Taiwan Today

Ling Tzu-ying was awakened by the quarreling downstairs. She pushed the bell button on the nightstand to summon Amah Wu.

"What's going on downstairs?" asked Tzu-ying.

"Some workers are quarreling with Mr. Fan," the amah answered. "But I don't know why."

The amah went out and then returned with four tins of cigarettes and two bottles of wine.

"These are from Chairman Pao of the Engineer­ing Commission," she said. "His messenger said not many people can get these foreign luxuries. Are they really so expensive?"

"Yes," Tzu-ying nodded. "The cigarettes are from England and the wine is from the United States. Don't tell anybody about these gifts. They were made by the imperialists."

Tzu-ying went to the window to take a look. Engineer Fan who lived next door was explaining something to some raggedly dressed workers.

"Please listen to me, comrades!" the engineer was saying. "I assure you I'll ask the chairman to pay your overdue wages by the weekend. I know you need money for the New Year. I didn't get my salary for last month, either. I'll give you a satisfactory answer tomorrow afternoon."

"No, give us our wages now!" a worker shouted.

"You're a big liar, Fan Shih-chieh!" yelled an­other. "Don't cheat us again!"

"We're not anti-revolutionaries," said a third one. "Why should you hold out our wages?"

"Please be quiet," said the engineer, waving his hands at the crowd. "I'm not a cashier and have no authority to hold your money. If you don't stop howl­ing, I don't know what will happen to you."

"Knock the coward down!" said a worker stand­ing well back in the crowd. "Why should we be afraid of him? We're the proletariat!"

The crowd started to push through the gate. Some were hesitant and said they shouldn't beat up an engineer who had defended their interests.

Seeing a worker brandish a club, Tzu-ying dropped a flower pot on his head. The pot hit his shoulder. Surprised, the crowd began to throw stones at Tzu-ying's window. The crowd quickly dispersed as three truckloads of police arrived. But not before Engineer Fan had been beaten up.

That evening the engineer's room was jammed by security personnel and sympathetic workers. His mother sat besides the bed. Answering the questions of security personnel, the engineer said:

"Comrades, I am to blame. I had promised to have their wages this afternoon. Please don't say my workers made a public disturbance. I think the Engi­neering Commission should pay more promptly."

The security people were not satisfied. They said a quarrel accompanied by violence amounted to a revolt and that the ringleaders should be arrested.

When the police were gone, Amah Wu told Shih-chieh how the landlady had dropped the flower pot.

"Tell her to mind her own business," Shih-chieh snapped. "I don't feel any gratitude."

Mrs. Fan told her son not to be so rude. To the amah she said: "Please tell your mistress we ap­preciate her help." She said her son was cross because of the beating and that Shih-chieh and Tzu-ying had been involved in some past unpleasantness.

Amah Wu said nothing until Tzu-ying spoke.

"How serious are Mr. Fan's injuries?" asked Tzu-ying

"I didn't see him," the amah lied. "Mrs. Fan said they appreciate your help."

"Why didn't you see him"? Tzu-ying was puzzled.

"Please don't ask me why," the amah said. "The Fans are funny people."

"What do you mean?"

The amah said: "I have heard of a connection between you and the Fans. Yet in two years they have never spoken to you. There must be a reason."

Tzu-ying sighed and said, "This is a sort of ret­ribution. I didn't imagine that he hated me."

"Why should he hate you?" Amah Wu asked.

"The story goes back 10 years ago," Tzu-ying said. "He was a freshman at Wuhan University and I was a high school senior. One day while his mother was at my house, someone suggested Shih-chieh and I would make a good match. Mrs. Fan was pleased but not my mother. The next day, Mrs. Fan heard from a neighbor that my mother disapproved of Shih-chieh because the Fans were poor. About a month later there was a quarrel about the repair of the fence be­tween our yards and I spoke back to Mrs. Fan. Since then, our families have never talked each other. Wu­han was occupied by the Japanese army the next year. My parents were killed in an air raid. I lost every­ thing. To make a living, I had to do what I could."

"What happened to Shih-chieh?"

"He married a Miss Yen. I heard his wife died. Although an engineer, he is as poor as he was 10 years ago. If I say something ill of him to Chairman Pao, he will be dismissed."

"Yes, he has nothing to be proud of!" Amah Wu exclaimed.

As Tzu-ying was leaving for General Li's party, she saw Yang Li-chuan run into the house. She frowned. Li-chuan was Shih-chieh's girl friend. She had heard they would marry when Li-chuan got her Party card.

"Shih-chieh, that woman must be an anti-revolutionary," Li-chuan told Fan Shih-chieh. "The riot started when she dropped a flower pot on your workers."

"Don't be so dogmatic, Li-chuan," Shih-chieh protested. "The workers were angry because the Engi­neering Commission didn't pay their wages. Is it un­reasonable to ask for overdue wages? If Ling Tzu-ying is anti-revolutionary, why should Chairman Pao chase her?"

"Do you mean you deserved to be beaten?" asked Li-chuan.

"No, the Commission is responsible. Li-chuan, did the chairman say anything about me?"

"Yes, he was angry. He said our Engineering Commission has more than 40,000 workers. If all the workers behaved like those in your electrical engineer­ing department, Hanyang would be a chaotic city. Therefore..."

"Therefore, he intends to punish my workers?"

"I don't know," Li-chuan replied. "That's not my business. What I worry about is your security."

"You'll be a Party member soon," he answered sarcastically. "Then you can protect me."

At noon of New Year's Eve, thousands of work­ers lined up at the Wuhan Bridge Engineering Com­mission. They were waiting for their pay.

In Chairman Pao's office, Fan Shih-chieh was negotiating on behalf of the workers. "Engineer Fan," the chairman said, "our superior organ has decided to pay wages for the first half of the month. In view of the need to expedite completion of the embankments, we must give half of your department's budget to the civil engineering department. As a revolutionary cadre, you will help me soothe the workers. Please tell your workers and send me three representatives to sign an agreement."

After helping Shih-chieh distribute the money, the three representatives were detained by the Hanyang Public Security Bureau. Shih-chieh didn't know of their arrest.

Li-chuan came to his house in the evening.

"Chairman Pao told me to have you write a re­port accusing the three workers you chose today as the leaders of the revolt," she said.

Shih-chieh didn't say anything. He started to put on his coat.

"Wait!" Li-chuan urged. "Where are you going?"

"To see Chairman Pao," Shih-chieh answered. "Why should he do this to me?"

"Listen to me, Shih-chieh. Don't get so excited."

Finally, Mrs. Fan persuaded him to wait until after the holiday. But he wouldn't write the report.

On her way home, Yang Li-chuan stopped at Chairman Pao's house and told him of her argument with Shih-chieh. She asked the chairman to be lenient and try to rectify Shih-chieh's thinking. The chairman agreed and praised her loyalty to the Party.

The next afternoon, Li-chuan was summoned to the criminal investigation office of the Hanyang Public Security Bureau. Wu Wan-fa, the chief investigator, gave her two instructions:

"First, go to the 56th Party Branch Office tomorrow morning. After completing the papers, you will be sworn in as a Party member.

"Second, we know of your relationship with Fan Shih-chieh. We hope you will sacrifice personal interest and unmask him. This is your first task as a new Party member."

She pretended not to understand.

"O.K., I'll tell you more frankly," Wu said. "As an intellectual and member of the Youth Corps, Fan Shih-chieh should be a model for his workers. Instead he has instigated the workers to disturb the public order. He has tendered his resignation. Comrade Yang, which is more important - the Party or the anti­-revolutionary element?"

"The Party, of course," Li-chuan replied without hesitation. "However, I assure you he's not an anti-revolutionary. He doesn't want to work in the Engineering Commission any longer because the three workers who helped him distribute the wages were ar­rested."

"Comrade Yang," Wu said, "I'm fed up with your defense of that anti-revolutionary. Please look at these affidavits signed by the three workers."

Li-chuan shuddered as she read. The affidavits accused Fan Shih-chieh of being the ringleader of the revolt and claimed he was planning a general strike to impede construction of the bridge.

"Now that you believe me, Comrade Yang," the chief said. "I'll give you a chance to save his life. He's in the next room. Persuade him to give us a list of his followers. If he does, he will be acquitted."

Shih-chieh was lying on the floor half-naked. His face, chest and arms were bloodstained.

"Come here, Li-chuan," said Shih-chieh. He grasped the leg of a table and tried to stand up. When Li-chuan extended her hand, he slapped it away. The two guards led her out.

Chief Wu asked if Shih-chieh had talked.

"No, he tried to hit me," she said.

"Don't be discouraged," he said. "You still have a chance."

Mrs. Fan hadn't known of her son's detention until Li-chuan told her. Li-chuan suggested they seek Ling Tzu-ying's help.

"As a neighbor, I'd be glad to help your son," Tzu-ying told Mrs. Fan. "However, the big officials are very hard to please. Don't expect too much."

The next afternoon, Tzu-ying said she couldn't do anything, because Shih-chieh was an anti-revolu­tionary and had been indicted by his girl friend.

"Do you mean Li-chuan accused my son?" asked Mrs. Fan.

"Chairman Pao said so."

"It's a big lie," Li-chuan said. "She is only in­terested in herself."

"Shame on you!" Tzu-ying screamed at Li­-chuan. "First you hurt your boy friend. Now you want to hurt me."

The next morning workers again surrounded the building of the Engineering Commission. They demanded release of the three representatives. This was followed by a pitched battle with the guards.

That afternoon the Public Security Bureau im­posed a curfew and announced execution of the three workers plus four others who had been seized during the battle. They were charged with having sabotaged socialist construction. Fan Shih-chieh was specified as the ringleader and it was said he would be executed.

When Li-chuan heard Shih-chieh was still alive, she went to see Ni Kuo-hua, the chief engineer and Shih-chieh's old professor.

"I suppose you'll be summoned to the Public Security Bureau tomorrow. When you go, try to get this to him." He handed her a pistol. "If he can get away, you can take cover with my former students in Wuchang. They'll get you out to Hongkong."

Li-chuan wrote a note on her handkerchief: "Shih-chieh: Kill the guards with this pistol. I'll be waiting for you at Mr. Lu's at No. 3 Houpu Street, Wuchang. Everything will be ready for our escape to Hongkong."

She wrapped the pistol in the handkerchief.

At the Public Security Bureau, the chief inves­tigator asked if she could make Fan Shih-chieh admit his crimes.

"I think so, Comrade Wu," Li-chuan said. "I'm convinced Fan Shih-chieh was the ringleader. Mrs. Fan told me her son used to have a pistol. When I went to his house yesterday, I couldn't find it. If I can persuade him to give up the weapon, won't that help your case?"

"Can you believe the old woman?"

"Why should she lie? She knows nothing of what he has done." She placed her arm on his shoulders and whispered in his ear.

"You're a loyal comrade," the chief investigator said. "If you tell him you'll use the pistol to help him escape, he'll surely tell you where it's hidden."

Wu told her she could talk to Shih-chieh for 30 minutes.

"Yang Li-chuan, do you have the face to talk to me?" demanded Shih-chieh.

"Please don't misunderstand me, Shih-chieh," Li­-chuan said and threw herself in his arms. As he tried to push her away, his hand touched the pistol. He slipped it in his pocket.

He covered up with more scolding. "Yang Li­-chuan, don't pretend to love me. Why did you come here today."

"Believe me, Shih-chieh," she said. "If you tell me where to find your pistol, they will reinstate you. Comrade Wu said he would give you a day to con­sider. Please tell him tomorrow evening."

"Well, if Comrade Wu will give me an assurance, I'll tell him tomorrow."

Wu came in as Li-chuan was saying goodbye. He patted Shih-chich on the shoulder and said, "If you repent, you'll be forgiven."

In the chief investigator's office the next evening, Shih-chieh asked for pen and paper to write his con­fession. As Wu turned to get it, Shih-chieh buried the pistol in his back. He took the pistol from Wu's holster and put it in his pocket.

"March!" Shih-chieh commanded.

He got out of the building. Then Wu saw a lane and ducked into it. Shih-chieh didn't dare a shot. He ran the other way, toward home. He had to see his mother one last time. There were police at his front door but he made it to Ling Tzu-ying's back door without being seen.

She answered his soft call immediately. "I thought you'd come back," she said. "But your mother has gone with Li-chuan. You'll have to stay here now. They'll catch you in the curfew."

"Why should you help me?" he asked.

"What happened is long ago," she said. "Do you think I have any respect for General Li and Chairman Pao? In these 10 years I have learned to hate them. Maybe I must stay but you and Li-chuan and your mother can find a new life."

"How can I get to Wuchang?" he asked.

Amah Wu had been standing in the shadows. Now she spoke up.

"Why not ask General Li to send a car for you and drop Mr. Fan on the way?"

"No, I can't call him at home so late. Suppose his wife should answer the phone."

"Why not call Chairman Pao?" the amah said. "He's single and has always liked you."

"Yes!" Tzu-ying saw the possibilities. "But how will that help Shih-chieh?"

"Don't worry," the amah said confidently. "We have several wigs. Mr. Fan, you put on one of them and be me. Chairman Pao doesn't know me - and you'll take my place."

Tzu-ying took a ring from her dressing table and pressed it on Shih-chieh. "You need a touch of jewelry and this will pay your way to Hongkong," she said.

Chairman Pao drove himself. Tzu-ying sat beside him in front and Shih-chieh was on the back seat.

Pao asked for directions and she gave him the Wuchang address. "The amah lives there," she said, and added coyly, "After that you can decide where to go."

He stood in front of No. 3 Houpu Street and looked after the car. Maybe his mother had been wrong. He was leaving quite a woman. He squared his shoulders and knocked at the door. The escape railroad was waiting for three new passengers and he didn't want to be late.

(Translated and adapted by K.S. Liu)