Ruined City: A Novel (Chinese Literature Today Book Series) by Jia Pingwa

Author:Jia Pingwa [Pingwa, Jia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Published: 2016-01-22T07:00:00+00:00

. . .

When Liu Yue got to the house on Shuangren fu Avenue, it was a chaotic scene. The street and its lanes were teeming with clamoring people, young and old, all ducking under eaves with bundles of various sizes and small electrical appliances wrapped in plastic clothes, rain slickers, and plastic wraps. Police were shouting at residents; some were taken away, while others put up a vigorous resistance. A group of people rushed into the old woman’s yard, demanding that someone place an emergency phone call. Liu Yue’s first thought was that something had happened to the old woman, so she stormed inside to find the house filled with people. The old woman was sitting with her feet up on the rattan chair by the door. Liu Yue ran over and put her arms around her. “Are you all right, Granny?”

“I’m fine. Your grandpa stayed with me all day yesterday and came back today. None of you were here, so he was angry and said he’d whipped his son-in-law. He might have beaten him too harshly. I’m worried he’s hurt your Zhuang Laoshi badly.”

“Nothing like that has happened. He just has a few sores on his back.”

“What are they if they aren’t lash marks? When I was young, there was a carter at the Water Board called Liu Dayu, who spent his salary in brothels and gambling dens instead of on his parents or in finding a wife. One summer when there was thunder and lightning, his back was black and blue, punished by thunder. Your Zhuang Laoshi refused to come over after the whipping. Is he waiting to be punished by thunder?”

“He’s busy, so I came instead.”

“Your grandfather said his son-in-law wouldn’t come, and he was right about that. So he took it out on me, asking me to fry cakes with peppercorn leaves. It’s pouring out there, but the old man forced me to pick peppercorn leaves in the yard, and the wall toppled. Don’t you think that’s strange? The wall fell on their side and killed Shunzi’s hunchbacked mother. You know what Grandpa said? He said he knew why the wall fell on that side; he saw a ghost pushing it, and he smiled at her when she looked up, so she pushed it over onto her. The old man is such a scoundrel.” The old lady fumed. Someone in the house who caught a few of the words she said asked, “So it wasn’t the rain that caused the wall to collapse? Who pushed it over?”

“She says it was a ghost,” Liu Yue cut in. “Granny can’t tell the difference between the human world and the underworld, so don’t believe her. If you do, you can ask her about Grandpa, who’s been dead for decades. Ask her where he is now.”

The old lady frowned, grumbling about how Liu Yue was a counterrevolutionary who was always contradicting her. “I asked your grandpa if he’s still being a playboy over there, and he got mad at me. We had a fight.

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