That evening, I bit the bullet. I took two bottles of wine and two cartons of cigarettes and went to present them to Mr. He. I wanted to ask him to help me, to find some way to get my "Uncle's kid" into college. You could see this as my doing a favour for my fellow villagers. That night, I first scouted out how to get there, and then like a detective following clues I traced my way to the family dependents' compound of the Civil Affairs Bureau. I found the sixth entrance to the second building, and went up to room 302 (I had heard that Mr. He's sister-in-law worked in the Civil Affairs Bureau, and that there was an empty apartment here, where he came to hide away). A light was on in the apartment, meaning I had found the right place. It was the first time I had ever gone alone to present someone with gifts; I had no experience and I had terrible butterflies in my stomach. I was afraid of running into somebody. I lingered in the passageway a long time, going back and forth. Every time I got up my courage to go and knock on the door, somebody would come down the stairs. Standing there in the dark, I realised there were actually lots of people coming here to get hold of Mr. He. They were all people with "channels" . I hid behind the staircase balcony, and heard a man and a woman come down the stairs. The woman said, "Is a thousand enough? Too little?"
"It's enough," said the man, "We've got the note from the Director too, and they all know each other …"
It was very dark in the passageway, but I saw group after group come down the stairs. I couldn't see their faces but I knew they were just like me. Only after they had all left did I go up.
I knocked on the door and it opened. Mr. He stared at me blankly for a moment, then said, "Wu Zhipeng, why have you come here?"
He was not a simple man. He had a lot of pock marks. The college was so large and there were many people there, and we had only met face to face a few times. How did he remember my name? I was rather agitated as I said, "Hello, Mr. He …"
He shook his head to stop me from continuing, stretched out his hand, and said very reluctantly, "Come in. Come in." So in I came, with my tail between my legs. He looked at the things I was holding.
"Wu Zhipeng, you're not a bad teacher. Why have you picked up this old habit?"
"Mr. He, a kid from my old village …"
Before I could finish, Mr. He smiled, and seemed to glitter with starlight. He shook his head again, as if he completely understood, and felt very regretful that there was nothing he could do. He stroked his hair a few times absent-mindedly. It was thinning and he had stuck the front locks onto his forehead with hair spray, which looked very comical. After he had completed his symbolic hair-stroke, he said unenthusiastically, "Sit. Sit down." Nervously I sat down on the sofa and put the gifts I was holding down on the tea table.
To my surprise his demeanour suddenly changed. He fixed me with his gaze and said gravely, "Now, Wu, I'm not criticising you. You're very young, it wouldn't be right. But what on Earth …?!" as he spoke, he clicked his tongue disdainfully. "Listen to me, I won't have any of this nonsense. Get rid of those things. If there's something to say, just say it. You must get rid of those things!"
And just like that he got rid of me. I knew it was because my gifts were stingy (or not the best anyway—I couldn't afford the best), and I was nothing. I didn't have a note from any Director in my hand.
I wept. In my heart I wept. I didn't know what to say to Auntie …
From then on, the calls got more frequent. The phone seemed to ring all the time. My heart would be seized by jolts of fear like it was being roasted on a fire. I knew that I owed these people. I owed them so much. I didn't know what to say to them. To myself I said, why can't I be the Provincial Governor? If I were I'd do everything they wanted. I'd love to be corrupt, but I don't have the necessary conditions!
The two hundred and twenty seventh call I got was from the Dongcheng District Public Security Sub-bureau. When I picked it up, a man said, "Are you Wu?"
"Yes," I said.
"Wu Zhipeng?"
"Yes."
"Bring us the money. The bail money."
"What?"
"You're asking 'what'? What kind of brother are you? You don't even know what your sister's done? Bring eight hundred for the bail. Take her home and teach her to behave herself."
"Who are you?" I said, "I don't have a sister, why should I bring you eight hundred?"
"I'm from the Sub-bureau. Don't you know a girl called Cai Weixiang?"
I hesitated a moment, then said, "Yes. What's happened to her?"
"What's happened to her? She smashed a plate glass door in a foot washing parlour! Are you going to come and get her? If you don't, we're sending her to be re-educated through labour."
"Wait, wait, wait," I said, "Hang on a second. Could the price be lowered?"
"What, do you think we're selling sweet potatoes? You haggling with me? This is an official fine!"
"I … well … the …" I said, "The Sub-bureau … where is it?"
"Where's the Sub-bureau? You're asking me? Ask for directions!" he harrumphed and hung up.
Heavens above. My monthly salary was seventy nine yuan back then. It was fifty two at first, I had just got a raise. And he just said I had to get eight hundred together! From where? But she was my old uncle's daughter. I'd been looking for her for two years. I had to rescue her.
As I hurried over to the Dongcheng Sub-bureau on my bike, my head was buzzing and I felt like a keg of gunpowder. I almost ran someone over. I wanted to shout at someone, I wanted to kill someone! The tiny network of contacts I'd struggled to build up in the city had been completely exhausted by my repeated requests for help and my indiscriminate begging for loans. When my colleagues saw me they tried to hide, terrified I wanted to borrow more money. But I had no choice. I needed yet more.
Nearing the Sub-bureau, I, the dignified university lecturer, had to bow and scrape like a little boy, asking strangers for directions, until I finally found the office of the Public Security brigade. A fat police officer asked me, "Are you Wu Zhipeng?"
"Yes, I am," I said.