Proofreaders: happyBuddha, Kai, m@o, Marcia
Dear Prince, I must leave you, but I will never forget you, and next spring I will bring back two beautiful jewels in place of those you have given away. The ruby shall be redder than a red rose, and the sapphire shall be as blue as the great sea.
–Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince
1989
“Good evening. This is the News Simulcast
for Friday, May 19th 1989, the fifteenth day of the fourth lunar
month. In today’s programme, we look at the important speech by Premier Zhao
Ziyang at Tiananmen Square in Beijing reaching out to the student protesters to
stop fasting; the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, Mikhail
Gorbachev, returns home after completing a state visit to China and has left
Beijing on a private jet last night…bzzz…bzzz…We will now go into more depth on…bzzzzzz….”
Xu Ping hit the 19-inch colour television with his wet
hands as the signal kept disconnecting. He grabbed the two antennae behind the
television and wiggled them around for a while, but the only thing on the
screen was static.
“What happened to the TV?” he muttered to himself.
A series of popping sounds from the pressure cooker
forced Xu Ping to stop the inspection and rush back to the kitchen.
Pork ribs and potatoes were being braised in the
pressure cooker, and as the small ventilation knob spun around, a
mouth-watering scent wafted out.
Xu Ping took a deep breath and removed the cooker from
the gas stove.
The rice was already done. Xu Ping took out a bundle
of baby bok choy from the green plastic vegetable basket and washed it a bit
before stir frying it with some garlic. The drops of water still on the
vegetable splashed into the boiling oil and exploded like firecrackers.
“Xiao-Zheng,
dinner!” he shouted as he piled the baby bok choy onto a plate.
When he opened the pressure cooker, a wave of steam
came rushing forth, clouding his glasses. He took a step back only to bump into
a warm body. He almost tripped but the person grabbed ahold of him.
Xu Ping knew without having to look back that it was
his brother who, although three years younger, had already grown taller. The
boy’s frame was no longer adorable as it had once been. He was like a seedling
that had grown into a small tree, while still immature, the future that lay
ahead was clear to see.
Xu Zheng was definitely their father’s son.
Xu Ping wiped his glasses with a corner of his shirt.
“Don’t stand behind me like that without telling me again, okay? I could’ve
stepped on you.”
“I called you,” Xu Zheng spoke slowly. “You didn’t
hear.”
Xu Ping replaced his black glasses back on his nose and
wiped away the sweat on his forehead with an arm. “Let’s eat. We’re having ribs
and potatoes tonight.”
The brothers sat down at the round dinner table, and
Xu Ping picked some food into his brother’s bowl.
“…you are still young, dear students! The road ahead
is long and you should live on healthily to see our country reach modernization.
You are not like us who are old. The state and your parents put in hard work to
raise you to be university students. You are now nineteen, maybe twenty years
old, and to be sacrificing your life like this…I did not come for a discussion
today. I came to ask that you think about this rationally….”
An old man wearing a Mao suit was speaking into a red
loudspeaker in a thick Henan accent.
Xu Ping listened carefully to the leader’s entire
speech with chopsticks in midair. He turned to his brother. “Did you fix the
TV?”
Xu Zheng was spooning a piece of potato towards his
mouth when his brother interrupted him. The potato fell back into his bowl.
Xu Ping chuckled and gently patted his clumsy brother
on the head.
Brrrring!
Xu Ping put down his utensils and picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Xu Ping? It’s Dad.” A familiar, deep voice said
on the line.
Xu Ping covered the receiver and told his brother to
lower the television volume.
“Dad, how’s shooting going?”
“Good, good. We’re still taking exterior shots in Yan’an.
I had nothing to shoot today so I took the day off and came to the post office
to give you a call. How’s everything at home?”
“We’re doing good. Just eating dinner now, actually.
Braised potatoes and ribs. So when are you coming home, Dad?”
“In a few more days. The director wanted to reshoot a few
more scenes after this. You know I’m old pals with Wang, and I told him my
son’s taking the university entrance exam. He immediately agreed to let me
shoot my parts first so I can head home right after we finish.”
“Don’t rush it, Dad,” Xu Ping replied with a smirk. “It
might be a supporting role again, but this one’s our great Premier Zhou Enlai.
You’d better give it a hundred and ten percent and not let him down.”
“Let him down?!” Xu Chuan snorted. “I am a Golden Rooster winner, thank you very much! I was just too skinny to play
the great President Mao back then, or else I would’ve definitely
been the leading role!”
Xu Ping broke out in laughter.
The second year after his brother came back home, a
director from August First got in contact with his dad and offered
him a role as He Long, the rebel who joined the revolution with
two cleavers. Xu Chuan grew a moustache and learned Tujia with a
colleague. He carried around two Mauser C96s that he carved out of wood and
practised whipping them out at home, He entertained his son by making gunshot
sounds while he did so and by telling jokes in the Hunan language. The movie received
acclaim after its release, and Xu Chuan won the Golden Rooster that year for
best supporting role. He finally had his big break as an actor at the age of
thirty-eight and made it to the big screen.
“Do you have enough to spend?”
“Yeah. Xu Zheng and I don’t need to buy anything
expensive, and groceries don’t cost that much.”
“How’s reviewing?”
“We’re doing exercises every day, and mock tests every
three days. Getting into university shouldn’t be a problem if I perform
normally.”
Xu Chuan hesitated before asking tentatively, “What
schools were you planning to apply to?”
Xu Ping didn’t answer.
“I talked on the phone with your homeroom teacher the
other day. She said that your marks on the region-wide mock tests came out, and
you need to fill out your application by the end of the month. She told me your
marks are really good and the school wants you to apply for a school in Beijing
and they asked me to give you support as a parent.” Xu Chuan paused. “Are you
there, son?”
“Yeah.”
Xu Chuan continued after a moment. “For all these
years, with your mom gone and your brother like this, this family wouldn’t have
made it this far if you weren’t such a good kid. You’re stronger than me,
you’re responsible and independent. You’ve never made me worry whether it comes
to your brother or your own schoolwork. Dad’s never thanked you for all that.”
“Dad!” Xu Ping interrupted. “What are you saying?
We’re family!”
Xu Chuan didn’t stop. “Son, you’re old enough for what
I’m about to say. Dad’s not a capable man. I only know how to act. I can’t do
business and become a millionaire, but I’ve been working in so many projects
these years and saved a few bucks. Maybe not a lot but I can spare a couple
grand. I just want you to know, you’re still young and you got a whole life ahead
of you. I’m not that old either, and it’s not time for you to shoulder
everything yet. Our family might be different, but I want you to have a good
life like any other parent. I want you to know that you don’t have to worry
when you fill out that application form ‘cause Dad will support you whatever
you choose. The world’s a big place, and you should explore it while you’re
young, broaden your horizons. Xiao-Zheng
has his own life, just as you have your own, and you both are my sons.”
“Geez, Dad,” Xu Ping said with red, teary eyes. “Was
that the script you were reading?! I got goose bumps hearing that. The
telephone’s not cheap, Dad. I’d rather you buy more souvenirs to bring back.”
“My god, you lil’ rascal. Here I am trying to have a
serious talk with you. That was no script!”
Xu Ping nodded with the receiver between his shoulder
and ear. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mr. Premier Zhou.”
Xu Chuan lost the will to continue and only replied
weakly, “Oh whatever, you lil’ rebel. But I do have to warn you, it hasn’t been
very peaceful out there lately. Even we’ve caught wind of it out here in the
boondocks. Just a bunch of crazy children, I say. Don’t you dare join whatever
it is they’re doing!”
“Why would I,” Xu Ping retorted, “The entrance exam’s
next month!”
Xu Chuan felt relieved. “You youngsters haven’t been
through anything. You don’t know the consequences of political movements.”
“Dad,” Xu Ping asked, “Do you want to talk to Xiao-Zheng?”
Xu Chuan paused before answering, “Yeah.”
Xu Ping put down the receiver and beckoned his
brother.
Xu Zheng was a fast eater. His bowl had long been
empty, and he was watching the television while sitting upright like an
elementary student with hands on his lap. His gaze had not changed and was very
focused. Other than the lack of a tail, he looked just like a golden retriever.
“Xiao-Zheng,
it’s Dad.”
Xu Zheng slowly strained his neck to look without
moving the rest of his body.
“Come talk with Dad.” Xu Ping gently rubbed his
brother’s head. “Ask how he’s doing.”
Xu Zheng stared at his brother as he walked over to
the phone.
“HELLO!”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A typical pressure cooker
Braised ribs and potatoes
For more information:
News Simulcast (also, an article by The Economist)
The speech by Zhao Ziyang (note, the subtitles are not in sync but are accurate)
Zhao Ziyang
Video of spinning pressure cooker knob
Yan'an
Zhou Enlai
Four Modernizations
Mao Zedong
He Long
Golden Rooster Awards
August First Film Studio
Tujia language
Note: The author used a lay term when referring to the language/dialect that Xu Chuan learned, so I could not figure out which language it was. I took the liberty to guess on the basis that He Long was Tujia that the language was Tujia.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ayszhang: A slow start to Book Two...but next chapter... ;)
I'm flying home (Vancouver!) on Sunday! Will be staying for two and a half weeks. Brother updates should be consistent (unless there are surprises) while TDDUP will have to wait until April.
Both these stories are about to get very political...if you haven't caught the drift already x_x
Twelve
Brother - English Translation by ayszhang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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