Chronicle of a Blood Merchant by Yu Hua, Andrew F. Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

calling her Big Boobs Zhang.”
    Xu Yulan said, “I saw Lin Fenfang over at the silk factory wearing some white sneakers over red nylon socks. I’ve seen red nylon socks before, Lin Pingping around the corner wore them a few days back. But it was first time I’ve ever seen women’s sneakers that come in white.”
    Erle said, “I’ve seen those before. There was a pair on display at the counter in the department store.”
    Xu Yulan said, “I’ve seen plenty of men’s sneakers in white. Lin Pingping’s brother has a pair. And Wang Defu on our street.”
    Erle said, “That lady who always goes over to Wang Defu’s house wears white sneakers too . . .”
    Xu Yulan said. Erle said. And so on.
    But Yile and Xu Yulan had very little to say to each other. Yile never wanted to hang around Xu Yulan or do anything with her. If Xu Yulan was going to buy vegetables at the market, she would call to him, “Yile, help me carry the shopping basket.”
    Yile would say, “I don’t want to.”
    “Yile, help me thread this needle.”
    “I don’t want to.”
    “Yile, fold the laundry.”
    “I don’t want to.”
    “Yile . . .”
    “I don’t want to.”
    Then Xu Yulan’s temper flared, and she would shout, “What
do
you want to do?”
    Xu Sanguan paced back and forth across the room, looking up at the rays of sunlight filtering down into the house through the ceiling. Then he said, “I’m going up on the roof to fix the tiles. Otherwise, when the rainy season comes and it’s pouring outside, it’ll be drizzling in here too.”
    Yile quickly said to Xu Sanguan, “Dad, let me go borrow a ladder.”
    Xu Sanguan said, “You’re still too little to carry a ladder.”
    “Dad, will you let me ask for it? Then you can carry it home yourself.”
    When Xu Sanguan got the ladder home and was about to climb up to the roof, Yile said, “Dad, I’ll hold the ladder steady for you as you climb up.”
    Xu Sanguan mounted the roof, the tiles below squeaking and straining under his weight. As soon as he reached the roof, Yile was off like a shot. He ran to get Xu Sanguan’s teapot and set it down next to the bottom of the ladder. Then he ran to get a washbasin, filled it with water, and folded a washcloth neatly over the rim.
    Finally, teapot in hand, he shouted up to the roof, “Dad, come down and take a break. I brought you some tea.”
    Xu Sanguan, standing on the roof, replied, “I don’t want any tea. I just got up here.”
    Yile wrung out the towel, draped it over his arm, and called up to the roof, “Dad, come down and take a break. I brought you a washcloth.”
    Xu Sanguan, squatting atop the roof tiles, replied, “I’m not sweaty.”
    Sanle wobbled toward them. As soon as Yile saw him coming, he waved him off. “Sanle, go away. This is none of your business.”
    But Sanle didn’t want to leave. He walked under the ladder and held it steady.
    Yile said, “We don’t need you to hold the ladder now.”
    So Sanle sat down on the first rung of the ladder.
    Yile, at his wit’s end, looked up and shouted, “Dad, Sanle won’t go away.”
    Xu Sanguan shouted at Sanle from the rooftop, “Sanle, go away. What if one of these tiles were to fall and hit your head?”
    Yile often said to Xu Sanguan, “Dad, I don’t like to be with mom and the rest of them. All they do is go on and on about which girls are pretty and who has the nicest clothes. I like to spend time with the men. Men talk about more interesting stuff.”
    Xu Sanguan, wooden bucket in hand, went to the well to get water. The rope attached to the handle of the bucket had been soaked a hundred times and dried in the sun just as many times. This time, when Xu Sanguan attempted to draw the bucket out of the well, all that emerged was a piece of broken rope. The bucket had been swallowed up by the water and sunk to the bottom of the well.
    Xu Sanguan went home and fetched a long bamboo pole that they usually used for hanging the wash out to dry. Then he brought a