Chronicle of a Blood Merchant Read Online Free PDF Page B

out, my stomach hurts and I get a fever.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    The obstetrician said, “You’re already bawling like a baby, and the hard part is still to come.”
    Xu Yulan lay supine on the delivery table, legs splayed in the air, arms fastened to each side of the bed as the doctor stood to one side urging her to “push harder!” Furious with pain, she cursed with each contraction. “Xu Sanguan! You son of a bitch . . . Where are you hiding? . . . You turtle’s egg! . . . You ought to be shot! . . . Oh, you’re happy all right! . . . The pain is
killing
me, and you’re ecstatic! . . . Xu Sanguan, where are you? . . . Come help me push! . . . I can’t do it anymore . . . Get in here, Xu Sanguan! . . . Doctor, has the baby come out yet?”
    “Push harder,” the doctor said. “You have a long way to go.”
    “Oh mother! . . . Xu Sanguan . . . it’s all your fault . . . Men are all animals! . . . Only out for themselves . . . They have their fun and leave us with the dirty work . . . A woman’s fate is cruel . . . It hurts! . . . It’s killing me! . . . I’ve carried this thing around for nine months already . . . It hurts! . . . Where are you? . . . Xu Sanguan! . . . Doctor, has the baby come out yet?”
    “Push harder,” the doctor said. “The head’s out.”
    “The head is out . . . I’m pushing, I’m pushing . . . I can’t do it anymore . . . Xu Sanguan, help me! . . . Xu Sanguan, I’m going to die . . . I’m dying . . .”
    THE OBSTETRICIAN SAID, “You’re screaming and carrying on like it was the first time.”
    Xu Yulan was covered with sweat, gasping for air, shouting between each moan. “Aiya, aiya . . . It hurts . . . hurts! . . . Xu Sanguan . . . You’ve done it to me again . . . Aiya, aiya . . . I hate you! . . . It hurts . . . hurts! . . . If I make it through this . . . aiya . . . I’ll never let you sleep with me again . . . even if it kills me! . . . Ouch . . . You think that’s funny? . . . Even if you get down on your hands and knees and beg me! . . . I still won’t let you do it . . . I won’t even let you sleep . . . aiya . . . in the same bed! . . . aiya, aiya . . . It hurts . . . I’m pushing . . . harder.”
    THE OBSTETRICIAN SAID, “Harder, push harder.”
    Xu Yulan pushed as hard as she could, until her back arched up off the table, and she shouted, “Xu Sanguan! You con artist! You turtle’s egg! You ought to be shot! . . . Xu Sanguan . . . black-hearted son of a bitch . . . I hope you get pockmarks all over your head!”
    “Why are you screaming?” the nurse said. “It’s all over.”
    “The baby’s come out?” Xu Yulan propped herself up. “So soon?”
    IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME Xu Yulan gave birth to three sons. Xu Sanguan called his sons Yile (First Joy), Erle (Second Joy), and Sanle (Third Joy).
    One day when Sanle was one year and three months old, Xu Yulan grabbed hold of Xu Sanguan’s ear and asked, “When I was giving birth, you were standing outside and enjoying a good laugh, right?”
    “I didn’t laugh,” Xu Sanguan said. “I was just chuckling, that’s all. I never laughed aloud.”
    “Aiya!” Xu Yulan called out. “That’s why you called the kids Yile, Erle, and Sanle. Because each of the three times I went through all that pain, you were outside enjoying yourself.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    People in town who knew Xu Sanguan noticed that Erle had Xu Sanguan’s nose, and Sanle had Xu Sanguan’s eyes, but Yile’s face didn’t look like Xu Sanguan’s at all. They began to discuss their suspicions in private, saying among themselves that Yile didn’t look like Xu Sanguan at all, that Yile’s mouth looked a lot like Xu Yulan’s mouth, but the rest of his face didn’t look like hers either. They said to themselves, it seems that Xu Yulan is the child’s mother, but is Xu Sanguan really his father? Who planted the seed? Could it have been He Xiaoyong? The shape of Yile’s eyes, his nose, even those big ears of his made him look more and more