In the Pond Read Online Free PDF Page B

election; the People’s Congress ought to be in the hands of an honest man who would serve the people heart and soul.
    On second thought, he wondered whether it was too rash to confront Secretary Yang so soon. He was merely a worker, whereas Yang was the Party boss of Dismount Fort. Would people believe what he said about Yang?
    Then he remembered that a few days ago Hsiao Peng had said to him in private, “Bin, cheer up. Don’t be intimidated by them. Our Maintenance supports your exposing them. Yang Chen should be reprimanded for having your letter sent to Liu Shu.” Hsiao’s words convinced Bin that he had grassroots support among his fellow workers. If the County Administration had the case investigated, surely there would be people willing to testify against the leaders.
    So he made up his mind to deal with Yang now.
    That night, he took out a big brush made of goat’s hair and wrote on a large sheet of paper: “Yang Chen Always Persecutes Me!” After the ink dried, he pasted the writing on a piece of cardboard. With a pair of scissors he poked two holes at the top of the board and attached a red ribbon to it.
    To him the five words looked strenuous and elegant, each as big as a brick. Finished with the work, he couldn’t help appreciating his own calligraphy with squinting eyes. His wife and daughter meanwhile were sleeping in the bed near the southern window; Meilan was snoring a little, her face pale and flabby and her nostrils slightly swollen. She was twenty-eight, but already had wrinkles on her forehead and temples. A yellow towel wrappedher permed hair, to keep the curls from being crushed in her sleep. One of her legs stretched out from under the flowery quilt, displaying bluish veins beneath the skin; her foot was shapely, but the toes had ringworm nails. On her sole there was a curved cut, about an inch long, inflicted by a piece of broken glass two days before. The cut seemed to have festered, so Bin moved to the tiny medical cabinet on their oak chest and took out a vial of merbromin. With a cotton ball held at the tips of the scissors, he dabbed the red solution on her wound. The moment he was done, she kicked her foot, moaning faintly, and withdrew her leg under the quilt.
    Having returned the vial to the cabinet, he resumed watching his wife and child, whose chubby face was chapped by cold wind. He heaved a sigh and felt ashamed. Logically speaking, with such handsome calligraphy, he should have been a distinguished man, at least in this town. He asked himself, Why am I still a worker if these hands are cut out for brushwork? Why on earth can’t a man like me get a decent place for his family to live? Look at this room, it’s a doghouse, a snail shell.
    The more he thought, the worse he felt. I swear, he said to himself, I shall get a good apartment for my family sooner or later! There will be no end of bothering them if they don’t give me one.
    Early the next morning, after telling Meilan that he was going to the County Administration to see the designs ofsome propaganda posters, and that he wouldn’t be late for the second shift, Bin set out for the train station. He cycled with his right hand gripping the handlebar and his left holding the placard, which was wrapped in red paper, so that people might take it to be a framed portrait or a mirror. At the train station, he locked his bicycle to a railing bar on the wooden fence; then he bought a ticket for the eight o’clock train.
    Gold County was twenty miles to the west, only an hour’s trip. It’s a remarkable town, with historic and military importance, because it borders on the Yellow Sea and to the south there is a bay which has been used as a navy base for more than a hundred years. The Russians and the Japanese had fought over it, and in turn their fleets had occupied it.
    The sun was warm, though it was a chilly day. Trees had shed their leaves, standing naked around the large plaza before Gold County Train Station. On the east,