The Dark Road by Ma Jian

Author:Ma Jian
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9780701187538
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2013-03-26T07:00:00+00:00

KEYWORDS: stone cold, follow the chicken, urban residence permit, white cotton scarf, green breeze, re-education through labour.

WHEN THE BUS leaves the Custody and Repatriation Centre’s cement-walled compound, Meili has a sense of freedom. She’s reminded of the day they took Weiwei down the Xi River, when the wind blew through her hair and sleeveless dress and the hot sun shone on her arms . . . Outside the window, busy crowds jostle along the pavements, past concrete-bordered flower beds crammed with pink and red chrysanthemums. A mother in a short denim skirt pushes a pram past a bridal portrait studio. A young couple in white stand hand in hand waiting for the pedestrian lights to turn green. Sunlight spills onto trees, asphalt roads and parasols shading ice-cream carts, and swirls between passing cars and a department store’s revolving glass doors. Everyone looks happy and bright as they shop for this evening’s National Day celebrations.

A man at the back of the bus shouts, ‘See that tall glass building over there? Our team of workers from Henan built that.’

‘And that’s the orange crane I operate. Look, my hat’s still on the dashboard!’

‘I work in that office next to the Starbucks,’ says a woman on the seat behind. Then spotting a colleague crossing the street, she bangs on the window and shouts: ‘Li Na! It’s me! Tell the boss I’ve been detained!’

‘Shut your mouths!’ the burly man at the front shouts, jumping to his feet.

‘This area’s nothing special,’ Suya says, noticing the look of wonder on Meili’s face. ‘See that TV tower? All the grand hotels and office blocks are there. A guest at one of those hotels offered me three thousand yuan to spend the night with him.’

‘I don’t want to hear about that,’ Meili says, feeling uncomfortable. ‘This city’s so huge. I bet it would take two days just to walk from one end to the other.’ She stares at the succession of shop windows, mesmerised by the televisions, leather sofas, denim jackets, high-heeled shoes, brogues, satin slippers . . . ‘I’d love to walk down this street. Not to buy anything, just to gaze into the windows.’

‘If you did what I do, in one year you’d have enough money to open a beauty salon, just like that one,’ Suya says, pointing to a window with a poster of a woman with long blonde hair, lying in a bath filled with bubbles.

‘I have a husband, and even if I didn’t, I’d still never do what you do.’

‘Why did you run away, then, if he’s so important to you? Why waste your youth living with a man you don’t love?’

Meili stays silent. Last night, she said to Suya, ‘I’ll never divorce Kongzi. As the saying goes: If you marry a chicken, you must follow the chicken.’ Suya laughed and told her she was a fool.

When the bus leaves the city, a green breeze carrying the scent of bamboo and wild grass blows in through the open window. Meili hasn’t washed for days, so she turns her face to it and inhales large draughts.

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