Xu Sanguan asked, “What are those shiny yellow melons called?”

Just beyond the mass of tangled watermelon vines was a row of trellises fashioned from bamboo poles, from which dangled clumps of golden yellow melons, each about the size of a hand. On the other side of the trellis were an equal number of glossy green melons, which appeared to be a little longer than the yellow ones. The fruit sparkled brightly in the sunlight. When the wind blew, first the leaves, then the vines, and finally the melons themselves began to sway in the breeze.

Xu Sanguan’s fourth uncle lifted his skinny, wrinkled arm to point across the melon patch. “Do you mean those shiny yellow ones? Those are Goldens. The glossy green ones to the side are Old Lady melons.”

“I’m not going to have any more watermelon, Fourth Uncle. I think I’ve already eaten two whole melons.”

His uncle said, “No, you haven’t. I had some too. I think I ate half of one of yours.”

Xu Sanguan said, “I know Goldens. The flesh smells really good, but they aren’t actually all that sweet. But the seeds are sweet. People in town always spit out the seeds when they eat Goldens, but I never do. I figure if it grows in the earth, it’s got to be good for you. I’ve had Old Lady melons too. They’re not too sweet, and they’re not very crisp either. By the time you open one up and take a bite, it’s all mushy. When it comes to eating Old Lady melons, it doesn’t matter if you have teeth or not. Fourth Uncle, I think I could actually eat some more. I think I’ll have a couple of Goldens and then eat an Old Lady.”

Xu Sanguan sat in his uncle’s melon patch all day long and didn’t get up to leave until the sun began to set. By the time he stood to leave, his face shone as red as pork livers in the light of the setting sun. Gazing toward the smoke curling up from the farmhouses, he patted the dirt from his rear and started to rub his stomach, which was swollen with watermelon, Goldens, Old Ladies, cucumbers, and peaches.

As he rubbed his belly he turned to his uncle and said, “I’m going to get married.”

Then he turned back toward his uncle’s melon patch and began to pee.

“Fourth Uncle, I want to find someone to marry. Fourth Uncle, for the past two days I’ve been thinking about the thirtyfive
yuan
I made selling blood and what I ought to spend it on. I wanted to give some to Grandpa, but he’s too old now, really he’s so old he wouldn’t even be able to spend it. And I wanted to give you some too, because of all my father’s brothers, you treat me the best, but Fourth Uncle, I just can’t give it to you, because I earned it by selling blood, not just ordinary muscle. That’s why I can’t bear to give it away. Fourth Uncle, when I stood up just now, I suddenly realized I should get myself a woman. Then my blood money wouldn’t go to waste. Fourth Uncle, all I ate was a bunch of melons, so how come it feels like I drank lots and lots of wine? Fourth Uncle, my face is burning, my neck is hot, the soles of my feet feel like they’re on fire.”

CHAPTER THREE

Xu Sanguan’s job was to push a trolley heaped with puffy white silkworm cocoons back and forth across a huge workshop, delivering them to the flock of young women who ran the spinning machines. He horsed around with them every day, joking and laughing amid the deafening roar of machinery. Often their hands would reach back and pat his head, or find their way to his chest and playfully shove him back a few steps. If he were to choose one of them to be his woman, to share a quilt with him on a snowy winter’s night, then he would choose Lin Fenfang, the girl with the braids that dangled down to her waist, the girl whose smile revealed a row of straight, white teeth and a pair of dimples, because he figured that he would never tire of looking at her, even for a lifetime. And sometimes Lin Fenfang was among those who would pat him on the head. Once she even surreptitiously squeezed his hand. After that he always gave her the best cocoons, and he could never bear to give her any of the ones that had gone bad.

There was another girl who was very pretty. She worked in a little snack shop in town, standing every morning next to a giant wok full of oil, making fried dough for breakfast. She was constantly breaking out into exclamations: when some hot oil splattered on her hand, or when she discovered a spot on her dress, or when her foot slipped as she walked down the street, or when she noticed that it had begun to rain, or when she heard a thunderclap, he invariably heard her cry out, “Aiya!”

This girl was called Xu Yulan. Her work for the day was finished by breakfast, after which she was free to spend her afternoons strolling back and forth through the streets, chewing contentedly on melon seeds wherever she went. Sometimes she would stop to shout a hello to someone she knew who was standing across the street, bursting into giggles and a series of “aiyas” as she spoke. At these times there was usually a little piece of melon seed husk stuck to her lips, and if the people who walked by just as she opened her mouth were lucky, they would even smell the sweet vegetal fragrance that emerged from between her lips as she spoke.

After she had walked a few blocks, she would usually walk back to her house, reemerging ten minutes later clad in an entirely different outfit. Then she would once again begin to amble through the streets. She changed her outfit three times a day, because the fact was that she only had three outfits into which to change. And every day she changed into four different pairs of shoes, because she only had four pairs of shoes to wear. When there was nothing new left to wear, she would wrap a silk scarf around her neck.

In truth, she had no more clothes than anyone else, but everyone thought of her as the girl with the most extensive and fashionable wardrobe in town. Her strolls through the streets made everyone feel as if her pretty face were as familiar as the stream that flowed across town. And almost everyone in town knew her as the Fried Dough Queen. “Look, there goes the Fried Dough Queen.” “Did you see the Fried Dough Queen go into the fabric shop? She buys some pretty new pattern practically every day.” “No, she just looks, she never buys.” “The Fried Dough Queen’s face smells so sweet.” “The Fried Dough Queen’s hands aren’t very pretty. Too short, and her fingers are stubby.” “So
that’s
the Fried Dough Queen?”

One day Xu Yulan, the Fried Dough Queen, walked a few blocks with a young man called He Xiaoyong. They talked and laughed, and later they stood by the railing of a wooden bridge until the sun started to set and night had nearly fallen. He Xiaoyong was wearing a clean white shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and when he talked and laughed, he would cross his arms and wrap his hands around his elbows. Xu Yulan found this gesture enchanting, and when she looked prettily up at He Xiaoyong, her eyes sparkled with light.

Sometime later someone saw He Xiaoyong walk by Xu Yulan’s front door just as Xu Yulan herself had just emerged from inside the door. When she caught sight of him, she called out, “Aiya!” Her face was wreathed in smiles. “Come in and sit for a while.”

When He Xiaoyong walked inside, he saw Xu Yulan’s father sitting at a table drinking some yellow rice wine. Xu Yulan’s father, seeing a young stranger come in through the door with his daughter in tow, slid his chair and issued an invitation. “Have a drink?”

After that He Xiaoyong was often to be seen at Xu Yulan’s house, huddled with her father as they spoke in low tones over a pot of yellow rice wine, punctuated from time to time with what sounded like conspiratorial laughter.

And thus Xu Yulan found herself walking out of her room and standing next to the table, demanding as loudly as she could, “What are you two always talking about? What’s so funny?”

That very same day Xu Sanguan returned home from the country. As he reached town, night had already fallen. In those days there weren’t yet any street lamps installed in the city; red lanterns hung from the eaves of some of the shops, shining in uneven bands across the stone-cobbled street. Xu Sanguan walked home, enclosed one moment in darkness and the next in light. As he passed the theater, he caught sight of Xu Yulan. The Fried Dough Queen was standing sideways by the front entrance of the theater in between two big lanterns, cracking melon seeds, her face glowing luminously red in the lantern light.

Xu Sanguan walked over toward her, hesitated, turned, and walked back. He stood across the street, grinning as he watched how prettily she pursed her lips as she spit out a melon seed husk. Xu Yulan saw Xu Sanguan too. First she glanced in his direction, and then she turned to watch as two passersby walked down the street. When they had gone, she glanced back at Xu Sanguan and just as quickly wheeled around to glance inside the theater, where a man and a woman were standing and talking about the show. When she twisted her head back around, she saw that Xu Sanguan was still standing in the same place.

“Aiya!” she finally exclaimed, pointing at Xu Sanguan. “Why are you staring at me like that? And smiling that way too!”

Xu Sanguan crossed the street and stood in front of the girl bathed in crimson light. “Let me treat you to some steamed dumplings.”

Xu Yulan said, “I don’t know you.”

“I’m Xu Sanguan. I work at the silk factory.”

“I still don’t know you.”

“I know you,” Xu Sanguan said. “You’re the Fried Dough Queen.”

Xu Yulan giggled. “So you know about that?”

“Everybody’s heard of you. Let’s go. I’ll treat you to some steamed dumplings.”

“I’ve already eaten today.” Xu Yulan smiled. “Why don’t you ask me tomorrow?”

The next day Xu Sanguan took Xu Yulan to the Victory Restaurant. They sat at a table by the window, at the very same table where he had eaten pork livers and drunk yellow rice wine with Ah Fang and Genlong. And just like Ah Fang and Genlong, he slapped the table for emphasis as he called out to the waiter, “I’ll take the steamed dumplings.”

He treated Xu Yulan to the steamed dumplings. When she had finished, she told him she could still eat a bowl of wontons.

Xu Sanguan slapped the table. “Bring a bowl of wontons.”

That afternoon Xu Yulan happily ate a plate of preserved plums, but after she ate them, she said her mouth was salty, so she ate some candied fruit, but when she was finished with the fruit, she said she was thirsty, so Xu Sanguan bought her half a watermelon. They stood together on the wooden bridge as Xu Yulan happily devoured the watermelon. Then she happily proceeded to hiccup.

As her body swayed with hiccups, Xu Sanguan counted on his fingers how much money he had spent. “Steamed dumplings twenty-four
fen,
wontons nine
fen,
preserved plums ten
fen,
two bags of candied fruit comes to twenty-three
fen,
half a watermelon a pound four ounces all together seventeen
fen,
the grand total comes to eighty-three
fen.
When are we getting married?”

“Aiya!” Xu Yulan cried out in surprise. “What makes you think I’m going to marry you?”

“I spent eighty-three
fen,
” Xu Sanguan explained.

“You’re the one who invited me,” Xu Yulan hiccuped. “I thought it was free. You never said I had to marry you if I ate your things.”

“What’s wrong with getting married anyway?” Xu Sanguan said. “After we get married, I’ll love you and take good care of you, and I’ll buy you this much food almost every day.”

“Aiya!” Xu Yulan cried out again. “I wouldn’t eat that much even if I
were
married to you. If we got married, I’d pay for my own food. And if I had known it was going to be like this, I never would have eaten anything at all.”

“What’s done is done,” Xu Sanguan comforted her. “Everything’ll be fine once we get married.”

“I can’t marry you. I have a boyfriend. And my dad would never agree. My dad likes He Xiaoyong.”

And so it was that Xu Sanguan, cradling a bottle of yellow rice wine and a carton of cigarettes in his arms, arrived at Xu Yulan’s door and sat down at the table across from her father. After he slid the wine and the cigarettes across the tabletop, he began a lengthy discourse.

“Do you know who my dad was? My dad was a famous carpenter. My old man made furniture for all the best families in town. No one else could make a table as fine as his. When you ran your hand across the tabletop, the wood was as smooth and shiny as silk. You know who my mom was? My mom was Golden Flower. You know who she was? She was the most beautiful woman on the west side of town. People used to call her the Westside Beauty. After my dad died, she married a Nationalist company commander, then ran off with him. I’m my dad’s only son. I don’t know if Mom and that company commander ever had any kids or not. I’m called Xu Sanguan. My uncles’ two sons are older than me, so I rank third in the Xu family. I work in the silk factory, and I’m two years older than He Xiaoyong, and I started working three years before he did, so I definitely have a lot more money than he does. If he wanted to marry Xu Yulan, he’d have to save up for a few more years, but I already have enough to get married now. I’m ready now; all I need is your permission.”

Xu Sanguan added, “Xu Yulan is your only child. If she were to marry He Xiaoyong, your family line would be broken for good, because no matter whether the kids were boys or girls, their last name would still have to be He. And if she married me? My last name is the same as yours, Xu, so no matter if we had boys or girls, they would all be named Xu. Your family line will remain intact, and you’ll always have descendants to burn incense for you at the family shrine. Look at it this way—if I marry Xu Yulan, it would be just the same as if I agreed to take on your family name instead of making Xu Yulan take mine.”

When Xu Sanguan’s speech reached this juncture, Xu Yulan’s father broke into a wide grin. He looked across the table toward Xu Sanguan and, drumming a tattoo on the tabletop with his knuckles, said, “I’m going to accept this bottle of wine, and the carton of cigarettes. What you say is absolutely right. If my daughter marries He Xiaoyong, my family line will be broken forever. But if she marries you, both of our family’s futures will be assured for generations to come.”

When Xu Yulan was informed of her father’s decision, she sat on the bed, tears falling from her eyes. Her father and Xu Sanguan stood to one side. Watching as she wiped the tears from her face, Xu Yulan’s father said to Xu Sanguan, “Take a good hard look. This is what women are all about. When they’re truly happy, all they can do is cry.”

Xu Sanguan said, “I’m not so sure it’s because she’s happy.”

At this point Xu Yulan interjected, “What am I supposed to say to He Xiaoyong?”

Her father replied, “Just tell him that you’re getting married. And that the groom’s name is Xu Sanguan, not He Xiaoyong.”

“How can I tell him something like that? What am I supposed to do if he can’t take the news and he starts bashing his head against the wall?”

“If he does himself in, then there’s not a whole lot more you could say to him.”

In her heart Xu Yulan didn’t want to let He Xiaoyong go so easily. He was the man who liked to fold his arms around his elbows as he talked, the smiling man who came to her house almost every day, the man who would bring her dad a bottle of wine almost every other day and sit drinking and chuckling at the table to keep him company. And there had been a couple of occasions when, taking advantage of the fact that her dad had gone around the block to the public toilet, he suddenly pushed her behind the door and pressed her body against the wall with his own. Each time it happened, she had been so scared that her heart leaped wildly in her chest. The first time she didn’t feel anything but the pumping of her heart. The second time she discovered his beard. His beard had slid back and forth across her face like a brush.

And the third time? This is what Xu Yulan asked herself as she lay in bed in the quiet of night, her heart pounding as she imagined her father standing up to leave, walking out the front door, and turning the corner toward the public toilet. He Xiaoyong had jumped to his feet, toppling the stool on which he had been sitting, and pressed her against the wall for a third time.

Xu Yulan made a date to meet He Xiaoyong on the old wooden bridge. It was already dark. As soon as Xu Yulan caught sight of He Xiaoyong, she broke into plaintive sobs. She told He Xiaoyong that someone named Xu Sanguan had treated her to steamed dumplings, preserved plums, candied fruit, and half a watermelon, and how, when it was all over, she had found herself obliged to marry him.

He Xiaoyong, noticing that someone was crossing the bridge, said in an anxious whisper, “Hey, hey! Don’t cry. Stop crying. If someone sees you crying, what’ll they think? Where would that leave me?”

Xu Yulan said, “Go and give Xu Sanguan his eighty-three
fen
back. Then I won’t owe him anything.”

He Xiaoyong said, “We’re not even married yet, and you want me to pay back
your
debts?”

“He Xiaoyong, you have to take my family name when we get married. Otherwise my dad’s going to give me to Xu Sanguan.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Do you think a man like me would actually agree to take on someone else’s name? And let our sons be named Xu? Impossible.”