Читать книгу The Pearl Jacket and Other Stories - Shouhua Qi - Страница 14

Wu Shouchun

Qun succeeded his father and became a worker at the chemical fertilizer factory.

The factory’s living quarters for its workers were very cramped. As it happened, one of the workers in the men’s living quarters, who had been married for two years, was finally issued the key to a one-room unit. The “freed up” berth was assigned to Qun.

It was right in the middle of a cold winter. Yet the other three beds all had their mosquito nets up. Only his bed was bare like a pared-down chicken. Mosquito nets are for protection from mosquitoes. What’s the use of having mosquito nets up in winter when there are no mosquitoes? Isn’t this trading energy for inconvenience? When Qun strolled down the hallway, he noticed that the beds in all the rooms, men and women alike, had their mosquito nets up. Qun was even more puzzled.

The room was small and didn’t have even a stool. In leisure time when buddies gathered here, everyone and his brother sat his butt along Qun’s bedside because his bed was the only one that didn’t have a mosquito net hanging massively all around it. The bed groaned with so many people sitting on it; his quilt and clothes were pushed aside in a messy pile. Qun figured out the answer to the puzzle and followed suit right away. At first, being inside the mosquito net felt so stuffy, as if a wok was hanging over his head. Gradually, though, he became used to its presence.

One day he was changing shifts and was supposed to go home, but failed to catch the bus. So he came back to the dorm and crawled into the mosquito-netted bed, following the folksy wisdom of “Early to bed, late to rise/the Sun warms you in daylight/Saves you firewood and rice.” Soon he fell asleep. In the middle of the night he was woken up by some squeaky noises. It reminded him of a scary movie he had seen. He became alarmed. Of the three roommates, one was on sick leave, and the other two had gone home. Where did the strange noise come from? Had a burglar broken in? Qun was too terrified to make any noise or move himself. He listened hard. The noise came from Master Zhang’s bed diagonally across from his own. Mixed in it was a moaning sound. Qun sensed what was going on. Damn! When did Master Zhang return to the factory with his new bride? Must be because of the mosquito net, he thinks I have gone home and the coast is clear. That night Qun didn’t dare get out of bed despite the pressure mounting in his bladder. Not until Master Zhang and his bride had quieted down did Qun dare to tiptoe out and run to another room down the hallway to seek shelter, much like a lost monk.

The next morning when Master Zhang saw Qun, he asked: “I knew your schedule. Why did you return after only one night at home?” Qun caught a glimpse of Zhang’s bride and blushed as if he had done something really shameful. He mumbled some excuse and let it be.

That evening Qun sought a place in another room so as not to be in the way.

The next day Qun worked the second shift. Master Zhang said to him, “Don’t act like a guerilla when you come back from work at night. Just go to bed and you’ll be fine. Me and my wife are not shy first-timers any more and couldn’t care less. If you try to mess around and cause trouble, though, my wife will beat you up until you cry uncle. So when Qun came back from the shift, he crawled into the mosquito net. He was amazed that besides protection from mosquitoes, the mosquito net had other unintended functions.

Qing, his girlfriend, came to the factory to visit Qun.

Puzzled by the mosquito net, she rolled and strung it together and asked: Why use a mosquito net in winter? Qun smiled meaningfully and said: You’ll understand shortly.

Before leaving, Master Zhang and the other two roommates said: Settle down and have a good time. Don’t worry about us.

So the two settled down in their own territory and space: inside the mosquito net.

Qun tried to kiss Qing. Qing dodged and warned him with a half-hearted punch.

Qun said: Nobody else is in here. They are either on the night shift or in beds in other rooms. Don’t worry.

Qing was still worried.

When Qun made his move again, Qing struggled, freed one hand, and pulled off a movie actress picture pinned inside the net and said: Isn’t she watching?

Qing would come more often. Before long, with “the rice already being cooked,” they got married.

From then on, when Qing came again, Master Zhang and the others didn’t need to leave any more.

The good thing was every bed had a mosquito net on.

When Qun was assigned a one-room unit, he still had the mosquito net on, summer or winter.

Later his factory went bankrupt. Qun and Qing began to do business. They made money and bought an apartment in a garden-like residential compound.

The entrance door and all the windows of their new home had insect screens. They had all the furniture they needed. Yet occupying the middle of the bedroom was the same old canopy bed.

At the sight of this bed in the bedroom, which seemed so out of place, visitors would always ask: You’ve spent tons of money for the new home and everything else, why not go all the way with just a bit more? Qun said: The canopy bed is convenient for hanging the mosquito net. The visitors would say: Don’t you have all the insect screens? Look around and see what age we are living in. Sleeping inside a mosquito net in the bedroom, isn’t it suffocating?! Qun mumbled: “Double-safety feature, you know.”

So Qun discussed this with Qing: Why don’t we buy a new mattress to replace the ugly canopy bed. That’ll shut people up.

They spent 2,000 yuan on a nice new bed.

However, somehow they didn’t feel comfortable in it. The worst was when they got into the mood, they just couldn’t follow through.

Qun turned their wedding photo on the wall to its back and said: No need to be afraid now ’cause nobody is looking any more. Qing said: It’s so empty and open all around. Don’t feel safe.

One day Master Zhang came to visit. When he saw the mosquito net hanging around the new mattress bed, he couldn’t help laughing.

Qun asked, “What’s so funny?”

Master Zhang said: “So you still have the mosquito net on too. . . . ”

(2003)