7

the iron society soldiers freed up one of their mounts so granddad and father could ride.

whipping his horse, black eye took the lead, while the glib five troubles, who hated thecommunists and the nationalists, trotted alongside granddad. his dappled colt was very youngand eager to catch up to the others, but five troubles kept a tight rein. never a man to mincewords, he looked back and said, ‘commander yu, i’ve been doing all the talking. you haven’tsaid anything.’

granddad smiled wryly. ‘i can barely read two hundred words. i’m an expert in murder andarson, but you might as well take me to the slaughterhouse if you want me to talk about nationalaffairs!’

‘then who do you think we ought to turn the country over to after we drive out the japanese?’

‘that has nothing to do with me. all i know is that no one would dare take a bite out of mydick.’

‘what would you say if the communists were in charge?’

granddad snorted contemptuously out of one nostril.

‘how about the nationalists?’

he snorted out of the other nostril.

‘that’s what i say. what china needs is an emperor! i’ve got it all figured out: struggles comeand go, long periods of division precede unity and long periods of unity precede division, but thenation aways falls into the hands of an emperor. the nation is the emperor’s family, the family isthe emperor’s nation. that’s why he governs so benevolently. but if a political party is in charge,everybody’s got his own idea, with grandpa saying it’s too cold and grandma complaining aboutthe heat, and everything’s all fucked up.’

he reined in his dappled colt and waited for granddad to catch up. then, leaning oversecretively, he said, ‘commander yu, i’ve been reading romance of the three kingdoms andoutlaws of the marshes since i was a kid, and i know them like the back of my hand. the seat ofmy courage is as big as a hen’s egg, but unfortunately i don’t have a wise leader to serve. i usedto think black eye was one. that’s why i left home, to join up with him and do somethingworthwhile before i got married and settled down.

‘who’d have guessed that he was as stupid as a pig and as dumb as an ox, short on courageand long on bullshit? all he cares about is his little plot of land in saltwater gap. our ancestorshad a saying: birds perch on the best wood, a good horse neighs when it sees a master trainer.

after thinking it over, i’ve concluded that in all of northeast gaomi township you, commanderyu, are the only true leader. my comrades and i demanded that black eye bring you into thesociety. it’s what they call “inviting the tiger into the house”. when you’re one of us, if you cansleep on firewood and drink gall, like the famous king of yue, you’ll gain everyone’s sympathyand respect. then i’ll wait for a chance to get rid of black eye and nominate you to replace him.

with a change in the ruling house, discipline will be tightened. once we bring northeast gaomitownship under our control, we’ll move north and occupy southeast pingdu township andnorthern jiao township, then unite all three areas.

‘when that’s done, we can set up our capital in saltwater gap under the flag of the ironsociety, with you in command. from there we’ll send our forces in three directions, taking jiao,gaomi, and pingdu counties, annihilating the communists, the nationalists, and the japs. withthe three capitals in our hands, we can set up our own nation!’

granddad nearly fell off his horse. he looked with amazement at this handsome young manwho was bursting with ideas of statehood, and his insides ached with excitement. reining in hishorse, he tumbled out of the saddle and, since it didn’t seem appropriate to kneel before fivetroubles, reached up, grabbed his sweaty hand, and said in a tremulous voice, ‘sir! why couldn’ti have met you before this? why did it take so long?’

‘a leader shouldn’t talk like that. let’s put our hearts and minds together to do somethingreally important!’ five troubles said with tears in his eyes.

black eye, who was more than a li ahead of them, reined in his horse and shouted, ‘hey – areyou two coming or not?’

cupping his hand over his mouth, five troubles yelled, ‘we’re coming! old yu’s girth broke.

we’re fixing it now!’ he turned to look at father, who was sitting bright-eyed on his horse.

‘young master yu,’ he said, ‘we’ve been discussing serious matters. don’t breathe a word of ourconversation to anyone!’

father nodded vigorously.

granddad felt more clearheaded than ever before in his life. five troubles’ words were a ragthat had wiped his heart clean, until it shone like a mirror; finally, he could see the purpose of hisstruggles, and he uttered something that even father, who was sitting in front of him, didn’t hearclearly: ‘heaven’s will!’

alternating between a gallop and a trot, the horses arrived at the banks of the black waterriver at noon. that afternoon they left the river behind them, and as night was about to fall,granddad rose up in the saddle to gaze out at the salty water river, which was half as broad asthe black water river and meandered through alkaline plains. its grey waters looked like dullglass that gave off a murky glare.