Madwoman On the Bridge and Other Stories by Su Tong

under
the net; she hesitated over the other, but in the end it
came in too. The driver didn’t look at her face; he didn’t
know why, but he didn’t want to. He heaved a sigh, swore
coarsely under his breath and lifted his eyes to look at
the ceiling outside the net. The top of the net was made
of white cloth which was yellowing slightly, and through
it the driver could dimly make out chilli peppers strung
across the room. He asked, ‘What’s hanging up there? Are
those chilli peppers?’
    ‘Yeah, chilli peppers. They use them in the kitchen, but
there’s no room so they hang them in here.’
    The driver’s whole body began to tremble, and his gaze
was drawn, almost unwillingly, outside the net. Dimly he
saw an old man sitting on the ground, his face covered in
blood, holding chilli peppers in his cupped hands. The
driver’s hands trembled until they froze in mid-air. He
turned over – the tidal water of desire that had swollen
his body abruptly receded and a kind of obscure dread
filled his mind. Brusquely he threw off Xue’s hands and
kicked her off the bed. ‘You don’t have to pinch me just
because you can’t do it right,’ he shouted loudly. ‘Go and
watch your TV show.’
    This time Xue was frightened; she hadn’t been prepared
for his sudden violence and didn’t know how to react. At
first she stood barefoot outside the net, stunned, then
she picked up her green sandals from the ground. ‘What
was that about? There’s something wrong with you,’ she
said, then finally she started to cry and ran to the door,
sandals in hand. ‘There’s something wrong with all of
you, you sick bastards. You’re perverts! I’m damned if I’m
going to serve you creeps!’
    The driver heard her footsteps recede rapidly, together
with the storm of weeping. It sounded as if she’d suffered
a huge injustice while the driver also felt like the victim
of some nameless wrongdoing. An ordinary matter had
become so complicated, against all expectation. He
didn’t know what he was doing, or why he had even come
to Weeping Willow in the first place. Before long he heard
the proprietress screaming and the hurried footsteps of
several people. He crawled out of the bed and quickly
locked the door.
    When the proprietress knocked, the driver could
hear the two card-playing men conferring outside in
low voices. He called, ‘Don’t bother knocking, there’s
nothing wrong. Watch your TV show, I’m going to sleep.
I’ll just sleep a while and then I’ll be on my way. I’ll pay
whatever you say.’
    ‘Now come on, what’s up with you? If you don’t tell
me, I can’t make it right, can I?’ the proprietress cajoled.
‘Xue’s not very bright, she doesn’t always do as she’s
told. She’s no good at this kind of work. I’ve already sent
word to her family for them to come and pick her up. If
we’ve offended you, just be a little understanding with
us. It’ll be all right when Hong comes in the evening.
No matter what kind of service you need, we’ll give it to
you then.’
    ‘I don’t need any service at all, I just want to have a
little snooze.’ Through the door, the driver could smell
the proprietress’s strong perfume and suddenly the scent
revolted him. He pinched his nose and went over to
the room’s only window. He opened the curtains and
saw a large cornfield outside, a cornfield after the rain,
half green, half yellow, the leaves still sparkling with
raindrops. The huge fields and the hills in the distance
seemed to have been soaked in rainwater and exuded a
faint alcoholic smell. The driver saw something flash past
the window. Surprised, he poked his head out and saw
two white goats, their coats soaked, huddled together.
Apparently they had been standing below his window
for some time. He stretched out his hand to touch them,
stroking one of them on the back; it felt soft and wet, but
the beautiful sensation didn’t last for long before they
ran off.
    The driver really did want to sleep, if only for