Aftershock: A Novel by Zhang Ling

Author:Zhang Ling [Ling, Zhang]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Published: 2024-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Dr. Wilson finished the last sip of coffee and glanced at his watch. “Xiaodeng, this is an operation on a habit that’s been cultivated for years. The incision might take a long time to heal. But it will heal eventually, if you want it to.”

Xiaodeng suddenly noticed an indentation on the ring finger of Dr. Wilson’s left hand. It was the mark left by a wedding ring.

Summer 1996

Shanghai

Wang Xiaodeng got off work half an hour late after completing a draft that had an urgent deadline, and she anxiously rushed out on her bicycle to pick up her daughter. Though Susie’s nursery school stipulated that they closed at six, the teacher’s countenance generally darkened after five thirty.

As soon as Xiaodeng got married, she became pregnant, not wasting a single day, just as she had gotten married immediately upon her graduation from college. Yang Yang proudly told Xiaodeng, “The first seed I sowed in your field bore fruit.”

Xiaodeng was not totally convinced. She told him that even the best seeds were useless if the soil was not fertile. The seed/soil debate had raged on, continuing even now, when their daughter Susie was three years old.

Yang Yang was now teaching at Fudan University while pursuing his PhD, and Xiaodeng was still working as a junior foreign language editor at the publishing house. Yang Yang had half-heartedly tried to persuade Xiaodeng to take the postgraduate entrance exam too. Xiaodeng replied, “Are you out of your mind? Doing an MA in English lit here? If I want to do it, it has to be somewhere overseas. What can you pick up here?” Then she added, “Don’t you get enough Yangjingbang English from your Chinese professors?”—a jab at the pidgin English that had developed in Shanghai during its semicolonial era.

As soon as he heard this, Yang Yang became agitated. “I’m a Chinese major. What would I do if I went overseas with you? Even if I become a beggar and beg in impeccable Mandarin, the people won’t understand me over there.”

From then on, Yang Yang carefully avoided inciting career ambitions in Xiaodeng.

Xiaodeng hurried to the nursery school. It was five forty-five by the time she got there. To her surprise, both teachers greeted her from a distance, even before she had dismounted from her bike.

“Susie’s ma! Say thank you to Susie’s grandfather for us. Your father is very kind. He brought so many gifts from so far away.”

Xiaodeng was momentarily stunned. “You’re mistaken. Susie doesn’t have a grandfather.”

The two teachers glanced at each other, then one of them said, “We checked his ID. He’s from Shijiazhuang. His name is Wang Deqing. He knew your name, and Susie’s father’s, and your address and workplace. There’s no mistake.”

Xiaodeng’s head shattered into countless little pieces. It took a while for her to come back to her senses. She grabbed a teacher’s sleeve tightly, as if wringing water from a cloth. “Did you say he took Susie?”

Startled by Xiaodeng’s expression, the teacher stuttered, “He picked Susie up at three and said he would go to the park.

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