Frog by Mo Yan Page B

what Gugu, who had once been pretty as a lotus fresh out of the water, had become.
    Eldest Brother and his wife had gone round and round trying to decide whether or not to invite Gugu to the celebration meal. So they’d asked Father, who had thought long and hard before saying, Better not. Now she’s . . . she doesn’t live in the village anyway . . . we’ll tell her later . . .
    Her arrival created an awkward situation. We all stood, at a total loss.
    What’s this? After spending most of my life on the road, I come home to find there’s no seat for me. There was an edge to her voice.
    That woke us up. Mass confusion followed, as we all stepped back to offer her our seats.
    Eldest Brother and his wife rushed to explain: You were the first person we planned to invite. The Wan family seat of honour is always reserved for you.
    Bah! Gugu sat down next to Father. She chided Eldest Brother. Do you really expect me to take the seat of honour while your father is alive, Dakou? Or, for that matter, after he dies? When a daughter marries, it’s like spilled water, isn’t it, Eldest Brother?
    You never were an ordinary daughter, Father said as he pointed to each of us. Your contributions are greater than anyone’s. Is there a single one of these youngsters you didn’t bring into the world?
    A hero is silent about past glories, Gugu said. Back then . . . what’s the point of dredging up the past? Let’s drink! What’s that? I don’t have a glass. Well, I’ve brought my own. She reached into her oversized pocket and brought out a bottle of Maotai, which she banged down on the table. Fifty-year-old Maotai, she said. Given to me by an official in the city of Tinglan whose mistress – twenty years his junior – wanted nothing more than to give him a son, and since she’d heard that I had a secret formula for changing the sex of a foetus from female to male, that’s what she wanted me to do. I told her that was just a quack doctor’s trick, but she didn’t believe me. She cried and refused to leave, all but getting down on her knees to beg. She said the man’s wife had given him two daughters, and if she could produce a son, the man would be hers. His head was filled with feudal ideas like favouring boys over girls, not the sort of thing you’d expect from someone so important. Hell, Gugu spat out angrily, those people’s fortunes are all ill-gotten, so whom should I take advantage of if not the likes of him? So I made up nine packets of herbal concoctions, with things like angelica, Chinese yam, rehmannia and licorice, stuff you can buy for ten cents a bunch, no more than thirty yuan in total, and I asked her for a hundred for each packet. She was so happy she sort of waddled as she climbed into a red car and drove off, leaving a trail of exhaust fumes. This afternoon the official and his mistress came to see me with their pudgy little baby boy and gifts of fine tobacco and liquor to thank me. If not for my miracle prescription, they said, they wouldn’t have such a wonderful son. Ha ha! Gugu laughed loudly, grabbed the glass my brother was respectfully holding out to her, and drank it down in one swallow. I can’t tell you how happy I am! she said as she smacked herself on the thigh. I ask you, how could a high-ranking official, someone who’s supposed to be educated, be such a simpleton? Changing the sex in the womb! If I could do that, I’d have won the Nobel Prize for Medicine a long time ago. Pour me another. She held out her empty glass. Don’t open the Maotai. Save that for Eldest Brother. No, no, no, my father said. Putting something that good into my stomach is a waste. But she stuffed the bottle into his hand and said, This is from me, so you drink it.
    He fingered the red ribbon at the top. How much does something like this cost? he asked gingerly. At least eight thousand, Elder Brother’s wife said. The price has gone up recently. My god! Father exclaimed. That’s not liquor. Dragon