A Hundred Flowers: A Novel by Tsukiyama Gail

Author:Tsukiyama, Gail [Tsukiyama, Gail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2012-08-07T04:00:00+00:00

Wei

Even before Wei entered the kitchen, he felt an edge of panic rise in him. Tao was distraught. The boy was crying, pulling away from Kai Ying and refusing to go to school.

“What is it?” he asked. “Tao?” Looking at his grandson, he saw misery. The vinegary scent of Kai Ying’s boiling soup hung heavily in the air.

Tao was crying so hard he hadn’t heard him. Kai Ying held on to him, looking tired and pale. She’d lost even more weight in the past month.

“He wants to know why his ba ba went away,” Kai Ying said. “Something happened at school…” she started to say, but the words caught in her throat and she didn’t finish the sentence.

Wei wished he could start the day all over again. The irony was that he had awoken that morning feeling better than he had in a long time. It was a beautiful day, clear and bright, a rare morning in which the heaviness in his heart and mind felt lighter. Wei knew the truth was always there waiting to show itself, he just hadn’t expected it to surface this morning. He should have known better.

Wei felt as if he couldn’t breathe in the hot, steamy kitchen. The door facing the courtyard was open, and every so often, a cool breeze blew in a whisper of relief. He swallowed his fear and steadied himself against the table, then reached out and touched his daughter-in-law’s arm so that she stepped aside.

“What’s the matter?” Wei asked. His voice was surprisingly calm. He seated his grandson at the table and sat down next to him. Tao looked at him and tried to stop crying, his hiccupping breaths calming.

“I don’t want to go school,” Tao answered.

“Just last week you couldn’t wait to return to school.”

“It’s different now.”

“What about Little Shan?”

“I hate Little Shan.”

“Best friends are hard to come by.”

“He isn’t my best friend.”

“Then what’s this about your ba ba?”

Wei knew he would never be able to turn back now. He wondered if Sheng would ever forgive him for what he’d done to his family.

“There’s a boy in my class who said ba ba was a traitor, and that’s why he was sent away.”

“Is that what you believe?”

Tao shook his head.

“That’s good, because your ba ba did nothing wrong,” Wei explained. “The authorities accused him of writing a letter criticizing the Party, when in fact, he never wrote such a letter.”

Wei glanced up at Kai Ying, who had reached over for his empty teacup, listening.

“How do you know?” Tao asked.

Wei had never lied to his grandson before. He might have embellished a story here and there, but the only secrets he kept were the ones the boy was too young to know. Wei had never outright lied to him and he knew he couldn’t now. He glanced out to the courtyard and at the kapok tree. When he turned back to Tao, he saw Sheng again at the same age, always so formal and closemouthed around him. He remembered

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