Brothers by Yu Hua Read Free Book Online Page B

into Song Fanping twice during those late-night strolls with Baldy Li. Once he was with his entire family, and the other time he was alone. The second time Song Fanping suddenly used his large figure to block the mother and son's path. His big, rough hands touched the child's upturned face, and he said to Li Lan, "This child is too thin. You should let him get more sunlight, since there are vitamins in sunlight."
    Poor Li Lan didn't even dare to lift her head to look at him. She trembled as she held Baldy Li, and Baldy Li was jostled in her arms as if by an earthquake. Song Fanping smiled and walked away, brushing past them. This particular night Li Lan didn't linger to enjoy the moonlight,instead hurrying home with Baldy Li. The grinding noise from her teeth sounded different than usual, because perhaps this time it didn't come from her migraines.
    When Baldy Li was three, his grandmother left her daughter and grandson and returned to her hometown. By this point, Baldy Li had learned to walk but was still very thin, even thinner than he had been as a baby. Li Lan s migraines had their good and bad days, but she had developed a slight stoop from walking around with a perpetually bowed head. After his grandmother left, Baldy Li started having the opportunity to walk in broad daylight. When Li Lan went to the market, she would take him along. She walked quickly with her head lowered, and Baldy Li would stumble along behind her, holding on to the hem of her clothes. By that time no one pointed them out anymore—in fact, no one even looked at them—yet Li Lan still felt the public s gaze like daggers in her back.
    Every other month Baldy Li's frail mother went to the rice store to buy forty jin of rice. These would be Baldy Li's happiest times, because when she hoisted the forty- jin sack of rice on her back, he no longer needed to hurry and stumble after her. She panted as she walked with her sack of rice—by that point even her breath began to sound like the grinding of her teeth. She would walk and pause, walk and pause, and Baldy Li would have time to take a look around.
    One autumn day around noon, the tall Song Fanping walked up to them, and just as Li Lan lowered the sack down to wipe the sweat from her face, she saw a strong hand suddenly lift the sack of rice from the ground. Startled, she looked up to see this man smiling at her, and saying, "Let me carry this home for you."
    Song Fanping carried the forty- jin sack as easily as if he were carrying an empty basket. With his left hand he scooped up Baldy Li and hoisted him onto his shoulders, telling the boy to hold on to his forehead. Baldy Li had never seen the world from this height. He was always lifting his head to look up—this was the first time he had ever been able to look down at the passersby in the street. He couldn't stop giggling as he sat on Song Fanping's shoulders.
    This well-built man carried Li Lan's rice sack with her son on his shoulders and spoke in a ringing voice as they walked down the street. Li Lan walked alongside him, her head lowered, pale and drenched in cold sweat. She felt that everyone was laughing and staring at her, and she wished she could simply disappear into a crack in the ground. SongFanping asked questions as they walked, but Li Lan would merely nod or shake her head, her teeth still making that grinding sound.
    They finally arrived at her front door. Song Fanping placed Baldy Li on the ground and emptied the cloth sack into the rice barrel. He glanced at the bed, made up with the same coverlet and sheets that he had seen three years earlier. The Double Happiness character on them had faded, its embroidery frayed. As he was about to leave, the man told Li Lan his name was Song Fanping and he was a teacher at the middle school, adding that if they ever needed help with anything, she should let him know. After he left, Li Lan let her son play outside by himself for the first time and locked herself in her room, doing who knows