Old Town (44 page)

2.

T
HE DOCTOR COLLECTED
his first salary. This was his reward for working for the new society. As he clutched the thick wad of cash he felt ineffably moved and happy, and for some reason he thought of his father. His father had died way back when he was seven years old. The deepest impression he had of his father was the portrait hanging on the wall. Now his father stepped out of the portrait—as alive now as he had been before—sat down in the old-style wooden armchair, and softly called him. Ninth Brother came forward. His father brought out from an inner pocket several warm silver dollars and pressed them into Ninth Brother’s hand. He remembered that he was only slightly taller than the arm of the chair then and it was New Year’s Eve money his father had given him.

The trials and hardships of more than half a century were nothing compared to this sense of total ease and comfort. The doctor forgot that he himself was now old, and for an instant he was a child once more. And just like some naughty student he idly kicked the small stones on the street as he walked all the way from the hospital gate right to the department store on East Street. He wanted to use this first salary to buy something that would be worth remembering. As he strode through the main door of the store, his gaze immediately fixed on a new model Everlasting bicycle. He had never properly learned how to ride a bicycle when he was young and that was his greatest regret. He paid no attention to any of the other things in the store, just that! (“
With the Everlasting brand, we will have everlasting happiness under the leadership of the Communist Party!”)
The sales attendant brought out a model for him to try, but he waved it away. “I don’t need to try it out, I’ll just buy it.”

Pushing the bicycle, the doctor took the long way around to a secluded spot beside Little West Lake and there he tried it out. His left foot thrust down on the pedal, but his right foot hadn’t yet left the ground, and he took a big tumble. He paid no attention to the scrape on his wrist as he got back up, but hurriedly pushing the bicycle to a place with more light, he clucked his tongue with an aching heart when he saw the faint scratch on the handlebars.

Second Sister was at home lighting the fire to cook dinner. When it came time to eat, Ninth Brother had still not returned so she put down what she was doing and stood by the gate peering out in all directions. Over the years, whenever anyone at all in the family was late in coming home, she would wait anxiously like this by the gate. By the time blackness was streaking the sky, the bright, crisp ring of a bicycle bell came closer and closer, and a man pushing a bicycle appeared at the street crossing. She was still tirelessly searching up and down the street.

Like a naughty boy, Ninth Brother rang the bell even more loudly as he passed by Second Sister. She wondered what kind of problem this person could be afflicted with. Ninth Brother stopped and started laughing.

“My old lady, here is my first month’s pay. I am giving it to you!”

Second Sister was amazed. This fellow who never acted his age, was it possible that he still wanted to learn to ride a bicycle? She knew that it was almost payday, and already had plans to give money to her several younger brothers. The eldest had sons for whom school fees needed to be paid. Second Younger Brother had returned to Old Town all alone without “that woman” and was expecting relief funds from his older sister. Still, she didn’t begrudge her husband this purchase. Recalling the first Lin family bicycle back in the 1930s, Ninth Brother’s purchase of a new one showed that his heart was at peace and ease. She pursed her lips into a half smile as she walked around the bicycle and said gently, “Do you know how old you are now? You never learned to ride when you were young…can you still learn now?”

“Just you wait. I’ll learn this very evening. Later on I’ll take my grandchildren to school on it!”

Ninth Brother hoisted the bicycle through the back door of the kitchen and went to the side of the moat to find Shuiguan. Shuiguan thought that some emergency had occurred at the doctor’s house and, quickly putting down his bowl of rice, went running out. The doctor pointed to his brand new bicycle. “Shuiguan, hold me up on this thing. This evening I am going to learn to ride a bicycle!” Shuiguan was also enjoying this. “Dr. Lin, why bother to learn now? Whenever you need to go out, all you got to do is just shout for me.”

“Later on I’ll invite you to ride my bike!” replied the doctor. When Second Sister brought the food in from the kitchen, Ninth Brother had already gone. She stood in front of the gate under the oleander tree. Ninth Brother had planted this tree with his own hands during the year of victory in the War of Resistance. Many times she would stand under it, pensive and care-laden, and straining her eyes as she awaited the late arrival of some family member. This time, though, sweetness filled her being. Only now had the good days really come.

These good days passed one by one and the happy events of the Lin family kept on coming. The doctor’s three children had all married, and their first grandson had now been born. The doctor named this boy Su’er. People outside the family supposed that this word was the “Su” in the term “Su Lian,” meaning the Soviet Union. In those days, people spoke of the friendly relations between China and the Soviet Union. Only he and Second Sister knew that “Su” here meant “Ye Su.” The one small regret that blemished these happy times was that the doctor never did learn to ride the bicycle. When Baoqing returned from Korea his father presented it to him as a welcome home present.

And so the doctor walked unsuspectingly into a new “movement,” this one called “Freely Express Views.” He saw many articles in the newspapers addressing views to the party, but he didn’t feel these had anything to do with him. Those writers were all well-known figures, while he himself was merely a poor Old Town scholar. Had there been no Communist Party there would have been no good days for him. He loved the Communist Party.

The waves of this movement washed into the People’s Hospital where the doctor worked. On this particular day, the hospital closed early and held a big meeting. There the head of the hospital and its party secretary each made his self-examination. Following this, they mobilized the entire workforce to present views and opinions to the leadership. Dr. Lin was so moved by the sincerity of the two leaders that he grew misty-eyed. He had no views to present with regard to the party, but he always had views about the hospital leadership. It was just like he loved Jesus, but that wasn’t to say that he completely accepted all the other members of the church.

The head of the hospital and the party secretary both were originally northern cadres assigned to the south. The head of the hospital had been in the army medical corps and the secretary had come up from the battlefield, but every time there was a consultation within the hospital, they both would make peremptory decisions. They would issue orders like “you just have to cure this patient!” to the chief physician. Dr. Lin felt their style deviated from scientific practice and had on many occasions presented his dissenting views directly to these leaders. These two clearly felt disgusted with him and for a considerable period of time he was not invited to take part in consultations. However, this year Dr. Lin’s name was included on the list for promotions and salary increases. This surprised him and his colleagues, as well, and there were some who guessed that he was related to a leader at an even higher level. The promotion and salary increase really couldn’t dispel Dr. Lin’s bias against the hospital leaders. However, on this day under the party’s leadership, the head of the hospital and the party secretary finally recognized their problems and humbly they requested the views of those present. It was their style of the “self-effacing true gentleman” that so moved Dr. Lin.

The meeting hall grew completely still. Old Town folk are timid and conservative. Normally they would do no more than to let loose with complaints in private. When the leaders solicited their views right then and there, everyone became as quiet as the proverbial cicadas on cold days.

When Dr. Lin slowly stood up, all eyes were upon him. Fighting back his tears, he said, “This is just the broad-mindedness that communists ought to possess. You—the party secretary and the head of the hospital—are human. All humans all have flaws and make mistakes. You are the heroes and statesmen of the Revolution, but curing sickness and saving people requires specialized knowledge and in this respect you are laymen. You frequently go against specialized conventions and interfere with the established treatment programs of doctors for their patients. I hope that from now on you can improve in this respect.”

The party secretary straightway humbly expressed his acceptance of Dr. Lin’s views and at the same time extolled him for “saying all you know, and saying it without reserve.”

Then the floodgates opened and all the secret complaints came pouring forth. The clerk immersed himself in recording them, writing page after page. Up on the dais, the party secretary flushed red and the hospital head blanched waxen, and they both never stopped wiping away their perspiration.

Dr. Lin didn’t feel good about this. Some people’s views were excessively sharp. A very fat nurse in internal medicine who had been punished because of an accident in treating a patient became totally unbridled in voicing her dissatisfaction and in rapid-fire fashion, attacked the hospital head. Unable to put up with this, he shouted, “You’ve gone too far!” However, the emotions of the meeting had gotten out of control and no one heard him.

It was already late at night when the meeting ended. The two leaders left the meeting hall amidst swarms of people who still wanted their say. The doctor also wanted to go up and have a word with the leaders. He wanted to say, “Actually, your excellent points far outweigh your shortcomings.” But after following for a few steps he saw he wouldn’t get a word in and withdrew back into the hall where he sat dazed and all alone in a corner. His sense of having done something wrong filled him with guilt, but he just couldn’t place what his mistake had been. The duty staff turned off the lights and shut the doors. But he still sat there in the darkness.

This evening Second Sister was frantic. She waited for Ninth Brother by the gate until her legs went numb from standing. Worry and anxiety entwined her heart like poisonous vines. She thought something had happened to him. His shape finally emerged from the darkness at the West Gate crossing. His body had returned, but his soul was lost who-knew-where. Tight-lipped, he refused to say what had happened. The next day he went to work as usual, but Second Sister had the strong feeling that something unknown was about to happen. Disasters often suddenly fell from the heavens at unguarded moments. She grew terribly afraid.

Two months later, the “Oppose Rightists” movement followed on the heels of “Freely Express Views.” Again in that same meeting hall, the party secretary vehemently asserted that rightist elements were using the “Freely Express Views” movement to attack the party and socialism. “We have rightists in our midst, and, what’s more, many of them.”